Perfect Blue

Disclaimer: I’m a newbie when it comes to anime, so all you old hands can snort all you want.

I just saw “Perfect Blue,” a complete anime movie (in contrast to so much anime that is episodic in nature) by Satoshi Kon, based on a book by Yoshikazu Takeuchi.

For anyone who thinks Anime is all about giant robots and blue-haired sci-fi girls, Perfect Blue will change your mind.

It’s about Mima, a young girl who is part of a pop band, and decides to leave it to become an actress. Some of her fans aren’t happy with her decision, and eventually she stumbles upon a website, “Mima’s Room” which is like a diary of everything she did and everywhere she went. Except that she isn’t writing it. Or is she? She keeps having halucinations whereupon her old, pop-star self pops up and starts scolding her for leaving her former life.

When the show she is filming has her in a rape scene, things get ugly as her alter ego becomes somewhat enraged at her ‘filthy’ behavior. Soon after, the bodies start showing up…

Creepy stuff, with an ending that took me totally by surprise. Well worth watching, imo.

Again, not for the kids though. The rape scene, even though it is a scene being filmed, is still very much mature content.