Arcane Reviews: Perfect Blue

Perfect Blue

Hello ladies, peoples, and animals it is I, the Arcane Reviewer! Here to continue Movie Month with another review! Well I'm not gonna lie, I love thrillers. Whenever I see a great thriller like Silence of the Lambs, Seven, Shutter Island, and anything Hitchcock related I just love it. As long as it's good that is. So you can guess that when I found this little gem that mixes anime with thrillers I was all over this. Then to later find out that it was directed by Satoshi Kon I was just stocked to watch this film. Now with all that said was the film any good? Well we'll just have to find out today when I dive into Satoshi Kon's animated thriller, Perfect Blue.

Story:

Mima Kirigoe is a pop-idol who want's to make it big by becoming an actress, but when she gets her dream everything around her starts to slowly fall apart. Mima can't tell what's real and what's not and soon it will drive her to her breaking point. Yeah vague synopsis but I really don't want to spoil this film because it's pretty great. The set up and overall tone to this film is surreal and very uneasy. It sets this almost dream like world that Mima is slowly losing herself in and it makes for really intense scenes especially some of the "dreams' scenes that Mima has. Also the animation here was a tad bit odd, then film goes for a very realistic look as appose to the standard anime look that some films have. This gave the film a very darker tone in my opinion because your're usually used to seeing normal actors portray these rolls in live action movies. But in here it's all animated and even weirder they try to go for a more realistic look. I like this because it sits very well in the uncanny valley which absolutely works for this film. Seeing as how everything here is in the uncanny valley. So the story here is a great piece in the world of thrillers but it's animated which makes it even more unique.

Music:

This film kinda works the same way as the Lupin the Third movie did to a small extent when it comes to music. A lot of scenes simply don't have music but it fits well because it drive up the creepy factor and gets you to really focus on what's happening because you never know what'll happen next. But when music does happen holy crap is it eerie. The music here can make you feel uncomfortable which by all means is the main point. you also have some of the tunes from the fictional band Cham that play in the background. These are pretty much standard J-pop songs but what makes them stand out is the placement of the songs. Basically these songs are put in moments that you really shouldn't be hearing them in. You'll hear a generic love song being played in the back while a man is being horribly murdered in the very same shot. It's kinda funny really. So music is pretty damn good in this movies and it never overuses it which I like.

Characters:

Now I will not lie and say that this film doesn't have the strongest cast of characters. Aside from Mima no one else in the film really gets any kind of development. Now this isn't really a bad thing per-say. Mainly due to the fact that this film is a character study of one character, Mima. So it makes scene as to why she's the only to get her character fleshed out......until the end. Now without spoiling anything I will say that a twist happens that involves one of the side characters. This twist was pretty cool but it wasn't as shocking as it could have been because that person never really got developed past the supporting character role that they were in. That being said I can safely say that Mima is actually developed pretty well. You get a good idea of just how her life goes from normal to bat-shit insane. The whole film is her descending into madness and you really get the feeling that she's loosing her mind through out the events of the movie. So even though only one character got focused on at least they did a good job of making her into a good character.

Voice Acting:

Oh boy what do I say about this section. Well if you haven't guessed I'll just say it. Voice acting in this movie isn't amazing. Not god awful but not amazing. Bridget Hoffman does a good job as Mima but I will say at first she was a bit on the rough side of things, however as the film progressed her voice acting did get better and really did stand out among her other co-stars. Also Wendee Lee did a great job as the character Rumi. But then again it's Wendee Lee and she always does a great job in her roles. Other voice actors such as Steve Blum, Stephen Apostolina, and Michael Lindsay all give their voices to this movie and all of them vary in quality when it comes to this dub. While it's not so bad you can't listen to it you'll probably need a minute or two to get used to the voices. Not bad but, not great.

Overall:

Well to sum up my overall feelings I have to say, I really enjoyed Perfect Blue. Now while it's not Satoshi Kon's best work it is still a pretty damn good anime. It has a some great suspense and the story is all tripy just like what a psychological thriller should be. So if you're in the mood for something out of the ordinary I recommend this film, you may walk out with some enjoyment like me.

Arcane Reviews gives Perfect Blue a 8 out of 10.

You can watch "Perfect Blue" on:

Netflix (Dub and Sub, Note: DVD rental only)