Perfect Blue Explained: What’s Up With the Ending?

How to understand that you are going crazy? About the anime Perfect Blue. Since ancient times, people have met with the concept of psychosis. And we have long known that the human mind is unstable and fragile. When a person goes crazy, he falls into an apathetic state and is afraid of everything. As a rule, people who have gone crazy suffer from severe panic attacks and lose control of themselves. Such people are easy to notice with the naked eye.

But can it be that they try to convince a healthy person that he is mentally unhealthy?

Primary source and history of creation

The original source is, unknown, before the release of the anime, a book called: “Perfect Blue: the complete pervert.” The author ran to different studios and tried to sell his story to different studios, but without success, until he came across the studio “Madhouse”.

The studio gave the green light to the film’s production, but with different conditions. From the original script, only the concept remained: “a pop star and a stalking maniac.” The director of the film, Satoshi Kon, contributed many of his ideas to the script and gave the film an anime-like look.

The script is ready, the money is invested, but there was trouble. The production team, which was working on the filming of the film, suffered during the earthquake. In order to at least somehow recoup the lost funds, the company takes a desperate step and invests the last money in the production of anime.

About anime movie

This anime, I put it off for a very long time and did not dare to watch, because I do not like works that touch on the subject of the human psyche. Such films, as a rule, pump up and make you doubt the rationality of your own mind (Say hello to Evangelion).

“Perfect Blue” are all the same titles for the same movie. A film that, in its time (1998), struck with frank scenes and violence. This film is full of naked and violent scenes, and it reveals not at all childish themes. So, if your mind is not yet strong, then it is better to skip this anime until better times.

The anime itself is replete with cinematic techniques and styles. If you do not watch anime, but watch movies, then this anime will allow you to plunge into the world of animation.

During production, the title of the book lost its meaning, which meant “Blue Tokyo Sky”.

Am I going crazy?

The anime is interesting because it provides some food for thought. This work is divided into three acts.

In the first act , we are shown a young pop singer Mima, who decides to change her occupation to filming a movie. Also, before us appears a maniacal fan of this star, who leads, on her behalf, an Internet diary. In this act, the anime looks like a typical haunting thriller.

Frame from the anime “Perfect Blue”

But then things start to pick up pace. In the second act, it gets more difficult. The main character, having discovered an Internet diary that describes the smallest details of her life, begins to think that her mind lives in two personalities. It seems to her that the past “she” begins to pursue her and live her own life. Things worsen when, against the background of all this, there are murders of people, because of which, she began to act in films or in every possible way “spoiled” her reputation as a former singer.

The viewer is shown the pursuer, but at the same time they are forced to doubt the mental health of the main character. Next comes the third act. Mima acts in films where she plays the role of a mentally ill girl who introduces herself as a famous singer. Exactly at this moment, the viewer understands that not everything is so simple and he himself begins to get confused about what is happening on the screen. What is real and what is not? Here various theories begin to arise in the head, from which it does not get better and the viewer becomes confused.

The 1997 Japanese adult cartoon Perfect Blue is rightfully considered one of the most significant works of the decade. Some finds of this tape have become part of popular culture – footage of the anime was part of Madonna’s world tour ; Darren Aronofsky was inspired by the visual style when he filmed 2000’s Requiem for a Dream , and took a lot of inspiration from the story when he filmed Black Swan 2010; David Lynch’s 2001 masterpiece ” Mulholland Drive ” shares many similarities with this animation; and Alejandro González Iñárritu in 21 Grams in 2003 was just one of many who included reference in his film.

Perfect Blue was originally conceived as a film and turned into animation only because of financial and organizational difficulties. The plot of the picture at first seems rather predictable: the main character is a young aspiring singer. She performs as part of a girl trio. The group does not have much success, although it has already managed to acquire a small group of loyal fans. The girl’s agents decide to turn her into an actress and begin to develop her in this direction. And the musical trio turned into a duet.

Mima, the main character of the story, begins to play a small role in a detective series where the police are trying to find a mysterious serial killer. Her role is very small, the girl doubts her prospects and begins to regret that she no longer sings. At the same time, we meet a fan who is obsessed with Mime – he follows her and even keeps an online diary on her behalf.

Gradually the story gets darker and darker. Mima begins to seem to go crazy, listening to critical speeches from her musical Alter Ego. And when she is offered to star in a scene of rape and a candid photo shoot, the girl completely begins to lose touch with reality. Her obsessed admirer is furious when he sees how the blonde singer has turned into a sexualized actress. And the agent is crying, looking at the shooting of erotic scenes. People surrounding Mima begin to die in reality, almost the same as in the filmed series…

Perfect Blue is a dark thriller that today may seem secondary. But in fact, many films with a similar plot were inspired by this tape, and not vice versa. This anime has a 2002 remake. And right now we are working on an American remake.

After the release of this project, director Satoshi Kon has become one of the most important Japanese filmmakers. He also directed the anime ” Millennium Actress “, ” Once Upon a Time in Tokyo ” and ” Paprika ” – enjoying great respect and interest not only from the audience, but also from filmmakers around the world. Paprika, for example, has been cited as one of the main inspirations behind Christopher Nolan’s acclaimed Inception .

Perfect Blue is definitely a project worth watching. And of course, it will especially appeal to everyone who loves detective stories and dark psychological thrillers with ambiguous plots and characters.

Have you seen Perfect Blue? Share your impressions in the comments.

Results

I deliberately did not spoil the denouement, because I want you to watch this anime yourself. This anime is interesting in that the viewer is not allowed to predict the plot and is forced to doubt the reality of what is happening. The ending of the anime itself makes you think and ask the question – is this all for real?