Perfect Blue
review by Anime Freak
Studio: Manga Video
Starring: Junko Iwao, Rica Matsumoto, Shinpachi Tsuji,
Masaaki Okura
Written by: Takeshi Washitani
Directed by: Satoshi Kon
Retail Price: $29.95
Features: Behind-the-scenes Footage, Interviews, Scene
Access, Photo Gallery, TV Spots And Theatrical Trailer
Specs: 1.33:1 Standard, Chapter Search (25
Chapters)
The REAL pleasure in this film is the story itself.
Mima´s constant battle within herself is only enhanced
by the role in the script she is portraying. You almost have
to really pay attention to realize that her life and the
film were actually one and the same. The movie was
considered to be a film that Hitchcock would of made. It was
a very well preformed anime movie. It holds nudity of the
main character, which is more of an art to show how far
people will go to be big celebrities. There is a type of
stalker following her around, and the stalker creates a fan
site of her and when Mima finds this site, she finds out
that the person knows everything she did in detail day by
day. Pretty damn eerie. It is not a movie for a family; this
movie also has very bloody scenes like a screwdriver in the
eyeball, and the very disturbing rape scene which takes
place for a part of a movie she was acting on, so I don't
know if they call it rape if your doing it for a movie. But
the story is full of plot and keeps you guessing on who the
stalker is working for. This movie is a realistic anime no
robots, no magic powers just the a internal struggle from a
women who is on her own, and you'll never guess who is the
one who is trying to kill her. The production value is a
very hard thing to find out on a anime, but when I viewed it
I found the detail of the artistry to be sharp and give the
realism to the characters and put in a lot of darkness in
this when something evil is about to happen, like when the
director is in the parking lot and he hears noises it gives
a graveyard type look before he becomes a victim. This type
of use for creepiness makes you get very involved with the
plot. This is an anime to have but some people might not
want to own something like this, so please rent it and check
it out you will not be disappointed.
The picture is in a standard full screen, which is not
something I like, but it does not affect the quality at all.
The pixilation of the characters are very sharp and shows
the great detail of the animators' drawings. The digital
imaging gives great aspect to every element in the
background and even the extras in the back are in good
quality.
Thanks to 5.1 Dolby Digital surround, the audio is as
expected in perfect digital quality. The audio comes out
great, since there are a couple of songs that are sung this
makes the protectionists to make sure that the DVD gets
great value.
For an anime this DVD contained a lot of features like:
Behind-the-scenes Footage, which gives great shots of how
they made this anime from the character voices up to the
final edit.
There are also Interviews, with all the people who did
the English voice-overs. They discuss how they feel about
being apart of such a popular anime movie and other great
moments making this film.
The Photo Gallery, of course is images from the movie,
which are very well shot and picked.
Finally, the Theatrical Trailer shows a trailer when the
movie was out in theaters in Japan and there are TV Spots.
If you're into a realistic anime with twisted scenes now
and then (It wouldn't be anime with out a little twisted
ness), then you'll love this story of strength in a one
person to find the truth. I found this movie to be one of
the best anime movies that has be created. "A twisted,
disturbing, deep involving thriller" says New York Daily
News. This is not an unknown movie which shows that it
wasn't put together half assed like some anime, they took
time and concentration. Satoshi Kon and Takeshi Washitani
made this a must have anime for all freaks of anime.
 (4.5/5, NOT included in
final score)
 (4/5)
 (3.5/5)
 (2.5/5)
(4/5,
NOT an average)
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