Plot and Storyline
What actually happened in the movie was that Rumi was the villain all along. She was the one who kept sending emails about Mima to the creepy stalker and either incentivized him to kill all of those people or could be that she killed all of them herself. She was a failed Idol who suffered from dissociative identity disorder and saw herself as the true Mima.
The way she is so reluctant of seeing Mima become an actress, and the way she reacted when Mima did the rape scene for me makes a lot of sense when you go through the perspective of her being crazy and seeing this as the Idol Mima idealized in her head being “ruined”, and being substituted by some sort of impostor.
Of course, Mima’s descent into madness in the film is very legitimate (even though at the end of the movie she seems fine once again), but you could say that “the crazy one” in the story was always Rumi, alongside the creepy stalker, that was just a tool to her plans.
Animation and Artstyle
“Perfect Blue” has good animation but not an interesting one. Although, it is pretty much praised for its animation. This film won the Best Film Animation in Fantasporto 1998 and the Best Animated Feature in the B-Movie Film Festival 2000. It is one of the best works done by Satoshi Kon. The characters have fluid movements and expressive faces, which are all well-defined. The editing is simply incredible as is everything Satoshi Kon directed before he passed away too soon.
Characters
Mima is the protagonist and the former who’s desperately trying to accept being a grown up because she believes it’ll get rid of her inner parts that haunts her. Rumi is her manager and a motherly figure who cares simply a lot for her. But Rumi went from a supportive caretaker to a more ambiguous and unsettling presence as events unfolded. Uchida is a supporting character who is deeply obsessed with Mima since she was an idol. Which represents the dark side of fandom.
Other less prominent characters such as Mima’s fellow idols and the cast of the TV show that she joins contribute to the blurred boundaries between reality and illusion.
Themes
The film announces its preoccupation with perception, identity, voyeurism, and performance – especially in relation to the female – right from its opening sequence is what Professor Susan Napier says and I wholeheartedly agree after seeing the film.
It warns its viewers about the consequences of obsessive love toward a concept of a person over who they really are. and it’s horrific. Each human is alive in their own way. and idols are no different. it may be disturbing but even then it’s very meaningful
Overall Impression
From my perspective, Perfect Blue is a masterpiece. Hats off to Satoshi Kon, he created this Anime which doesn’t feel like Anime at all. If you believe Anime is only for children then this Film will change your perspective on Anime. Perfect Blue is one those movies that you need to watch twice to get the full taste of it. I must recommend to watch Perfect Blue. It’s definitely worth the time.