🎼you’ve got to push it,
anything for Mima-san! …anything.
push it
for her love🎼
Awe shieeettttt.
Guess who’s back from Japan and now infinitely more cultured than you??? Yeah, that’s right. It’s me. Me me me! Hahahahaha
And what better way to commemorate my cultural ascendance than to review a Japanese movie? Japan just does everything better tbh!!! I would know, cause I went there!!!!!!
Ok, joking aside… this movie is actually pretty frickin’ sweet.
Satoshi Kon’s filmography has been on my “to-watch” list for ages now, so I started with the cult classic: “Perfect Blue.” This film follows the identity crisis of J-Pop idol, Mima who decides to pursue acting in an effort to grow her career and image beyond that of a simple pop-star. Though, not everyone is a fan of this career pivot, especially those who want to preserve Mima’s “pure” image.
The central conflict is between Mima and “The Real Mima” – a seemingly schizophrenic manifestation of her former pop idol identity. “The Real Mima” stalks and terrorizes her while weaponizing her old fan base against her, increasingly upping the ante as Mima makes progressively riskier career decisions. Throw a deformed stalker into the mix and you have yourself one creepy ass movie.
For an animated film, you’d be surprised how well it manages to crawl beneath your skin. The violence is brutal and the imagery is almost psychedelic. Not to mention that the animation holds up shockingly well, even after nearly 3 decades.
“Perfect Blue” is a triumph. This film is tense and jaw dropping… certainly not for the faint of heart, but if you can stomach it – I think the shock twist ending is so so so worth it. I honestly wasn’t sure whether to laugh or to cry at the sheer absurdity of it.
Anyway, if you need me then I’ll be lamenting my return to drab everyday life. And before I forget, Mima-san needs her trophy:
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