Perfect Blue | KYOTO VIDEO 

The truth behind the Aronofsky "homages" is even sillier than you think. He actually purchased the film rights to remake Perfect Blue specifically so he could recreate the bath tub scene in Requiem for a Dream. A decade later when Black Swan was released, he point-blank denied the similarities between it and Perfect Blue, claiming that he had never ever heard of it. What a strange fellow.

Never half-ass Satoshi Kon. Always full-ass!

It's fascinating how well Kon captured the darker side of Fandoms... (Seriously, I wish there was a way to muzzle those kinds of people...)

This movie is even more relevant now than it was in the 90's with the social media and celebrities lifes

This anime is both classic and disturbing.

As someone who is fascinated by psychology looking back at this show again is so clever. In the subconscious we have three sides to us, Id, which is our impulses, Superego, the self that has been implanted onto us and how we feel we should be and then the Ego, the true self. To become healthy you have to balance all three. In this film, Mima's superego has gone out control, seeing her mental breakdown is very accurate to how people would be as it's your ego that's meant to be in control and when there's that conflict, you eventually have that mental breakdown because parts of your brain aren't communicating, they're arguing/conflicting with each other. To me, the scariest part of the film, is that it also shows that even if you get to the point where you realise you've let yourself loose control, it doesn't mean that you will "Win" and take back control, you could end up like her manager and just fall lower and lower into madness.

Satoshi Kon has always been an envelope pusher with his works. I was a huge fan of Perfect Blue when I got to see this around 2001 on VHS. Truly blown away at the skills on display by the whole team and it always was a crowd pleaser that never saw it before but could appreciate the master class work shown. One of my top films of all time regardless of it being an "anime".

bravo KB, what a Perfect Review of Perfect Blue the section discussing Idol Culture hit hard for me because it sucks that things haven't really changed or got worse with fan entitlement and the toxciity that polutes fandom culture regardless if it's Idols, Anime, or the many examples you showed.

I love your looney tunes content and this happens to be one of the few Japanese animated films I've seen, great stuff please keep the content coming

Watching this movie while being a theatre student really broke me. Not only because fear of stalkers, the male gaze, and stuff but what made me cry after the r@pe scene is that people outside of the acting world looking in, will see your best or your worst performances and think that's all you are. They will never see the scheduling nightmares, obstacles you have to face during rehearsals, arguments with directors or other actor over how you want to portray your role (there was even cases of sexual harassment against a director in a production I wasn't a part of). People outside of the industry expect and consume product without respect for the people who put it together by the skin of their teeth. Given with idol-culture and parasocial relationships, it all sets the groundwork for objectification.

I hope to see you tackle belladonna of Saddness one day.

god I watched this on TV when I was 9 and I had nightmares for so long even though I didn't really even understand it.

Best Satoshi Kon film in my opinion.

I never watched Perfect Blue, but I do intend to, eventually. Given the subject matter and the director it must really pack a punch. But the film deserves attention so here's a comment for the algoritm!

Perfect Blue is a perfectly disburbin masterpiece. kinda tempted to watch this OVA. 😸

Duality is a terrifying theme. Music producer and singet Yoko Kano had a dual persona existence in the 90's she composed and produced music as Yoko Kano and sang in many of her own music as Gabriella Robinson. I think she wanted to into singing full time but was fearful of poor fan reception because she was far outside the typical idol age range.

That's RIGHT! He did Tokyo Godfathers! I freaking LOVED that movie and haven't seen it in ages... [ Immediately looks up an online streaming service to watch it again. ] *Ahem*... Continue...

Just finished the video and wow, you really did the film justice. I'll never forget my first time watching this movie. I was so into Mima's story my Mom had to yell my name because it was the third time she called me before I heard her. Lol Everything about this film is captivating. This has to be one the best videos I've seen about Perfect Blue: the production and final product. You definitely didn't "half a**" it. 👍

Perfect Blue's psychological dimension rightfully takes center stage but my big take away from it was the depiction of idol/celebrity culture - not just the obsession around it but the disposable quality it has. The prior two attributes are two sides of the same, dehumanizing coin and I thought Kon depicted it well.

A Must Watch Anime Film if you consider yourself a connoisseur of anime. Still holds up in 2022 & beyond…

Satoahi Kon is perhaps my favorite anime director, the first I recognized and followed. His career may be brief, but each was an absolute masterpiece. I love them all.

"Shamelessly rip it off--I mean..." Oh, how I lol'd.

Thanks for posting this! I watched Perfect Blue for the first time today. After I watched a couple of videos to explain what is going on, this one has been my favourite!

YESS!! So happy to see you're starting Satoshi Kon

This movie always creeped me out. Nice video.

Tell me you also have a love of Escaflowne and Macross Plus.

One of my all time favorite films.

Does this mean you're going to cover Tokyo Godfathers for Christmas since it takes place during Christmas?

Nice video on a very chilling movie. I hope we see more videos of you covering Kon's films in the future.

Excellently done! Much appreciate diverging from the standard "explained" template. You really got into it.

This movie felt so realistic and relatable.

Omg. Great job on this. Amazing review/talk about this movie!!!!

I legit think this one of the most unique looking animated films I have seen. Though to be honest, as someone who seen this and Black Swan I can see the similarities but hesitate to say rip-off. Though if that be the case, I guess that would make it the best live action anime adaptation lol. Great vid.

Thanks for this excellent analysis. Hoping the rest of Kon's films (and perhaps Paranoia Agent as well) can get the same treatment.

Best Anime horror movie ever! Happy Halloween.

Wow, he died at 46?! Crap, I turned 46 a month ago! ;)

Watching this movie after watching the first episode of Oshi No Ko (which is 90 minutes long), Mima was lucky to have survived both a creepy stalker fanboy and her own manager who clearly has mental health problems, unlike what happened to Ai Hoshino

Perfect Blue … is one I know I would best not watch myself. Kon's work is truly amazing, and I think you've done a fair job trying to capture here, but Perfect Blue… Too close to home in a few too many ways I'd rather not describe for the Google Algorithm™. Still, I'm very glad you covered this and didn't just … explain it. One of the things I've come to appreciate about your videos (which I've only just discovered within the past day or so) is the care you take trying to contextualize the greater themes of the work, and the motivations and even apparent stat of mind of the creators. That's got to take a good amount of research and effort, and it is appreciated.

Excellent! You have Just got a New sub, keep up the good work!

I saw a reviewer not like the twist. I grew up in selena country, and seeing that tragedy play out, the twist made sense.

Mima and her manager do realize that she can be an actress AND still be an idol, right? Japanese idols have been acting gigs for decades, especially if they're wanting to promote their music (obviously not while doing the R18 material that she has to do here, but still).

You like him a lot, but he isn't called a cone.

Ghost in the shell should be next

Well, I only watched Perfect Blue once. 🙂

You make fun of the way that Roger Corman described this movie, but honestly, the way you described Mima, she sounds pretty similar to how Snow White was portrayed. Not saying the description isn't funny, but I think it actually fits pretty well.

good work

There're more layers to the central scene. Her manager and stalker are on the same side, which is to pull Mima back to the "innocent" stage, to never grow up; while Mima, although "used/tricked" by the TV producer, chooses to move forward, to become an actress. Sexuality could be seen as a form of corruption, of consumption, views held by the stalker/manager and producer, separately, but it is also a form of maturation. After the scene, is she tarnished/closer to death, or has she grown up? It could be both, this is the point of metamorphosis. Of course there's the commercialization and exploitation aspect, but I think we should not ignore the agency of Mima. Sexuality is dangerous, because it can make you and kill you. I think Kon's more complex view on sexuality is much healthier, more realistic and more mature than what today's culture tries to depict. The shot that motivated me to write this reply is the one in which the reflection of "idol Mima" in the train's window told her she didn't want to do this. Who is that? A part of Mima's psyche, for sure, but which part? Her "authentic" self, or the injection of her manager - the previous idol, who was forced to quit due to aging, and determined to continue the idol life? My take is more of the latter. This leads to a deeper level, the idol culture of Japan. Remember, that scene happened only in the media, so the whole sexuality level is symbolic, no real sex in real life. Why? Because only adults have sex. Children can worship and carry out violence, but they can't have sex. Children can fantasize about sex, this turns into fetish (love of things instead of persons), or worshiping of the idea of opposite sex, aka idols. In other words, otaku (obsession over media and stuff) has the same root motivation of idol culture, to not engage with real persons, to not grow up - no sex, no death. In other words, idols are things. To be an idol is to be a non-person, to be a part of other people's fantasies. Therefore Mima's real challenge is whether to become a person or not. If she were to become a person, there's the exploitation and abusing, isolation and deceiving, sex and violence, and on and on and on. But she's a person. Is it worth it? According to those following the idol culture, no. And since other people are not persons but just things, killing is not that hard for these idol-followers. Never grow up, stay a pupa forever.

I think people generally like Paprika more, but IMHO this is Satoshi Kon's masterpiece.

Watch Ashita no Joe!

"excuse me, who are you?"

Is this the only project Kon worked directed without Susumu Hirasawa doing the music?

Better than Bennett's review.

I just started the video and my comment is on the film itself not your video. Perfect Blue is my least favorite Kon movie...which makes it even more great. As weird as it sounds, the only reason it's my least favorite is because his later films just show his range more as a visionary. But Perfect Blue itself is a damn great film, to the point where you forget that it's animation. And that's what Kon did so well with the people he worked with to create the films he created, he made it so that you forgot that you were watching animation, but at the same time the stories could only be told in animation. The fact that he is gone is one of the biggest tragedies in recent cinema.

Guys, did they rp the girl or the guy was just bouncing around her pretending to be doing...? Like, can someone tell me they didn't rp the girl??😭

31:10 how do you know that he didn’t like it or if it left a bad taste in his mouth? did he say that in an interview or are your pulling that out of your @/ss?

This is worst anime film of all time