Perfect Blue

Ai Hoshino from Oshi no Ko

One of my top 10 anime of all time is Oshi no Ko. The setting is in the Idol and entertainment industry in Japan and it follows an Idol turned media personality and her children: Ai Hoshino, Aquamarine Hoshino and Ruby Hoshino. They are the current day representation of Japan’s entertainment industry and the dark side that no one ever talks about. The mangaka, Aka Akasaka, wrote this story from testimonies from current and former idols but also other anime. At least one of them is Perfect Blue, a anime movie from 1998. The movie is about Mima Kirague and her transition from being a Idol to becoming an actress just like Ai Hoshino did in episode 1 of Oshi no Ko. She goes through existential dread for her choice and fears a stalker that was unhappy of her decision. The movie is one of the most important anime movies since a majority of topics and ideas covered are shown in today’s thriller and suspense anime. The storytelling and the character madness of Mima helped create a beautiful cel-shaded anime that fueled other anime like Oshi no Ko to move forward in the modern day. Perfect Blue is one of the most important animes as the movie defined the dark side of idol industry while trailblazing other ideas that inspired other anime like Oshi no Ko.

Perfect Blue has a distinct animation and artwork that feels very nostalgic in modern day. The animation of Perfect Blue is a cel-shaded style that was prevalent in the 1990s. The style was predominantly used in other anime that Madhouse , the studio that made the film, produced. Since it was made on a low budget, Perfect Blue had amazing detail in their scenes in order lessen the key frames for animation. Like the detail of the important characters were emphasized as detailed lines were drawn in order to signify their importance of the story. More so with the background art in important scenes since the detail was intricate to become a lifelike snapshot of a late 1990s Tokyo. This helped flesh out the story and the characters more as the animation was extremely limited. Thus Perfect Blue had to excel in those two categories of the movie in order to make up for the lack of animation. That being said, the animation could have been smoother. Even though Madhouse had a limited budget and resources, the film maybe could have added extra animation scenes into order to show more of the world of Perfect Blue. The extra frames could have shown more of the performances before Mima graduated from CHAM or moving on from being an Idol. The performances could have establish more of the pitfall of switching her established career of being an Idol and more of the dread that she feels later on. Still the animation excels with the limited resources and money the studio had received. The movie made up for the lack of animation as the storytelling paints the Idol and entrainment industry as a treacherous path.

The storytelling of Perfect Blue has an unique perspective of the idol an entertainment industry which helped inspired other anime and films. The story of Perfect Blue is the journey of Mima. She had to deal with the struggle of transitioning from being an idol to an actress. The movie shows Mina questioning her choice of becoming an actress as she had take on questionable roles like the infamous acting sex scene or the lewd photoshoot. At the same time, she becomes even more anxious as a stalker disapproves her new image. The trope mimics the same real life situations in idol and entertainment industry as the same situation also inspired Oshi no Ko as well. The storytelling of Perfect Blue created a lasting impact that other anime and films mimic. Perfect Blue made other anime comfortable to talk about dark aspects of the industry and made existential dread comfortable to viewers. Although the story can confuse viewers as it weaves different character perspectives haphazardly fast. The story hops around different plot points to interpret confusion for both Mima and the viewer. As it switches from the acting industry at the time to the stalker killing Mima’s coworkers to her questions of her choice, the viewer might question the reasoning of the jumps. This could lead into disinterest for the story and possibly make the film boring. Nevertheless the storytelling still holds up from the jumps and shows the dark side of the industry as Perfect Blue became inspiration to other anime like Oshi no Ko. The story becomes a pivotal piece of the film as it helps move the character development of Mima who almost descended to madness.

The character development of Mina helps bring the story to life as her descent into madness and dread became a key moment of the film. When the viewers see Mina at the start of the film, they see Mima being optimistic and hopeful at her graduation. She was willing to step out of the idol culture in order to not stay complacent. However her decent into madness was shown with with the stalker and Mima’s room, two key factors on character development in Perfect Blue When she was introduced to the internet and Mina’s room, the viewers are notified that this specific part of the film will contribute to her existential dread. Mima’s room was in a sense modern social media, sharing her followers her daily life. Originally a fan site, Mima’s room became one of her reflections of her choice. Her doubt of switching to become an actress to her questionable choice on acting in the sex scene in the beginning of the film. The site correlates to the stalker as they want to preserve their fictional bubble, their one sided reality in which the entertainer loves them. The stalker makes Mima scared as she is judged for actions on switching. Mina dissension creates a unique character development as the viewer becomes interested to see her fight back. The dread creates a story hook as the viewer hopes Mima can get out of this dread and become successful as an actress. The development can be confusing at times especially at the end with the stalker and her manager. Yet Mima’s downward spiral and her resolve to fight back made a statement for her story in the film. In fact some elements like Mima’s room are shown as twitter posts in Oshi no Ko or the end scenes in first episode of the same anime are inspired by the character development of Mima in Perfect Blue. The development and the story help elevate one of the important animes to be ever created.

Perfect Blue helped define thriller and suspense anime as other animes like Oshi no Ko took inspiration. The movie helped redefine thriller anime as viewers accepted dread in a modern setting. I personally loved that the film was shocking at times since it rose the stakes for Mima’s decision to step away from Idol life. I can also see the inspiration that deviated from this anime as some the key moments of Perfect Blue are shown in Oshi no Ko’s first episode. This movie is not required to watch Oshi no Ko yet elements from Perfect Blue made Oshi no Ko succeed. Seeing the storylines and Mina’s character development while Madhouse was on an animation budget is remarkable and the studio became better as time went on. Perfect Blue truly deserves to be one of animes to be viewed since a majority of the tropes and ideas stem from the movie. This anime movie is just perfect to watch.