Featured Audience Ratings

• Pierluigi P

  
  Classic Hitchcock cat and mouse game with Lynch-ian surreal imagery. A major influence in Aronofsky's "Black Swan".

• Drake T

  
  Satoshi Kon's mastery in suspense shines here in this psychological thriller that constantly keep's its viewers on their toes. What's really great is the blend of realism into this animated film to the point where the surreal, bizarre portions aren't overwhelmed… More
  Satoshi Kon's mastery in suspense shines here in this psychological thriller that constantly keep's its viewers on their toes. What's really great is the blend of realism into this animated film to the point where the surreal, bizarre portions aren't overwhelmed with suspense of disbelief.

• Ariuza k

  
  Perfect Blue is like a Giallo animated movie that's like a "Dario Argneto" Flick but with more gore and its animated, I remember "Opera" when I was young with the girl and the nails under her eyes that was just frighting how she is forced to watch her friends… More
  Perfect Blue is like a Giallo animated movie that's like a "Dario Argneto" Flick but with more gore and its animated, I remember "Opera" when I was young with the girl and the nails under her eyes that was just frighting how she is forced to watch her friends be slaughtered. Or the bird with the Crystal Plumage how the "killer" tries to murder the witness by running him down with his car. It's all frighting stuff by what about this? As I stated it an animated Italian Giallo film how a famous singer is being stalked by a crazed fan. I myself am a big fan of "Giallo films" and Italian flicks in general not boring Asian cinema unleased the film interest me or I catch it on TV like a normal person. Now this is the kind of movie that I knew I was going to love I don't like anime that much but I just hate to view this. Mima Kirigoe is an actress on a long road to "success" she plays rape victim's and even works for a few dollars an hour but after a long time she hits her goal and becomes a hit with her music. But that's not the only thing she is being seeming stalked by a person in a rain coat who even tries to run her down in their car and they push one of her friends out a window, Her past is about to catch up to her as a private detective and her start to dig around and only find the guilt of her past and the ghost in her memory she tried to keep out. The movie makes a lot of references to Dario Argneto's movies but overall I really liked the idea as Japanese's "Giallo" film. So the references are obrevsly.... *Like all Argento's movies Killers with black Gloves and in Rain coats. *Close up's of the killers hands. *A person remembering a memory and using it in the story. *Victims come crashing throw panes of glass. *The movie ends were the story starts. The list can go on and on for any fan. So yes I loved the story okay. The animation quality is just amazing you can see every amazing bit of detail object there in high quality. As well as the blood that "splatters" everywhere and on everything. And I really loved the trick with then camera to catch all the detail like in Dario's Suspira with the music simply just amazing. The voice dubbing I am a bit mixed on but overall high stuff that everyone will love, never seen the English dub though. The characters are just your" Dario Argneto" people and there even muddled after some of his characters in his films. Our lead Female is model after Jessica from Suspira and her detective is after David Hemmings character in Deep Red. So overall very likeable with all the personality, OH and the killer big "Argneto" thing. I come to a close and I think I have said everything.

• Tsubaki S

  
  An animated giallo, tense and always with a great sense of suspense and how to build said suspense. Works in ways most so called "thrillers" of the last 15 years wish they could work. Only a director with a true sense of what cinema is about could direct something like this.… More
  An animated giallo, tense and always with a great sense of suspense and how to build said suspense. Works in ways most so called "thrillers" of the last 15 years wish they could work. Only a director with a true sense of what cinema is about could direct something like this. You will be greatly missed mr Kon.

• Lewis C

  
  I usually pride myself on figuring out the twist or ending of a thriller long before it's formally revealed, but I'm proud to say that Perfect Blue kept me in the dark right up until it was ready to divulge its secrets. Anyone who likes anime and is looking for a good… More
  I usually pride myself on figuring out the twist or ending of a thriller long before it's formally revealed, but I'm proud to say that Perfect Blue kept me in the dark right up until it was ready to divulge its secrets. Anyone who likes anime and is looking for a good mystery will fall right in love with Perfect Blue. It's difficult to give much of a sense of what the film is about with spoiling the plot. But essentially, its about a Japanese pop singer named Mima who leaves her musical group and decides to become an actress. She's not entirely happy about the things that she's forced to deal with in her new career, and she starts experiencing odd hallucinations as people around her start to die in brutal ways. This is definitely an intense movie, and some of the scenes are very violent. It's nothing that a fan of action anime hasn't been exposed to before, but it bares mentioning anyway. I thought the pacing was a little slow at the beginning, but this pays off well once the story gets going, so maybe that's not too big of a deal. The art style leans toward realism in a very pleasing way that aids in telling such a serious story. I'm sure that there are not very many serious anime fans that haven't seen Perfect Blue, and with good reason. It's an excellent thriller that surpasses many of the live-action movies in the genre that I've seen recently.

• _kelly .

  
  This movie was WAAAY over-hyped to me, probably because most of the people recommending it were big anime fans who had not seen many psychological thrillers, much less one in anime format (without added scifi elements). This is the sort of film I watch in live action all the time, but… More
  This movie was WAAAY over-hyped to me, probably because most of the people recommending it were big anime fans who had not seen many psychological thrillers, much less one in anime format (without added scifi elements). This is the sort of film I watch in live action all the time, but not what I expect from an anime. The story is dizzying in presentation of alternate realities to the point that I don't think any version is more valid than another and at the end, I still don't know which to believe is dominant, which is a good thing for a story of this genre. However, because this is anime, the story presentation could have been opened to include far more surrealism of image. I can acknowledge that this is unique for the anime format, but stacked against its live action peers of the same genre, this is just underwhelming. Animation should NEVER underwhelm in degree of ambiguity and surrealism as compared to live action of the same genre, as I've said previously, the format is open to whatever odd imagery you wish to include. Others may get a real kick from this, but I was just numb to it. I can see why others appreciate it so, but I'm still not impressed.

• Christopher M

  
  Enthralling, creepy anime about a woman who makes a move from glitzy, adored pop singer to the world of acting, modeling, and becomes haunted and stalked by what she believes is the pop idol image she sullied by turning to acting. It had a cool concept that was executed well, the… More
  Enthralling, creepy anime about a woman who makes a move from glitzy, adored pop singer to the world of acting, modeling, and becomes haunted and stalked by what she believes is the pop idol image she sullied by turning to acting. It had a cool concept that was executed well, the animation was unique and top-notch - definitely worth a look.

• Drew S

  
  One of the most dizzying films I've ever seen, anime or otherwise. I do have a soft spot in my heart for "blurred reality" mysteries, and Perfect Blue is a superb one.

• Dean M

  
  Not a bad anime/magna film based on the first time thriller I ever watched.

• George M

  
  Wonderful animation film which manages at the same time to be an excellently constructed and paced thriller and a social commentary/satire on contemporary obsessions with celebrity culture, pop idols and the expoitation of them by the industry. Brilliant self-composed style that never… More
  Wonderful animation film which manages at the same time to be an excellently constructed and paced thriller and a social commentary/satire on contemporary obsessions with celebrity culture, pop idols and the expoitation of them by the industry. Brilliant self-composed style that never gets out of hand and inventive ways to break the forth wall and attack the audience's 'male gaze' (see rape scene). All of Satoshi Kon's personal touches are already manifest in this first full-length film of his, including the constant confusion of dream and reality. Along with the series Paranoia Agent, this is probably his best work. Quite underrated by many.

• Lesley N

  
  A young Japanese girl rejects Pop Idol stardom to become a serious actress but her alter ego seems to have different ideas. A weird anime. The underlying bubblegum-pop-girl-with breathy-dubbed-american-accent-tries-to-become-serious-actreess plot I could care less about, not being… More
  A young Japanese girl rejects Pop Idol stardom to become a serious actress but her alter ego seems to have different ideas. A weird anime. The underlying bubblegum-pop-girl-with breathy-dubbed-american-accent-tries-to-become-serious-actreess plot I could care less about, not being thirteen. But on top of that you get a nude photo session reminiscent of that bit with Irene Cara in the original Fame, and a followup bath scene that Darren Aronofsky nicked, sorry paid homage to, in Requiem for A Dream. Plus a rape scene that's possibly acting but may also be real - and again if you've seen the last scene of Requiem For A Dream, you'll know what it looks like too. So kind of intriguing and kind of irritating, I'm not sure exactly what to make of it. Think I'll sit on the fence with three stars.

• Curt C

  
  A pop idol with a loyal fan following decides to become an actress. She is stalked by an old fan, and compounded with her own self-doubts about her career change, slowly starts going insane. Absolutely brilliant in the manner it handles her insanity; things merge around her until… More
  A pop idol with a loyal fan following decides to become an actress. She is stalked by an old fan, and compounded with her own self-doubts about her career change, slowly starts going insane. Absolutely brilliant in the manner it handles her insanity; things merge around her until neither her nor the viewer know what is real and what isn't. She kills a man. The audience applauds. She wakes up in her room. She meets herself. Was any of it real? Among the very best psychological thrillers I have ever seen. I wish the ending was just a touch better.

• Sylvester K

  
  Wow, this film has worked miracles in my mind, I've never seen such an incredible film. It's a westernised anime that was influenced by Alfred Hitchcock, Italian Giallos and David Lynch. It got me hooked up right from the very first minute I saw the film. Basically no one is… More
  Wow, this film has worked miracles in my mind, I've never seen such an incredible film. It's a westernised anime that was influenced by Alfred Hitchcock, Italian Giallos and David Lynch. It got me hooked up right from the very first minute I saw the film. Basically no one is sane in the film, kinda like There's Something About Mary meets Deep Red and Tenebre. At times the film uses surrealism to create a bizarre confusion in viewers' minds. The twist at the end is just fantastic, Only by then the audience would realised what has happened (No one is sane remember?) It's a psychological thriller master piece from Japan.

• Jonny C

  
  A good psychological thriller, with a great twist at the end. There's the typical Manga animation that you'd expect, and some nice dialogue and character development, that is sometimes lacking in this genre,

• Wu C

  
  Pretty good anime thriller.

Read all 15 featured audience ratings