Rating: 
Summary: Very good.
Review: NOTE: This is a review on the Director's Cut / NR version that I own.
I saw this first by myself because my brother handed it to me. I watched it, and ended up being creeped out for several hours, always glancing at myself in the mirror and expecting it to wink and hop away. Okay, maybe not that extreme, but it sounded good! @_o
To sum up the story, Mima is a young adult, barely on her own, who decides to leave her bubblegum-pop trio to become an actress, but soon finds it's harder than she ever could have thought. Beginning as a one-liner, she soon finds herself the main attraction of the show due to the perverted whims of the middle aged directors. After a series of humiliating things she's forced to do, her sanity slips and she spirals into self doubt and hallucinations. (I won't go any further because it'll ruin the story.)
Cons: In the NR version, an extensive rape scene took a good 2 or 3 minutes, and it really didn't have that much meaning. Slightly hard to decipher storyline, but I don't necessarily think that is a bad thing. Lots of violence but it kind of works in, and maybe the tuned down version isn't so bloody. Ending wasn't too fantastic.
Pros: Psychological thriller that's a lot of fun to watch; very scary. Beautiful animation. Fairly good voice acting. Fairly good dubbing. 100% unique storyline. Funny pop music. Twisty and turny plotline that keeps you guessing.
Analysis: Worth buying, but don't let your little cousin or relation borrow it as it will probably scare them...or amuse them. =P
Rating:
Summary: Anime fiend
Review: Not long after i got married my husband turned me on to Anime (Inuyasha,Ranma,Berserk,Lain,Nadesico,Fruits Basket). Perfect Blue got such good reviews, I bought it for my husband for Christmas. We watched as soon as he opened it! The beginning was really lagging and i was getting really bored and easily distracted, that's why i gave it only 4 stars. Once the movie picked up the pace and got more interesting i was totally into it! It's a great movie and the characters are more life like than most Anime i'm used to watching! This wouldn't be my first choice, but i would recommend it!
Rating: 
Summary: Breaking new ground
Review: A movie like this makes us question the limits of our own consciousness. It allows us to explore in a space not our own, the endless possibilities and the demons lurking within the human psyche - and alerts us to the reality of what it is we do not know. We should be scared of what we are capable of, not to mention to celebrate our potential. One of the good things about anime is that the simulation seems less real, since it is in this "invented" space. I'm not trying to downplay the effect - as I feel that the impact on the viewer is no less real - just merely stating an observation. Let this not fool you, I am not that naïve - anything in cinema is a simulation, sometimes a simulacra, of reality. However, despite the impact being as real, the images - no matter how explicitly sexual or graphically violent - are not as "real" as in motion pictures. I most certainly don't expect too much of a buy-in on that last comment. However, images seem more sanitized and we don't need to spend so much of the budget on scenes and the potential for good is astronomical. I guess that is why I endorse this genre. I'm as confused about the sexuality and violence as anyone. The Jody Fosteresque traumatic rape scene (ala The Accused) borders on the exploitive. Perfect blue flirts beyond anime at times bordering on hentai.The story is a simple one but the execution is not. Mima Kigiroe is a struggling entertainer with a bevy of loyal fans. She starts her career as a singer and transitions into a career in acting. Her entrée into this world is a series called Double Bind - of which the subtlety was not missed on me. As yes, the seemingly disjointed story evolves, Mima (as well as the viewers) reality begins to collapse. I have to admit, I was lost several times while watching the movie, about what was reality and what was fantasy, as if the writer purposefully wanted me, the viewer to emulate the sense of utter confusion that Mima was going through. Was it successful? Absolutely! Anyway, coupled with the ever present updates on a website called Mima's Room - we are presented with (as Mima is) with several apparitions. Mima is forced to utter (in a moment of epiphany) that someone sure knows her. For the resolution (or lack thereof) you will need to watch the movie yourself. What is really "cool" about Perfect Blue particular anime is that it does not fit into one of the many popular categories of anime already out there. It neither fits into the post-apocalyptic strata of an Akira or Ghost in the Shell nor is it romantic (in the Byronian sense) as say something coming out of Hayao Miyazaki. Perfect Blue cuts new ground. Japanese have, for a long time, been interested in psycho-thrillers and the good detective story. What with the popularity of writers like Matsumoto Seicho (Points and Lines - also available on Amazon.com) as well as Sogo Ishii (Angel Dust - also available on Amazon.com) is proof positive of the popularity of mystery and suspense. Make no mistake it is an adult psycho thriller. Having said all that, I am hopeful that this movie is not representative of modern Japan. As a critique of the excesses of voyeurism as well as the sadistic and misogynistic excesses of some manga, Perfect Blue stands head and shoulders above all the other anime features. Is it reflective of Japanese pop culture? On what ground and under what context, that still has to be further explored. Not to belabor the point, for the resolution (or lack thereof) you will need to watch the movie yourself. Miguel Llora
Rating:
Summary: Perfect Blue is phenomenal.
Review: Perfect Blue, I came into this anime with very low expectations. By thirty minutes in, I wished for it to end not in a negative way in that it was a bad movie, but for the sake of Mima. The movie quickly draws you into the prontagonist, puts you in her shoes and takes you on a depressing skeptical. My type of anime is action but this sucked me in with a disturbing watch. This anime seemed so vivid in it's graphic and most often realistic journey of Mima from innocent pop girl to a world of suffering and confusion, I couldn't sit through another viewing of this. The music is dead-on amazing. I would recommend this to anyone, action fan or not. My idea of anime has changed ever since Perfect Blue.
Rating:
Summary: great movie and great storyline
Review: this movie is great. the only thing is it has graphic situations in it thats not suited for younger audiences. the plot is great and twisted and if your comfused when you watch it dont worry your suppose to but it all ties in at the end. the ending (which im no going to give away) is really crazy and twisetd. not something i would expect. i would defintly reccomend this movie if graphic situations (such as violence, nudity) dont bother you then its great. i have not heard the english version im not even sure if there is one. but the voices sound great in japanese and im pretty sure it has subtitles.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful and Intriguing Masterpiece
Review: This movie is probably the best Physchological-Thriller ever. Every scene gives the viewer a very vivid and realistic part of the character that makes you want to know more and more and just when you think that you know what the reality of the movie is you are on to a big surprise. It was very well done and the characters were very well composed by Satoshi Kon (the director).
Rating: 
Summary: Perfect Blue? More Like "Perfect Bizarre"
Review: Geez, with all the reviewers raving about this anime I anticipated an original thriller that would leave me with chills. Rather, this movie leaves me with a chilly reception. The hallucinations and memory losses experienced by Mima, the protaganist, are done to mask the ending and in doing so, several scenes are inexplicable and disjointed. To that end, by the time the story culminates, it is anti-climatic and left me with a big "Huh??". Whatever the director was trying to achieve with the viewer was totally lost on me. Don't get me wrong, I love unusual and unique movies (which the anime genre lends itself so naturally) but Perfect Blue was just plain bizarre with loose strings. For anyone who is just dipping their toes into anime, I wouldn't recommend this. There are just too many other great titles out there. Try Cowboy Bebop for starters, or any of Miyazaki's work. Finally if you are seeking a psychological thriller, check out Psycho - its hokey by todays standards but at least you'll get a good laugh out of it. For a great mindtrip, try Dark City, Usual Suspects, or The Ring.
Rating:
Summary: Did it make you think too?
Review: When I first watched this movie I was a little lost, but in the end it all came to me. The next time I watched it I noticed more aspects of the plot that I had not seen before. I love to watch this movie over and over to see if there is any thing else that I missed.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect Suspense
Review: Perfect Blue is a very adult psychological puzzler about Mima, a pop star who leaves her popular group to become an actress. A soap opera role is offered, but Mima's character is less clean cut than desired. Regardless, she agrees to take the part and events take a turn for the worse. Soon, Mima's sense of reality begins to slip. She discovers her identical twin, a mirror image of herself that hasn't given up singing. Is it real, or part of her imagination? Before long, internet sites appear describing every intimate detail of Mima's life and a mysterious figure stalks her from the shadows. Her friends and associates are threatened, and killed, as Mima descends into a dangerous world of paranoid delusion. She fears for her life and must unravel fact from illusion in order to stay alive. This all makes for a surprisingly taut, suspenseful nailbiter that is gripping from start to finish. "Perfect Blue" is not the typical anime and that's what makes it so special. Ghosts, cyborgs, and mythical creatures are nowhere to be seen, instead, we are the players in a twisted psychological mind game. The last 30 minutes continually keep you guessing as the filmmakers keep bombarding us with brilliant twist after twist. You have to repeatedly question what is real and what it not, a difficult but enjoyable task that requires you to be on your toes to keep up. Great attention must be paid to detail because not everything makes sense at first sight, a perfect excuse for multiple viewings of this masterpiece. The theme music is quite eerie and totally appropriate for the tone of key scenes as Mima starts her downward spiral. It adds a creepiness to the film, giving it a terrific horror aspect that makes it perfect for late night viewing. "Perfect Blue" is definitely not for everyone, and some might be disappointed, especially because of all the hype. But for fans of a true Hitchcockian thriller, this is a must. It is an excellent film in general and a first class thriller. If Walt Disney and Hitchcock collaborated on a movie, it would be something like this.
Rating: 
Summary: Dissapointing
Review: You expect alot when there is a huge commotion about particular films and this is one DVD I had bought without thinking twice without having seen the movie. I was terribly dissapointed in it though. I truly don't understand what is so great about it, but thats the way I feel about certain other over-glorified anime also. Perfect Blue's animation was well done though it wasn't an eye-feast (not that it should have been). I didn't find the plot intriguing whatsoever, it was not 'deep' and it didn't really hold my attention. I found it to be rather bland and generic . I had figured out who the 'bad guy' was 20minutes into the movie; this movie is rather formulaic in it's use of side-tracking the viewer into believing one thing then revealing the other, there is no real twist. I guess if I judged this movie on what it aimed to do rather then its reputation I would give it 3.5 if I could but as it is, it's not one that I would wish to see again. I returned it to the store shortly after purchasing it. I would recommend you see it first before adding it to your collection. I would also add that people who review anime should keep an open mind - judge the movie on it's merits, not by who wrote/produced/directed it.
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