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| DVD,
Richard Young,
20 January 1999 |
Rating: F4
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Attempts at weighty psychodrama by makers of Anime are often difficult to appreciate. All too often, subtleties of script and intricacies of plot are lost due to poor translation or simply too many robot-trashing cyber schoolgirls. And Western audiences have been fed a traditional but turgid mix of Disney and Hanna Barbera for far too long to start taking cartoons seriously.
However, for those familiar with the greats such as Akira, Ghost in the Shell and the Evangelion series, Satoshi Kon's Perfect Blue is another reason to re-evaluate one's expectations. The story follows the fateful career of teen pop idol Mima, but that's where the Manga typecasting ends, as the viewer is led into an intricate and almost impenetrable web of obsession, paranoia and madness. Mima is unsatisfied with pop stardom and yearns to be a "proper" actress, but it becomes apparent that a crazed fan is far from happy with her chosen career move, and blood is spilt as a result. But just who is behind this campaign of terror? And who is secretly accessing Mima's website?
What first appears to be a fairly clear cut plot twists, turns pirouettes and backflips in a way that puts the scripts of most contemporary Hollywood thrillers in the shade. It's just a shame that Western assumptions of animated features rarely go beyond the likes of The Lion King and A Bug's Life. Let's just hope the soon to be released Princess Mononoke will help rectify the situation, but in the meantime, buy this!
Manga Video
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