Review of Perfect Blue

Introduction

So, what do we have here then?

We have the Region 1 version of Satoshi Kon’s debut anime film, and a thriller almost worthy of being called a classic. Almost mind you, it has its few flaws but they are so minor that the film still holds together well.

The film centres around a young Japanese pop singer (Mima) who, having decided to leave her group (Cham) and change here career to acting, who finds herself getting more and more draw into her own terror as she struggles to find out what is happening to those around here. I am not going into the plot here, as it deserves not to be spoilt by me.

This is one very good film and is one of the finest anime films to come out of Japan in recent years and is certainly up there with the likes of ‘Grave of the Fireflies’ for bringing something worthy to the very typecast genre. It’s also one of those few films to actually cross the boundary between the class of live action and animation offering some genuine suspense, drama and story along with the usual wide-eyed cute anime characters.

Video

We get a good, clean, Non-Anamorphic 1.85:1 print.

The print lacks a little definition in some of the faster paced scenes but it’s still a damm good transfer and has a good solid depth of colour and tone.

Audio

What can I say? We get the (very well done) English dub in 5.1, the original Japanese soundtrack in 5.1 and both English and Japanese in Pro-Logic also. Both of the 5.1 soundtracks are very good, making good use of all the speakers in your setup when appropriate, this is no action film but it does show how a little bit of work on a 5.1 sound mix can add a lot to the feeling of the film. We also get a good set of English subtitles for those who (like me) prefer to watch in the original Japanese.

Features

This disk really has had some time spent on it. The large quantity of extras on this disk really do add a lot to the enjoyment and value of the film. Even the menus are a cut above most anime DVD’s, offering very swish visuals and well designed screens.

For our main outing into the land of the extras we get interviews with the Engligh actors who have been involved with the overdubbing. An interview with Junko Iwao (the Japanese actress who plays Mima) that is presented in Japanese with English sutitles (a very nice touch). You also get an inteverview with Satoshi Kon.

There is also a good selection of trailers and some nice tie-ins with the idea of ‘Mima’s room’ (see the film and you will understand) taking you to the perfect blue website.
There is also a section on the production of the film’s audio, featuring the 3 actresses who voice the Cham’s songs in the film.
To cap all this there is also a fair amount of DVD-Rom content that I have yet to really look at including lots of shots from the film and a screensaver etc.

Conclusion

This Region 1 release is a really fine addition to any Anime fans collection and if you are in any way a fan of good thrillers of anime then grab a copy.

If was not for the imminent release of the Region 2 (European) version coming out soon I would suggest everyone get a copy. However for the upcoming Region 2 release I have it on good authority that Palm Pictures have decided to go and source and anamophic transfer that will really add to the disk, and also carry all the extras over from this Region 1 disk.

If this is true and the DVD survives the BBFC unscathed than we should be looking at a fantastic version of this already great film and DVD.