Perfect blue characters
Psychological horror and thrillers remain prominent in Japanese animation , and many directors and writers undoubtedly draw some inspiration from Satoshi Kon , the late and great creator of Perfect Blue , Millennium Actress , Paprika and Paranoia Agent Kon's works are diverse, each with their own signature style and themes, but they share the common thread of introspection. In nearly all of Kon's films and series, characters are forced to take a good long look at themselves in the mirror while asking "who am I really? Starting from the ostensible bottom of the career ladder, Mima takes on roles that stand as a stark contrast to her previous image, including one where she portrays a victim of sexual assault. Needless to say, not all of her fans are on board with the discarding of her innocent pop star image. Before long, Mima earns a stalker in an obsessed fan named Me-Mania, and the distress begins to mount for the aspiring actress.
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[Analysis] Perfect Blue
Satoshi Kon thought he was making a mere straight-to-video release when he began production on Perfect Blue. To his surprise, the project was rescheduled for theaters. Of all the changes, the biggest was the genre switch.
Takeuchi conceived a disturbing but straightforward tale of stalker horror, whereas Kon specifically wanted to make a psychological thriller. What might seem like a lateral move was more of an opportunity to bring out the emotional innards of the victim, as well as accentuate how her specific industry blurs the line between fantasy and reality. The overarching theme of Perfect Blue is already underway within the first minute. Idol Mima voiced by Junko Iwao and her bandmates dance in front of a crowd made up exclusively of men.
Meanwhile, several hecklers hurl soda cans on stage and shout disruptively. Patrick W. Galbraith and Jason G. Karlin analyze both the popular idol aidoru industry and its influence on society in their book, Idols and Celebrity in Japanese Media Culture. Of course once that artificial persona is revealed or stripped away, fans like Uchida are not always going to react rationally.
In its original context, the term otaku applies to any person obsessed with a facet of pop culture. This can include anime, music, and video games.
The word is not used as lightly in Japan as it is in the West, though. Here it has simply become a term of endearment among anime fans, but parts of Japanese society still have a negative perception of this large subculture. His high-profile case caused a Japanese moral panic regarding anime and manga in the nineties. Kon, on the other hand, understands otaku are not a monolith; he depicts a great deal of passionate yet fairly well-adjusted fans in Perfect Blue. Uchida represents the minority, those being the extreme otaku who devote their lives to their interest and have trouble separating fact from fiction.
Uchida is not the only character with a weakening grip on reality in Perfect Blue. Mima, who has spent years training to be someone else, is now undergoing a second transformation. Everyone around Mima has reservations about her career switch. Uchida, or Me-Mania, comes to reject Mima as an actor once her new public image starts to clash with the first one.
As anticipated, the real Mima cracks underneath the pressure of not being more like the Mima on the website. When Kon saw Perfect Blue on the big screen, one scene in particular made him hang his head and feel embarrassed; he thought he had gone too far. The above moment hits very hard for both the viewers and Mima. While it is technically another performance, the trauma is real.
Mima initially approaches the scene as a professional and acknowledges the artifice. From there everything starts to feel all too real as Mima bids goodbye to her former self.
Once the shoot is over, a somber Mima sits alone in the dressing room, wearing black clothes. This is the mourning period before she can move on. Nothing goes on here without it being crucial to character study. Every second and frame adds meaning to the story. In short, nothing was ever real for Mima. The time comes when Mima is forced to face her fears head on.
He embodies all of her doubts and paranoia. When it looks as if Me-Mania will succeed, Mima takes back control of the situation. As gratifying as it is to see her prevail after being tormented from all sides, Mima is not out of the woods just yet. Using the otaku as a red herring, Perfect Blue is able to draw attention away from the actual killer. Someone close to Mima developed a vicarious relationship with her; they fed on the nostalgia while also overidentifying.
Watching Mima then willingly give up something they crave only led to a tremendous break in reality. Like the more meditative examples of those subgenres, Perfect Blue avoids indiscriminate murders and easy-to-digest motives. As suffocatingly bleak as Perfect Blue gets, Kon left viewers with a glimmer of light. This new venture began with Mima doubting and loathing herself. Looking into mirrors was near impossible without succumbing to those constant ill feelings. Later on as Mima visits her assailant in a psychiatric hospital, they each gaze into different mirrors, looking at distinct reflections.
The deuteragonist remains trapped in their desired image while Mima is grateful to see only herself. This confidence is what finally ends the overlapping of reality and fantasy. With Perfect Blue , he put a new and exciting spin on the psychological thriller. Horrors Elsewhere is a recurring column that spotlights a variety of movies from all around the globe, particularly those not from the United States. Fears may not be universal, but one thing is for sure — a scream is understood, always and everywhere.
Resident Evil may have popularized Survival Horror as a genre, but Silent Hill really cemented these games as vehicles for legitimately chilling narratives. Over the years, the franchise has churned out some of the most recognizable imagery in gaming despite being unfairly neglected by Konami and not seeing a mainline entry for over a decade. While Silent Hill titles have always been lauded for their impeccable visuals and brilliant sound design not to mention those kick-ass soundtracks , what made these games truly scary was their narrative consistency and attention to detail.
Unlike the haunted mansions and B-movie aesthetics of its fellow horror titles, SH always stood out with hellish scenarios and creature designs meant to evoke specific concepts that meshed with the introspective stories being told, with the scares often revealing a darker side to the main characters.
While this list is purely based on personal opinion, there are a few limitations. First, no bosses allowed, as adding Pyramid Head, Split Worm or Abstract Daddy would make the entries a bit too predictable. Second, Silent Hill monsters will be selected according to their own individual scare factor, regardless of the overall quality of the game they appeared in.
Named after the infamous Rorschach test, these malleable creatures are the literal stuff of nightmares and grow progressively spookier as the game goes on. Players never face this horrific angel directly, but Valtiel is a constant eerie presence throughout all of Silent Hill 3, where he acts as a guardian of sorts and tries to ensure that Heather makes it to the end of her demonic pregnancy yes, SH3 is a weird game. While this gaunt creature is never an active threat, preferring to stay on the sidelines as he manipulates the otherworld and even attempts to revive the main character if she is killed, Valtiel earns a spot on our list of the scariest Silent Hill monsters due to his voyeuristic antics and odd fleshy design.
The very first area of the title already introduces Harry Mason to knife-wielding children with an eerie laugh and monstrous design that likely represents how Alessa Gillespie viewed her hostile classmates. Meant to represent the literal twin victims of a crazed serial killer, these conjoined monstrosities never fail to scare me whenever I revisit the game.
You must be logged in to post a comment. Connect with us. Continue Reading. You may like. Click to comment. Published 2 days ago on July 8, By Luiz H. Now, onto the list… 6. Valtiel Silent Hill 3 Players never face this horrific angel directly, but Valtiel is a constant eerie presence throughout all of Silent Hill 3, where he acts as a guardian of sorts and tries to ensure that Heather makes it to the end of her demonic pregnancy yes, SH3 is a weird game.
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The film is based on the novel Perfect Blue: Complete Metamorphosis by Yoshikazu Takeuchi , from which he obviously also taken the name. For his first direction, Kon is surrounded by top level collaborators, in fact he entrusts the script to Sadayuki Murai Boogiepop wa Warawanai , Durarara!! J-pop idol group CHAM! Sadly, all good things must come to an end, and CHAM! Wanting to shed her pop-idol image, she takes on a role in a crime drama series, and her career as an actress gradually becomes more demanding and taxing for both Mima and her manager, Rumi Hidaka. One by one, each disturbing development drives Mima to become increasingly unhinged and unable to distinguish reality from fantasy. Perfect Blue is considered by critics as a cult of Japanese animation.
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While she is a member of CHAM! Mima ultimately decides to depart from the Idol group to pursue her acting career - having been convinced by one of her agents and her prudent thoughts on her future. This move on her career causes some uproar among hardcore fans, especially for the ultimate stalker-fan, Me-Mania. All the while, Mima's acting career seems stagnant, her roles either too short to be note worthy, or too erotic. Regretting her decision at some points, she starts hallucinating her past Idol self - who constantly makes Mima lament and regret her choice in the end. Slowly Mima starts to lose sense of reality. All the while the individuals that are associated with her are brutally murdered.
Mima Kirigoe
Review contains moderate plot points which may be considered spoilers, but are included for the sake of analysis. No plot twists or revelations are exposed, however. As previously noted in my review of Macross II , I was never really a fan of anime outside of the mainstream Studio Ghibli fare, but, thanks to the suggestion of my friend, Matt, I ended up going outside my comfort zone and wound up mostly enjoying what I saw with that quasi-film assembled from a TV miniseries. Yes, far better than K-PAX.
Perfect Blue 20 years later remains beautiful and haunting
Her acting roles feels insignificant and soon take a dark turn that force Mima into a raunchier part of the business just to get by. Soon, Mima realizes that she is being watched. The combined stress of her failing career and the real threat of physical violence builds up and overwhelms the young woman entirely. This gives birth to an alternate self; the Mima Kirigoe who never quit her idol career and seeks to convince the real Mima Kirigoe that she is the fake. Dissociative Identities are an interesting concept—one that Satoshi Kon has used in his works before and since—but I believe this is his best execution of the subject yet.
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Worthy of all the praise it receives, it is one many things that make this film great. Mainly, the use of color and symmetry throughout the film cleverly highlight and foreshadow key plot points. Dreamlike movement, lackadaisical and often sluggish, further blurs the lines between real life and a dream state. In large part, this film maintains its ambiguity through clever cutting and framing. Sharp cuts contrasted with long panning shots help to distinguish dream and reality, but nothing is ever sure.
Perfect Blue (パーフェクトブルー)
She decides to make a change in her career. Her fans are transfixed, watching as she performs one last song like an angel of love. Among the shocked crowd lies one obsessive fan in particular.
Digital Discomfort: Revisiting Satoshi Kon's "Perfect Blue" in the Age of Social Media
In the movie, Mima Kirigoe is a fairly popular Japanese pop idol singer in the girl group CHAM, who decides to transfer into becoming a serious actress on a crime drama that involves a lot of sexually loaded, murder-heavy stories. Mima struggles in this new role but pushes forward out of a sense of obligation to her team, who followed her on this transition, and her own desire to no longer be bound by the limitations of being a pop idol. However, after filming a very intense rape scene, Mima starts showing signs of a breakdown as she loses track of time, starts seeing a double of herself, reality no longer seems to make sense to her, and a mysterious man seems to be following her. Then, people start dying.
Books: Perfect Blue
Mima Kirigoe is an ex-pop idol, oncoming actress. She stares in a psycho thriller TV show called Double Bind. Some of her fans are upset by her change in career and persona, not least the stalker known as " Me-Mania ". Shortly after leaving CHAM! Mima receives a letter from a fan that has a link called "Mima's Room". Mima decided to check it out and although it says "Mima's Room", it's not her website. It's created by a stalker fan that watches her every move and records audio of Mima saying "Excuse me, who are you?
Perfect Blue is the film debut of director Satoshi Kon , who would go on to produce other work investigating the boundary between the real and the imaginary such as Paprika , Paranoia Agent and Millennium Actress. Mima Kirigoe voiced by Junko Iwao is a mildly-popular Idol Singer who decides to leave her group to pursue a serious career as an actress. She manages to land a small role on a sexually-charged murder mystery series, but starts to struggle with the increasingly-intense demands of her part. After her character is involved in a rape scene , Mima discovers an internet blog supposedly written by herself, or rather, the "innocent" persona she used as an Idol Singer.
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