Okayu P It was inspired by it and Aronofski bought the rights of the movie so he could recreate the bath scene, I know the whole story, still my comment stands.
He did in fact buy the rights, but when asked if Perfect Blue influenced Black Swan at all, Aronofsky said: 'Not really, there are similarities between the films, but it wasn't influenced by it.' I call it bs, though.
They seem to be very similar, but in my opinion Perfect Blue is much more a Thriller with a typical villain and Black Swan is rather a psychological tragedy without a real villain in the story. That's I liked a bit more about Black Swan. In my opinion Black Swan was pure mindfuck and Perfect Blue has many mindfuck moments but was in the end a (chase-) thriller (find the murder/villain etc.).
Maybe her riding a red car and saying “I’m real” is her reaffirming her identity not as Old or New Mima, but simply as Mima. She’s telling herself that she is real, her identity and who she is, is real, and she rides a red car - red like the madness. She drives it. She is in control of the madness and the situation. It’s not just surrounding her like it did in the rest of the film. She took back her sanity, her identity, and the color red for herself to use as she sees fit. It’s not something to fear anymore. It’s a pretty color for her car, and that’s it. Because her identity, her self, is real, and she is in control of it. So it was never the public’s identity to warp. It was never her stalker’s, it was never Rumi’s. So her sayingthat Rumi shaped who she was today is inaccurate, because, at the end of the day, the ultimate force behind a person’s identity is themselves. Outside forces can affect us, help us learn, cause us pain, but it’s our choices, feelings and beliefs that ultimately shape who we are.
In addition, the final shot is her reflection backed by blue, and blue and red have often been used as opposites in film. So for her to be backed with blue in the final shot implies she's in control.
I think it is important to see the role of blue as well here. The way I see it, blue and red are constantly used as counterparts. Blue for safety and sanity, red for danger and madness. In the beginning of the film, when Mima returns after she has had her final performance, her appartment is blue, and the surrounding city is red - a safe place. Blue also seems to symbolise privacy. After she receives the fax from her stalker, the camara zooms out from her apartment, and suddenly her window is a red while the sourroundings are blue. Still, it is difficult to determine in some scenes what blue signifies. Notice at 8:00 the murderer is wearing red, while the victim is wearing blue. Is this another symbol of madness overcoming Mima's sanity? Or is the blue used as a counterpart? Or does this mean the invasion of the public (Old Mima, or the expectations of her managers etc.) over the private? Another colour that I couldn't quite place is white. It is very prominent, especially in scenes where Mima 'sells herself'; the dress as a pop idol, the fake rape scene, the sexy photoshoot. An ironic play on the idea of 'purity'? Mima is also drawn in white early in the movie, when she has her first line (only one, but she is quite nervous about it). She looks at the older actors, she feels unexperienced. Perhaps it also signifies her vulnerability. This comment was way longer than I intended, lol. I've been trying to analyse it myself a bit, and the more I watch it the more I come to appreciate it. Really worth a watch if you haven't already!
that makes the fishes being red and blue even more interesting, they're in between and kind of un-trustworthy in the way they're used you never know for sure, how much there, are they alive, dead
Khairun Nisa the rape itself was staged but mima became immersed in the act and was as a result traumatized by this. that, or she unraveled due to the fact that she had been identifying herself as an idol, and had officially destroyed that association with the rape scene, and was left not knowing who she was.
I know it sucks. I wonder if we could offer God Michael Bay in return for Satoshi Kon! Have you read Kon's final letter to his fans and friends before his passing? It's a heartbreaking read.
The ending wasn't meant to be ambiguous. It's a bit hard to hear (in both sub and dub, subtitles just make it more noticeable) but when she walks by the nurses they're talking about whether or not that's the real Mima. That's the reason for Mima's statement at the end.
hmmm, that could be but it is kinda ambiguous: is it the old( glow-y pop idol) Mima or the new (regular) Mima??? we don't know .Mima was answering both questions: the nurses and ours. I personally prefer the latter of the two options because of the blue sky( blue could be used to represent sanity while red represented insanity) and plus I just like happy endings.
I think some people are really reading too much into the ending. Taking into account how this film was based in reality (no monsters, no ghosts, etc), I feel that the "Old Mima" was just Mima battling through her mental state of leaving behind her old pop idol self to move on with her life (in this case becoming an actress as opposed to a childish pop star).
I think that with her last words she just confirms what she had told before to the doctor, thanks to Rumi and the fight Mima was able to confront the old Mima, that means, the trouble she had in her mind with accepting her new life and what she had done in order to change. Thanks to Rumi she could finish her dilema by beating the old Mima and at the same time accepting her past as a part of her, or at least that's what I understand from the moment when Mima saved Rumi/old Mima at the end of the fight. After all that Mima was finally able to accept everything with a positive look, her past, her decisions, who she is, and continue with her new life.
The thing with the final shot is that *1)* The reflection after Mima takes off her glasses has facial features of *both Mima and Rumi* *2)* In the Japanese dub, the last line is said by *Rumi's voice actress* Make of that what you will.
I know this is an old post/video but i did a little bit of research after seeing this movie. The second point has kinda proven to be a false rumor since in the official storyboard it's mima that says that line and if you compare the call mima has with her mother and the last line, you can hear it's the same VA.
I don’t get what u mean by she has both rumi and Mimas facial features in the last shot, she looks just like Mima. What confirms the fact that it also is just Mima and most important relevance of the ending the two nurses talking to each other saying there’s no way that Mima could ever be seen in a place like that. Clearly indicating this was the real Mima who is now a star and driving away in her red car which red was a color of significance to show chaos disturbance or danger in her life and her driving the red car was to show she now has control over the madness that was once in her life and like driving the steering wheel of her red car she drives she has control on the steering wheel of her own life becoming a successful actress with everything now in order and has found clarity in her life by having the perfect blue still shot of the sky in the ending background clearing the confusion she once had about her identity.
@@kermitsippintea7433 if you pause on 11:34 u can see that her eyes and nose look similar to rumis - her nose is more round and bulbous and her eyes maybe even look slightly farther apart than usual
about rumi's obsession - the fact that she herself was a failed idol makes it even more interesting, because it's like she couldn't save her idol career back then, but this time she is adamant on saving mima's career and therefore trying to fix her own past through her. maybe just like they were showing in double bind, rumi took on mima's perfect idol identity in order to save herself from the trauma that was caused by her failure years ago.
If the stabbing in the eyes is symbolic, it’s because of the way they gaze on her, imposing their vision onto her body, not a lust for fame. Also Rumi isn’t “killed by glass”, she’s alive in the hospital? And I don’t think the ending was vague. The nurses are speculating that she’s a doppelgänger. “No, I’m real” is her answer, confirming she has truly found her identity.
Well, all is possible. How do we know Mima hasn't been run over by the truck? And that the driver who looks like her stalker exists in reality, but really is just some truck driver and hasn't killed anyone and it was all her or she imagined it? Mima even mentions that she doesn't know if she died or is alive. I think that's the idea, we can decide what we believe to be true.
I feel like this last scene represents her having accepted her 'alter Ego' which you called old Mima. Now that this persona is no longer occupying Rumi it could go back to Mima herself and make her "Who she is today", as in a Mima that accepted both her old and her new self. I feel like the fact, that she is talking to herself in the mirror in a red car with a 'perfect blue' Sky taking up most of the background enforces this reading
Jojo So I think it has a link to when Mima said “She made who I am today.” which might explain why Rumi’s voice actor said that line in the last scene.
The last phrase that Mima says is about the dialogue of the two girls in white standing out of the asylum, they say "is it mima?" and the other say "no way mima come here, it's just impression" and mima is answering it for herself when she says "no, I'm real". Saying, now I'm not a illusion, I'm myself, as always
Watching these analogies makes me feel stupid. I've seen this film multiple times and have completely failed to notice the symbolism regarding the colours. After watching this vid it makes it so obvious i'm almost embarrassed I never noticed before.My eyes are open, yet I cannot see...:(
It's okay, you aren't stupid. I watch art films where stuff like that is usually the norm, and even I didn't notice alot of the significance of colors.
I love these analytical videos, You've made me so interested in watching Ghost in the Shell and Perfect Blue again. I often miss the nuances of symbolism in these films so even though I feel a bit dim for not noticing them I'm happy to be so interested when they are explained.
Yeah exactly. You're not dim because your brain already knows what's going on. You're only really learning to put a name to what your brain is processing. It's like a form of communication you don't even realize you understand. You should just watch videos after you learn stuff like this. You see it everywhere. Kubrick movies are really good for stuff like this because it's so obvious once you know a million things are going on under the surface.
Thank you very much, it's more an ego thing, I'd like to be sharp as hell and catch all these things but you can't expect to be like that can you? :) Also this is the internet, shouldn't you be berating me? :)
Everyone was obcessed with the old Mima, even Mima herself, they couldn't bear her fading away in exchange of fame(via shameful acts, the rape scene for example), Rumi herself was facing a serious breakdown and it was foreshadowed at the scene where she cried so much at the filming of the rape scene. One of Satoshi Kon's main themes in his works is the multiple personnalities/lives we have, and Mima was facing an identity crisis and started turning mad, but she was not the only one, Rumi too was obcessed with the old Mima and couldn't bare the fact that she is fading away, she prefers her more, because she is innocent and purer than the new one. So everyone including Rumi starts to blame the new Mima for the disappearing of the old one, even Mima herself that's why she is killing everyone that made her "the new" , this continues untill they realize that the old one will never comeback and they're just chasing for an illusion. Rumi's madness finally starts the manifestation, and this is Mima's opportunity to find her true self by going through facing the mad illusion that is haunting everyone-now it's in Rumi's mind-(you mentionned that it's symbolized by the red railing of the walkway). When the truck is about to hit Rumi she smiles, saying "Finally, the old Mima we love will go and rest in peace so You can live your life without any serious madness/dilema". But Mima realized that this will make her regret her whole life to lose such a freind, she decides to save her and now she has nothing to blame herself for, her freind is alive and she(Mima) is free now from the mad illusion. Rumi completely lost her own personnality and became a shell or a "grave" that contains the old Mima, we might say that she is happy that the old Mima died in the real world but she is alive beneath her, that's why she's giving her flowers via the mirror(her poetic way of communicating with Mima like you mentionned). This is how i interpret this masterpiece, sorry for the long text ^^"
How I see is Mima has schizophrenia in the movie-- that is why she keeps on seeing herself and talking to herself. Rumi, on the other hand, has DID (Disassociated Identity Disorder), which explains a lot about her believing that she is the "real Mima". Rumi actually looks very alike to Mima, except being less attractive. Rumi is more overweight and fits less with the beauty standard of the society. Her pathological issues and insecurity make her project herself on Mima. In other words, Rumi cried watching Mima being "raped" not from empaty but anger. From that point on, Rumi felt like she had to destroy Mima to keep the old Mima= Rumi herself.
It's so sad, Rumi crying at the rape scene, at first we all thought it was because she couldn't bare seeing Mima-the real person being treated like this, but now we know it's all just because she couldn't bare seeing Mima-the pop idol persona that she projected herself onto being tainted
@@JP-ct5pe I think Rumi also has schizophenia and not DID, in the beginning as just Rumi-the manager, Rumi does anything to get Mima to be a pop idol again/keep Mima's innocent pop idol persona. Being as Rumi was an ex-idol herself, it makes sense for her to live her past idol life as Mima, so when Mima's pop idol persona broke, she kept living her past idol life as Mima by deluding herself as the actual Mima-the pop idol
Something really disappointing happens if you compare the dub and the sub. In the scene of the struggle between Rumi and Mima, before Rumi gets thrown onto the glass she says "you are an imposter". In the dub Mima replied "no you are the imposter". In the sub, she replies "I don't care, I am who I am". The dub turns a story of self-learning and resignation/acceptance to a simple resolution between 2 people... disappointing
I always refuse to watch the dub. It just doesn't work for me with foreign films. Even if I do not speak the language or understand it, I always recommend people to watch the original or not watch it at all. It comes closer to the authentic experience :)
Not just that, but the "I am who I am" line completely flips her previous line of "Who am I?" from both Double Bind and various other points in the story on its head. It was a perfect juxtaposition to show her coming to terms with her identity and it's sad to hear it's lost in the dub. (Sorry for the necro post lmao)
The last phrase that Mima says is about the dialogue of the two girls in white standing out of the asylum, they say "is it mima?" and the other say "no way mima come here, it's just impression" and mima is answering it for herself when she says "no, I'm real". Saying, now I'm not a illusion, I'm myself, as always
i dont think the story is told in her perspective though. i think its from her managers perspective, thats why she looks sometimes exactly like mima, especially in the chase in the end thats obvious i think. mima herself wouldnt see her manager as herself would she? so it only makes sense that the audience sees the story from her managers perspective, up until she gets found out by mima. what are your thoughts on that?
Benjamin Oeding The final chase scene is interesting because both participants are having exactly the SAME hallucination. Rumi thinks she's the old Mima, and Mima ALSO thinks Rumi is the old Mima. She can't quite see that it's Rumi until she knocks the wig off Rumi's head.
Mima sees rumi as old mima because that's who's trying to take over her life and the delusion won't accept being cast away and Rumi sees herself as old mima, needing to get rid of the new mima so SHE can be mima
A cool thing that you could say is that in the final shot in the car, yes we do see her reflection on the mirror, but this time it is surrounded by the clear blue sky
I feel as though the ending is intentionally, unambiguously a happy ending. Mima does save her friend from the truck and visits her in a mental hospital. Truly, without Rumi, Mima wouldn't have had such a gruelling transition away from being a pop-idol (what with the stalkers and murderers and all), but Rumi has permanently scarred Mima during this incident. That's why the car is so similar to Rumi's. This entire movie is from the point of view of "New Mima" from beginning to end. The meat of Perfect Blue is what should be studied. The beginning and end are cut-and-dry simple to see. Old Mima overcoming New Mima would defeat the entire purpose of rescuing Rumi. Each of them had come to terms with who was the real Mima at the end of their fight. In their realizations, Rumi chose murder/suicide, and Mima chose to rescue her from that suicide and come to a more peaceful outcome. However, while I stand by my belief, there is one point you didn't bring up at the end. One of the nurses that are at the end quickly debating whether or not it's the real Mima conclude that it must be a look-alike. The other nurse is not given an opportunity to reply. Mima then says, "I'm real," which could be read as either the pop-star Mima is real or the human being Mima is real.
Arty the Great that "im real"statement i guess is more on the Mima as a complete human being, not a half self nor a figment of her imagination. That last statement clearly evens out the battle projected throughout the story : the battle between the old and new mima. On that note, Mima managed to overcome both and she doesnt label herself as her old nor her new version. She just simply accepted herself as a whole.
i think that it’s meant to be ambiguous because reality is ambiguous in situations like these. the older i get the more that ambiguity resonates with me - that I am not the “me” i was as a child, nor am I the “me” I would’ve become if I had full autonomy over my material conditions and without trauma. It’s less to me a question of whether one is in control or the other, but rather that she’s accepted who she once was as a part of who she is, and accepted that she no longer feels the need to prove who she is to any particular audience. When mistaken for a lookalike, she just giggles - because she no longer feels the need to change how people perceive her. She simply exists. but i find that in real life my own struggles with identity tend to come and go, and it’s likely she feels the same. it’s impossible to know who one’s “true” self really is, and I think that’s the ambiguity of the ending. I want to read it as a wholly happy ending, but I can’t shake that something makes me feel incredibly “off” about the final shot of her. i don’t know, and i think in reality most people don’t know what to make of themselves either. I think that’s the intended effect.
"And thankfully Kon doesn't just use standard pre-defined methods like *red for danger*..." You hear that Mother's Basement? Stop getting excited over the basics.
Great video. The analysis in this one is definitely a notch above your others, so I'm very interested in seeing how your work is going to proceed from here!
nope, i think it's because rumi madness she's not hesitating anymore for being an actress. as far as i remember in last scene when mima fought rumi, which interpretation of her desires to came back to be an idol, she reject rumi (which also rejecting her desires to came back to be an idol), and say i am who i am (i'm not my past)
I think the new nima won, my reasoning is that the only things that are red in the last few scenes are things that she owns, the flowers ruby is g9ving her and her car and in the final scenes green, white and blue completely take over the screen signifying her grasp back to reality. :-)
The part with the car at the end is interesting. Following your interpretation I'd say the madness is there, it's a part of her just as we all have our potential for insanity. Yet it's a car and she's the driver which I thinks means that now she is in control.
Hot take: the Mima that won in the end isn't "old" (pop idol) mima nor "new" (actor) mima but a third one: Synthesis Mima. The novel title, ""Perfect Blue: A Complete Metamorphosis" got me thinking about mima's arc and I came to realize that her problem all along was her inability to contain her opposing parts: past vs present, expectations vs authenticity, purity vs sexuality and so on. Her victory is in achieving a whole new mode of being: Synthesis Mima, if you will - one that contains her multitudes and has gained sanity and agency because of it, as stated in the last shot by her being behind the wheel at last and engulfed in blue.
_Perfect red_ analysis... Honestly this makes me even more sad for the girl :( All this time I had experienced her illness with her thinking everything around her was threatening and evil, it is in a way, but in reality it was all a cry for help... and no one could listen. Satoshi Kon has done an incredible work of art, so sad how he left us so soon.
I always interpreted the final scene as she being completely in control. Throughout the movie we see her doubting who she is, some events were close to convincing her that she was not Mima. In the final scene she is so confident on who she is it just comes off as her overcoming the madness the way I see it.
I think is pretty cool how that girl looks more "anime" while the men and other background characters have a more realistic design aesthetic to them....I wish they would still made more 2d animation in the US
I think it's supposed to symbolize that Mima (the main character) and her 2 ex-pop idol mates are pretty women in a sea of normal looking people (except for Me-Menia who obviously was disfigured). Most pop stars look conventionally attractive (it's part of the job requirement lol)
I saw this movie in 1999 on a cathodic tv, I never noticed the red color (save for the obvious like Rumi dress) I saw it today on bluray, the red is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay flashier!, Very obvious now
Question: Is there any significance to the color white? I just saw the film and after watching your video, there seems to be an emphasis on white, specifically on scenes that focus on "new Mima." Scenes like the acted out rape scene, the photoshoot, and the blinding light behind Rumi during the final scene.
The color white has many different meanings; in most cases, the color White is the color at its most complete and pure, the color of perfection. The color meaning of white is purity, innocence, wholeness and completion.
I think that white represents purity. In the photoshoot Mima is not in control of what's happening, thus she's framed in white and the photographer is framed in red representing danger or madness - he's a corrupting influence, but she remains uncorrupted because she doesn't perceive his actions as having negative consequences. In the ending - whether or not "Old" Mima or "New" Mima won, Mima is happy with her current state of affairs. The Red Car could be seen as a corruption of Mima's purity, however she's driving suggesting that whatever mental state she exists in - she's in complete control of it. Furthermore Mima's White and Pink Cham dress, represents her purity and femininity - this is why the outfit she wears during the fake rape scene is so similar only the Pink is now red, as her purity and femininity are being corrupted.
Sagittarius Cornwallus // Maybe it has to do with Mima's fall into madness. There was white in the beginning and as the movie continues, there's more and more red. The red may be a reference to all of that.
I think white can symbolize birth or rebirth. Mima had to create a new path in her life when choosing her new career in acting. I believe that the white symbolize rebirth because in each scene when the color white was present, Mima was doing something new or something out of her comfort that she had never done before
Idea: Maybe the movie is titled “Perfect Blue” because, out of all the colors, red and blue are paired the most. Maybe it’s representing how Mima’s old-self (shown through red) sorta because one with who she really wants to be (blue showing moving on from the past). Red is the color of Perfect Blue and for Mima insanity was the pathway to finding out who she is.
I believe she became more whole again after the death of her "friend," like the other personality receded back into her. Yet after everything that's happened it's caused her to be able to truly be herself (i.e she was whole again)
absolutely love this, Perfect Blue still to this day is one of my favorites films, Satoshi Kon just prove how much of a master in his craft he was, sad we loss him so damn early....never notice this detail of the use of Red, incredible analysis on this, now the ending is even more ambiguous, can be interpret both ways, could be old Mima taking already control, but also new Mima is now in the drive seat meaning she is the one in control this time, but how knows, this just makes this movie even better.
i think the dead fish were just a hallucination brought on by the stress of shooting the rape scene. they were an imaginary catalyst for her meltdown that her brain wanted. then they come back to ground mima, as well as the viewer, in what i would consider her descent from madness, when she realises her fish aren't dead.
i always saw the red car as being part of the "craziness" that drove her to that final shot. Her looking at herself in the mirror against an all blue backdrop.
I think they also make use of the colour blue as well. Like when Mima gets that fax and it zooms out Mima’s room is red whereas all the rest of the windows are blue. Also both Mima’s bike is blue, the truck that nearly hits Rumi and Mima is blue and the scene where it cuts to the dead bodies of Me-Mania and the male manager is predominantly blue. If red is Mima’s insanity then possibly blue represents reality.
Super enlightening. I watched half of this before watching the film, so thank you. This film reminds me in its themes of Lynch's Mulholland Drive, which came out a few years later.
You should also make another video about how satoshi kon utilized the color yellow and how it interacted with the color red. If you've noticed, there a lot scene where yellow symbolizes what's real and to help the viewers distinguish between hallucination and what's not. I could go on about this but im lazy af.
I have been theorizing about this movie in an obsessed frenzy for a little while now but your video has offered me so much new insight ! All the symbolism through color absolutely went over my head and I'm so excited to decrypt all you've mentioned on a rewatch of my own. Thank you!
I think the last statement said by Mima is basically her facing her true identity. Mima isn't only an actress, nor she's only a pop star but she's herself who found her own career and she finally came into terms with that. Despite many people impersonating her, Mima will always remain as Mima and she won't change. Her smile represents reassurance that she now has a grasp on reality which she didn't when she was drugged and that she finally accepted who she really is.
Actually, I saw the ending as Yumi having dissociative personality disorder, just as foreshadowed with Mima in double binded. It's discovered and Yumi is placed in a center that takes care of the mentally ill, Mima says that "she's made me who I am today" because yumi has always been a mother figure to her and is also her agent. The ending I just supposed meant that she now did have full control of herself, especially since we see a blue sky in the background for the first time in the whole movie rather than red. I was also under the impression that the stalker was one of Yumi's alter egos, like the agent Yumi and the other Mima, but maybe I'm incorrect. The thought just occurred to me when they put a close up on Yumi and the stalker's face and their eyes are both significantly far apart. They've also never been see in the same shot together, and once Yumi comes to find Mima after the attack of the stalker, he conveniently no longer there. They also bothe deeply care about Mima, at least in the protective stalkish sense (doesn't want her to do the rape scene or give up acting/ protects her from that guy throwing trash in the beginning) Or the other connections like when she's repeating her lines and the stalker has a voice recording...Yumi was the one sitting next to her. Maybe the stalker wanting to murder her personality and the whole "I'm the real Mima" personality stems from a secret jealousy Yumi has of Mima. These were just my thoughts of how I interpreted it. Hope I'm not the only one haha! I know that there's a couple of holes, like the showing of the stalker being murdered and the rape scene like why would Yumi wanna rape Mima?? But idk i still loved the movie and this is the ending that just makes the most sense to me, definitely one of my favorites
Oh, and when Mima says that she knows the real Mima is still in there or whatever at the end, I like your idea of amnesia, but I interpreted it as now she knows that the agent motherly figure that she knows of Yumi is no longer the one she will remember her for and she is now the woman who stalked her and attempted to murder her
(this is an eight month old comment but i just had to throw my two cents in lol sorry) i don't think the stalker (me-mania) was necessarily a figment of rumi's imagination, because he was the one who created and ran 'mima's room', and we also see his dead body next to tadokoro's. we can also confirm that rumi hallucinated being the 'old mima' because she was once a pop idol - we see this when she's talking to tadokoro at the beginning - we can assume she lived the idol life through mima so when mima chose a different path rumi went insane, believing to be the old mima in her place. i think rumi was the one sending me-mania all those emails as well, so we can deduce that they sort of worked together - rumi sent him details about the real mima's day and me-mania would post those on the website. me-mania was probably the once who did the murders too, including the photographer: one line i noted him saying was something along the lines of 'you're a weird deliveryman' despite the murderer appearing to look like mima. i suppose me-mania imagined her killing him in his place.
did you guys notice how at 1:37 in the mirror, the one in front of the computer is mima? instead rumi. if it was mima's actual reflection it wouldve been closer to the mirror, thats such a tiny detail
I feel like the blue represented her actress self, the bow around her neck and the blue surrounding her in the acting scenes and I feel like the shatter of the glass Rumi looked into represents her shattered mind, her own insanity
I didn't know that the red had so much meaning in the mental condition of Mima.That was an incredible analytic video of Perfect Blue maybe i must go and watch the movie again.
I like how they pretty much told you who the antagonists of the movie were by making them both look strange. For example, both Rumi and the stalker have eyes that are too far apart, Rumi is overweight, and the stalker has separated teeth. They are imperfect while Mima and everyone else around them are physically perfect.
I honestly don’t know what to say or which I like more: when a director can wordlessly use universal symbols like color to communicate underlying themes or when people find and dissect these symbols and share their rich analysis with others. Bravo, sir. I loved this. I really can’t explain how much I did.
I watched Paprika first, then Perfect Blue this week. I give them both a 10/10 for brilliant psychological mindfuckery that left me hanging with so many questions and a desire for rewatching. They were so beautiful! RIP, Satoshi Kon.
I love these so much! I run an Anime club and want to go more over the industry, how anime is made,editing, film techniques, marketing and all the other in's and outs'. Thank you for your videos! They are amazing, and my members really enjoy them.
Worth specifying since so much of how Mima is consumed by the audience is via video/internet, which uses additive light. Red/Green/Blue are the primary colors of light, also called additive light. What most people think of as primary colors are Red/Yellow/Blue as used in mixing paint, also called subtractive color.
I like to think that the shot with Mima sitting in her red car says that, although her psyche is not the same as before hence it being so vibrant, she is now in control.
You should take note the use of red and its contrast with yellow. As you have mentioned, red represents her hallucination and her slow descent to madness, but whats interesting is the use of yellow to symbolize her and the truth. Where most scenes involving red, there are flashes of yellow which you can use to identify which is the reality or not. Knowing how Satoshi Kon used yellow gives the ending a much deeper meaning. Mina is wearing yellow as she drives her car, which can symbolize her controlling her mental state.
Beautiful analysis, very well done. I have a renewed respect for the film - which I already enjoyed greatly. Satoshi Kon will be missed, he was an immense talent.
I am getting addicted to this channel, it is really good dude. How do you have so much film knowledge and is there something about anime in particular that you find enjoyable that makes you want to write about it so much?
Glad you enjoy the videos dude! Personally I'm drawn to anime because of the medium's thematic focuses and stylistic approaches, you don't get these kind of stories and presentation in other mediums.
I audibly gasped at least five or six times at all of the little details you pointed out in this video! What an incredibly complex, thoughtful, and downright genius movie!
had this video saved to watch later ever since it came out to watch it after i watch the movie and now today, seven years later, i can finally watch it 😭
Finally a well-made analysis of Perfect Blue! Please do End of Evangelion next. I'd love to hear your take on Anno's directing style. Or maybe any Hosoda film.
Showed this video to my college lecturer after we watched Perfect Blue in class, and she showed it to the rest of the class afterward! :D Great analysis, thanks for all the helpful insights!
I think that Mima learned to become one with her insanity, because the whole movie she's rejected her previous career and personality to try and push her actress role, and we see that the more she fights it the more distressed she gets. So she finally accepts her past and uses it to move in her future. That's what I think after watching this video, which by the way is really good
Just a few corrections. Me-Mania (the stalker) isn't "murdured", he was killed by Mima - the real, new, present day one - in self-defense) and Rumi isn't "killed", she is "stabbed" - she survived and is convalescing in the hospital, possibly in a psych ward, as seen by the end of the movie.And the "Old Mima" (the one in white and red jumping around in idol garb) doesn't represent Mima's madness, but Rumi's. Mima is just legitimately confused by the actions of her psycho manager 😆❤Nice analysis, i just saw this movie and discovered Satoshi Kon last week at the Vancouver Cinémathèque. Honestly, "Tokyo Godfathers" was even better, especially humor- and character-development-wise. I'm downloading "Millenium Actress" right now!
(Please Read) I like his theories on the use of the color red. However, I think the use of red in the film was used as a way to excite the viewer. It's a proven fact that when we view red our heart rate increases as well as blood pressure and metabolism. Red is a sign of caution, anger, alertness, fear, and many other things. A good example of a similar concept is Dario Argento's Suspiria. Suspiria is saturated in deep hues of red, blue, yellow, and sometimes green. The reason Argento did this was to evoke the sense of fear as well as the feeling of being in a nightmare. Kon uses red in scenes when tension is at its highest as well as at times when we should be prepared and fear for what is next.
The crazy this is that the last line of the movie, "I'm the real thing" is said from Mima's character, but is voiced from Rumi's voice actor, Rica Matsumoto.
![[Special Clip] ATEEZ(에이티즈) 홍중 'Why Do You Love'](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/I6XYXQKN_pY/mqdefault.jpg)
"We made this movie using the red color to explain better the story... how do we call the movie?"
"Perfect Blue"
"Fantastic"
If blue is perfect, then what is red? think about it.
*x-files music theme in the background*
X9DW That's because "blue" is related to sexuality in japanese culture.
.Because it's adapted from a novel by the this name
horrible orange?
It's incredible how this movie makes Black Swan seen less original. The same way Paprika does with Inception.
Okayu P
It was inspired by it and Aronofski bought the rights of the movie so he could recreate the bath scene, I know the whole story, still my comment stands.
Actually the bath scene is in Requiem for a dream not Black swan.
He did in fact buy the rights, but when asked if Perfect Blue influenced Black Swan at all, Aronofsky said: 'Not really, there are similarities between the films, but it wasn't influenced by it.' I call it bs, though.
They seem to be very similar, but in my opinion Perfect Blue is much more a Thriller with a typical villain and Black Swan is rather a psychological tragedy without a real villain in the story. That's I liked a bit more about Black Swan. In my opinion Black Swan was pure mindfuck and Perfect Blue has many mindfuck moments but was in the end a (chase-) thriller (find the murder/villain etc.).
Still, it was highly influenced by Perfect Blue.
i can't belive i never noticed how much bright red was used even tho it's all in your face.
yeah i feel kinda dumb
Maybe her riding a red car and saying “I’m real” is her reaffirming her identity not as Old or New Mima, but simply as Mima. She’s telling herself that she is real, her identity and who she is, is real, and she rides a red car - red like the madness. She drives it. She is in control of the madness and the situation. It’s not just surrounding her like it did in the rest of the film. She took back her sanity, her identity, and the color red for herself to use as she sees fit. It’s not something to fear anymore. It’s a pretty color for her car, and that’s it. Because her identity, her self, is real, and she is in control of it.
So it was never the public’s identity to warp. It was never her stalker’s, it was never Rumi’s. So her sayingthat Rumi shaped who she was today is inaccurate, because, at the end of the day, the ultimate force behind a person’s identity is themselves. Outside forces can affect us, help us learn, cause us pain, but it’s our choices, feelings and beliefs that ultimately shape who we are.
Yes ... ! ... Thank you ... This kinda helped me
In addition, the final shot is her reflection backed by blue, and blue and red have often been used as opposites in film. So for her to be backed with blue in the final shot implies she's in control.
Wow ... More thanks ✨
Ahhh... I get it ... The movie's name is perfect blue ... Which means completely in peace or control ... ^_^
That was always my interpretation as well!
I think it is important to see the role of blue as well here. The way I see it, blue and red are constantly used as counterparts. Blue for safety and sanity, red for danger and madness. In the beginning of the film, when Mima returns after she has had her final performance, her appartment is blue, and the surrounding city is red - a safe place. Blue also seems to symbolise privacy. After she receives the fax from her stalker, the camara zooms out from her apartment, and suddenly her window is a red while the sourroundings are blue.
Still, it is difficult to determine in some scenes what blue signifies. Notice at 8:00 the murderer is wearing red, while the victim is wearing blue. Is this another symbol of madness overcoming Mima's sanity? Or is the blue used as a counterpart? Or does this mean the invasion of the public (Old Mima, or the expectations of her managers etc.) over the private?
Another colour that I couldn't quite place is white. It is very prominent, especially in scenes where Mima 'sells herself'; the dress as a pop idol, the fake rape scene, the sexy photoshoot. An ironic play on the idea of 'purity'? Mima is also drawn in white early in the movie, when she has her first line (only one, but she is quite nervous about it). She looks at the older actors, she feels unexperienced. Perhaps it also signifies her vulnerability.
This comment was way longer than I intended, lol. I've been trying to analyse it myself a bit, and the more I watch it the more I come to appreciate it. Really worth a watch if you haven't already!
Someone made a comment about white somewhere!
The rape wasn't fake.
@@ahsongfei For real? Is she raped for real?!
that makes the fishes being red and blue even more interesting, they're in between and kind of un-trustworthy in the way they're used you never know for sure, how much there, are they alive, dead
Khairun Nisa the rape itself was staged but mima became immersed in the act and was as a result traumatized by this. that, or she unraveled due to the fact that she had been identifying herself as an idol, and had officially destroyed that association with the rape scene, and was left not knowing who she was.
This movie fucked my mind so hard.
Same the rape scene hit me hard
same
This movies soundtrack creeped me out so much
God tier sound track, I am now reminding you that you watched this movie 4 years ago
@@roshans5275 I just watched it today and yes, the music is deeply disturbing
I actually kinda like the music
These OSTs totally inspired Silent hills for sure
It’s good
I wish he didn't pass away.
I know it sucks. I wonder if we could offer God Michael Bay in return for Satoshi Kon! Have you read Kon's final letter to his fans and friends before his passing? It's a heartbreaking read.
If I may cite the famous quote "Time makes fools of us all"
The ending wasn't meant to be ambiguous. It's a bit hard to hear (in both sub and dub, subtitles just make it more noticeable) but when she walks by the nurses they're talking about whether or not that's the real Mima. That's the reason for Mima's statement at the end.
hmmm, that could be but it is kinda ambiguous: is it the old( glow-y pop idol) Mima or the new (regular) Mima??? we don't know .Mima was answering both questions: the nurses and ours. I personally prefer the latter of the two options because of the blue sky( blue could be used to represent sanity while red represented insanity) and plus I just like happy endings.
I think some people are really reading too much into the ending. Taking into account how this film was based in reality (no monsters, no ghosts, etc), I feel that the "Old Mima" was just Mima battling through her mental state of leaving behind her old pop idol self to move on with her life (in this case becoming an actress as opposed to a childish pop star).
Thank you for clearing that up. There are so many subtle nuances lost on the English dubbed version.
That doesn't make it less ambiguous which Mima won. That just give a context to that line.
I think that with her last words she just confirms what she had told before to the doctor, thanks to Rumi and the fight Mima was able to confront the old Mima, that means, the trouble she had in her mind with accepting her new life and what she had done in order to change. Thanks to Rumi she could finish her dilema by beating the old Mima and at the same time accepting her past as a part of her, or at least that's what I understand from the moment when Mima saved Rumi/old Mima at the end of the fight. After all that Mima was finally able to accept everything with a positive look, her past, her decisions, who she is, and continue with her new life.
On a whim, I went to a theater to watch this film. Just as I contemplated leaving, the film took a sudden turn and I was riveted.
Thank god you stayed!
Right! you could have missed the best directed anime film ever
SO LUCKY!
which turn exactly convinced you to stay? i’m curious
The thing with the final shot is that
*1)* The reflection after Mima takes off her glasses has facial features of *both Mima and Rumi*
*2)* In the Japanese dub, the last line is said by *Rumi's voice actress*
Make of that what you will.
I know this is an old post/video but i did a little bit of research after seeing this movie. The second point has kinda proven to be a false rumor since in the official storyboard it's mima that says that line and if you compare the call mima has with her mother and the last line, you can hear it's the same VA.
@@massainformedipatatine feels like a bad production to let Rumi dub that last line. Surely it was not a mistake?
@@polarisgemini52 Except she didnt, go watch it again. It is Rimi's voice actress
I don’t get what u mean by she has both rumi and Mimas facial features in the last shot, she looks just like Mima. What confirms the fact that it also is just Mima and most important relevance of the ending the two nurses talking to each other saying there’s no way that Mima could ever be seen in a place like that. Clearly indicating this was the real Mima who is now a star and driving away in her red car which red was a color of significance to show chaos disturbance or danger in her life and her driving the red car was to show she now has control over the madness that was once in her life and like driving the steering wheel of her red car she drives she has control on the steering wheel of her own life becoming a successful actress with everything now in order and has found clarity in her life by having the perfect blue still shot of the sky in the ending background clearing the confusion she once had about her identity.
@@kermitsippintea7433 if you pause on 11:34 u can see that her eyes and nose look similar to rumis - her nose is more round and bulbous and her eyes maybe even look slightly farther apart than usual
"How much red do you want?"
Satoshki Kon: Blue.
about rumi's obsession - the fact that she herself was a failed idol makes it even more interesting, because it's like she couldn't save her idol career back then, but this time she is adamant on saving mima's career and therefore trying to fix her own past through her.
maybe just like they were showing in double bind, rumi took on mima's perfect idol identity in order to save herself from the trauma that was caused by her failure years ago.
If the stabbing in the eyes is symbolic, it’s because of the way they gaze on her, imposing their vision onto her body, not a lust for fame.
Also Rumi isn’t “killed by glass”, she’s alive in the hospital? And I don’t think the ending was vague. The nurses are speculating that she’s a doppelgänger. “No, I’m real” is her answer, confirming she has truly found her identity.
Well, all is possible. How do we know Mima hasn't been run over by the truck? And that the driver who looks like her stalker exists in reality, but really is just some truck driver and hasn't killed anyone and it was all her or she imagined it? Mima even mentions that she doesn't know if she died or is alive. I think that's the idea, we can decide what we believe to be true.
Except the “mima” who says she’s real is the Mima in the reflection.
Rumi IS killed, as she is full consumed by her idea of Being Mima
I feel like this last scene represents her having accepted her 'alter Ego' which you called old Mima.
Now that this persona is no longer occupying Rumi it could go back to Mima herself and make her "Who she is today", as in a Mima that accepted both her old and her new self.
I feel like the fact, that she is talking to herself in the mirror in a red car with a 'perfect blue' Sky taking up most of the background enforces this reading
Except for Rumi seeing Mima in the mirror in the ward. Idk what to make of the ending myself.
The last line of the movie, "I'm the real thing" is said from Mima's character, but is voiced from Rumi's voice actor, Rica Matsumoto.
Jojo So I think it has a link to when Mima said “She made who I am today.” which might explain why Rumi’s voice actor said that line in the last scene.
The last phrase that Mima says is about the dialogue of the two girls in white standing out of the asylum, they say "is it mima?" and the other say "no way mima come here, it's just impression" and mima is answering it for herself when she says "no, I'm real". Saying, now I'm not a illusion, I'm myself, as always
Watching these analogies makes me feel stupid. I've seen this film multiple times and have completely failed to notice the symbolism regarding the colours. After watching this vid it makes it so obvious i'm almost embarrassed I never noticed before.My eyes are open, yet I cannot see...:(
It's okay, you aren't stupid. I watch art films where stuff like that is usually the norm, and even I didn't notice alot of the significance of colors.
Maybe because you can’t spell colors
@@logic_xxmobxx9636 uuummmm do not realize that "colour" is the correct spelling in the UK
@@themcrib7920 lol
me too, i think that’s what makes it so beautiful. the complexity and symbolism of everything.
I love these analytical videos, You've made me so interested in watching Ghost in the Shell and Perfect Blue again. I often miss the nuances of symbolism in these films so even though I feel a bit dim for not noticing them I'm happy to be so interested when they are explained.
the thing about these symbols and use of color is that you generally notice them subconsciously which is generally the intent
Yeah exactly. You're not dim because your brain already knows what's going on. You're only really learning to put a name to what your brain is processing. It's like a form of communication you don't even realize you understand.
You should just watch videos after you learn stuff like this. You see it everywhere. Kubrick movies are really good for stuff like this because it's so obvious once you know a million things are going on under the surface.
Thank you very much, it's more an ego thing, I'd like to be sharp as hell and catch all these things but you can't expect to be like that can you? :)
Also this is the internet, shouldn't you be berating me? :)
Overall, this animation is just so smooth, clean-cut, and aesthetically pleasing af.
Clearly one of the best anime films ever!
THE
Grave of the fireflies
I agree. Many are very, very good (Princess Mononoke), but Perfect Blue is above Akira for me.
rest in peace mr. Satoshi Kohn.
a man who died before his time.
the man who questioned.
Everyone was obcessed with the old Mima, even Mima herself, they couldn't bear her fading away in exchange of fame(via shameful acts, the rape scene for example), Rumi herself was facing a serious breakdown and it was foreshadowed at the scene where she cried so much at the filming of the rape scene.
One of Satoshi Kon's main themes in his works is the multiple personnalities/lives we have, and Mima was facing an identity crisis and started turning mad, but she was not the only one, Rumi too was obcessed with the old Mima and couldn't bare the fact that she is fading away, she prefers her more, because she is innocent and purer than the new one.
So everyone including Rumi starts to blame the new Mima for the disappearing of the old one, even Mima herself that's why she is killing everyone that made her "the new" , this continues untill they realize that the old one will never comeback and they're just chasing for an illusion.
Rumi's madness finally starts the manifestation, and this is Mima's opportunity to find her true self by going through facing the mad illusion that is haunting everyone-now it's in Rumi's mind-(you mentionned that it's symbolized by the red railing of the walkway).
When the truck is about to hit Rumi she smiles, saying "Finally, the old Mima we love will go and rest in peace so You can live your life without any serious madness/dilema".
But Mima realized that this will make her regret her whole life to lose such a freind, she decides to save her and now she has nothing to blame herself for, her freind is alive and she(Mima) is free now from the mad illusion.
Rumi completely lost her own personnality and became a shell or a "grave" that contains the old Mima, we might say that she is happy that the old Mima died in the real world but she is alive beneath her, that's why she's giving her flowers via the mirror(her poetic way of communicating with Mima like you mentionned).
This is how i interpret this masterpiece, sorry for the long text ^^"
How I see is Mima has schizophrenia in the movie-- that is why she keeps on seeing herself and talking to herself. Rumi, on the other hand, has DID (Disassociated Identity Disorder), which explains a lot about her believing that she is the "real Mima". Rumi actually looks very alike to Mima, except being less attractive. Rumi is more overweight and fits less with the beauty standard of the society. Her pathological issues and insecurity make her project herself on Mima. In other words, Rumi cried watching Mima being "raped" not from empaty but anger. From that point on, Rumi felt like she had to destroy Mima to keep the old Mima= Rumi herself.
It's so sad, Rumi crying at the rape scene, at first we all thought it was because she couldn't bare seeing Mima-the real person being treated like this, but now we know it's all just because she couldn't bare seeing Mima-the pop idol persona that she projected herself onto being tainted
@@JP-ct5pe I think Rumi also has schizophenia and not DID, in the beginning as just Rumi-the manager, Rumi does anything to get Mima to be a pop idol again/keep Mima's innocent pop idol persona. Being as Rumi was an ex-idol herself, it makes sense for her to live her past idol life as Mima, so when Mima's pop idol persona broke, she kept living her past idol life as Mima by deluding herself as the actual Mima-the pop idol
Something really disappointing happens if you compare the dub and the sub. In the scene of the struggle between Rumi and Mima, before Rumi gets thrown onto the glass she says "you are an imposter". In the dub Mima replied "no you are the imposter". In the sub, she replies "I don't care, I am who I am". The dub turns a story of self-learning and resignation/acceptance to a simple resolution between 2 people... disappointing
I always refuse to watch the dub. It just doesn't work for me with foreign films. Even if I do not speak the language or understand it, I always recommend people to watch the original or not watch it at all. It comes closer to the authentic experience :)
Not just that, but the "I am who I am" line completely flips her previous line of "Who am I?" from both Double Bind and various other points in the story on its head. It was a perfect juxtaposition to show her coming to terms with her identity and it's sad to hear it's lost in the dub. (Sorry for the necro post lmao)
The sub I watched replied with "I don't care I can't change who I am" and mama never said anything about rumi being the imposter.
The last phrase that Mima says is about the dialogue of the two girls in white standing out of the asylum, they say "is it mima?" and the other say "no way mima come here, it's just impression" and mima is answering it for herself when she says "no, I'm real". Saying, now I'm not a illusion, I'm myself, as always
i dont think the story is told in her perspective though. i think its from her managers perspective, thats why she looks sometimes exactly like mima, especially in the chase in the end thats obvious i think. mima herself wouldnt see her manager as herself would she? so it only makes sense that the audience sees the story from her managers perspective, up until she gets found out by mima.
what are your thoughts on that?
This makes a lot of sense I like this perspective 🤔
Benjamin Oeding The final chase scene is interesting because both participants are having exactly the SAME hallucination. Rumi thinks she's the old Mima, and Mima ALSO thinks Rumi is the old Mima. She can't quite see that it's Rumi until she knocks the wig off Rumi's head.
no it's because she (mima) was delusional too
it's supposed to be a folie à deux
Mima sees rumi as old mima because that's who's trying to take over her life and the delusion won't accept being cast away and Rumi sees herself as old mima, needing to get rid of the new mima so SHE can be mima
A cool thing that you could say is that in the final shot in the car, yes we do see her reflection on the mirror, but this time it is surrounded by the clear blue sky
Well, now i have to watch the movie again
I feel as though the ending is intentionally, unambiguously a happy ending. Mima does save her friend from the truck and visits her in a mental hospital. Truly, without Rumi, Mima wouldn't have had such a gruelling transition away from being a pop-idol (what with the stalkers and murderers and all), but Rumi has permanently scarred Mima during this incident. That's why the car is so similar to Rumi's. This entire movie is from the point of view of "New Mima" from beginning to end. The meat of Perfect Blue is what should be studied. The beginning and end are cut-and-dry simple to see. Old Mima overcoming New Mima would defeat the entire purpose of rescuing Rumi. Each of them had come to terms with who was the real Mima at the end of their fight. In their realizations, Rumi chose murder/suicide, and Mima chose to rescue her from that suicide and come to a more peaceful outcome.
However, while I stand by my belief, there is one point you didn't bring up at the end. One of the nurses that are at the end quickly debating whether or not it's the real Mima conclude that it must be a look-alike. The other nurse is not given an opportunity to reply. Mima then says, "I'm real," which could be read as either the pop-star Mima is real or the human being Mima is real.
Arty the Great that "im real"statement i guess is more on the Mima as a complete human being, not a half self nor a figment of her imagination. That last statement clearly evens out the battle projected throughout the story : the battle between the old and new mima.
On that note, Mima managed to overcome both and she doesnt label herself as her old nor her new version. She just simply accepted herself as a whole.
i think that it’s meant to be ambiguous because reality is ambiguous in situations like these. the older i get the more that ambiguity resonates with me - that I am not the “me” i was as a child, nor am I the “me” I would’ve become if I had full autonomy over my material conditions and without trauma.
It’s less to me a question of whether one is in control or the other, but rather that she’s accepted who she once was as a part of who she is, and accepted that she no longer feels the need to prove who she is to any particular audience. When mistaken for a lookalike, she just giggles - because she no longer feels the need to change how people perceive her. She simply exists.
but i find that in real life my own struggles with identity tend to come and go, and it’s likely she feels the same. it’s impossible to know who one’s “true” self really is, and I think that’s the ambiguity of the ending.
I want to read it as a wholly happy ending, but I can’t shake that something makes me feel incredibly “off” about the final shot of her. i don’t know, and i think in reality most people don’t know what to make of themselves either. I think that’s the intended effect.
I think it’s significant that the Mima who says “I’m real” is the Mima in the reflection.
"And thankfully Kon doesn't just use standard pre-defined methods like *red for danger*..."
You hear that Mother's Basement? Stop getting excited over the basics.
To be fair, red doesnt mean danger in the film, it means madness or illusion
i vote she is now in control because while she is inside the car she is the one driving
I watched this film last year and it was so captivating yet confusing and your analysis made me remember how much of a masterpiece it was
Great video. The analysis in this one is definitely a notch above your others, so I'm very interested in seeing how your work is going to proceed from here!
The truth is that she says "Thanks to her I am who I am today" coz Rumi helped her with her career as some sort of manager.
nope, i think it's because rumi madness she's not hesitating anymore for being an actress.
as far as i remember in last scene when mima fought rumi, which interpretation of her desires to came back to be an idol, she reject rumi (which also rejecting her desires to came back to be an idol), and say i am who i am (i'm not my past)
It's actually a double entendre.
I think the new nima won, my reasoning is that the only things that are red in the last few scenes are things that she owns, the flowers ruby is g9ving her and her car and in the final scenes green, white and blue completely take over the screen signifying her grasp back to reality. :-)
The part with the car at the end is interesting. Following your interpretation I'd say the madness is there, it's a part of her just as we all have our potential for insanity. Yet it's a car and she's the driver which I thinks means that now she is in control.
yeah theres something off about mima in that scene
Hot take: the Mima that won in the end isn't "old" (pop idol) mima nor "new" (actor) mima but a third one: Synthesis Mima.
The novel title, ""Perfect Blue: A Complete Metamorphosis" got me thinking about mima's arc and I came to realize that her problem all along was her inability to contain her opposing parts: past vs present, expectations vs authenticity, purity vs sexuality and so on. Her victory is in achieving a whole new mode of being: Synthesis Mima, if you will - one that contains her multitudes and has gained sanity and agency because of it, as stated in the last shot by her being behind the wheel at last and engulfed in blue.
_Perfect red_ analysis...
Honestly this makes me even more sad for the girl :(
All this time I had experienced her illness with her thinking everything around her was threatening and evil, it is in a way, but in reality it was all a cry for help... and no one could listen.
Satoshi Kon has done an incredible work of art, so sad how he left us so soon.
I always interpreted the final scene as she being completely in control. Throughout the movie we see her doubting who she is, some events were close to convincing her that she was not Mima. In the final scene she is so confident on who she is it just comes off as her overcoming the madness the way I see it.
I think is pretty cool how that girl looks more "anime" while the men and other background characters have a more realistic design aesthetic to them....I wish they would still made more 2d animation in the US
I think it's supposed to symbolize that Mima (the main character) and her 2 ex-pop idol mates are pretty women in a sea of normal looking people (except for Me-Menia who obviously was disfigured). Most pop stars look conventionally attractive (it's part of the job requirement lol)
didnt notice but it was as obvious as mirror's edge's obstacles thing lol
I saw this movie in 1999 on a cathodic tv, I never noticed the red color (save for the obvious like Rumi dress) I saw it today on bluray, the red is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay flashier!, Very obvious now
Haha XD i love this game :)
Question: Is there any significance to the color white? I just saw the film and after watching your video, there seems to be an emphasis on white, specifically on scenes that focus on "new Mima." Scenes like the acted out rape scene, the photoshoot, and the blinding light behind Rumi during the final scene.
The color white has many different meanings; in most cases, the color White is the color at its most complete and pure, the color of perfection. The color meaning of white is purity, innocence, wholeness and completion.
I think that white represents purity.
In the photoshoot Mima is not in control of what's happening, thus she's framed in white and the photographer is framed in red representing danger or madness - he's a corrupting influence, but she remains uncorrupted because she doesn't perceive his actions as having negative consequences.
In the ending - whether or not "Old" Mima or "New" Mima won, Mima is happy with her current state of affairs. The Red Car could be seen as a corruption of Mima's purity, however she's driving suggesting that whatever mental state she exists in - she's in complete control of it.
Furthermore Mima's White and Pink Cham dress, represents her purity and femininity - this is why the outfit she wears during the fake rape scene is so similar only the Pink is now red, as her purity and femininity are being corrupted.
Sagittarius Cornwallus // Maybe it has to do with Mima's fall into madness. There was white in the beginning and as the movie continues, there's more and more red. The red may be a reference to all of that.
I think white can symbolize birth or rebirth. Mima had to create a new path in her life when choosing her new career in acting. I believe that the white symbolize rebirth because in each scene when the color white was present, Mima was doing something new or something out of her comfort that she had never done before
White represents death in Japan.
Idea: Maybe the movie is titled “Perfect Blue” because, out of all the colors, red and blue are paired the most. Maybe it’s representing how Mima’s old-self (shown through red) sorta because one with who she really wants to be (blue showing moving on from the past). Red is the color of Perfect Blue and for Mima insanity was the pathway to finding out who she is.
I believe she became more whole again after the death of her "friend," like the other personality receded back into her. Yet after everything that's happened it's caused her to be able to truly be herself (i.e she was whole again)
absolutely love this, Perfect Blue still to this day is one of my favorites films, Satoshi Kon just prove how much of a master in his craft he was, sad we loss him so damn early....never notice this detail of the use of Red, incredible analysis on this, now the ending is even more ambiguous, can be interpret both ways, could be old Mima taking already control, but also new Mima is now in the drive seat meaning she is the one in control this time, but how knows, this just makes this movie even better.
Looks like I'm watching Perfect Blue again tonight
_What is the significance of the fish?!_
Hrnek Bezucha They're in an aquarium right? I'd interpret as the fish is free to swim but their freedom is limited.
i think the dead fish were just a hallucination brought on by the stress of shooting the rape scene. they were an imaginary catalyst for her meltdown that her brain wanted. then they come back to ground mima, as well as the viewer, in what i would consider her descent from madness, when she realises her fish aren't dead.
Most of the fish died, except two metaphorical ones. At least thats what i think.
The innoncence because after of rape's scene, the fishes died.
for me they symbolized the innocence of mima.
Also notice when Nima says "I'm the real one" the scene is covered in blue.
i always saw the red car as being part of the "craziness" that drove her to that final shot. Her looking at herself in the mirror against an all blue backdrop.
I think the ending is Mima in control of who she wants to be. She gets into the driver's seat, and looks at the mirror with confidence and a smile.
I think they also make use of the colour blue as well. Like when Mima gets that fax and it zooms out Mima’s room is red whereas all the rest of the windows are blue. Also both Mima’s bike is blue, the truck that nearly hits Rumi and Mima is blue and the scene where it cuts to the dead bodies of Me-Mania and the male manager is predominantly blue. If red is Mima’s insanity then possibly blue represents reality.
Dang I didn’t notice that
Perfect Blue uses the colour red well and Erased uses it too obviously. How would an analyst judge the use of red in Sword of the Stranger?
Super enlightening. I watched half of this before watching the film, so thank you. This film reminds me in its themes of Lynch's Mulholland Drive, which came out a few years later.
You should also make another video about how satoshi kon utilized the color yellow and how it interacted with the color red. If you've noticed, there a lot scene where yellow symbolizes what's real and to help the viewers distinguish between hallucination and what's not. I could go on about this but im lazy af.
I have been theorizing about this movie in an obsessed frenzy for a little while now but your video has offered me so much new insight ! All the symbolism through color absolutely went over my head and I'm so excited to decrypt all you've mentioned on a rewatch of my own. Thank you!
when the fuck did all these really good film and animie analysis videos start comin out?!?! yall everywhere now
The pink we see on Mima’s pop outfit also represents her sweet and innocence image that she is trying to get away from.
Wow. Imagine the kind of planning that must of went into making the movie.
The way you analyzed the movie was really good, I learned a lot.
I think the last statement said by Mima is basically her facing her true identity. Mima isn't only an actress, nor she's only a pop star but she's herself who found her own career and she finally came into terms with that. Despite many people impersonating her, Mima will always remain as Mima and she won't change. Her smile represents reassurance that she now has a grasp on reality which she didn't when she was drugged and that she finally accepted who she really is.
Actually, I saw the ending as Yumi having dissociative personality disorder, just as foreshadowed with Mima in double binded. It's discovered and Yumi is placed in a center that takes care of the mentally ill, Mima says that "she's made me who I am today" because yumi has always been a mother figure to her and is also her agent. The ending I just supposed meant that she now did have full control of herself, especially since we see a blue sky in the background for the first time in the whole movie rather than red.
I was also under the impression that the stalker was one of Yumi's alter egos, like the agent Yumi and the other Mima, but maybe I'm incorrect. The thought just occurred to me when they put a close up on Yumi and the stalker's face and their eyes are both significantly far apart. They've also never been see in the same shot together, and once Yumi comes to find Mima after the attack of the stalker, he conveniently no longer there. They also bothe deeply care about Mima, at least in the protective stalkish sense (doesn't want her to do the rape scene or give up acting/ protects her from that guy throwing trash in the beginning) Or the other connections like when she's repeating her lines and the stalker has a voice recording...Yumi was the one sitting next to her. Maybe the stalker wanting to murder her personality and the whole "I'm the real Mima" personality stems from a secret jealousy Yumi has of Mima. These were just my thoughts of how I interpreted it. Hope I'm not the only one haha! I know that there's a couple of holes, like the showing of the stalker being murdered and the rape scene like why would Yumi wanna rape Mima?? But idk i still loved the movie and this is the ending that just makes the most sense to me, definitely one of my favorites
give up singing** sorry
Oh, and when Mima says that she knows the real Mima is still in there or whatever at the end, I like your idea of amnesia, but I interpreted it as now she knows that the agent motherly figure that she knows of Yumi is no longer the one she will remember her for and she is now the woman who stalked her and attempted to murder her
(this is an eight month old comment but i just had to throw my two cents in lol sorry)
i don't think the stalker (me-mania) was necessarily a figment of rumi's imagination, because he was the one who created and ran 'mima's room', and we also see his dead body next to tadokoro's. we can also confirm that rumi hallucinated being the 'old mima' because she was once a pop idol - we see this when she's talking to tadokoro at the beginning - we can assume she lived the idol life through mima so when mima chose a different path rumi went insane, believing to be the old mima in her place.
i think rumi was the one sending me-mania all those emails as well, so we can deduce that they sort of worked together - rumi sent him details about the real mima's day and me-mania would post those on the website. me-mania was probably the once who did the murders too, including the photographer: one line i noted him saying was something along the lines of 'you're a weird deliveryman' despite the murderer appearing to look like mima. i suppose me-mania imagined her killing him in his place.
did you guys notice how at 1:37 in the mirror, the one in front of the computer is mima? instead rumi. if it was mima's actual reflection it wouldve been closer to the mirror, thats such a tiny detail
I feel like the blue represented her actress self, the bow around her neck and the blue surrounding her in the acting scenes and I feel like the shatter of the glass Rumi looked into represents her shattered mind, her own insanity
Omfg I'm falling for this movie even more.
This is one of the most convincing analytical videos on film I've ever seen, absolutely brilliant, hope u keep doing this!
I didn't know that the red had so much meaning in the mental condition of Mima.That was an incredible analytic video of Perfect Blue maybe i must go and watch the movie again.
I like how they pretty much told you who the antagonists of the movie were by making them both look strange. For example, both Rumi and the stalker have eyes that are too far apart, Rumi is overweight, and the stalker has separated teeth. They are imperfect while Mima and everyone else around them are physically perfect.
Because of her smile at the end, I can't help but feel the old Mima won.
I honestly don’t know what to say or which I like more: when a director can wordlessly use universal symbols like color to communicate underlying themes or when people find and dissect these symbols and share their rich analysis with others. Bravo, sir. I loved this. I really can’t explain how much I did.
I watched Paprika first, then Perfect Blue this week. I give them both a 10/10 for brilliant psychological mindfuckery that left me hanging with so many questions and a desire for rewatching. They were so beautiful! RIP, Satoshi Kon.
I love these so much! I run an Anime club and want to go more over the industry, how anime is made,editing, film techniques, marketing and all the other in's and outs'. Thank you for your videos! They are amazing, and my members really enjoy them.
Worth specifying since so much of how Mima is consumed by the audience is via video/internet, which uses additive light. Red/Green/Blue are the primary colors of light, also called additive light. What most people think of as primary colors are Red/Yellow/Blue as used in mixing paint, also called subtractive color.
i really like the analytical style of reviewing. this video is great. keep up the good work.
I like to think that the shot with Mima sitting in her red car says that, although her psyche is not the same as before hence it being so vibrant, she is now in control.
I love this movie. Thank you so much for this video
You should take note the use of red and its contrast with yellow. As you have mentioned, red represents her hallucination and her slow descent to madness, but whats interesting is the use of yellow to symbolize her and the truth. Where most scenes involving red, there are flashes of yellow which you can use to identify which is the reality or not. Knowing how Satoshi Kon used yellow gives the ending a much deeper meaning. Mina is wearing yellow as she drives her car, which can symbolize her controlling her mental state.
Beautiful analysis, very well done. I have a renewed respect for the film - which I already enjoyed greatly. Satoshi Kon will be missed, he was an immense talent.
I am getting addicted to this channel, it is really good dude. How do you have so much film knowledge and is there something about anime in particular that you find enjoyable that makes you want to write about it so much?
Glad you enjoy the videos dude! Personally I'm drawn to anime because of the medium's thematic focuses and stylistic approaches, you don't get these kind of stories and presentation in other mediums.
I love the art style, it looks like some kind of King of the Hill, Sailor Moon mix.
I audibly gasped at least five or six times at all of the little details you pointed out in this video! What an incredibly complex, thoughtful, and downright genius movie!
I can't believe that I didn't get the ending...like at all. Just goes to show how far subtlety can go in anime. Satoshi Kon for life :D
had this video saved to watch later ever since it came out to watch it after i watch the movie and now today, seven years later, i can finally watch it 😭
never noticed that before 😱great video btw
Thanks!
Finally a well-made analysis of Perfect Blue!
Please do End of Evangelion next. I'd love to hear your take on Anno's directing style.
Or maybe any Hosoda film.
This is first film??? What the fuck how can some human being this. This is pure magic 💖
You will always be remembered , Satoshi Kon
As pointed out by the tv tropes page for this movie, mima's final line of the movie("I'm real" and such) is voiced by Rumi's va. Hm.
one of my favorite movies.
you've sparked my interest in a rewatch, thanks!
Showed this video to my college lecturer after we watched Perfect Blue in class, and she showed it to the rest of the class afterward! :D Great analysis, thanks for all the helpful insights!
I haven't watched this myself but fascinating with the use of the colours!
Your videos always get me thinking. I haven't even watched this review yet, but the creativity in the title alone has got me thinking.
this looks like another solid must-watch for me! :)
Enjoy!
Saw this film today, I was blown away. Surprised it isn't discussed more.
I think that Mima learned to become one with her insanity, because the whole movie she's rejected her previous career and personality to try and push her actress role, and we see that the more she fights it the more distressed she gets. So she finally accepts her past and uses it to move in her future. That's what I think after watching this video, which by the way is really good
This was truly amazing. Thank you 😊
Just a few corrections. Me-Mania (the stalker) isn't "murdured", he was killed by Mima - the real, new, present day one - in self-defense) and Rumi isn't "killed", she is "stabbed" - she survived and is convalescing in the hospital, possibly in a psych ward, as seen by the end of the movie.And the "Old Mima" (the one in white and red jumping around in idol garb) doesn't represent Mima's madness, but Rumi's. Mima is just legitimately confused by the actions of her psycho manager 😆❤Nice analysis, i just saw this movie and discovered Satoshi Kon last week at the Vancouver Cinémathèque. Honestly, "Tokyo Godfathers" was even better, especially humor- and character-development-wise. I'm downloading "Millenium Actress" right now!
How do you know it’s the truth? I mean it seems like you know the plot very much through your analysis 😮😳😳
Such a good movie and I’m obsessed with colour theory too! I watched it for the first time today and was completely mind blown. So well written!
Really digging the mononoke track in the back
Watching this right now on Demo's stream. I see red...everywhere now.
(Please Read) I like his theories on the use of the color red. However, I think the use of red in the film was used as a way to excite the viewer. It's a proven fact that when we view red our heart rate increases as well as blood pressure and metabolism. Red is a sign of caution, anger, alertness, fear, and many other things. A good example of a similar concept is Dario Argento's Suspiria. Suspiria is saturated in deep hues of red, blue, yellow, and sometimes green. The reason Argento did this was to evoke the sense of fear as well as the feeling of being in a nightmare. Kon uses red in scenes when tension is at its highest as well as at times when we should be prepared and fear for what is next.
I thought that too. Red is like super strong colour imo :p
I never knew how movies can be analysed this deeply.
The crazy this is that the last line of the movie, "I'm the real thing" is said from Mima's character, but is voiced from Rumi's voice actor, Rica Matsumoto.
Oh my gosh this is amazing!! I never noticed all the reds!!