History Anime / PerfectBlue

** "The real Mima" and variants thereof come up a lot -- specifically, who and what everyone perceives the "real" Mima to be, and if Mima is even sure herself. [[spoiler:This comes to a head in two very different ways in the ending, depending on if you're watching the original Japanese or the English dub. In the Japanese version, the last line is Mima saying "I'm the real one" in ''Rumi's'' voice, which is quite chilling when you consider the implications. But in the English version, Mima says, in her own voice, "I'm the real thing," and the effect is surprisingly uplifting.]]

* DubInducedPlotHole: In the final WhamLine, [[spoiler:Mima's expression of "I'm the real one!" is said in Rumi's voice, giving the viewer one final MindScrew as to whether it truly is Mima or not. This is lost in the dub where not only is the line changed to the less intimidating "I'm the real thing!", but it is also said in Mima's voice.]]

* EarnYourHappyEnding: In the end, when [[spoiler:visiting Rumi in the mental hospital]], we see that [[spoiler:Mima's not only a famous actress now, but also seems to be quite well-adjusted. In the Japanese version, one last MindScrew makes the nature of this scene ambiguous, but it's accidentally played straight in the English dub which gets confused regarding the voice of the final line.]]

* MindScrew: Until the climax, which partially serves as a MindScrewdriver, until the WhamLine. It gets worse when you notice [[spoiler:Mima was singing her solo at the beginning in Rumi's voice]].

* WhamLine: The final line in the film in the original Japanese version. Mima gets into her car, checks herself in the rear-view mirror and says:
-->[[spoiler:'''Mima:''' (''In Rumi’s voice'') I’m the real one.[[labelnote:Japanese]]あたしは本物だよ。 (Atashi wa honmono da yo.)[[/labelnote]]]]
** Not so in the English dub, where [[spoiler: the line is "I'm the real thing" and said in Mima's normal voice.]] Given that the dub is otherwise accurate, it seems they just didn't catch that nuance. The dubbers also apparently overlooked [[spoiler: the driver's hair in the foreground of the shot, which doesn't have any of Mima's stray locks curling out from it. While Rumi and Mima are both shown elsewhere in the film to be dark brunettes (as are a great many Japanese people in general, in fact), Rumi's hair is always slicked down straight while Mima's tends to splay out a bit in front as one can see in the mirror's reflection. What the implications of this are, given that Rumi's voice was also the one singing Mima's solo at the beginning of the movie, is left for those of us in the audience to decide.]]

* SleazyPhotoshoot: As a way to promote her solo career, [[IdolSinger Mima]] is set up for a shoot with a photographer who, as her former bandmates note in a private conversation, has a reputation for getting girls out of their clothes. Sure enough, the shoot starts innocently enough, but the photographer plays on Mima's naivete and gradually talks her into increasingly racy photos; by the time it's over, [[PublicExposure she's completely nude]] and the photos that are shown border on softcore porn. Already distressed from a rape scene she'd filmed days beforehand, the experience wounds her even more, especially when the photos end up in a magazine and lead to public anger over the damage to her image. In a flashback to the sequence, the photographer is visibly getting off despite having both hands on the camera.

* FanDisservice: Happens every single time there is nudity in the movie. There's the [[spoiler:rape scenes]], the scenes where Mima is getting photographed naked, etc.

* PublicExposure: Mima poses for a photographer who gradually convinces her to undress.

* SocietyMarchesOn: When the film was originally released in 1997, the Internet was still a relatively new phenomenon. Today, the scene where Rumi explains to Mima how computers and e-mails work is either amusing or redundant.

** [[spoiler: Eri Ochiai, changed to being an idol singer and rival of Mima in ''Complete Metamorphosis'', is raped and skinned alive by an obsessive stalker.]]

** The name of the website "Mima's Room" and how Mima knows she didn't write it although the details are accurate. [[spoiler:The climax starts in a replica of Mima's actual room, right down to the fish.]]

** Even though it's all fake, neither of Mima's managers are happy about her actually filming the rape scene. Rumi smokes a CigaretteOfAnxiety and runs off in tears, [[spoiler:foreshadowing her eventual breakdown]]. Tadokoro pushed for it for pragmatic reasons -- he cited that the scripts are behind schedule and they can't mess up Mima's acting break -- but during the filming itself he's cringing and visibly horrified. As an apology, he treats her to dinner and drives her home.

%%* DerangedAnimation

* PantyShot: We receive one from [[spoiler:Rumi]] near the end while she is wearing the pop idol outfit. It is ''definitely'' FanDisservice considering she just accidentally impaled herself on a shard of glass and is struggling to walk.
* ParasolOfPain: ''Umbrellas are not meant to be used that way, [[spoiler:Rumi.]]''

* CuckooNest: A particularly confusing example, in which Mima's in-universe character who she plays on ''Double Bind'' apparently is deluded into thinking that the horrifying things that happened to her were just a TV show that she played on. What really throws the viewer for a loop is that they don't make clear that this is a scene on ''Double Bind'' until after the scene is over, leading the viewer to briefly mistake the plot of the show for the plot of ''Perfect Blue''.

* DreamWithinADream: Used multiple times (as well as showing us conversations or scenes that seem like they're really happening, only for a director to yell "cut!" — the main character was just filming a scene in the television show she's in) to ramp up the suspense and paranoia that the main character feels.

** Even though it's all fake, neither of Mima's managers are happy about her actually filming the rape scene. Rumi smokes a CigaretteOfAnxiety and runs off in tears, [[spoiler:foreshadowing her eventual breakdown]]. Tadokoro pushed for it for pragmatic reasons --he cited that the scripts are behind schedule and they can't mess up Mima's acting break-- but during the filming itself he's visibly horrified. As an apology, he treats her to dinner and drives her home.

** Likewise, Mima doesn't even know how to use a computer; Rumi has to teach her. She types into her new one slowly to look up Mima's room. [[spoiler:It's hinted Rumi was writing all of the entries since she is tech-savvy, has heard Mima's thoughts and musings aloud, and says she asked Me-Mania to kill the "impostor" Mima]].

* {{Gaslighting}}: A small example. After both of them have started to go crazy, [[spoiler: Rumi manipulates objects in Mima's room to make her think idol Mima has been around. For example, she borrows Mima's new clothes, wears them while murdering people, and then hides the blood stained clothes in Mima's room, causing her to think she was responsible for the murders.]]

[[caption-width-right:350: [[NightmareFuel The nightmare]] [[MindScrew begins]].]]

* ImprovisedWeapon: An umbrella, in this case, and a hammer.

* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: InUniverse, everyone is surprised by how good Mima's performance on ''Double Bind'' is -- even those that had doubts about having a former pop idol on the show wind up praising her.

''Perfect Blue'' is the 1997 film debut of director Creator/SatoshiKon, who would go on to produce other work investigating the boundary between the real and the imaginary such as ''Literature/{{Paprika}}'', ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent'' and ''Anime/MillenniumActress''. Technically it's based off of Yoshikazu Takeuchi's 1991 novel ''Perfect Blue: Complete Metamorphosis'', but [[InNameOnly very loosely]].

** The police detective series ''Double Bind'' is a very straightforward type 1 example. It's the acting debut of Mima Kawagoe, who plays a rape victim.

** The police detective series ''Double Bind'' is a very straightforward type 1 example. It's the acting debut for Mima Kawagoe, who plays a rape victim.

* ShowWithinAShow: Extreme type 4 example, such that at times it's unclear whether what you're watching is happening to Mima or her character (or maybe both).

* StepfordSmiler: Both [[spoiler:Mima]] (Depressed) and [[spoiler:Rumi]] (Unstable).

** The show-within-a-show ''Double Bind'' features abundant sex and violence and [[FollowTheLeader borrows rather heavily]] from other well-known psychological thrillers.

''Perfect Blue'' is the 1997 film debut of director Creator/SatoshiKon, who would go on to produce other work investigating the boundary between the real and the imaginary such as ''Literature/{{Paprika}}'', ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent'' and ''Anime/MillenniumActress''. Technically it's based off of Yoshikazu Takeuchi's novel ''Perfect Blue: Complete Metamorphosis'', but [[InNameOnly very loosely]].

* AffectionateNickname: Mima's fans call her "Mima-rin," with "-rin" being an honorific in Japanese used to describe someone cute or endearing. [[spoiler:Not so endearing when Me-Mania decides that the Mima who's left CHAM!, taken up a role in a detective drama, and posed nude for a photoshoot must be an impostor, and therefore he must kill her to protect "his" Mima-rin.]]

* {{Otaku}}: In this case there's an otaku for Mima.

** In the show ''Double Bind'', the cops are typical TV psychologists that profile the killer and thus fail to find them before they murder several people. Obviously it's meant to be a TakeThat towards those kinds of cop shows.

* WhamShot: After her encounter with [[spoiler:Me-mania]] near the end, Mima calls up her agent to let him know she’s alright. Cut back to the studio where we see [[spoiler:his face covered in blood and his body lying next to the dead Me-mania.]]

->''I'm the real thing!''

* BarbieDollAnatomy: Played with--when Mima poses nude, her pubic hair is shown, but there is still no sign of her actual genitalia.

* AdaptationTitleChange: Downplayed. The movie keeps the novel's title but omits the original's subtitle "Complete Metamorphosis".

''Perfect Blue'' is the 1997 film debut of director Creator/SatoshiKon, who would go on to produce other work investigating the boundary between the real and the imaginary such as ''Literature/{{Paprika}}'', ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent'' and ''Anime/MillenniumActress''. Technically it's based off of Yoshikazu Takeuchi's novel ''Literature/PerfectBlueCompleteMetamorphosis'', but [[InNameOnly very loosely]].

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: In the climax, [[spoiler:Mima is physically healthier than Rumi and thus can keep outpacing her when the latter is chasing her, due to Rumi being out of shape. Even so, Mima is staggering from the stab wound in her shoulder, suffering some nasty falls, and having fought off Me-Mania]].

* RealityEnsues: In the climax, [[spoiler:Mima is physically healthier than Rumi and thus can keep outpacing her when the latter is chasing her, due to Rumi being out of shape. Even so, Mima is staggering from the stab wound in her shoulder, suffering some nasty falls, and having fought off Me-Mania]].

* MeaningfulName: Mima's name contains the kanji for "fog" and "paralysis", relating to her losing herself in the roles she plays and her helplessness to return to what she was before.