History Anime / PerfectBlue

* TearsOfFear: [[spoiler:Mima during the rape scene, during her Freak Out moment after returning to her apartment, and as she's running for her life from Rumi.]]

* BigBadFriend: [[spoiler:Rumi. The climax reveals that she is behind everything that has happened, especially getting Me-mania involved. Although she was Mima’s friend and manager, she always wanted to be like Mima. Over the course of the movie, she began slipping into psychosis where she genuinely believed she was the real Mima. When Me-mania failed to kill Mima, she took it upon herself to take Mima back to Rumi’s place, which bore an exact resemblance to Mima’s room, where she planned to kill Mima without any interference.]]

* BreakoutCharacter: InUniverse. Yoko Takakura, Mima's character on ''Double Bind'' is given more lines and a vastly expanded role, [[spoiler:to the point of being the twist villain of the show.]] This is brought about due to her persistent agents, Mima independently raising her profile through adult modelling, and genuinely being a talented actress.

** 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 pushes for it for pragmatic reasons -- he cites 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. The actor playing the rapist apologizes verbally to her between takes as well.

** Despite everything that has happened, Mima can't bear to see [[spoiler:Rumi getting run over by a truck and saves her life]].

* EyeScream: A man gets stabbed in the eye by a supposed pizza delivery guy. Another man is murdered, and later on his body is shown with the eye sockets all bloody and the eyes missing. There's basically a sample of this in every murder -- in a film about perception and reality, eyes and seeing make for an obvious {{motif}}.

** The fan letter [[FreezeFrameBonus briefly shown]] in the beginning of the film is actually an angry letter, complaining about the declining quality of Mima’s performances, and saying that Tadokoro "[[ThisIsUnforgivable will not be forgiven]]" for what he's doing to her.

Oddly, the director didn't intend any particular criticism of the industry. He wanted to tell a story about [[spoiler:a young woman going through an identity crisis and coming out the other side with more agency and maturity]], but since his main character was a former idol he just stumbled into talking about the down side of that world.
-->'''Satoshi Kon:''' If the audience gets the impression from watching the film that the idol system in Japan is like that, I’m embarrassed. Of course I did research before making the film and I visited a number of these idol events, but I didn’t see the kind of example that is used in the film.

** Mima, Yukiko and Rei, making up the idol group CHAM.

* InternetMimic: [[spoiler:Rumi]] posing as [[spoiler:Mima]], with the help of [[spoiler:Me-mania, who also thinks he's in contact with the real Mima]].

* LossOfIdentity: This is ''the'' central theme of the film. For most of the story, Mima is caught between the horns of a dilemma -- on one hand is the idol life she's trying to escape, with the fixed persona demanded by ContractualPurity; on the other is the world of acting, where one's identity is uncertain by nature. Not only does she have to conquer her fears and doubts about this new, more fluid self (as a psychiatrist points out), but certain people are very interested in forcing her back into the chains of her old self -- or ''stealing'' her old identity from her since she no longer wants it. [[spoiler:The climax of the film boils down to her rejection of Me-mania's and Rumi/Idol-Mima's assertion that abandoning her old image makes her a fraud.]]

* MsFanservice: In-Universe, Mima is propelled into this following the end of her singing career and moving onto acting. Of course, she's very [[ReluctantFanserviceGirl reluctant]] to do it, but she can't say it out loud, because she'd look ungrateful to the director and everyone else on the set if she said no. With this, it quickly turns to FanDisservice with the rape scene and photoshoot later on.

* Creator/RumikoTakahashi's MiniatureSeniorCitizens have the tendency to think [[IWasQuiteALooker that they were much better looking in their youth]] than they actually were.

* {{Dedication}}: A dedication to Harutoshi Ogata, the film's editor, appears at the end of the film.

* PantyShot: [[spoiler:In the climax, Rumi gets a couple of those while wearing Mima's pop-idol dress, fully deluded that she is the real Mima. [[FanDisservice It's much more disturbing than titillating.]]]]

* PantyShot: [[spoiler:In the climax, Rumi gets a couple of those while wearing Mima's pop-idol dress, deluded that she is the real Mima. [[FanDisservice It's much more disturbing than titillating.]]]]

* PantyShot: [[spoiler:In the climax, Rumi gets a couple of those while wearing Mima's pop-idol dress. [[FanDisservice It's much more disturbing than titillating.]]]]

* ThroughTheEyesOfMadness: Creator/SatoshiKon ''loves'' this one. It's hard to say ''what'' in the film is real -- we're seeing it through Mima's perspective, and she doesn't have a damn clue herself.

* ProsceniumReveal: In one scene, a talent scout asks Mima if she wants to be a model. It is then revealed that this was just footage from ''[[ShowWithinShow Double Bind]]''.

* HorribleHollywood: A big theme of the movie is the way the entertainment industry treats people as products, especially young women, pushing them into exploitative positions, with or without their consent. The TV industry puts Mima through ''hell'', and a lot of her comments imply that her life as a pop idol wasn't great for her mental health, either. Interestingly, it's not just the higher-ups calling the shots that make it this way -- the film goes out of its way to show how even the stars' so-called ''fans'' can make the experience awful. Yeah, studios may push their idols into ContractualPurity and create {{Fanservice}}y scenes that exploit actresses -- but who creates a backlash when the idols fail to uphold that standard, and who consumes the content with those exploitative scenes again?
** WordOfGod says that this is ''not'' the primary intent of the film. Kon wanted to tell a story about [[spoiler:a young woman going through an identity crisis and coming out the other side with more agency and maturity,]] but since his main character was a former idol he just stumbled into talking about the down side of that world.

* PantyShot: Three, with one from Mima in her bedroom when she lies down on her bed, and two from [[spoiler:Rumi.]] One is during [[spoiler:the fight with Mima in Rumi's room, and the other near the end while Rumi 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.

* AdultFear:
** In the middle of all the violent drama and MindScrew moments is a surprisingly realistic tale of people taking issue with a grown woman deciding to change her career and public image, and resorting to violence when she ignores their chaste expectations. Mima's mother calls her to express worry about changing careers in such a fashion, and Mima herself becomes worried when [[spoiler:her stalker, Me-Mania, appears wherever she goes]].
** In the climax, [[spoiler:a bleeding woman is screaming for help and running for her life, but all the sidewalks are empty and the passing traffic doesn't notice her. Only one truck stops when they nearly run her and her assailant over, and call for an ambulance]].

* RealitySubtext: An InUniverseexample, when they finish shooting ''Double Bind'', everyone congratulates Mima on her performance as a mentally disturbed woman [[spoiler:with a split personality]]. She may have been that good because she herself is having an identity crisis.

* WithinArmsReach: Mima Kirigoe is getting choked on the soundstage by her StalkerWithACrush, Me-Mania. Unable to cry for help, Mima scrabbles desperately for something to get this monster off her. Her fingers close around a claw hammer, and she swings this at Me-Mania's {{gonk}} head.

** How the hell can they play something as upbeat as "Season" over the end credits of a movie this horrific?

* MaleGaze: Ties into the LossOfIdentity themes above. Mima has no control over her image or how other people ''see'' her, and Tadokoro is cynically guiding her career in directions he thinks will appeal to a male audience -- as a contractually-pure IdolSinger or a sexually self-aware actress and model.

* SlutShaming: Mima gets this from the public and [=Reflection!Mima=] after she makes career moves that give her a less-than-squeaky-clean image, such as filming a graphic rape scene, or doing a nude photoshoot.

** 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).

* NotAllowedToGrowUp: While not as extreme as many examples, Mima's persona in CHAM! seems very deliberately girlish and childlike. Her attempts to overcome this trope are what sets the plot in motion.

* PantyShot: Two, both from [[spoiler:Rumi.]] One is during [[spoiler:the fight with Mima in Rumi's room, and the other near the end while Rumi 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.

* PsychoSupporter: [[spoiler:Me-Mania.]]

* RealitySubtext: An InUniverseexample, when they finish shooting ''Double Bind'', everyone congratulates Mima on her performance as a mentally disturbed woman [[spoiler:with a split personality]]. She may have been that good because she herself has...issues.

* ReluctantFanserviceGirl: Mima's willing to take nude photos or participate in sexually graphic scenes, because it's just "part of the job," but she does ''not'' enjoy it, nor does she enjoy the way the public's perception of her shifts because of this.

* ImprovisedWeapon: At various points in the film a screwdriver, an umbrella and a hammer are used as weapons.

* JerkassHasAPoint: Mima's other self in her reflection points out that Mima didn't want to do the rape scene, and asks her why she made a compromise for a job she didn't enjoy. The real Mima's response is to toss a pillow at her, showing she has no retort.

* KillAndReplace: [[spoiler:Rumi, believing that Mima is unworthy of being Mima for wanting to do more risqué movies and retire from her idol work, wants to kill Mima so she can "become the real Mima". As in, the one who is still an idol. It doesn't help that she used to be an idol herself and still yearns for her glory days.]]
* KillTheCutie: Both [[spoiler:Me-Mania and Rumi]] come very close to killing [[spoiler:Mima]].

* LoonyFan: Me-Mania is an obsessed stalker of Mima.

* LovingAShadow: Me-Mania for Mima, wanting to protect "his" Mima-rin from the impostor that is acting.

* MaleGaze: Ties into the LossOfIdentity themes above. Mima has no control over her image, over how other people ''see'' her, and Tadokoro is cynically guiding her career in directions he thinks will appeal to a male audience -- as a contractually-pure IdolSinger or a sexually self-aware actress.

* MeanCharacterNiceActor: When Mima's ''Double Bind'' character is manhandled and raped by a rowdy crowd, the actor playing said rapist quietly stammers "I'm so sorry." between takes. He also apologizes to the director for messing up the first take.
* 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.

%%* ModelScam: Happens to Mima's character in ''[[ShowWithinAShow Double Bind]]''.
* MsFanservice: In-Universe, Mima is propelled into this following the end of her singing career, and moving onto acting. Of course, she's very [[ReluctantFanserviceGirl reluctant]] to do it, but she can't say it out loud, because she'd look ungrateful to the director and everyone else on the set if she said no. With this, it quickly turns to FanDisservice with the rape scene and photoshoot later on.

** 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.
** [[spoiler:Rumi, a middle aged, slightly overweight woman, in a pop singer costume. It's not as appealing as she thinks, unless you're as delusional as she is.]]
* FootFocus: There are a number of scenes with Mima being barefoot, with close ups of her feet included.

** 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.]]
** 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 the Mima's Room site. [[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]].

* FreakOut: Mima, coming home at the end of a particular traumatic day after filming a rape scene, finds her beloved pet fish dead, and loses control for a moment, trashing her apartment. She [[spoiler:(as well as Rumi)]] has numerous moments where she freaks out throughout the rest of the movie.

* GoMadFromTheRevelation: [[spoiler:Rumi]], as a result of [[spoiler:her delusion coming crashing down and failing to kill Mima]], is seen permanently delusional and institutionalized at a mental hospital.
* {{Gonk}}: Arguably a few characters due to the art style, but most definitely Me-Mania (see NightmareFace below).

* 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. The fact that Mima herself is [[EnforcedMethodActing gradually losing her mind]] probably didn't hurt.
* HeroStageShow: The movie begins with a short excerpt of a hero stage show, [[LawyerFriendlyCameo blatantly inspired]] by ''Super Sentai'' (our protagonist is shortly to perform on the same stage); some kids watching remark that the special effects aren't nearly as impressive live as they are on TV.
* HorribleHollywood: A big theme of the movie is the way the entertainment industry treats people as products, especially young women, pushing them into exploitative positions, with or without their consent. The TV industry puts Mima through ''hell'', and a lot of her comments imply that her life as a pop idol wasn't great for her mental health, either. Interestingly, it's not just the higher-ups calling the shots that make it this way -- the film goes out of its way to show how even the stars' so-called ''fans'' can make the experience awful. Yeah, studios may push their idols into ContractualPurity and create {{Fanservice}}y scenes that exploit actresses -- but who creates a backlash when the idols fail to uphold that standard, and who consumes the content with those exploitative scenes, again?

** 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. The actor playing the rapist apologizes verbally to her between takes as well.

* EyeScream: A man gets stabbed in the eye by a supposed pizza delivery guy. Another man is murdered, and later on his body is shown with the eye sockets all bloody and the eyes missing. [[spoiler:Me-Mania gets hit in the eye with a hammer.]] There's basically a sample of this in every murder -- in a film about perception and reality, eyes and seeing make for an obvious {{motif}}.

* DevilInPlainSight: Me-Mania makes himself visible to Mima at CHAM's last performance, and several times thereafter.

* CentralTheme: Identity. Specifically, the difference between how we identify ourselves, and how others choose to identify us... and what happens when you ''[[LossOfIdentity lose]]'' your identity, be it the one you see for yourself, or the one that others have assigned to you.

* RealitySubtext: An InUniverseexample, when they finish shooting ''Double Bind'', everyone congratulates Mima on her performance as a mentally disturbed woman [[spoiler:with a split personality]]. She may have been that good because she herself has... issues.

** The reflection idol Mima appears in the climax... and [[spoiler:Rumi walks into the room, dressed in an idol outfit and wearing a wig]]. Mima asks, in dawning horror, [[spoiler:if Rumi was the one who orchestrated those murders]].

* {{Bowdlerize}}: The movie had to alter certain violent and sexual scenes in order to obtain the R-rating for it's American release.

* AssholeVictim: Pretty much everybody who got murdered, though the sheer brutality of their murders [[DisproportionateRetribution far outstripped any of the ways they'd wronged Mima]]. The one exception to this would be the one justifiable homicide committed in self-defense against a would-be rapist and murderer.

* ChekhovsGun:
** The mention early on that [[spoiler:Rumi was a former idol singer herself]].
** Mima looking at herself in mirrors.

** Red is a motif for violence and danger, and there's plenty of blood in the movie. Red is also consistently associated with Mima's loosening grip on reality and appears prominently in connection with insanity and murder: a huge swath of red is shown behind Mima in the scene where she discovers the fake blog, the floor of the elevator in which Shibuya dies is bright red, and the photographer's killer shows up in a red deliveryman's uniform. [[spoiler:When Rumi drives Mima home, [[RedFilterOfDoom the background is red]]. It's also the color of Rumi's clothes when she attacks Mima.]]

* {{Mukokuseki}}: Almost entirely averted in this movie, in that it avoids the typical Western-looking idealized art style other anime typically uses; though all four of the pop-idol (or ''former'' pop idol) girls in this story have slightly larger-than-realistic eyes and look a bit paler-skinned than most, no one else is the least bit Westernized, and everyone mostly looks like actual Japanese people, with brown-to-black hair and pale yellowish-bronze skin and slightly squinted eyes. One shot of a highly-stylized drawing of an anime girl with enormous eyes and pink hair on the sliding-glass front door of a store in one scene seems to be intended to mock this trope, as it immediately slides aside to contrast her with three minor realistically-drawn Japanese guys who look ''nothing'' like her at all.

* RealitySubtext: [[ShowWithinAShow In universe]]: When they finish shooting ''Double Bind'', everyone congratulates Mima on her performance as a mentally disturbed woman [[spoiler:with a split personality]]. She may have been that good because she herself has... issues.

* SurprisinglyHappyEnding: [[spoiler:After all the horror, the last scene shows a fully recovered Mima, now a successful actress. Subverted by the Japanese version, which ends with a final MindScrew that throws the happy ending into question, but played straight by the English dub.]]
* 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]].

* WritingByTheSeatOfYourPants: InUniverse. Eri, the co-star of ''Double Bind'', praises the screenwriter for his clever dialogue and story. A private conversation as he wanders off reveals that he hasn't even decided on who the killer is yet. In fact, the character he settles on -- [[spoiler:Yoko Takakura, Mima's character]] -- underwent drastic rewrites due to their agents badgering the crew to get them more scenes.

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: You might expect blue to be the dominant ColorMotif, given the film's title, but red plays a more dominant role for most of the movie. Red is consistently associated with Mima's loosening grip on reality and appears prominently in connection with insanity and murder: a huge swath of red is shown behind Mima in the scene where she discovers the fake blog; the floor of the elevator in which Shibuya dies is bright red; the photographer's killer shows up in a red deliveryman's uniform; and finally the BigBad appears in a blood-red version of Mima's idol outfit and chases her through several locations which make prominent use of red.

* CharacterDevelopment: Mima for most of the film doesn't own a car. She either takes the subway, rides a bike, or takes rides from her managers. The last part symbolizes how she's letting them change her image, sometimes against her wishes. [[spoiler:Come the end of the film, she's learned to drive and adjusts the mirror in a really nice ride]].

* 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.]]