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What Is The Scariest Anime Movie Of All Time? All To Know About 'Perfect Blue'
Perfect Blue is an anime movie that follows a celebrity whose own faltering psychosis has harrowing implications for her maddening life. Here's why it is one of the scariest anime movie of all time.
Anime, like other media, explores various concepts and genres, including horror. Films and TV shows often feature horror, ranging from gruesome and fantastical to introspective and psychological. These narratives blur the lines between delusions and reality, blending with the genre's specific themes and themes.
Perfect Blue, directed by Satoshi Kon, is a horror movie that explores themes from his acclaimed films. The film follows a celebrity with a faltering psychosis, causing harrowing implications for her life. Despite lacking supernatural elements or other common horror cinema concepts, Perfect Blue is even scarier due to its unique blend of horror and comedy.
Perfect Blue: Exploring the themes of the anime
Satoshi Kon's Perfect Blue, released in 1997, is an anime film based on Yoshikazu Takeuchi's novel. The protagonist, Mima Kiragoe, leaves her idol singing group to pursue acting which is a controversial move and was not immediately successful. After receiving help from her manager, she secures a larger role in a TV series, but also faces psychological trauma.
She than grapples with one of her stalker's online fan account, leading to a series of dark situations that cause her to question reality. The truth behind her stalker is revealed, causing further mental anguish and blurring of fact and fiction. The movie's ending adds to the emotional turmoil.
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These themes were also present in Satoshi Kon's Millenium Actress and Paprika, with the former also dealing with the film industry. The movie's horror element is the question of whether Mima is involved in the murders, but Perfect Blue's fear factor is incredibly real, making it a truly terrifying experience.
Perfect Blue is a dark anime film that deviates from many horror movies by excluding supernatural or paranormal elements. However, it still explores themes of celebrity and idol culture, particularly relevant in Japan, where teen pop idols and idol groups are prevalent and can go to extremes. The film remains terrifying and unsettling.
Mima's fears about her own stalker are not a fictional issue, as real-life idols and anime voice actors have faced stalkers and threats, triggered by events like celebrity departures or career changes. These stalkers can make their lives difficult or even endangered, highlighting the reality of stalking in the entertainment industry.
Social media has made it easier for fans to follow celebrities and gain a deeper understanding of their lives, making stalking more prevalent than ever before. This makes the danger of stalking even more palpable, regardless of celebrity or idol status. Mima's concerns about reality also contribute to the celebrity aspect of the film.
Though today's celebrities might discuss matters of mental health more openly, this wasn't the case for Japanese idols in the late 1990s. Even in more Westernized societies, this still might be seen in a particular light, especially if it involved the level of disassociation seen in Perfect Blue. Another harsh smack of reality is the level of pressure put on celebrities in various cultures, namely female entertainers. Mima is almost meant to be reverently grateful for securing an acting role, despite it involving a rape scene.
This scene has a major impact on her psyche, and it adds to her questioning if she made the right decision in her career. It's a question of what success truly is in the entertainment industry, which can many times be exceedingly cutthroat, and the effect that it has on those involved. When juxtaposed with the grisly murders and other psychological elements, it certainly gives off a horror vibe.
Is Perfect Blue classified as a horror anime movie?
Perfect Blue, despite lacking supernatural or paranormal elements, is often viewed as a psychological thriller by some audiences due to its lack of overt horror elements. The film's downwar mental spiral and lack of overt scary elements make it a potential alternative to the traditional horror genre, which was often associated with Alfred Hitchcock's works.
At the same time, many of his movies were also considered horror movies, and in modern conjecture, the term psychological horror is more commonly used. This is also associated with the pseudo genre of elevated horror, which looks at concepts from a somewhat more human level while being introspective and focusing less on the gratuitous shock value of a situation. This means that Perfect Blue would be a psychological horror anime, if it truly is horror.
The ranking of horror anime, including Chainsaw Man, has been a topic of debate among fans. Despite its gruesome content, it is considered a manga and anime for young boys, and its gore and supernatural aspects make it a suitable genre for horror. However, it is not considered particularly scary or psychologically taxing.
Despite not being a true horror piece, Perfect Blue is still harrowing and disconcerting to watch, as the reality behind the fictional story makes it more visceral than if it featured vampirs, goblins, ghosts, and demons. The horror is based on its status as a cautionary tale, making it the most intimate form of the genre, sending a deep chill not only up the spine but also into the mind. Overall, Perfect Blue is a cautionary tale that is at the heart of true horror, regardless of whether it is officially ranked as horror anime or not.
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