Aaahh nice one, I remember not being greatly impressed by that movie but loving the concept to bits and an interesting similarity. In the same way, I love how this movie weaves Chiyoko's real life story into her characters' stories from her movies, that is pure Kon and probably the most phenomenal & interactive recollection an interviewer like Genya could've asked for!
Yes, Cloud Atlas wasn't great narratively but it was an entertaining watch by virtue of the constantly changing scenarios, this felt kind of similar.
For me the key from the painter was symbolic to unlock her life itself: the passion and spirit for life, her ambitions, love and life pursuit. Though the initial spark was the infatuation, it was all ultimately her motivation to live.
I think reading what you and
@IdiomaticLynx said, I can agree that the key is more than just memories, more on that in my reply a bit further down.
The witch's use as her inner self/insight was also very interesting (the mole seen on her cheek at the end confirming she is a representation of Chiyoko herself)
Yes I assumed the crone was possibly herself early on, I think it got confirmed later with the reflection she saw, as I recall? The crone was also only shown a couple of times, the other characters had fairly repeating appearances.
I think Genya was probably my favourite character in the movie and a great stand-in for the audience. I loved his adoration & loyalty and also his unrequited love (though I put that more on the platonic fan spectrum).
Yes, the exact opposite of the creepy type of fan we'd come to expect in something like Perfect Blue, Genya was a respectful gentleman and a clear fan of her work. He didn't even use any hooks to get her to agree to the interview, he could have said "I saved your life, let me interview you", but he wanted to interview her on a level playing field which I can respect.
Exactly my take on this movie and I also loved how the end of her life is wonderfully depicted as getting into a rocket and flying off to realms/dimensions/existence unknown. In my opinion, it has the best line to ever conclude a movie, phenomenal insight
I think the line about how much she enjoyed the chase was a really powerful one, as it changes how we see the entire series of events that happened preceding it. Without that line, her chase was very naïve and some would call her obsession strange, but with that line it changes the meaning to all of it.
Bit late to write my thoughts here despite watching Perfect Blue last night, so sorry if I'm interrupting the flow a little. But it was my first time watching it and I loved it, a real 10/10 anime classic and just classic piece of film in general. This will be full of spoilers of course so definitely stop reading now if you haven't seen it (though I imagine most of us have in this thread!)
Never too late, I made this thread partially because I wanted to share my thoughts on each film in sequence, but partially to see what others thought as well, and in case anyone else wanted to dip in or out it was all optional. This was setup at short notice based on a whim I had so don't worry about ruining the flow
I love films like this that brilliantly capture the details of the era they were made in, and thought it was interesting how this film depicts a very early example of internet based harassment and stalking, but it's something that is of course as relevant now as it was then of course, as is obsession and fan culture.
I said the same kind of thing in my initial thoughts as well, it was really quite nostalgic seeing all of the old IT stuff going on. I agree that the stalking and idol stuff is 100% as relevant today as it was back then as well, possibly more of an issue now with way more advancement in tech.
One thing I just thought of whilst reading this, Rumi was the one who helped her "get online" on the computer, thinking back I thought she was just being helpful at the time, but on reflection I think she was actually just doing it to get Mima to read Mima's room pages to see how much of a mistake she was making.
Rumi seems to have internalised a version of Mima's fictional idol persona within herself that then turns murderous when the real Mima seems to her to be forsaking those idol principles of purity. I feel this is the part that the film just leaves up to our imagination, what caused Rumi (a former idol herself, who you would imagine to be clued up on the illusory and seedy nature of the industry) to become so entirely obsessed with Mima's idol persona?
I'd guess Rumi never quite made it as an idol, but wants to live through Mima's success instead, and with Mima not wanting to be an idol forever, Rumi goes a bit crazy trying to change her mind in a very delusional way. It was interesting to me that whilst in her normal job role, she really didn't fight that hard to steer Mima to staying as an idol, or not taking certain roles.
But she's surprisingly sprightly being able to jump from her apartment balcony to that next roof in chase of Mima! That whole chase scene was terrifying!
Seeing her make no sound and just kind of leap around like a magical girl of some kind was terrifying, then you saw the reflection and she was an absolute mess!
I feel like the only weak point of Perfect Blue for me was the almost happy ending, not that I like depressing endings, but I felt like Mima having seemed to completely magically resolved her identity issues as implied with the "I'm real!" was a little bit of a cop out for such an otherwise complex film.
I can kind of agree with this, I guess it could be argued that Mima realised that it was Rumi and not another version of herself running about, when she saved her from being hit by that truck (and possibly being isekai'd) her own self-doubt left her, as she figured out that it wasn't some identity crisis she had, but was instead it was people behind it?
As a result the movie is really accessible. Apart from the things you're supposed to be confused about, it's remarkably easy to follow during an initial viewing. Decisions like giving Chiyoko a beauty mark and that man a scar on his face, albeit small things, really help in this regard.
The facial features definitely helped, especially as the roles and appearances changed quite frequently throughout.
My interpretation is slightly different. The key doesn't so much unlock memories, but unlocks the "journey" she has been on for most of her life. Whenever she had the key in her possession she chased her unnamed love. Yet when the key was stolen, she settled and married. Finding the key again made her continue her chase. Losing the key a second time, again, resulted in her settling down. Genya returning the key at the start of the movie actually restarted her chase yet again, which we get to see at the end of the movie. Now obviously there are a lot of memories associated with this journey, so in effect the key also unlocked those.
Having read what you said I am inclined to agree, the key was the catalyst, and not possessing it she halted. Based on this, I think the key is both for unlocking her momentum and also for unlocking her memories, so a double meaning.
I thought it would be unlikely that all movies feature the same theme
I thought the same, I guess it's possible that the themes are on the same sort of thing, but the key itself is unlikely to be in each of the films as a plot device.
It's here that she gains the advice that once you "become" that character the lines will come naturally to you. Following that she even manages to shock Eiko with the deliver of her line. It wouldn't be strange for the studio to focus on stories that feature similar themes/moments.
That's very true, the key and the man started off her career, and when she took on the excuse in her real life of chasing the man down to return the key, she could act that kind of role and understand it fully instinctively.
Something worth noting as well is that it's even more seamless in Japanese because it's perfectly natural to use someone's name in place of a pronoun such as "you". Also with the word heya ("room") being used to refer to a single-room apartment, there's really no difference between Rumi saying "I'm taking you back to your apartment, Mima" and "I'm taking you back to Mima's Room."
It's very subtle and very clever.
It's also not unusual for people to refer to themselves by name sometimes right?
. Anyway, it's always nice to read everyone's thoughts and interpretations.