There are several layers of reality in the film, and none of them are clear-cut. More than once something which would seem to be a major plot development turns out to be a dream, hallucination, scene from Mimarin's TV show, or a combination thereof. When Mimarin asks her manager "yesterday? Was that real?", it's a perfectly legitimate question.

There are no easy answers on the surface, nor is there very much to find when you dig deeper: the film revels in its own ambiguity. Even after the ending - which has been criticised for being a little too neat - chunks of the story are left totally open to interpretation. More of a roller-coaster ride than a psychological study, the film doesn't seem built for particularly close analysis.

In terms of production values, the movie's a mixed bag. There's plenty of strong thematic imagery - reflections, posters, TV screens, that kind of thing - and the hallucinations are suitably creepy, but for the most part Perfect Blue looks pretty unremarkable - especially compared to Kon's other, more visually inventive creations. The eerie musical score is a different matter: simple, but effective.

The warmth and dry humour found in most of Satoshi Kon's works (even the equally weird Paranoia Agent) aren't in evidence here. Perfect Blue seems oddly po-faced compared to his other outings; there's a sense that he was restraining himself a little too much, his characteristic sense of humour only showing through in a couple ironic moments - such as the scene where a character complains about Japanese psycho-thrillers being too boring.

Perfect Blue is an unusual film that takes a bold stab at doing something different. In some ways it misses its goal, but in many others it succeeds pefectly.

I can't say enough bad things about this tiringly frustrating film, but I won't bore you with constant adjectives. I found that people who really liked this film were either mindless anime fans who love any anime just because it was made by a Japanese hand, or high school boys.

Let's start off by noting the roll-yer-eyes, unimpressive characters. First off, we have this guy who looks to be a gentle giant, until he turns into a psychotic lunatic bent on...who knows what and I don't care after watching the stumbling dream to reality sequence over and OVER again. Of all things, the movie immediately stereotypes the Big, ugly, illiterate, mute, freakish looking man, as an abnormally insane, obsessive, psychotic, manic killer. Nice. I don't think that's been done before (or has it?)

The female character is ditsy, helpless, and brainless. How I managed to watch her whimper and whine throughout the entire movie, I don't know. As for the dream to reality, or MAYBE-reality sequences, they were hardly thoughtful, always sloppy, and so countless you didn't care anymore. And for the twist at the end, it felt as if the writers ran out of ideas and slapped the decision of spontaneous, rabid, bloody betrayal together. All in all, this movie looks like something that would be in Alfred Hitchcock's trashbin.

When I first watched 'Perfect Blue' I figured there were intricies I wasn't picking up on. After watching it twice, I now suspect it's a bit of a snow job. I have read dozens of glowing reviews telling me how brilliant and sophisticated this movie is. I have still yet to read one by someone who convices me they actually understand it. My suspicion is that there is nothing to figure out, because ultimately it simply doesn't make any sense. The only way that I could get it to fall together was if at least three of the characters had multiple personality disorder or schizophrenia, including some of the murder victims.

'Perfect Blue' is a film which ended up being animated because the original studio was damaged in the Kobe earthquake (which is mentioned in a TV news report in the background in an early scene - see I'm paying attention). This was a way to make it on a lower budget. Now it's come full circle and is being re-made as live action. It will be interesting to see what the new version is like, though I think I'll rely on second hand reports.

Frankly, the whole "it's real, it's not, it's real, it's not, it's real, it's not" thing got very tiring and pointless when I realised that every single scene was just going to end in the protagonist 'waking up' and questioning whether it really happened. Mix in a 'Groundhog Day' effect, with her going through the same scene over and over again, and the film really started to get under my skin on the second viewing, rather than improving,

There are other mysteries, too - such as why apparently mature, intelligent adults would turn out to see such an utterly awful girl-band.

'Perfect Blue' deserves some respect, for tackling an unusual genre, and trying on something different. It's interesting and stylish and makes you think - and this is mostly why it picked up 3 stars from me - however I just don't think that the tremendous depth which is this movie's claim to fame really exists, and if you look at what's left - ther animation and backgrounds are about 90's TV anime quality. The soundtrack is pretty good, as is the art direction. The English voice dub is pretty awful. Apart from the poor voice-acting, the endless screaming and gibbering from the main character really grated when it went on for minutes at a time.

Deserves a look, and it's quite engrossing as you try to work out what's going on - but as for the hype - watch it and if you can prove that there's a coherent story there and not just a series of enigmatic scenes which attempt to fool you into thinking it's coherent, please post a review here.

One warning: there is a simulated rape scene (on a TV set) which is pretty intense. The 'victim' is an actor, but you are left wondering whether her distress is real or faked, and whether the rape is really faked. Its effect is powerful, regardless. In a way this sums up the movie.

Excellenct Direction and themes, despite the English dub. The director, the mighty Satoshi Kon, takes the story from its root of melodramtic fluff and takes it to the heights of pyscological brillance. Granted the film may be difficult for viewers who are used to singing cartoon animals in their animated films. The sheer creativity displayed in several scenes is jaw-dropping and mind-bending. The film succeeds not as just an animated film but rather as a film that happens to be animated.