Shinpachi Tsuji

Directed by Satoshi Kon, Perfect Blue is the story of 21-year-old pop star Mima Kirigoe, who is the lead singer in the all-girl band Cham. Heeding advice from her agent to get out of the business before her fame runs out, she decides to become an actress. Like many of the instant pop celebrities before her, Mima finds it hard to be taken seriously and is forced to change her image in order to be cast in larger roles. In her first big feature she plays a stripper who is raped and sets off on a wild killing spree. A disturbed fan, who also runs her Web site, refuses to accept that his favorite pop star is changing her persona and is obsessed with keeping Mima the innocent young starlet that he has fallen in love with. After several of the people associated with casting her in smutty roles are murdered, Mima becomes plagued with disturbing hallucinations and is stalked by the deranged Webmaster who somehow knows too many details of her personal life. Mima eventually can no longer discern fantasy from reality and becomes paralyzed by her inability to associate the events around her with increasingly disturbing visions.

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