The defence The Big-Idea Head
“Ambition earns the room.”
The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.
Back to trending 
Perfect Blue
Animation · Thriller · 1998
Rising pop star Mima Kirigoe quits singing to pursue a career as an actress. After she takes up a role on a popular detective show, her handlers and collaborators begin turning up murdered. Harboring feelings of guilt and haunted by visions of her former self, Mima's reality and fantasy meld into a frenzied paranoia.
Movie details
Perfect Blue
“"excuse me... who are you?"”
1998 Animation · Thriller 1h 21m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
8.3 / 10
Community rating
Rising pop star Mima Kirigoe quits singing to pursue a career as an actress. After she takes up a role on a popular detective show, her handlers and collaborators begin turning up murdered. Harboring feelings of guilt and haunted by visions of her former self, Mima's reality and fantasy meld into a frenzied paranoia.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Perfect Blue?
For the defence
The Big-Idea Head
“You watch with your brain, not your gut.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Paprika
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Death Note Relight 2: L's Successors
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L's successor must ponder L's defeat if he hopes to succeed where his famed predecessor failed. At the headquarters of the SPK, he calls upon the Japanese task force to declare war on Light. A recap of Death Note episodes 27–37, with new footage.
The Garden of Sinners: Paradox Spiral
Action · 2008
Tomoe Enjou is attacked by bullies from his old school and saved by Shiki Ryougi. He asks her to hide him at her place and admits that he killed someone. Several days later, there are still no broadcasts about the murder as if it didn't happen... and when the victims are found, they're alive and unharmed.
Fear of Rain
Thriller · 2021
A teenage girl living with schizophrenia begins to suspect her neighbor has kidnapped a child. Her parents try desperately to help her live a normal life, without exposing their own tragic secrets, and the only person who believes her is Caleb – a boy she isn’t even sure exists.
Kizumonogatari Part 1: Tekketsu
Animation · 2016
One day, Koyomi Araragi encounters the horrifying vampire, Kiss-shot Acerola-orion Heart-under-blade A.K.A. the "King of Apparitions." He saves the fatally wounded Kiss-shot by offering his blood at the expense of his own life as a human. Now Koyomi has to face the vampire hunters to retrieve Kiss-shot’s limbs which were taken by these hunters...
Dangerous Drugs of Sex
Thriller · 2020
An elite salaryman drunkenly tries to die by suicide, but is saved by a mysterious stranger who holds him captive and sexually torments him.
Belladonna of Sadness
Animation · 1973
An evil feudal lord rapes a village girl on her wedding night and proceeds to ruin her and her husband's lives. After she's eventually banished from her village, the girl makes a pact with the devil to gain magical ability and take revenge.
The Garden of Sinners: A Study in Murder - Part 2
Animation · 2009
In February 1999, a string of murders has Shiki Ryougi and Mikiya Kokutou on edge. These crimes share a disturbing resemblance to a similar set of homicides from 1995, when Shiki and Mikiya first met, and awaken a dark, murderous desire that has laid dormant within Shiki's soul ever since then.
Mind Game
Animation · 2004
Nishi is a loser who has a crush on his childhood girlfriend. After an encounter with the Japanese mafia, he journeys to heaven and back, and ends up trapped in an even more unlikely place.
Black Swan
Drama · 2010
A committed dancer struggles to maintain her sanity after winning the lead role in a production of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake."
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Satoshi Kon
Written by
Sadayuki Murai
Junko Iwao
Mima Kirigoe (voice)
Rica Matsumoto
Rumi (voice)
Shinpachi Tsuji
Tadokoro (voice)
Masaaki Okura
Uchida (voice)
Yosuke Akimoto
Tejima (voice)
Yoku Shioya
Shibuya (voice)
Hideyuki Hori
Sakuragi (voice)
Court is in session
Put Perfect Blue on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“Importance has entered the chat.”
The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.