Story analysis: my take! Spoilers.

Sounds very reasonable. I fully agree. It's kind of a strange thing. I saw this movie for the first time back in 1999, and I didn't like it at all, but it made me feel completely haunted. Now I'm older, and I know much more about cinema. I just saw it again and I really enjoyed it.

At the end when she sees herself in the rearview mirror and speaks, there is speculation as to whether or not that is really her saying that or her double.

It's clear that Rumi hates that Mimi is becoming "filthy". I think after the filmed rape scene, Rumi is really upset. She (Rumi) kills the photographer because he is contributing to Mimi becoming "filthy", taking the nude pictures.

Well, I've just seen the movie, and I came up with two possible explanations, though both aren't that perfect. First one is based on the words "But... what if that illusion found someone to possess?": it means, we have to take the illusion (or a ghost) for real, as something that possesses the characters. It inspires Rumi and Me-Mania to write those things on the web site, scares Mima (but can't control her, as her desire to get rid of her past is strong enough); so Me-Mania is the weakest one at first, but then he realizes that there's something wrong with it, so he tries to kill Mima. After that, the ghost can only possess Rumi (when she starts to dislike what is being done to Mima), by making her believe she is Mima the pop idol.

The ghost also comes into Mima's dreams, showing her the murders and almost making her beleive she did them (remember how many times Mima suddenly wakes up?)

For those who might think this explanation is too cheap, here's the second one. Not everything that we're shown has happened. Many things that we see are actually Rumi's dreams: from the very beginning, Rumi thinks of what can change Mima's mind and imagines those things. Mima doesn't really see the other herself in the mirror, it's what Rumi thinks she does. As with the fishes: they didn't die, it's just Rumi's imagination.

Then, the only "real" parts of the movie are the filming scenes, the beginning and the very end. Me-Mania is also (parltly) an invention of Rumi's mind: she has probably seen him during the first Mima's performance, and so she decided he might scare Mima too. Even the fight scene between Mima and Me-Mania is fictional: remember, when they come to the scene, there are no signs of fighting on it, and Mima's dress isn't torn. Just watch this episode again, and you'll understand what I mean. Me-Mania gets killed, but in a completely different place, together with Mr. Tadokoro.

Mima's room that we see throughout the movie isn't her room at all: moreover, Mima probably doesn't have a computer. In fact, her real room is what we see at the end. The web site might be entirely fictional. It's impossible that someone can spy on Mima so closely and she doesn't notice it, and also her line from the movie ("Anata? Darenano?") on the web seems to be quite unrealistic. Again, all scenes with the "ghost" and even some others where only Rumi and Mima are together can be seen as Rumi's fantasy, and it allows to explain nearly everything. And yes, Rumi killed all those she thought were guilty in "tarnishing" Mima (the other intention might be simply to scare her).

The truck killing Mima after she chases her ghost is also one of Rumi's dreams. The phrase "Am I alive? Maybe that truck killed me" is also said to Rumi. So, anytime Mima says something about her dreams, it's actually Rumi thinking of her doing it (as she is dreaming herself).

Well, that's it, and maybe the 2nd explanation won't seem too weird to you if you've seen Mulholland Dr. or Lost Highway. The new Satoshi Kon's movie, Paprika, is somewhat similar, but I haven't figured it out yet. It also shows dreams merging with the reality. Same thing happens in Millenium Actress, too.

Let me know if you see that both explanations are wrong :) I'm sure there are many contradictions.

It's kind of funny that people would spend so much time trying to "explain" what happened in this movie - basically, doing the job that the filmmakers didn't bother to do because they were too busy with their cinematic antics.

Don't get me wrong - I enjoy the film and even have the DVD - but the mystery story makes no sense. The psychological story of Mimi's mental breakdown (and last reel recover) makes even less sense.

This is one where you have to sit back and say, "It's only a movie - just enjoy the ride"

READ MORE HERE: http://cinefantastiqueonline.com/2000/05/04/perfect-blue/

Remember that the post on the website said that Mima had been to Harajuku to shop, that means it was written up by Rumi who wore the clothes, commited the murder and then proceeded to dump the clothes at Mimas place.

I think that Rumi was living vicariously through Mima from the beginning, and that the author of Mima's Room was Rumi, who was privy to so many of Mima's personal thoughts. I think that Me-Mania was responsible for the fax and letter bomb, possibly with Rumi involed. I say that because at first I considered the possibility of Rumi sending both, but when the letter-bomb went off Rumi was standing directly next to the other agent(can't remember his name)who was injured, which makes me think that she would have put some distance between herself and the explosion had she been the one to send it. On the other hand, she recovers from the shock of it pretty damn fast, and seems so nonchalant about the whole situation that it makes me wonder if she wasn't at least already writing to Me-Mania and planned that incident with him.

When Mima first discovers Mima's Room, I think it just freaks her out at first. However, when Mima's character in Double Blind is revealed to be crazy, coupled with the the preceding rape scene, I think that acts as a folie à deux and Mima starts doubting her own sanity and using the website as a source of her own life. So, for instance, when she reads on Mima's Room that she'll be performing with Cham again, I believe that the following sequence that shows her singing/dancing on stage with them is a delusion placed in her mind from reading the website. As is shopping at Harajuka, and a few other situations.

As far as the murders go, I believe that Me-Mania deffinitely hit the heckler from the opening scenes, but I don't think Rumi had anything to do with that, he just did it out of revenge. I think he also probably killed the screenwriter, at the request of Rumi posing as Mima online. I find it most likely that the photographer was killed by Rumi, who then planted the bloodied clothes in Mima's closet, but Mima also seemed to have had a "dream" about that scene, so I can see where some people think Mima actually killed him. I'm a little up in the air about that part. I'm also a little unsure about Me-Mania. On one hand we see Mima kill him, but his body is gone when she takes Rumi back there. The only explanation I can see for that is that some period of time elapsed between when Mima killed him and when she runs into Rumi, giving Rumi enough time to hide his body. But on the other hand, in that one still frame at the end where they show Me-Mania's body, his eye is gouged out. Mima clearly hit him with a hammer, the gouged out eye looks like a screwdriver wound, which is what Rumi would have used, as she also used it to kill the other agent.

Then when Rumi brings Mima back to her(Rumi's) appartment, I think the rest is pretty straightfoward. Rumi's finally revealed to have been the "other Mima", attempts to kill Mima, fails and winds up in the hospital. I think the real Mima recovers from her delusions and gets on with life.


Its a damn scary movie. When I got finished watching it, I totally had to question my own sanity for a few minutes.

My opinion is mostly the same as yours. However, as a result from recently re-watching this, I don't believe that Mima was responsible for the murder of the photographer. ;-)

I believe that by pure co-incidence Mima had a nightmare about killing her photographer as a result of her pent up feelings of anger towards him for putting her through the humiliation he did. As the way that the scene sequence plays certainly implies these things.

Later on, during the scene when Me Mania attacks the real Mima, he accuses her of being an imposter and fooling the screenwriter and photographer because of it. She directly asks him "did you kill them?" and he answers "you'll die soon too." This strongly implies that he was responsible. It's never made clear as to how those bloody clothes end up in Mima's closet after she wakes from her dream, but considering that Me-Mania and Rumi are already conversing by that stage - it's reasonable to assume that they both worked together to set her up to make it appear as if she was guilty for committing the crime. Me-Mania could have committed the murder, while Rumi planted the clothes. As he'd already promised Rumi (thinking she was Mima) he'd protect her, and all the while Rumi had easy access to Mima's apartment.