Honorary Villain: Rumi Hidaka

Film: Perfect Blue (English title)
Pāfekuto Burū (Japanese title)

Voices: Rica Matsumoto (Japanese)
Wendee Lee (English)

The Character

The character, Rumi is probably as mysterious as Me-Mania but in many ways, she is much more. Me-Mania does come across as the villain at first. After all, he is obsessed with Mima but when you come to the end, you realise that he has been used as a pawn for a much higher power and it is her who is the main villain. Of course, how many of us were shocked when we discovered that the main villain, the one posting the TRAITOR fax, killing Mima's fish, sending the bombed letter and killing the photographer and agent was Rumi? This was kinda of a let down, more to the fact that Mima is showing symptoms of DID and in the end, it is Rumi who is suffering from the disorder.

I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here. I'll start at the beginning. Rumi is Mima's agent but she is more than that. She communicates more with Rumi more than her own mother and in a way Rumi is a mother figure. She is against Mima's choices to be an actress, especially when she has to do a rape scene but as it is Mima's choice, Rumi is powerless and can only give advice.

We learn that Rumi was once a pop star, just like Mima and you have to wonder if Rumi's main concern is to protect Mima and have a long-standing career, something that Rumi may have desired but never got the chance to. She could be compared to a mother who is pushing her child to live her dreams. The concern comes in as she watches Mima act out the rape scene; she cries and flees and it is at this point, we can speculate that she went to Mima's room and killed her fish.

It could be this longing to be like Mima that the DID developed and that she thought she was Mima. Not just Mima; the real Mima and she sees Mima as the fake Mima out to destroy the real Mima. Of course, instead of getting her hands dirty, she gets Me-Mania to do some of the dirty work. In the climax, as we see Rumi as Mima, we see the floating Mima in real life and Rumi only in mirror reflections. This is significant for this signifies that the Mima persona of Rumi has surfaced and Rumi has been pushed into the background. It should be noted that some of the symptoms of DID include blackouts so it could be that Rumi is unaware of her Mima persona which would make her just a victim of her own mind as Me-Mania and Mima are.

The voices behind the character

Wendee Lee is pretty good as Rumi. She’s really convincing as Rumi and she makes the twist so much more fun and heightens up the theory that Rumi has no idea that she has problems and is actually the one trying to hurt Mima. She gives off the impression of Rumi as a concerned mother rather than a pushy agent. And the fact that she makes Rumi sound almost robotic in the climax works in her favour for we know then that Rumi isn’t conscious of what she is doing.

Rica Matsumoto is softer in her tones than Lee is. She is less abrasive and angry in her confrontations although the assertive is still there. In the final climax, she is less robotic than Lee but is more girlish almost matching Junko Iwao’s Mima perfectly.

Honorary Princess: Mima Kirigoe

Film: Perfect Blue(English title)
Pāfekuto Burū (Japanese title)

Voices: Ruby Marlowe (English)
Junko Iwao (Japanese)

The Character

Mima Kirigoe is one of the most realistic characters portrayed in anime. In fact, Perfect Blue is realistic in the way it tackles the celebrity world. It is real because we have all seen a Mima at least once in our lifetime, where a singer will try to attempt making a success in acting and actors will try to make a success in singing. Sometimes, it is a success but most of the time, it is a failure. And of course, in the case of some celebs, they will stoop to any level for a slice of success.

Mima is one of these celebs. At the start of Perfect Blue, she is the member of a J Pop and called Cham. Despite having a strong fan base, the band has never reached the charts and it could be this lack of fulfilment/satisfaction that makes her want to try her hand in the acting.

You would think that taking this life-changing path would mean she is a confident woman, knowing what she wants. This could not be more off the mark. She is humble, cautious and timid. In one of her scenes, we see her bubbly and confident as she sings but then seconds later, when she announces her departure from the band, one of her band members is the one who eventually starts the announcement after the fight between some yobs and Me-Mania breaks out.

Also, whilst we see her singing on stage, we get glimpses of her in an office as her friend (and business agent), Rumi and her talent agency manager, Mr. Tadokoro discuss Mima's upcoming part in Double Bind. Rumi challenges Mr. Tadokoro by asking, "What about how Mima feels?" but the irony is that neither ask Mima what she wants and she sits quietly like an obedient child as two adults argue over her. Later, as criticisms mount about the lack of screen time she has, she refuses to challenge or rationalise this.

She lives alone and doesn't socialise when she is not working. She has no boyfriend or any love interests. She seems to prefer her own company. The film suggests that her only friendship resides in Rumi where during a scene where Rumi teaches her about the internet, it is almost a mother-daughter relationship. We see or hear nothing relating to her family or nothing about her past.. When she and her ex-band members are in the same room, it is a case of little acknowledgement. Whilst Cham celebrate their first single to enter in the charts, Mima checks any incoming mail for her. She does not socialise with her band members.

Her most significant scene involves when her character in Double Bind is gang-raped. For her, this starts when Rumi challenges this change of events. This is the only time where Mima openly speaks out and ironically, we find out later (after the rape scene is filmed) that she never wanted to do it in the first place. It seems that her acceptance to do the rape was secretly reluctant and that she is willing to go with the flow of others for two reasons:

a) to please others

b) she believes that others know best for her

At this moment, we see her losing her soul (as well as her sanity) especially when she poses for some provocative pictures for a magazine. At this point, she is surrendering her identity for fame which does not help by the fact that she is losing sense of the real world (as well as seeing the doppelgänger Mima). Now as I mentioned in my analysis of Perfect Blue, Mima could be suffering from DID.

However, the ending suggests otherwise and it is only after encountering Me-Mania as well as the real killer in the film, she is able to set her self free. It is also ironic that all this occurs the night that Double Bind has finished filming. It is as if to say that Mima loses her identity and sanity whilst filming the TV series and now that has finished, she confronts the enemy and able to take back her life.

In her ending shot, it is important to notice that her hair is noticeably longer than it was at the climax which suggests at least several months have passed. She is more confident in herself and smiles at the fact that even though her schedule is not as busy as imagined, she is happy to have her identity back. It could be even suggested that she has turned her back on the celebrity and is no happily normal.

The voices behind the character

Junko Iwao is beautifully vulnerable and girl-like , aspects one would expect for a vulnerable creature like Mima. Her screaming is also spot-on, not to OTT that is expected from most Japanese anime. Ruby Marlowe is Mima-worthy but there is the loss of girlish charm and vulnerabiliy that Junko Iwao displays beautifully (and Iwao's screaming is far more precise for someone who is running for their life) although she does it well for the doppelgänger Mima.

Honorary Villain: Me-Mania

Film: Perfect Blue (English)
Pāfekuto Burū (Japanese)

Voices: Bob Marx (English)
Masaaki Ōkura (Japanese)


The Character

The weird thing about this character is he is the character that we the viewer can rely on to be what he is. I'm telling you, Perfect Blue is literally the most complex anime I have ever seen. What starts off as a simple thriller delves into a psychological nightmare, mainly thanks to the director's heavy of jump cuts, fantastical elements and the foreshadow or revisiting of numerous plot points. In fact, this is my favourite non-Ghibli anime and I have seen it so many times I know it off by heart. And yet, I still get confused and the two main characters, Mima and Rumi are so unpredictable because due to the heavy theme of Dissociative Identity Disorder, it is hard to tell who is doing what when it comes to them two.

In comparison, Me-Mania is a pretty straightforward character and somewhat typical. Basically, he is a stalker. Not just any stalker; he is a hardcore fan of Mima (the main protagonist and singer of the J-Pop band Cham). He is the typical stalker. When he is not watching her at places where she is filming Double Bind or filming/attending Cham gigs, following her whenever she is going out, he is at his computer, looking at the website, "Mima's Room" which he believes was created by the real Mima.

His first shot shows him not to be necessarily a bad guy. From the start at Mima's final gig with Cham, he is watching intently and when some delinquents disturb the show, he gets in there and takes a small beating simply because they disturbed Mima's performance. And despite gaining a bloody nose from the experience, he smiles at Mima, perhaps in an attempt to gain her attention. This shows him to be a loving if slightly obsessive fan but not dangerous.

This is how we see him through the most of the film, just a simple obsessive fan. In the film, we do see him and the way that he lives. His floor is cluttered with numerous magazines featuring Mima and he has pictures of her all over his wall, especially pictures of her posing nude.

This scene is very significant as we learn just how delusional, naive and how easily he can be manipulated. He receives emails from who he believes is from Mima, stating that the Mima who is now a TV star is not the real Mima but rather an imposter and should be rid of. The fact that Me-Mania vows to protect Mima by getting rid of who he is led to believe is the "imposter" Mima (who is in fact the real Mima) shows that he has a caring side and is being manipulated. In that respect, you got to feel sorry for him. However, the fact that he imagines Mima beside him, even hugging him shows just how delusional he is.

Of course, we do not know how far he goes to protect his Mima until his final scene where he attacks the real Mima (on the same set where she filmed her rape for Double Bind). It is therefore ironic that while he tries to kill her, he also tries to rape her. This is significant for him for this is the only scene where we actually hear him speak. He confesses to killing the screewriter and photographer who he was led to believe tarnished Mima's good name and he is about to kill the real Mima believing her to be the fake Mima who tarnished Mima's good clean image. It is here we learn that he has been a scapegoat for a higher power as it were and he was willing to go along with it for the love of Mima. Sadly it is his devotion that would lead to his downfall.

The voice behind the character

I'm sorry but Masaaki Ōkura is way more superior to the role than Bob Marx. Ōkura sounds determined as if he knows what he's doing which adds to his delusional state. He sounds as if he is angry with Mima in his final scene. Marx sounds like he is not taking the role seriously. He is exaggerating his crazy tone to make Me-Mania sounds like more like a crazy cartoon character and you really cannot take him seriously. The scary thing about Me-Mania is that he truly believes everything he is told and like he believes that the real Mima is an imposter. That's all I can say: Ōkura rocks!!! As for Bob Marx, he could have done better. With the way he makes Me-Mania, why didn't they just get Bobcat Goldwaithe to play him?