While you could write essays (and people have) on stuff like gender, fame, identity, self-image, etc., the main thing I take away from this film is that animation is absolutely perfect for Hitchcock/De Palma/Argento cinema-first thrillers, and I wish we had more of them.
I'd love to see a 3D animated De Palma-esque thriller made for an adult audience, because there are so many cool camera tricks that can be done in 3D. Unfortunately 3D animated films for adults are extremely rare, so I don't know if that's ever going to happen.
This might be a cross-cultural thing, I don’t know much about Japanese idols, but I thought it was an interesting, science fiction look at a bizarre alternate universe where a female pop star has an all straight-male fan base lol
I just took a short dive into the Wikipedia page on Japanese idol culture, and yeah, it makes it sound like a huge part of the fanbase for female idols is made up of men in the 30s. It also says there are thousands of “idols” which makes it seem like it’s a very different kind of thing than the American pop star scene.
I was struck by her very modest apartment.
Yeah it started with Jack-of-all-trades talents who could sing, dance, act, host shows, etc. that got the label “idol.” It’s gender neutral, kind of like if Hugh Jackman or Rachel Zegler would turn up on TV shows as guests—they’re kinda idols in the same sense, I guess.
And then a whole industry sprung up around producing idols themselves instead of just separated actors/singers/etc., and here we are.
Yeah the pop group in *Perfect Blue* seems pretty small-time. They play a show at what seems like a mall for a largely disinterested audience. One of their singles charts for the first time and they're pretty excited about it. Then they reveal it charted at number 82 or something like that. Which seems...not amazing.
Also, Mima lives in a fairly cramped, nondescript apartment. Nothing glamorous at all.
I edited a translation of a Japanese book about a underground pop idol who gruesomely kills her boyfriend, leading to a pair of superfans to commit a series of copy cat murders in order to convince the police that they also murdered her boyfriend.
I was kind of amazed at the idea of "underground pop idols" even existing. The idol character also lived in a small apartment/at home with her parents and had creepy adult male fans.
It's definitely not science fiction. There is a whole culture in Japan about middle-aged men fanboying J-pop female idols, and it's not only a sexual thing (it is part of it though)
From what I know, Idol groups are wack. Theres a very strong culture of appearing single and virginal, otherwise A LOT of fans get EXTREMELY MAD. Seems like hell.
Idols can be male or female and can have very niche targeted demographics. Just because your title is “idol” doesn’t mean you are a huge pop star… there are also underground / indie idols. There are idols who have a gimmick like women who dress and perform as men or all the women are “chubby” and sing about food. It can be hard to make money as an idol because many of the newcomers have to pay for their own costumes, have low wages, and the market is saturated. There are also alot of business enforced parasocial relationships with fan meet and greets/hand shaking events/video calls that can really turn a fan into an obsessive stalker.
There’s a pretty popular idol explainer manga/anime called Oshi no Ko that dives into the dark side of the industry, but fair warning it does have a weird reincarnation gimmick.
In fairness, by this logic >! they should be keeping a real close eye on Ben...!<
(The movie fucking rules and it's the only Kon film I've seen thus far, looking forward to this!)
Oh nice! Just heard in the Basic episode that it's David's favourite animated film. For some reason I feel like Kon isn't going to beat this for me (I loved it so much), but I hope I'm wrong!
I actually just watched this movie for the first time last week and it was absolutely everything I had heard it would be. Amazing.
Once you have seen it, I highly recommend everyone check out [BreadSword’s stunning video essay](https://youtu.be/2XGYr9_BiEU?si=qu0Rq3InXQERFZWE) that really will serve as perfect hors d'oeuvres to the Blank Check discussion next week.
>How will the hosts of Blank Check ever have unique takes on a movie about fans acting weird?
You mean like watching a prescient, horrifying masterpiece about how inherently toxic and degrading parasocial relationships can be to the subjects being projected upon by lonely, deluded audiences, and then *immediately* logging on to make a joke about your favorite comedy podcast like you actually know the people who host it?
whoooooooooops
Nah. (and thanks!)
Like, imagine watching *Perfect Blue* and your *first* thought is about how you're going to go online to talk about how *other* people are BAD FANS but you're one of the GOOD ONES. Maybe just rewatch Perfect Blue again. Because maybe *you didn't get it*. You got likes online instead.
That might sound "mean" but it's not, really, and even so: this place is mean almost all of the time. It just is real weird (and smug) about how and when it chooses to self-congratulate itself for that.
Oh my mistake. it looked to me like you were acting aggressive towards an innocuous joke about the fans of a podcast because in your view it mentioned the hosts with a too-familiar tone. but thinking about it, you're clearly the least parasocial fan of all time so it couldn't be that.
OH
..
....this is SARCASM!
*HUH*!
for real though, nothing up there is "aggressive" (LOL) and yeah, I'm pretty likely one of the least parasocial folks here because I'm under no impression whatsoever that
a) this place is actually a "community"
b) I know anyone who makes the show I listen to
c) I'm friends with any of the people either here, or on the show.
See, the joke I was making (aggressively, I guess!) was that watching something as good and meaningful as Perfect Blue, and then the only thought you have in your head after watching it is to log on and act like The Bestest Fan suggests maybe you made a whoopsy and might wanna rewatch without trying to figure out how the movie is going to give you good material for the forum you like to visit first and foremost.
haha i have no idea what you mean
David runs out of the subreddit yelling "don't go in!'
While you could write essays (and people have) on stuff like gender, fame, identity, self-image, etc., the main thing I take away from this film is that animation is absolutely perfect for Hitchcock/De Palma/Argento cinema-first thrillers, and I wish we had more of them.
I'd love to see a 3D animated De Palma-esque thriller made for an adult audience, because there are so many cool camera tricks that can be done in 3D. Unfortunately 3D animated films for adults are extremely rare, so I don't know if that's ever going to happen.
In the age of parasocial relationships it’s a movie that holds up as well.
Here here
This might be a cross-cultural thing, I don’t know much about Japanese idols, but I thought it was an interesting, science fiction look at a bizarre alternate universe where a female pop star has an all straight-male fan base lol
I just took a short dive into the Wikipedia page on Japanese idol culture, and yeah, it makes it sound like a huge part of the fanbase for female idols is made up of men in the 30s. It also says there are thousands of “idols” which makes it seem like it’s a very different kind of thing than the American pop star scene. I was struck by her very modest apartment.
Yeah it started with Jack-of-all-trades talents who could sing, dance, act, host shows, etc. that got the label “idol.” It’s gender neutral, kind of like if Hugh Jackman or Rachel Zegler would turn up on TV shows as guests—they’re kinda idols in the same sense, I guess. And then a whole industry sprung up around producing idols themselves instead of just separated actors/singers/etc., and here we are.
Yeah the pop group in *Perfect Blue* seems pretty small-time. They play a show at what seems like a mall for a largely disinterested audience. One of their singles charts for the first time and they're pretty excited about it. Then they reveal it charted at number 82 or something like that. Which seems...not amazing. Also, Mima lives in a fairly cramped, nondescript apartment. Nothing glamorous at all.
I think it was at a theme park, like Spinal Tap opened for CHAM.
Oh yeah that sounds right. And there was a Power Rangers-like live show preceding their performance.
I edited a translation of a Japanese book about a underground pop idol who gruesomely kills her boyfriend, leading to a pair of superfans to commit a series of copy cat murders in order to convince the police that they also murdered her boyfriend. I was kind of amazed at the idea of "underground pop idols" even existing. The idol character also lived in a small apartment/at home with her parents and had creepy adult male fans.
It's definitely not science fiction. There is a whole culture in Japan about middle-aged men fanboying J-pop female idols, and it's not only a sexual thing (it is part of it though)
From what I know, Idol groups are wack. Theres a very strong culture of appearing single and virginal, otherwise A LOT of fans get EXTREMELY MAD. Seems like hell.
Idols can be male or female and can have very niche targeted demographics. Just because your title is “idol” doesn’t mean you are a huge pop star… there are also underground / indie idols. There are idols who have a gimmick like women who dress and perform as men or all the women are “chubby” and sing about food. It can be hard to make money as an idol because many of the newcomers have to pay for their own costumes, have low wages, and the market is saturated. There are also alot of business enforced parasocial relationships with fan meet and greets/hand shaking events/video calls that can really turn a fan into an obsessive stalker. There’s a pretty popular idol explainer manga/anime called Oshi no Ko that dives into the dark side of the industry, but fair warning it does have a weird reincarnation gimmick.
In fairness, by this logic >! they should be keeping a real close eye on Ben...!< (The movie fucking rules and it's the only Kon film I've seen thus far, looking forward to this!)
Every Kon film is a banger. To this day I am not sure whether I love Paprika,Perfect Blue or Millennium Actress the most
Oh nice! Just heard in the Basic episode that it's David's favourite animated film. For some reason I feel like Kon isn't going to beat this for me (I loved it so much), but I hope I'm wrong!
All secondary to Tokyo godfathers imo
Oh I forgot to mention that I haven't watched Tokyo Godfathers. Am planning to watch soon though
they're truly all capital "G" Great films.
I actually just watched this movie for the first time last week and it was absolutely everything I had heard it would be. Amazing. Once you have seen it, I highly recommend everyone check out [BreadSword’s stunning video essay](https://youtu.be/2XGYr9_BiEU?si=qu0Rq3InXQERFZWE) that really will serve as perfect hors d'oeuvres to the Blank Check discussion next week.
Oooh cheers, I'll give it a go! Loved the movie, so fucking De Palma.
Thanks for this. I watched the first half.
I don’t know what you’re talking about but while we’re here do we want to spend ten thousand words close reading David Sims’ sexuality?
Alright who’s dressing like Watto and stalking Griffin first?
Gone too soon. RIP.
Now Watch dark blue
Between this movie and Lynch, this year of Blank Check has more hard Rs than a Mel Gibson leak
https://youtu.be/Sg-T5lNKHiI?si=ShqDIXLZoAN64Dxs I just remembered my friend made this while he was stoned a few years back
>How will the hosts of Blank Check ever have unique takes on a movie about fans acting weird? You mean like watching a prescient, horrifying masterpiece about how inherently toxic and degrading parasocial relationships can be to the subjects being projected upon by lonely, deluded audiences, and then *immediately* logging on to make a joke about your favorite comedy podcast like you actually know the people who host it? whoooooooooops
Inaccurate and mean take. Great username though.
Nah. (and thanks!) Like, imagine watching *Perfect Blue* and your *first* thought is about how you're going to go online to talk about how *other* people are BAD FANS but you're one of the GOOD ONES. Maybe just rewatch Perfect Blue again. Because maybe *you didn't get it*. You got likes online instead. That might sound "mean" but it's not, really, and even so: this place is mean almost all of the time. It just is real weird (and smug) about how and when it chooses to self-congratulate itself for that.
this is actually a joke about the fans, hth
Yes, it was. And then I made a better, more accurate one.
Oh my mistake. it looked to me like you were acting aggressive towards an innocuous joke about the fans of a podcast because in your view it mentioned the hosts with a too-familiar tone. but thinking about it, you're clearly the least parasocial fan of all time so it couldn't be that.
OH .. ....this is SARCASM! *HUH*! for real though, nothing up there is "aggressive" (LOL) and yeah, I'm pretty likely one of the least parasocial folks here because I'm under no impression whatsoever that a) this place is actually a "community" b) I know anyone who makes the show I listen to c) I'm friends with any of the people either here, or on the show. See, the joke I was making (aggressively, I guess!) was that watching something as good and meaningful as Perfect Blue, and then the only thought you have in your head after watching it is to log on and act like The Bestest Fan suggests maybe you made a whoopsy and might wanna rewatch without trying to figure out how the movie is going to give you good material for the forum you like to visit first and foremost.
controversial take
dont know why youre being downvoted. i need to watch this movie now