Perfect Blue (Ultimate Edition Blu-ray) Unboxing [NSFW]

Perfect Blue (パーフェクトブルー) is a 1997 theatrical anime film based on Yoshikazu Takeuchi’s novel Perfect Blue: Complete Metamorphosis (Perfect Blue: Kanzen Hentai). It was adapted by studio Madhouse and staff credits include director & character designer Satoshi Kon, writer Sadayuki Murai, character designer Hideki Hamasu, and music composer Masahiro Ikumi. The film was released first at a film festival in 1997 but was theatrically released in Japan in February 1998.

Note: This post also contains images from the artwork that may not suitable for work. Reader discretion is advised.

Brief Unboxing Note:

This unboxing has been updated on December 2023 to amend its page design but also add additional context to some parts of the write-up. Everything else has been left unchanged from the original post.

Background:

“Mima Kirigoe is ready to leave her career as a pop idol behind and forge ahead towards a bright new future as an actress. However, casting aside her former image proves to be far more difficult than she imagined, and the murky world of show business threatens to drag her into the depths of despair. As the strains of her new career path take their toll, and a menacing presence from her pop star past lurks in the background, is Mima able to keep a firm grasp on the things that define her? And as delusions, fiction and reality blend together in her mind, just what is it that defines her anyway?”

Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, April 2019.

Much like a lot of Madhouse’s films at the time, Perfect Blue is a dark and mature anime with scenes of violence and sexual content. It is considered a cult classic for both anime fans and regular film lovers throughout the world. In addition it is among one of Manga Entertainment’s most popular titles at the time to help broaden the interest in anime throughout the UK & US alongside the likes of Akira, Ghost in the Shell and Ninja Scroll.

After being out of print for many years, Perfect Blue was rescued by UK distributor Anime Limited in 2013, released on both Blu-ray and DVD. The Blu-ray transfer was based on the masters that were available in doable condition to the distributor, as the original materials were supposedly lost or destroyed. The UK release was presented first as a collector’s edition combo pack followed by a standard edition later down the line.

In 2018 it was announced that Anime Limited would revisit the film and work on a new transfer done by Media OCD member Justin Sevakis, known for his work with Discotek Media and NIS America. The transfer aims to improve the presentation of the film while also amending any of the disc quality control issues that were in the original. These still use the existing materials that were worked on in the 2013 release.

The 2018 transfer tries to provide a clearer and better quality presentation for the film and despite the comparison shots presented, the fan reception was quite controversial – primarily due to the grain being removed which reduces detail on parts of the animation. This transfer has also been used for the North American release distributed by GKIDS.

Regardless, Anime Limited’s new release is in a ultimate edition format, much larger in size and twice the cost of the previous release.

Ultimate Edition Contents:

Anime Limited’s Ultimate Edition for Perfect Blue offers more variety than the 2013 collector’s edition set. For starters, the size of the set is much larger, going at an A4 size. The large box includes two big books; a 48-page A4-sized artbook and a 384-page A4-sized Hardcover Storyboard Collection that includes the film on Blu-ray and the original soundtrack on CD, the latter of which is currently out of print in Japan.

The Storyboard collection is the main selling point for this Ultimate Edition release, as it covers the entire story plus deleted scenes in storyboard form. This collection has been left untranslated at the request of those who worked closely with Satoshi Kon. The Artbook meanwhile contains a ton of illustrations and promotional artwork for the film. The Blu-ray disc also contains a couple more bonus content as well as the film’s original standard definition transfer.

The artwork is free of any information on all sides of the box and the info sheet covers the BBFC content, information and specification. The ultimate edition Blu-ray was limited to 1000 units for SRP £99.99, and exclusive to the AllTheAnime store.

I pre-ordered my copy through Anime Limited’s store during their pre-order early bird offer in March 2019 for the price of £59.99 using a discount code during checkout, otherwise it would have been £89.99.

Physical Contents:

• Rigid Box with Hardcover book packaging and clean artwork
• Info sheet with info, specification and BBFC description
• Original Soundtrack CD
• 384-page Japanese Storyboard Collection book
• 48-page English translated companion Artbook

On-Disc Contents:

Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 29th April 2019

The ultimate edition release for Perfect Blue from Anime Limited contains the film on a single Blu-ray disc, with the encode & authoring produced by MediaOCD.

The audio options available Japanese with English subtitles and the Animaze English dub commissioned by Manga Entertainment from the 90s. English Hard of Hearing subtitles are also available. The white subtitles are unlockable during playback, however, the disc is region locked for B Blu-ray players.

In addition to the new transfer, this release also includes the original standard definition version of the film presented with the same audio options.

Blu-ray Specs:

Languages	English, Japanese
Audio	New Transfer: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 (Mono) Original Standard Definition Transfer: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Japanese Dolby Digital 5.1 Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0 (Mono)
Video	New Transfer: 1080p High Definition Native format 1.85:1 aspect ratio Original Standard Definition Transfer: 480p Standard Definition format 1.33:1 aspect ratio
Region	B
Subtitles	English, English Hard of Hearing
Locked Subtitles	No
Discs	1 BD-50

Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:

• Original SD Version
• Satoshi Kon Lecture
• English Credits
• “Angel of Your Heart” Recording Session
• “Angel of Your Heart” Full English Version
• Original US/UK Trailer
• UK Re-release Trailer
• Japanese Trailer
• Interviews with Satoshi Kon (Director)
• Interviews with Junko Iwao (VA for Mima in Japanese)
• Interviews with Ruby Marlowe (VA for Mima in English)
• Interviews with Wendee Lee (VA for Rumi in English)
• Interviews with Bob Marx (VA for Me-Mania in English)

Unboxing Photos:

Final Notes:

Perfect Blue is available to purchase on Blu-ray and DVD by Anime Limited in the UK & Ireland territories. The ultimate edition Blu-ray release, as of December 2023, has since sold out and is no longer available for purchase on Anime Limited’s store. That being said, the Storyboard Collection book is available on its own for £79.99, and the standard edition Blu-ray released before this set is also available to order through Amazon UK, Anime Limited’s store and MVM’s Anime-on-Line.

(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)