Perfect Blue 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

Perfect Blue 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Pre-millennium actress.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III June 12, 2026

A true benchmark for anime and one of the best films of 1997 period, Satoshi Kon's Perfect Blue turns 30 soon but it still holds up pretty damn well considering its roots in technology-tinted psychological horror. Made in the early days of the World Wide Web (long before they let just anybody in), this is a harrowing drama about fame, lost innocence, and obsession that, during many key moments, makes you totally forget you're watching a "cartoon". It's influenced many animated and live action films alike, and I'm almost positive that director Darren Aronofsky watched this before making Requiem for a Dream. Perfect Blue has also been represented well on home video thorough the years, debuting on DVD back in 2000 long before earning a 2019 Blu-ray and 2021 Steelbook, both from Shout Factory, who also went all-out last year with a full 4K/Blu-ray Collector's Edition. That hefty set has been repurposed here as a three-disc Steelbook; both options include a dual-layered 4K disc sourced from a recent restoration (which actually fixes a brief error from the earlier release -- see "Video Quality" below), the recycled 2019 Blu-ray, and a bonus disc of extras.

For a synopsis and appreciation of Perfect Blue, please see Neil Lumbard's reviews of Shout Factory's earlier Blu-ray and Steelbook releases, both linked above. As implied earlier, I'm in total agreement that Perfect Blue is a 5/5 effort and easily one of the 20th century's best anime films. If it's not it your collection already, it should be.

Perfect Blue 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

NOTE These screenshots are sourced from the included 4K disc but have been downsampled to 1920x1080.

This 2160p/SDR transfer might only sound like a courtesy bump when compared to Shout Factory's 2019 Blu-ray and its 2021 Steelbook variant, but it's not. It's actually sourced from a new 4K master and looks much, much better than those previous releases... which I'd score a much more modest 3/5, by the way, since that older transfer suffers from faded colors and some very noticeable telecine wobble that makes the picture feel like it's coming apart at the seams. (Incidentally, that's the version we get in this combo pack, I'm sorry to say.) This new master is much more stable and robust in direct comparison, with more consistently accurate colors, much better contrast, and rock-solid image detail that only wavers during intended visual detours like video effects and related shots with what look to be digital inserts. The image also appears very clean with forgivable amounts of cel dirt remaining and, while I was certainly able to spot a few additional specks here and there, it's got an overwhelmingly pleasing and old-school organic appearance that also preserves film grain and, unlike Akira's recent 4K "remaster", hasn't been scrubbed within an inch of its life. Shout's disc encoding is solid, too, as everything easily fits onto a modest dual-layered (66GB) disc and, due to the runtime, still hovers at a very respectable bit rate from start to finish with no obvious compression-related issues.

QC UPDATE 6/17: As pointed out in our forum's official thread, one particularly graphic scene around the 57-minute mark has two very brief flashes to black where several frames of nudity should have been. (These were not censorship, as the same frames are repeated elsewhere.) Additionally, a one-frame glitch occurs during the opening concert where a small cluster of black blocks appears above Mima's head; like the black frames, this happens so quickly that most will either miss it entirely or, as in the mysterious case of the black frames, assume it to be intended. Both were reportedly mistakes that occurred during the creation of the recent 4K master, and they appear on both the Collector's Edition as well as this Steelbook. Neither are egregious enough to change my overall opinion of the disc, but it is indeed slightly disappointing that they weren't addressed or even acknowledged by the studio.

Perfect Blue 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix likewise sounds noticeably better than the 2019 Blu-ray's DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix, with a greater dynamic range and crisper overall sonic details... but it's not as night-and-day of an improvement and, for the most part, shares the same qualities that Neil pointed out in his linked review. They can simply be heard to a greater degree here and, as always, fans can choose between the original Japanese (with forced translation subtitles) or the similar-sounding English dub (which also features forced subtitles, but for selected background text only). Either way it's a solid effort and, like the film itself, features an intermittently very heavy and foreboding atmosphere.

Perfect Blue 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This three-disc release ships in a matte-finish Steelbook, depicting a shadowy image of Mima with spot-gloss elements on her little fishies swimming below, while the back features a small group "cast photo". Inside is a tight splash image of photographers lined up for a shot, with two discs on overlapping hubs and one adjacent. (Appropriately enough, each one depicts a different "version" of Mima.) It's a solid design overall and much different than the earlier 4K Collector's Edition. As for the extras, they're identical to that earlier release and spread across all three discs.

DISC ONE - UHD MOVIE + BONUS FEATURES

• Trailers - An assortment of promotional pieces, some taking different approaches.

• Promotional Video Edited by Satoshi Kon (11:35) - An extended (very extended) trailer that only gives away about 70% of the film. I guess watch this if you're in a hurry?
• Rex Logo Trailer (1:57) - This one doesn't hold back, even if it's much shorter.
• Madhouse Logo Trailer (1:55) - Same as above except for the opening tag, from what I can tell.
• GKIDS Trailer (2:27) - A much more traditional (and tamer, relatively speaking) trailer with forced English subtitles and occasional text touting the new 4K restoration.
• Shudder Trailer (1:01) - Totally different from the above, but likewise with translation subtitles.

DISC TWO - BLU-RAY MOVIE + BONUS FEATURES

All extras below are carried over from Shout Factory's earlier Blu-ray, covered here.

• Original Standard Definition Version (1:21:19)

• Satoshi Kon Lecture (41:10)

• English Credits (3:47)

• "Angel of Your Heart" Recording Session (4:22)

• "Angel of Your Heart" Full English Version (4:15)

• Trailers

• US / UK Original Trailer (1:39)
• UK Re-Release Trailer (1:11)
• Japanese Trailer (1:59)

• Cast and Crew Interviews

• Director Satoshi Kon (10:45)
• Voice Actor Junko Iwao (5:41) - Mima (Japanese Version)
• Voice Actor Ruby Marlowe (2:40) - Mima (English Version)
• Voice Actor Wendee Lee (2:21) - Rumi (English Version)
• Voice Actor Bob Marx (2:00) - Me-Mania (English Version)

DISC THREE - BLU-RAY BONUS FEATURES

• Satoshi Kon Lectures - Seen above, this is the full series of three speeches from the director; Shout's 2019 Blu-ray (Disc 2) only included the first installment. Recorded on separate evenings in front of a small audience alongside assistant Runa Nagai, they're straightforward in their approach and a lot more interesting than the titles imply. Each session is subtitled to translate the original Japanese, of course, and they collectively play like little film school lessons where Kon talks about his influences, story origins, production elements, his visual approach, themes, and much more, all with occasional references to the film on a live monitor.
• Lecture 1 (36:11)
• Lecture 2 (34:31)
• Lecture 3 (46:38)

Perfect Blue 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Perfect Blue is a confident and forward-thinking 1997 debut from Satoshi Kon that was well ahead of its time and, for that reason and many others, holds up extremely well almost 30 years later. Shout Factory's new 4K/Blu-ray Steelbook is a slimmer, more affordable version of last year's 4K/Blu-ray Collector's Edition, albeit with a few slight video glitches (see "Video Quality" above). Featuring terrific 4K A/V quality and tons of great extras, its only drawback is the lack of a remastered Blu-ray. Even so, those set up for UHD should pick it up immediately. Highly Recommended.