231 - Perfect Blue

Okay, Canon users: if Canon is so great, explain the T5, T6, and T7

Okay gotta say, as someone who grew up when internet explorer was still a thing (before they just decided to Edge it), I still called it internet exploder because, compared to Firefox and Chrome (which was still useful at the time), it was just shit.

Recent subscriber binging any old stuff that looks interesting, just wanted to say I want the Pulse episode in this format so bad, I saw there's the old yt version but I'm unbearably obsessed with that movie and tbh even the American one (how can you not be fascinated by a mid remake of a masterpiece but with the WORST ENDING OF ANYTHING EVER) and I want the full 3-4 hour breakdown of that panic attack of a film. If I am ever notable enough to be a guest on this show I'm going to pitch the American Pulse as an ep istg it's so funny

The most mindfucky part is that in the original Japanese dub the final line “I'm the real one!” is delivered by the Rica Matsumoto who throughout the whole film voiced Rumi.

Mima’s name makes me think of word “memetic”. Makes me think of Mima as a meme lol Although Dawkins is weird and stinky, he did kinda slayed with the idea of memetic and genetic spread. And this movie shows “memetic” reality, idea of Mima, hijacks biological reality, makes people act against their self-interest and breaks out of real Mima’s control

I resubbed for this ep!!

Just doing my job drawing comics while listening to this podcast as I get to "you have to be a real fucking sicko to dedicate your life to comics" and nodding.

Brian is right about Mother and he should say it

I had a similar read to AJ here! That ending is so dissonant and the explanation is so pat that it's hard to just swallow the ending as literal. It reminds me of a (half-remembered) observation from Zizek, which is something like: saying that you are out of the grip of ideology is the surest sign that you are in the deepest grip of ideology. The fact that Mima is so uncomplicatedly sure of being 'real' at the end always seemed to me like the surest, and darkest, sign that her showbiz alter ego has won and that she is another casualty of the industry.

It is a fantastic thing to be content with who you are. When I was younger, in my late teens and early 20s, I was obsessive with all these things about myself. That I wasn't more social, that I wasn't attractive enough, that I didn't do well in school, and beyond that surface level vapidness, I was terrified of being a failure, of not succeeding in the career I wanted to pursue, of not being in a romantic relationship and never finding love. Afraid that if I didn't get all of this right at this time then I would be a failure forever, that I would be nothing. I was chronically self-reflectice, always obsessing over my actions, my thoughts and feelings, how I kept making the same mistakes over and over again, how it seemed like I was unable to change, and that I was a pathetic worthless wretch, forever alone, the runt of the litter, the excess produce of life, subpar in everything, and destined to be tossed in the trash of life and history while more capable people would live on and succeed. But eventually, I stopped caring so much. I realize now that most of that anxiety and depression was more a result of being in schools away from home and never socializing. I'm still the same endlessly analytical and self-reflectice person that I once was, but I'm in a better place now. The me that I was then is still myself now, and it isn't. The truth is that we become so self-conscious because we obsess so much over this idea of ourselves, the ourselves that we present to the world, the ourselves that we see in ourselves, and the ourselves that we want to be, and so rarely do we just exist in the moment, so rarely do we just be ourselves as we naturally, intuitively are. Sure, I might not be the auteur director creating the next Evangelion like I wanted to be and still wish I could be, but right now I'm enjoying a podcast and having fun listening to people discussing a great work of art. I may have 40 thousand photos not backed up to my cloud on my phone, but I can enjoy seeing them now. I may not be in a romantic relationship, but I'm happy living with my parents and not worrying about paying rent and being alone. I'm being myself, I'm accepting who I am and where my life is. Endlessly worrying and regretting doesn't help me at all, and I have no interest in being some constructed persona to present to the world, I only want to be the true myself. I'm not real, there is no "Myself", and yet I am as real as I can be. I am the product of everything that has come before me, an amalgamation of experiences and actions shaping this nebulous cloud of ideas that I identify with. But I know it's not really real, and that doesn't matter. The me of the past and future both is and isn't me, I am endlessly becoming, and inseparably in the moment. I am content being here.

The Behind the Bastards podcast just did a two parter on the history of Incels, everyone should check it out, it helps to breakdown the social and psychological origins behind this mentality.

Wait, Wallace Shawn went on the TrueAnon podcast?

In high school me and my best friend were having a sleepover and we found Perfect Blue in a Blockbuster. We were so close to renting it out when she mentions within earshot of my mum that it has a simulated rape scene in it…we ended up watching 9 instead

LA truly served AJ the worst of all possible pizzas

As someone who still refuses to use Edge and also has my first colonoscopy scheduled for next week. I approve of Josh's 'Internet Exploder' joke.

I half-agree with both of you on the ending of Inception: It IS the dream world (the kids look exactly the same as the last time he saw them even though it's been several years), BUT he is accepting it as real (we hear the top fall over).

Wasn't expecting an interstitial to deal with Eternalism, but here we are.

Not a bad episode per sey, but it did kill my desire to see the movie... And the lads seem extremely out of their depth for talking about sexism in things they like. It was also an issue with cyberpunk and death stranding notably for me.

I'm sure you boys have a mile long list of movies, but I feel like Perfect Blue pairs really well with Cam (2018). I never hear people talk about this movie, it manages to be all about sex work while actually being like, normal and respectful about sex and sex workers.

excuse me someone has clearly not seen Jennifer Lawrence in American Hustle; exquisitely deranged performance

The thing which still astounds me about Satoshi Kon is how completely ahead of the curve he was and still is compared to his contemporaries in the anime production sphere. Every time I see an overly sexualised and/or infantilised woman which is defended as 'just a part of anime' I remember that Satoshi Kon was providing the example since the 90s, and these tropes are deliberate choices and not just cultural choices that don't warrant further examination. Anime still struggles with the idea of transgenderism outside of just drawing a man as a woman and making a joke about it, and Satoshi Kon had a gay transgender relationship as far back as Tokyo Godfathers.

Phantom of the paradise twoapw when?

The wheel turns ever so slightly closer towards a Magic: The Gathering episode

Had to pause the episode in sheer jealous frustration when Josh said he’s going to see Plastikman…

Really felt the interstitial this week.

I love perfect blue so much, I actually made a transforming Mima cosplay that switches between her white and red dress. As a cosplayer I find the themes of the movie incredibly relateable.

Cool, love crying at an interstitial, thanks AJ.

Aranofsky’s use of AI feels so much less shocking when I think about how he was one of the people defending Roman Polanski. He’s never been a GREAT person. Also, love the discussions in this ep! Perfect Blue feels relevant more and more and its influence seems to be in a lot of modern series I’ve seen lately. One online series called Lacey’s Flash Games felt a lot to me like it had some influence from Perfect Blue while also being very early 2000s nostalgia.

Had a friend ask for a recommendation 2 days ago and i told they should watch Perfect Blue. Fun bit of serendipity

Every Frame a Painting did a video on Satoshi Kon https://youtu.be/oz49vQwSoTE?si=4wHqlhg_i3LeOf1v

LET'S GOOO

Hearing the dub is weird. Also wasn't aware that Kon worked on the JoJo OVA.

Knowing very little about this film, I took a girl to see it on our second date. While she was perfectly gracious, there’s no doubt it killed the vibe.

Darn, this discussion on parasociality makes me wanna see a WOAPW Caveh episode sooooooooooo bad

yooooooo one of my favorite movies lfg!!!!