The episode seems to be deconstructing the artifice of the theme park and, in a lot of ways, the shallow, cutsey markers of ravenously capitalist societies such as the US and Japan. Are these ideas indeed the genesis of the episode?

SM: Yes. In an amusement park there's a particular threat that something's lurking beneath the peaceful, artificial surface. I didn't intend any kind of political message. I just felt that the visual image of an amusement park at night when no one's around is very frightening and decided to set it there.

Like the "Pierrot" episode of "Bebop," Perfect Blue draws much of its narrative from the act of breaking down artifice. Could you expand on that idea?

SM: The setting for "Perfect Blue" is very close to the reality of Japan.

You mean idol culture?

SM: Yes.

In "Perfect Blue" Mima's manager says "There's no more use for idols these days." Since "Perfect Blue's" release three years ago, Morning Musume and other prefabricated idol groups have been coming out in droves. Can you compare the idol culture of "Perfect Blue" to what is happening now in the entertainment industry?

(Editor's Note: Morning Musume is prefabricated girl pop group of plain singing girls of various ages that is extremely popular and associated with bringing Japan out of the economic doldrums. The lyrics to one of their hits are about Japan's bright future.)

SM: The type of idol I was writing about in "Perfect Blue" is a completely different kind than the idols who are being presented today. The idols of "Perfect Blue" are the kinds that were popular around ten years ago, like Seiko Matsuda.

(Editor's Note: Seiko Matsuda could be called the Madonna of Japan. She had a degrading one-liner in "Armageddon" as a Japanese tourist in a taxi: "I want to go shopping.")

SM (continued): The kind of figures that appeared around the same time as Seiko Matsuda have been in the business for about ten years but have ceased being able to sell. About two years ago idols started to not even be recognized unless they could act in popular dramas. Mima and her manager are struck with this reality and they can't escape from that old idea of what an idol is. The world of "Perfect Blue" is composed of the kind of idols that wore frilly, gaudy dresses and would have gone into extinction were it not for the obsessive otaku that show up to each event. They aren't surviving in the mainstream media but rather the media underworld of otaku culture. That's where Mima got her success. She's famous among the otaku but to the rest of the world she isn't famous at all. Nobody notices her when she gets on the train. Her agency wants to push her into major stardom and puts her in a T.V. drama but she herself became popular in the otaku world and really doesn't want to leave it.

The television show in which Mima has a small role bears similarities to "Silence of the Lambs." Is this conscious? And if so, are you referencing the very style of film from which you borrow to make "Perfect Blue"?

SM: Oh yes. That was conscious, and half parody. But it's also a parody of the Japanese T.V. drama world at that time. At that time, or actually after "Silence of the Lambs" came out, several dramas appeared that were inspired by it. Even though they were a big hit with the general public, to the maniacs they came off as extremely cheap. That's why there's a line in the film that says something like, "why does it always turn out like this when it's done in Japan?" That was a little sarcasm directed at Japanese television dramas.

What do you think about the state of Japanese T.V. dramas? What kind of problems do you think exist within the industry?

SM: America is probably the same way, but everything in Japan is based on ratings. Because of the strong pursuit of ratings, stories aren't accepted unless all viewers can understand them. For example, was I to suddenly take a story like "Perfect Blue" to a producer, they would most likely say, "This kind of story is too complicated," and reject it. But I think that's pretty much the same in any part of the world.

Is Mima based on a real person?

SM: No, she's an amalgam of several idols that were popular at the time but I can't remember their names.

And who wants to remember their names.

Rumors abound about the imminent US release of "Millennium Actress," Kon and Murai's newest collaborative effort. And Sony, though ambiguous about an airdate, maintains that the new "Astro Boy" television series will reach audiences sometime in 2002. Catch more of this interview with Sadayuki Murai when Akadot covers "Millennium Actress" and "Astro Boy" in the coming months.