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Perfect Blue Ultimate Edition Blu-ray Will Be Released April 29

Anime Limited has released details of its upcoming Ultimate Edition of Satoshi Kon's psycho-thriller Perfect Blue, which will be released on April 29, limited to a thousand units. This will be a new remaster on Blu-ray.

The video below has been released by Anime Limited as a comparison video, with the new remaster on the left of the screen compared to the previous 2013 Blu-ray release on the right.

Language options include the English dub (5.1 audio); the original Japanese mono audio; and a new Japanese 5.1 audio option. A “Song and Signs” track will accompany the English dub.

The new extras will include:

- Three video lectures given by Satoshi Kon on Perfect Blue, where he talks about "his directorial intent for selected scenes from the film." The three lectures are entitled "Mima: From Idol to Actress," "The Appearance of Virtual Mima" and "Mimi, Lost Between Dream and Reality."

- The soundtrack to the film on CD.

- A 384-page A4-sized hardback book including Kon's complete storyboards for the film, including deleted scenes and Kon's written notes (in Japanese).

- A 48-page A4-sized softcover book including artwork, layouts, rough sketches and character designs, plus comments and notes in English.

- The extras from previous editions of the film will also be included. These are interviews with Satoshi Kon (Director), Junko Iwao (the Japanese voice of Mima), and the dub actors Ruby Marlow (Mima), Wendee Lee (Rumi) and Bob Marks (Me-Mania).

The SRP will be £99.99. At This Time, the product will be exclusive to the AllTheAnime.com site and Zavvi, which are both offering this set for pre-order. (Both sites are currently offering pre-orders at £89.99.)

Regarding the two books, Anime Limited says, "There are plans afoot to release the books without the discs included at some point in the future, but we have no other details we can share on that at This Time."

The 1997 feature film was the directorial debut for Kon, who went to make Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, Paranoia Agent and Paprika before his death in 2010. Set in contemporary Tokyo, the story concerns a pop singer, Mima, who tries to develop an acting career, only to experience threats and traumas as her mind breaks down and she is tormented by a ghostly version of her singer self.

Anime Limited describes the story as follows:

"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?"

Kon based his Perfect Blue film on Yoshikazu Takeuchi's Perfect Blue: Complete Metamorphosis novel.