I'll start with what I believe to be the worst element of the show and that is the animation. For 1998, it's not the best to be honest. Looks akin to early 90s or even the late 80s. It still does what required though and despite being simple in it's execution, depicts the descent into madness rather well. The designs of the characters are good and the colours are reasonably varied without feeling dull or muted like some of the golden era anime suffer from. All in all I would give this a 7/10 for it's animation
The music was great. Though I don't really have too much to say about it. It fit the film very well. One thing that I do want to comment on is the elevator scene. The use of music here is phenomenal. There is a moment in the car park prior to the elevators opening where tension is created with nice sounding J-Pop. The is a feeling of unease created, then, the elevator opens to a low budget hi-fi, volume up and distorted creating pure drama. It is excellent. The rest of the show is standard fair. 7/10
Now then, this story. Out of the films I have seen in anime, this is definitely one of the most well written and attention demanding I have ever seen. I was constantly questioning what was real and what wasn't. There are twists and turns that keep you guessing all the way to the very end, and I mean the very end. There is still something incredibly subtle in the final moment in a car before the credits. It really is a phenomenal story told so expertly. I have only seen two Satoshi Kon films, this and Paprika, despite the story being good in Paprika, Perfect Blue is superb. I won't say too much more about the story so I won't give any spoilers, all I will say is expect the unexpected. Story 10/10.
This is a really good film. Its unfortunate that the animation and sound arnt better. I would give this film as a whole an 8/10. The quality of this story though deserves a better score. Definitely recommended.
