Now, five years later, Anime Limited has released it again, as one of their lavish Ultimate Editions. And ooh boy... the shaky old HD source has been replaced by a new remastered transfer, a soundtrack CD has been added, and there are now two gorgeous books included. They literally took some of the best items of several not-English-friendly editions and added them together in one swell package.
And as with all of their Ultimate Editions so far, I would be an idiot if I didn't give it a Pretty Packaging article. It will actually be the third time Perfect Blue is covered in this series (remember the French one?) but hey... if they keep releasing this film this gorgeously, how can I resist? So here is a gallery of shots. Click on the edge of the pictures to scroll through them, or at the center of each to see a bigger version.
And here it is: one giant volume, in a giant slipcase.
The slipcase holds two books.
The items removed.
The first book is a hardcover volume of 384 (!) pages, and it holds both discs in its inner-covers.
Here's the disc, and a small notification about why the storyboards in the books have not been translated to English.
Indeed, the entire book is dedicated to the storyboards of the film, with loads and loads of Kon's sketch-artwork on display. It's basically the same content as in the Japanese and French editions, with one added advantage: this one is LARGER, with each page of storyboards getting its own page in the book (the Japanese book was a pocket, while the French printed two storyboard pages on each page of their 192-page book).
The back cover holds the CD-soundtrack.
The other book is a 48-page companion book, with artwork.
In it you get an interview with Satoshi Kon, design artwork, marketing materials (and yes, while they haven't been plastered all over the covers, the nude versions are in there as well), background paintings... this is a fantastic book to have.
The (back)end of yet another great Ultimate Edition by Anime Limited. I can't help but wonder which title they'll have in mind for the next one?