Warning: The following contains spoilers for Aggretsuko Season 3, now streaming on Netflix.
Aggretsuko Season 3 shows its title hero, Retsuko, becoming an accountant for an underground idol group called the OTMGirls. Thanks to Retsuko's business talent, the idol group starts to rise in popularity, eventually incorporating Retsuko into the group as a singer after recognizing her talent. Once in the band, the producer Hyodo changes the band's image in accordance to Retsuko's heavy metal aesthetic. This leads to a subplot taken straight from Satoshi Kon's Perfect Blue.
OTMGirls' Obsessed Fan
After Retsuko finds a degree of success as a part of the newly formed rock group, a fan on social media starts to stalk Retsuko. Online, this toxic fan impersonates the OTMGirls "official" account, though this impersonation doesn't fool anyone. For most of the season, the stalker is treated as a joke. Even when private photos start surfacing, Retsuko appears somewhat confident that no one is going to hurt her at her home, but this changes very quickly when she finally meets the fan.
First, the obsessive fan harasses her at a fan meet-and-greet event by buying time with her and forcing her to listen to every cruel thing he has to say about her. The obsessive fan, who was obsessed with OTMGirls's old aesthetic and style, blames Retsuko for changing the band's style. While this shakes Retsuko, things quickly escalate when the obsessive fan follows her to work and attacks her with a box cutter.
While Retsuko is ultimately saved from the attacker's knife by Haida, the experience leaves Retsuko profoundly shaken, afraid to go out or perform with the band for an extended period of time. She ultimately chooses to return to work and quit the band after one final performance, aware that, despite the positives of fame, she just can't handle the dark side of stardom.
Me-Mania
Much like Season 3 of Aggretsuko, Perfect Blue centers around a pop idol who changes genres. Mima decides to give up singing and pursue an acting career, distancing herself from her former aesthetic in order to be taken more seriously. While the trauma of performing in more adult-oriented shows leaves Mima shaken, what really causes her mental health to deteriorate is the discovery of a website that documents everything she does. There are photographs of her doing mundane things, even sleeping. The site, which claims to be run by Mima herself, even details her most private thoughts, leaving nothing about Mima's life private.
The site is maintained by the two antagonists of Perfect Blue, one of whom is an obsessed fan of Mima when she was an idol named Mamoru Uchida, though he primarily goes by the moniker Me-Mania. He is convinced that Mima is an imposter of the pop idol, choosing to impersonate Mima to ruin the idol's spotless reputation.
This culminates in a direct attack on Mima, though unlike Retsuko's confrontation with her obsessive fan, this one gets very violent. Me-Mania attempts to sexually assault Mima before possibly killing her, but Mima manages to beat him off her with a hammer before escaping. Of course, Me-Mania is just a pawn of the film's real antagonist, who is even more sinister and cruel in nature.
The Dark Side of Fandom
Both Perfect Blue and Aggretsuko draw from the reality of social media and obsessive fans declaring a sense of ownership over the things they love. Be it an idol group changing genres or a person pursuing different career choices, fandom can both elevate and celebrate a person's accomplishments or demonize them when they dare to change. This sadly has happened before, such as when Icelandic musician Bjork was almost murdered by Ricardo Lopez, an obsessed fan.
While Aggretsuko still maintains a relatively lighter comedic approach in contrast to the sheer horror of Perfect Blue, both anime end with the central characters moving on past the trauma. Both shows seem intent on affirming that you can live a long and healthy life even after the trauma of someone invading your privacy.