There's a lot in this movie that reminded me of INLAND EMPIRE. Namely the way she kept waking up into another stage of the filming or into another dream, and the screwdriver. Also, thematically, it's similar in obvious ways.
Just too much here for me to think it's all coincidence, but I'd never take Lynch as an anime fan.
Now Playing ... PERFECT BLUE (Satoshi Kon, 1998)
There's a lot in this movie that reminded me of INLAND EMPIRE. Namely the way she kept waking up into another stage of the filming
Sure, the identities splintered through acting and dreams, the stark eroticism, gruesomely real violence... even some shots fading into lights... all that looked nicely familiar. I wouldn't exclude the possibility Lynch had seen it/was inspired by it. Of course, IE is much more sprawling & complex, more disturbingly intense.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan
Yes...it seems to me that there certain films Lynch never mentions that seem to have a huge influence on him. However, he is such an original film maker that he almost always improves on these ideas and makes something truly unique, despite the influence.
Just forget you ever saw it. It's better that way.