Perfect Blue certainly was a prototype for Paprika. I think you will find it a little rough, and you will see Kon's immaturity as an animator as he himself later admitted in an interview.
Any of you guys fans of the anime Paranoia Agent? I believe its directed by the same person and has the same feel of the movie. Check it out if you liked Paprika. :)
I did see Blast of Silence (My review should be at the top of the stack on Netflix) You should definitely start a thread about it in the noir group — it will get plenty of posts as there has been a huge rush of people trying to get the disc. Besides, the noir group needs a shot in the arm.