Today, 10 years ago, we lost Satoshi Kon

[Cess007]

As the title says, today, 10 years ago, we all lost an incredible mind, not only in the world of animation, but in film in general. Satoshi influenced a lot of people and movies in the way he edited and how he viewed the world of dreams, time and space in such an unique way. In his almost 10 years in the spotlight, Satoshi directed 4 theatrical anime movies (Which ranged from psychological thriller, to Christmas comedy-drama) and one incredible anime series. Sadly, Kon passed away while working on his 5th movie and it seems the project will never be finished.

I will leave here the trailers of all his work, because there's nothing else do to but let his work let do the talking.









Paranoia Agent

If you have even the slightest interest in anime, and even if you don't, don't miss the chance to check his work. Also, obligatory Every Frame a Painting about Satoshi Kon, because his work could never be praised enough.

Which if your favorite movie? How it was your first experience with Satoshi Kon unique brand of mind-bending filming?

Edit. Forgot to add. Fuck Cancer, dammit :(

 

[Fat4all]

 

[Fat4all]

 

[Viewt]

Paranoia Agent is so great. Paprika's probably my favorite film of his.

 

[Fat4all]

 

[Deleted member 18021]

Still my favorite tribute.

Satoshi Kon RIP by spacecoyote on DeviantArt

www.deviantart.com

 

[Barrel Cannon]

Damn, this stuff looks good. I only know of Paprika, but I guess I'll have to look into the other films as well now.

 

[coma]

Tokyo Godfathers is probably my favorite. Everything he did is wonderful though. Even the one minute short he made is great. Tragic that we didn't get to see what else he was capable of.

 

[julian]

I took my friends to Millennium Actress when it was in theaters last year. They were taken aback by how much they enjoyed it. One of my favorites.

 

[skeezx]

i was weirdly obsessed with Paprika around the time. i'd bring the dvd to get-togethers or what you could loosely describe as "parties" and everybody was like 'uh...' yet i forced them to watch it all the way through

then shortly after satoshi died i was all kinds of devastated. to be god honest it still hasn't registered in my mind yet

 

[RatskyWatsky]

One of the all time greats

RIP

(reminder that Paranoia Agent hits blu-ray in the US later this year - October I think)

 

[Fat4all]

Paranoia Agent OST 19 - Shiroi Oka - Maromi no Theme

Paranoia Agent OST19 - Shiroi Oka - Maromi no ThemeComposition - Susumu Hirasawa

www.youtube.com

 

[HomokHarcos]

I've been wanting to watch Perfect Blue and Paprika. I only found out recently that he is dead.

 

[B.K.]

I still need to watch Millennium Actress and Perfect Blue. How are the Blu-Rays?

 

[Minthara]

Paprika is absolutely my favorite piece of anime in existence. Its sad that we will never get more work from Kon.

 

[wideface]

Better than Miyazaki. Don't @ me.

Such a shame we'll never get to see anything else by him. RIP legend.

 

[Fat4all]

Paranoia Agent is Kon's only TV series as Writer and Director, and it's one of the best anime ever made

 

[Deleted member 13015]

What a unique presentation of anime he showed.

You have no idea what's coming to you if this is your first time watching his movies, PLEASE give them a try.

 

[B.K.]

It's a shame The Dreaming Machine will never be finished. I wish they would release what has been finished and fill in the unfinished footage with storyboards.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

Paranoia Agent is Kon's only TV series as Writer and Director, and it's one of the best anime ever made

Click to shrink...

his power

 

[KtotheRoc]

An incredible talent and a tragic loss. Paranoia Agent predicted the world we live in. Hard to say what we would have seen from Kon if he were still with us today.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

It's a shame The Dreaming Machine will never be finished. I wish they would release what has been finished and fill in the unfinished footage with storyboards.

Click to shrink...

I'm sure that if they Kickstarted it, they would be able to secure all the funding needed to finish it.

 

[Deleted member 56803]

Tangent: Are we ever going to get Despera?

 

[Fat4all]

nearly ever Kon project where he's writing has to do with people in many different forms

people as they project themselves, people as they sell themselves, people as they convince themselves, and people as they really are

each movie/tv show has several takes on that, how others view you, how society reacts to you, how stigmas can change and form all by themselves

powered buy fear, or fame, or jealousy, or social media

Kon was ahead of the curve

 

[vypek]

After I got behind on Paranoi Agent, I just couldn't bring myself to finish the series. I should try to force myself to get around to it someday

 

[Cess007]

Paranoia Agent is Kon's only TV series as Writer and Director, and it's one of the best anime ever made

Click to shrink...

I remember watching the whole thing in a single night. I couldn't stop watching.

I'm sure that if they Kickstarted it, they would be able to secure all the funding needed to finish it.

Click to shrink...

According to the head of Madhouse, the thing it's not only the money, but that nobody seems to be able to replicate Kon unique way of filming:

For 4~5 years, I kept searching for a suitable director to complete Kon's work. Before his death, the storyboard and script, even part of the keyframe film was already completed. Then I thought, even if someone can mimic Kon's work, it would still be clear that it's only an imitation. For example, if Mamoru Hosoda took the director's position, the completed Dreaming Machine would still be a good piece of work. However, it's Hosoda's movie, not Kon's. Dreaming Machine should be Kon's movie, him and only him, not someone else's. That means we cannot and should not "compromise" only to finish it. I spent years, finally reached this hard conclusion

Click to shrink...

He seems more OK with someone taking the core idea and creating a different film tho

 

[Dullahan]

Perfect Blue is, well a perfect movie.

 

[RatskyWatsky]

According to the head of Madhouse, the thing it's not only the money, but that nobody seems to be able to replicate Kon unique way of filming:


He seems more OK with someone taking the core idea and creating a different film tho

Click to shrink...

Didn't Kon want his team to finish it tho :(

 

[Karsha]

I remember reading his last blog post/letter some days before he died when be thanks a lot of people and talks about his last days, it was trully a sad thing going through his words...fuck cancer now and forever

 

[Mona]

RIP, Perfect Blue is a hell of a film

 

[Jaychrome91]

RIP, paranoia agent was amazing. Always loved his work.

 

[Dest]

All of his work is fantastic, but Perfect Blue and Magnetic Rose are truly phenomenal. One of the greatest directors anime or otherwise of all time.

 

[Dice]

This one still stings...he had such amazing talents.

 

[Fat4all]

if you haven't seen it before, here's a short film he made (1 min long) that i think is the last project he finished (might be mistaken)

Ohayo (オハヨウ) Satoshi Kon

Corto realizzato nel 2008 da Satoshi Kon nell'ambito del progetto Ani*Kuri, un'idea del canale giapponese NHK che vanta la partecipazione di quindici tra i p...

www.youtube.com

 

[TheJollyCorner]

Absolutely brilliant man.
I remember reading what was essentially his 'goodbye' letter to fans/family and it shattered me.

We were deprived decades more of amazing art from him- but those close to him were deprived more time with what seemed like an incredible human being.

 

[Ducarmel]

Short youtube doc on his editing style I like to watch if I want to be inspired to create something.

Satoshi Kon - Editing Space & Time

 

[Natsume Soseki]

A real tragedy.

I wish all of his films/tv shows were more widely available.

Also baffling and a shame that his final film was never completed.

 

[Blader]

Perfect Blue and Paranoia Agent are excellent. I also really like Magnetic Rose, which gets overlooked because he didn't direct it, but he did write and storyboard it. (The fact that it's buried in an otherwise mediocre anthology film probably doesn't help either.)

Liked Tokyo Godfathers too. Millennium Actress and Paprika left me cold but I should probably rewatch them. I know the former got a new dub recently, was that any good?

 

[Huey]

This is imo arguably animations greatest loss - not anime, all of animation - given he was so young. His films are so incredible and he was so early in his career, yet so productive. I can't imagine what he would have been able to accomplish.

still makes me genuinely sad, man

 

[Saudade]

Millennium Actress is still an all-timer for me. Anime doesn't get any better than that. Need to find time to rewatch his whole oeuvre.

Also if people are looking for more Satoshi Kon fix, there's this nifty little short called Magnetic Rose from the anthology film Memories that he wrote at the beginning of his career. It's prob the closest thing I've seen that resembles an anime version of Alien (though with Kon's trademark surrealism):




And if you like manga, there's a nice little volume he made called Opus that's a pretty good short story. Although it's not "finished," there is sort of an ending to it. His other works, Tropics of the Sea, Seraphim, and Dream Fossil aren't that good.

 

[soujir0u]

I love all his films but Millenium Actress is probably my favourite. I watched it in an arthouse theatre when it first came out and there was a standing ovation when it was over.

 

[Deleted member 46958]

Perfect Blue and Paranoia Agent are perfect.

 

[hateradio]

I love all his works, but I am still iffy on Paranoia Agent.

 

[NaDannMaGoGo]

Clearly a masterful director.

His characters always felt so natural, so human. My family isn't into anime whatsoever and yet, I had no problem recommending and watching Tokyo Godfathers with them around last Christmas. There's just this maturity to his works, with no reliance on tropes, either. Then you add the legitimately great premises, storytelling, and some of the greatest damned transitions and what's not to like?

All I've seen from him is great, with Perfect Blue being my favorite. Damn if that film isn't as relevant as ever. As are most of his works, I suppose.

RIP

 

[Fugu]

Any Satoshi Kon fan ought to familiarize themselves with the "real" millennium actress - Setsuko Hara.

Not only is it a good way to get familiar with golden age Japanese cinema, it's also practically essential for getting the most out of Millennium Actress, which might be his best film.

 

[polyrizumu]

Perfect Blue is one of my favourite films of all time, so damn good. I've been meaning to pick up the novel it was based off of but I'm not sure if it's been localised?

 

[Rockodile]

What a phenomenal filmmaker. Perfect Blue is a masterpiece. Losing him was such a tragedy for the medium.

 

[Excuse me]

It's too bad he never made more manga. Really liked Opus and would have loved to read more of his stuff. Don't really know what my favorite Kon movie is. For longest time it was Millennium Actress but some how it has lost some of it's luster after all these years. Maybe Perfect Blue. Paranoia Agent is close but it's bit uneven.

 

[GarudaSmiles]

It's a shame, he truly was one of a kind. No one really fills that role anymore. Millennium Actress is probably my favorite, but it's all good shit.

 

[Sai]

Paranoia Agent remains my favorite anime to this day.