Satoshi Kon
Encyclopedia
was a Japanese anime
director
and manga artist
from Kushiro, Hokkaidō
and a member of the Japanese Animation Creators Association
(JAniCA). He was a graduate of the Graphic Design department of the Musashino Art University
. He is sometimes credited as in the credits of Paranoia Agent
. He was the younger brother of guitarist and studio musician Tsuyoshi Kon.
, Kon aspired to become an animator. His favorite works were Space Battleship Yamato
(1974), Heidi, Girl of the Alps
(1974), Future Boy Conan
(1978) and Mobile Suit Gundam
(1979), as well as Katsuhiro Otomo
's Domu: A Child's Dream. Yasutaka Tsutsui
served as an influence on Kon's drawings. Kon graduated from the Graphic Design course of the Musashino Art University in 1982. During that time, Kon viewed numerous foreign films and enthusiastically read Yasutaka Tsutsui's books.
(Kodansha
). Afterward, he found work as Katsuhiro Otomo's assistant. After graduating from college in 1987, Kon authored the one-volume manga Kaikisen (1990) and wrote the script for Katsuhiro Otomo's live-action film World Apartment Horror. In 1991, Kon worked as an animator and layout artist for the animated film Roujin Z
. Kon worked as a supervisor for Mamoru Oshii
's Patlabor 2: The Movie along with other animated films. He then worked on the manga Seraphim: 266,613,336 Wings. In 1995, Kon served as the scriptwriter, layout artist and art director of the short film "Magnetic Rose", the first of three short films in Katsuhiro Otomo's omnibus Memories
. Kon's work afterward would be distinguished by the recurring theme of the blending of fantasy and reality.
(based on Yoshikazu Takeuchi's novel of the same name). A suspense story centered around a pop idol, it was the first film by Kon to be produced by Madhouse
. Kon was initially unsatisfied with the original screenplay written by the author and requested to make changes to it. Aside from maintaining three elements of the novel ("idol", "horror" and "stalker"), Kon was allowed to make any changes he desired. The screenplay was written by Sadayuki Murai, who worked in the idea of a blurred border between the real world and imagination.
Following Perfect Blue, Kon considered adapting the Yasutaka Tsutsui novel Paprika
(1993) into his next film. However, these plans were stalled when the distribution company for Perfect Blue, Rex Entertainment, went bankrupt. Coincidentally, Kon's next work would also feature the theme of the blending of imagination and reality. In 2002, Kon's second film, Millennium Actress
, was released to the public. The film centers around a retired actress who mysteriously withdraws from the public eye at the peak of her career. Having the same estimated budget as Perfect Blue (approximately 120,000,000 yen), Millennium Actress garnered higher critical and financial success than its predecessor and earned numerous awards. The screenplay was written by Sadayuki Murai, who utilized a seamless connection between illusion and reality to create a "Trompe-l'œil kind of film". Millennium Actress was the first Satoshi Kon film to feature Susumu Hirasawa
, whom Kon was a long-time fan of, as composer.
In 2003, Kon's third work, Tokyo Godfathers
, was announced. The film centers on a trio of homeless persons in Tokyo who discover a baby on Christmas Eve and set out to search for her parents. Tokyo Godfathers cost more to make than Kon's previous two films (with a budget of approximately 300,000,000 yen), and centered on the themes of homelessness and abandonment, with a comedic touch worked in. The screenplay was written by Keiko Nobumoto
.
In 2004, Kon released the 13-episode television series Paranoia Agent
, in which Kon revisits the theme of the blending of imagination and reality, as well as working in additional social themes. The series was created from an abundance of unused ideas for stories and arrangements that Kon felt were good but did not fit into any of his projects.
In 2006, Paprika was announced, after having been planned out and materializing for several years. The story centers on a new form of psychotherapy that utilizes dream analysis to treat mental patients. The film was highly successful and earned a number of film awards. Kon summed up the film with - roughly, "Everything but the fundamental story was changed." Much like Kon's previous works, the film focuses on the synergy of dreams and reality.
After Paprika, Kon teamed up with Mamoru Oshii and Makoto Shinkai
to create the 2007 NHK
television production Ani*Kuri15, for which Kon created the short Ohayō. That same year, Kon helped establish and served as a member of the Japan Animation Creators Association (JAniCA).
. In May 2010, Kon was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer
. Given half a year to live, Kon chose to spend the remainder of his life in his home. Shortly before his death, Kon uploaded a final message onto his blog. As Kon explained in the message, he chose not to make news of his rapidly advancing illness public, in part out of embarrassment at how drastically emaciated and ravaged his body had become. The result was that the announcement of his death was met with widespread shock and surprise, particularly given that Kon had shown no signs of illness at relatively recent public events, as the cancer progressed to a terminal state a matter of months after being diagnosed. Kon died on August 24, 2010 at the age of 46.
He completed storyboards and the script for The Dream Machine and left directorial tapes to Studio Madhouse to finish the film.
and Yasutaka Tsutsui
. Kon viewed various manga and anime up until high school. He was particularly fond of Space Battleship Yamato, Future Boy Conan, Galaxy Express 999
(1978), Mobile Suit Gundam and Domu. Western films also served as an influence, most notably George Roy Hill
's Slaughterhouse-Five
(1972), The City of Lost Children
(1995) and the works of Terry Gilliam
(particularly Time Bandits
(1981), Brazil
(1985) and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
(1989)). In addition to Gilliam, he also blogged about watching Monty Python
.
He was fond of the works of Akira Kurosawa
, and worked in a reference to him in Millenium Actress. Despite this, he claimed not to be familiar with Japanese film.
It is thought that after his statement that he intended to create Science Fiction works aimed at a younger audience that this was the prototype for successive works.
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
director
Television director
A television director directs the activities involved in making a television program and is part of a television crew.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or recorded to video tape or video server .In both types of productions, the...
and manga artist
Mangaka
is the Japanese word for a comic artist or cartoonist. Outside of Japan, manga usually refers to a Japanese comic book and mangaka refers to the author of the manga, who is usually Japanese...
from Kushiro, Hokkaidō
Kushiro, Hokkaido
is a city located in Kushiro Subprefecture, Hokkaidō, Japan. It is the capital city of Kushiro Subprefecture, as well as the most populous city in eastern Hokkaidō....
and a member of the Japanese Animation Creators Association
Japanese Animation Creators Association
Japanese Animation Creators Association is a labor union representing workers in the Japanese animation industry. The group was was formed back in June 2007 as a non-profit organization dedicated to raising the living standards of workers in the anime industry including livable wages...
(JAniCA). He was a graduate of the Graphic Design department of the Musashino Art University
Musashino Art University
is a university in Kodaira, western Tokyo founded in 1962 and has roots going back to 1929.Teikoku Art School was founded in 1929; in 1948 it became Musashino Art School , and in 1962 it became Musashino Art University...
. He is sometimes credited as in the credits of Paranoia Agent
Paranoia Agent
is a Japanese anime television series created by director Satoshi Kon and produced by Madhouse about a social phenomenon in Musashino, Tokyo caused by a juvenile serial assailant named Lil' Slugger...
. He was the younger brother of guitarist and studio musician Tsuyoshi Kon.
Early life
Satoshi Kon was born on October 12, 1963. Due to his father's job transfer, Kon's education from the fourth elementary grade up to the second middle school grade was based in Sapporo. Kon was a classmate and close friend of manga artist Seihō Takizawa. While attending Hokkaido Kushiro Koryo High SchoolHokkaido Prefectural Board of Education
Hokkaido Prefectural Board of Education is a governmental agency that mainly oversees public schools in Hokkaidō in Japan.The board directly oversees high schools and provides educational services in Hokkaidō.-Abashiri:...
, Kon aspired to become an animator. His favorite works were Space Battleship Yamato
Space Battleship Yamato
is a Japanese science fiction anime series featuring an eponymous spacecraft. It is also known to English-speaking audiences as Space Cruiser Yamato; an English-dubbed and heavily edited version of the series was broadcast on North American and Australian television as Star Blazers...
(1974), Heidi, Girl of the Alps
Heidi, Girl of the Alps
is a 1974 anime series by Zuiyo Enterprises based on the Swiss novel "Heidi's Years of Wandering and Learning" by Johanna Spyri . It was directed by Isao Takahata and features Yoichi Kotabe , Hayao Miyazaki .Heidi is one of several World Masterpiece Theater titles produced around the "classical...
(1974), Future Boy Conan
Future Boy Conan
is an anime series, which premiered across Japan on the NHK network between April 4 and October 31, 1978 on the Tuesday 19:30-20:00 timeslot. The official English title used by Nippon Animation is Conan, The Boy in Future....
(1978) and Mobile Suit Gundam
Mobile Suit Gundam
is a televised anime series, created by Sunrise. Created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, it premiered in Japan on Nagoya Broadcasting Network on April 7, 1979, and lasted until January 26, 1980, spanning 43 episodes...
(1979), as well as Katsuhiro Otomo
Katsuhiro Otomo
is a Japanese comic book creator, screenwriter and film director. He is best known as the creator of the manga Akira and its animated film adaptation. Otomo has also directed several live-action films, such as the 2006 feature film adaptation of the manga Mushishi.-Biography:Katsuhiro Otomo was...
's Domu: A Child's Dream. Yasutaka Tsutsui
Yasutaka Tsutsui
is a Japanese novelist, science fiction author, and actor. Along with Shinichi Hoshi and Sakyo Komatsu, he is one of the most famous science fiction writers in Japan. His Yumenokizaka bunkiten won the Tanizaki Prize in 1987. He has also won the 1981 Izumi Kyoka award, the 1989 Kawabata Yasunari...
served as an influence on Kon's drawings. Kon graduated from the Graphic Design course of the Musashino Art University in 1982. During that time, Kon viewed numerous foreign films and enthusiastically read Yasutaka Tsutsui's books.
Early career
While in college, Kon made his debut as a manga artist with the short manga Toriko (1984) and earned a runner-up spot in the 10th Annual Tetsuya Chiba Awards held by Young MagazineYoung Magazine
is a Japanese manga magazine published weekly by Kodansha. The magazine was started on June 23, 1980 and is targeted at adult males . It is also known as Young or YM. It goes on sale Monday every week...
(Kodansha
Kodansha
, the largest Japanese publisher, produces the manga magazines Nakayoshi, Afternoon, Evening, and Weekly Shonen Magazine, as well as more literary magazines such as Gunzō, Shūkan Gendai, and the Japanese dictionary Nihongo Daijiten. The company has its headquarters in Bunkyō, Tokyo...
). Afterward, he found work as Katsuhiro Otomo's assistant. After graduating from college in 1987, Kon authored the one-volume manga Kaikisen (1990) and wrote the script for Katsuhiro Otomo's live-action film World Apartment Horror. In 1991, Kon worked as an animator and layout artist for the animated film Roujin Z
Roujin Z
is a 1991 Japanese anime film directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo and written by Katsuhiro Otomo.-Plot:Roujin Z is set in Japan during the early 21st century. A group of scientists and hospital administrators, under the direction of the Ministry of Public Welfare, have developed the Z-001, a...
. Kon worked as a supervisor for Mamoru Oshii
Mamoru Oshii
Mamoru Oshii is a Japanese filmmaker, television director, and writer. Famous for his philosophy-oriented storytelling, Oshii has directed a number of popular anime, including Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer, Ghost in the Shell, and Patlabor 2...
's Patlabor 2: The Movie along with other animated films. He then worked on the manga Seraphim: 266,613,336 Wings. In 1995, Kon served as the scriptwriter, layout artist and art director of the short film "Magnetic Rose", the first of three short films in Katsuhiro Otomo's omnibus Memories
Memories (film)
Memories is an anime produced in 1995 by artist/director Katsuhiro Otomo which were based on three of his manga short stories. The film is composed of three episodes: , and...
. Kon's work afterward would be distinguished by the recurring theme of the blending of fantasy and reality.
Directing
In 1993, Kon scripted and co-produced the fifth episode of the original video animation JoJo's Bizzare Adventure. In 1997, Kon began work on his directorial debut Perfect BluePerfect Blue
is a 1997 Japanese animated psychological thriller film directed by Satoshi Kon and written by Kon and Sadayuki Murai based on the novel of the same name by Yoshikazu Takeuchi. Junko Iwao plays Mima Kirigoe, a member of a Japanese pop-idol group called "CHAM!", who decides to pursue her career as...
(based on Yoshikazu Takeuchi's novel of the same name). A suspense story centered around a pop idol, it was the first film by Kon to be produced by Madhouse
Madhouse (company)
is a Japanese animation studio, founded in 1972 by ex–Mushi Pro animators including Masao Maruyama, Osamu Dezaki, Rintaro, and Yoshiaki Kawajiri. It has created and helped to produce many well known shows, starting with TV anime series Ace o Nerae! in 1973, and including western favourites Ninja...
. Kon was initially unsatisfied with the original screenplay written by the author and requested to make changes to it. Aside from maintaining three elements of the novel ("idol", "horror" and "stalker"), Kon was allowed to make any changes he desired. The screenplay was written by Sadayuki Murai, who worked in the idea of a blurred border between the real world and imagination.
Following Perfect Blue, Kon considered adapting the Yasutaka Tsutsui novel Paprika
Paprika (novel)
is a 1993 novel written by Yasutaka Tsutsui. It first appeared in Marie Claire in four parts, each appearing chronologically in the January 1991, March 1992, August 1992, and June 1993 issues. A manga adaption of the novel was created by Reiji Hagiwara in 1995 but was not published until 2003...
(1993) into his next film. However, these plans were stalled when the distribution company for Perfect Blue, Rex Entertainment, went bankrupt. Coincidentally, Kon's next work would also feature the theme of the blending of imagination and reality. In 2002, Kon's second film, Millennium Actress
Millennium Actress
is a 2001 Japanese anime by director Satoshi Kon and animated by the Studio Madhouse. It tells the story of a documentary filmmaker investigating the life of an elderly actress in which reality and cinema become blurred.-Plot:...
, was released to the public. The film centers around a retired actress who mysteriously withdraws from the public eye at the peak of her career. Having the same estimated budget as Perfect Blue (approximately 120,000,000 yen), Millennium Actress garnered higher critical and financial success than its predecessor and earned numerous awards. The screenplay was written by Sadayuki Murai, who utilized a seamless connection between illusion and reality to create a "Trompe-l'œil kind of film". Millennium Actress was the first Satoshi Kon film to feature Susumu Hirasawa
Susumu Hirasawa
is a Japanese electropop artist and composer.In 1972, he enrolled at . From 1972 to 1978, he performed in his first band Mandrake, a progressive rock group influenced by King Crimson and Yes. In 1979 he formed a New Wave synth-rock & techno-pop band called P-Model, along with two former members of...
, whom Kon was a long-time fan of, as composer.
In 2003, Kon's third work, Tokyo Godfathers
Tokyo Godfathers
is a 2003 anime film by the late Japanese director Satoshi Kon.Tokyo Godfathers was Kon's third animated movie, which he wrote and directed. Keiko Nobumoto, noted for being the creator of the Wolf's Rain series and a head scriptwriter for Cowboy Bebop, co-wrote the script with Kon.Tokyo Godfathers...
, was announced. The film centers on a trio of homeless persons in Tokyo who discover a baby on Christmas Eve and set out to search for her parents. Tokyo Godfathers cost more to make than Kon's previous two films (with a budget of approximately 300,000,000 yen), and centered on the themes of homelessness and abandonment, with a comedic touch worked in. The screenplay was written by Keiko Nobumoto
Keiko Nobumoto
is a Japanese screenwriter. She is best known for having written the screenplay for Cowboy Bebop and having created Wolf's Rain.-Filmography :*Wolf's Rain *Tokyo Godfathers...
.
In 2004, Kon released the 13-episode television series Paranoia Agent
Paranoia Agent
is a Japanese anime television series created by director Satoshi Kon and produced by Madhouse about a social phenomenon in Musashino, Tokyo caused by a juvenile serial assailant named Lil' Slugger...
, in which Kon revisits the theme of the blending of imagination and reality, as well as working in additional social themes. The series was created from an abundance of unused ideas for stories and arrangements that Kon felt were good but did not fit into any of his projects.
In 2006, Paprika was announced, after having been planned out and materializing for several years. The story centers on a new form of psychotherapy that utilizes dream analysis to treat mental patients. The film was highly successful and earned a number of film awards. Kon summed up the film with - roughly, "Everything but the fundamental story was changed." Much like Kon's previous works, the film focuses on the synergy of dreams and reality.
After Paprika, Kon teamed up with Mamoru Oshii and Makoto Shinkai
Makoto Shinkai
, better known by the stage name , is a Japanese anime director, animator, and voice actor. A native of the Koumi Nagano Prefecture in Japan, he studied Japanese literature at Chuo University. He traces his passion for creation to the manga, anime, and novels he was exposed to while in middle...
to create the 2007 NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
television production Ani*Kuri15, for which Kon created the short Ohayō. That same year, Kon helped establish and served as a member of the Japan Animation Creators Association (JAniCA).
Final months
Following Ohayō, Kon began work on his next film The Dream MachineThe Dream Machine (film)
is an upcoming anime film by Satoshi Kon. When released, it will be the director's fifth and final feature film. After Kon's death on August 24, 2010, production has continued and is still underway at Madhouse, where the team uses Satoshi Kon's directorial tapes and notes to guide them to...
. In May 2010, Kon was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...
. Given half a year to live, Kon chose to spend the remainder of his life in his home. Shortly before his death, Kon uploaded a final message onto his blog. As Kon explained in the message, he chose not to make news of his rapidly advancing illness public, in part out of embarrassment at how drastically emaciated and ravaged his body had become. The result was that the announcement of his death was met with widespread shock and surprise, particularly given that Kon had shown no signs of illness at relatively recent public events, as the cancer progressed to a terminal state a matter of months after being diagnosed. Kon died on August 24, 2010 at the age of 46.
He completed storyboards and the script for The Dream Machine and left directorial tapes to Studio Madhouse to finish the film.
Influences
Satoshi Kon's most prominent influences were the works of Philip K. DickPhilip K. Dick
Philip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist whose published work is almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments and altered...
and Yasutaka Tsutsui
Yasutaka Tsutsui
is a Japanese novelist, science fiction author, and actor. Along with Shinichi Hoshi and Sakyo Komatsu, he is one of the most famous science fiction writers in Japan. His Yumenokizaka bunkiten won the Tanizaki Prize in 1987. He has also won the 1981 Izumi Kyoka award, the 1989 Kawabata Yasunari...
. Kon viewed various manga and anime up until high school. He was particularly fond of Space Battleship Yamato, Future Boy Conan, Galaxy Express 999
Galaxy Express 999
is a manga written and drawn by Leiji Matsumoto, as well as various anime films and TV series based on it. It is set in a space-faring, high-tech future in which humans have learned how to transfer their minds into mechanical bodies, thus achieving practical immortality.The manga won the...
(1978), Mobile Suit Gundam and Domu. Western films also served as an influence, most notably George Roy Hill
George Roy Hill
George Roy Hill was an American film director. He is most noted for directing such films as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting, which both starred the acting duo Paul Newman and Robert Redford...
's Slaughterhouse-Five
Slaughterhouse-Five (film)
Slaughterhouse-Five is a 1972 film based on Kurt Vonnegut's novel of the same name. The screenplay is by Stephen Geller and the film was directed by George Roy Hill. It stars Michael Sacks, Ron Leibman, and Valerie Perrine, and features Eugene Roche, Sharon Gans, Holly Near, and Perry King. The...
(1972), The City of Lost Children
The City of Lost Children
The City of Lost Children is a dystopian French fantasy/drama film by Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet released in 1995. The film is stylistically related to the previous and subsequent Jeunet films, Delicatessen and Amélie. It was entered into the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot:A mad scientist,...
(1995) and the works of Terry Gilliam
Terry Gilliam
Terrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam is an American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam is also known for directing several films, including Brazil , The Adventures of Baron Munchausen , The Fisher King , and 12 Monkeys...
(particularly Time Bandits
Time Bandits
Time Bandits is a 1981 British fantasy film produced and directed by Terry Gilliam.Terry Gilliam wrote the screenplay with fellow Monty Python alumnus Michael Palin, who appears with Shelley Duvall in the small, recurring roles of Vincent and Pansy. The film is one of the most famous of more than...
(1981), Brazil
Brazil (film)
Brazil is a 1985 British science fiction fantasy/black comedy film directed by Terry Gilliam. It was written by Gilliam, Charles McKeown, and Tom Stoppard and stars Jonathan Pryce. The film also features Robert De Niro, Kim Greist, Michael Palin, Katherine Helmond, Bob Hoskins, and Ian Holm...
(1985) and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is a 1988 British adventure comedy film directed by Terry Gilliam, starring John Neville, Sarah Polley, Eric Idle, Jonathan Pryce, Oliver Reed, Uma Thurman, and Robin Williams.-Plot:...
(1989)). In addition to Gilliam, he also blogged about watching Monty Python
Monty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
.
He was fond of the works of Akira Kurosawa
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, Kurosawa directed 30 filmsIn 1946, Kurosawa co-directed, with Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto, the feature Those Who Make Tomorrow ;...
, and worked in a reference to him in Millenium Actress. Despite this, he claimed not to be familiar with Japanese film.
Writer
- World Apartment Horror (1991)
- MemoriesMemories (film)Memories is an anime produced in 1995 by artist/director Katsuhiro Otomo which were based on three of his manga short stories. The film is composed of three episodes: , and...
(Magnetic Rose) (1995) - Millennium ActressMillennium Actressis a 2001 Japanese anime by director Satoshi Kon and animated by the Studio Madhouse. It tells the story of a documentary filmmaker investigating the life of an elderly actress in which reality and cinema become blurred.-Plot:...
(2001) - Tokyo GodfathersTokyo Godfathersis a 2003 anime film by the late Japanese director Satoshi Kon.Tokyo Godfathers was Kon's third animated movie, which he wrote and directed. Keiko Nobumoto, noted for being the creator of the Wolf's Rain series and a head scriptwriter for Cowboy Bebop, co-wrote the script with Kon.Tokyo Godfathers...
(2003) - Paranoia AgentParanoia Agentis a Japanese anime television series created by director Satoshi Kon and produced by Madhouse about a social phenomenon in Musashino, Tokyo caused by a juvenile serial assailant named Lil' Slugger...
(2004) - Paprika (2006)
- Dreaming Machine (TBA)
Director
- Perfect BluePerfect Blueis a 1997 Japanese animated psychological thriller film directed by Satoshi Kon and written by Kon and Sadayuki Murai based on the novel of the same name by Yoshikazu Takeuchi. Junko Iwao plays Mima Kirigoe, a member of a Japanese pop-idol group called "CHAM!", who decides to pursue her career as...
(1998) - Millennium ActressMillennium Actressis a 2001 Japanese anime by director Satoshi Kon and animated by the Studio Madhouse. It tells the story of a documentary filmmaker investigating the life of an elderly actress in which reality and cinema become blurred.-Plot:...
(2001) - Tokyo GodfathersTokyo Godfathersis a 2003 anime film by the late Japanese director Satoshi Kon.Tokyo Godfathers was Kon's third animated movie, which he wrote and directed. Keiko Nobumoto, noted for being the creator of the Wolf's Rain series and a head scriptwriter for Cowboy Bebop, co-wrote the script with Kon.Tokyo Godfathers...
(2003) - Paranoia AgentParanoia Agentis a Japanese anime television series created by director Satoshi Kon and produced by Madhouse about a social phenomenon in Musashino, Tokyo caused by a juvenile serial assailant named Lil' Slugger...
(2004) - Paprika (2006)
- Good Morning (part of Ani*Kuri15) (2008)
- Dreaming Machine (TBA) (To be released posthumously)
Animator
- Roujin ZRoujin Zis a 1991 Japanese anime film directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo and written by Katsuhiro Otomo.-Plot:Roujin Z is set in Japan during the early 21st century. A group of scientists and hospital administrators, under the direction of the Ministry of Public Welfare, have developed the Z-001, a...
(1991) - Perfect BluePerfect Blueis a 1997 Japanese animated psychological thriller film directed by Satoshi Kon and written by Kon and Sadayuki Murai based on the novel of the same name by Yoshikazu Takeuchi. Junko Iwao plays Mima Kirigoe, a member of a Japanese pop-idol group called "CHAM!", who decides to pursue her career as...
(1998) - Millennium ActressMillennium Actressis a 2001 Japanese anime by director Satoshi Kon and animated by the Studio Madhouse. It tells the story of a documentary filmmaker investigating the life of an elderly actress in which reality and cinema become blurred.-Plot:...
(2001) - Tokyo GodfathersTokyo Godfathersis a 2003 anime film by the late Japanese director Satoshi Kon.Tokyo Godfathers was Kon's third animated movie, which he wrote and directed. Keiko Nobumoto, noted for being the creator of the Wolf's Rain series and a head scriptwriter for Cowboy Bebop, co-wrote the script with Kon.Tokyo Godfathers...
(2003)
Manga
- Toriko (虜)
- Kaikisen (海帰線) Fine Arts Publisher ISBN 4-568-73003-1
- World Apartment Horror (ワールド・アパートメントホラー) Based on the original work of director Otomo Katsuhiro
- Seraphim (セラフィム 〜2億6661万3336の翼〜) Based on the original outstanding volume of incomplete work of Oshii Mamoru
- OPUS (Incomplete special volume compilation)
- Paprika, Dream Children (パプリカ。ドリームチルドレン) Original draft, first work aimed at juvenile readers.
It is thought that after his statement that he intended to create Science Fiction works aimed at a younger audience that this was the prototype for successive works.
Literary works
- "KON'S TONE – the Road to Millennium Actress" (｢千年女優｣への道〜)(2002, Shoubunsha)
Western media eulogies
- Kon got a mention in TIME's 2010 people of the year.
- How to Train Your DragonHow to Train Your DragonHow to Train Your Dragon is a series of nine books set in a fictional Viking world. The books were published starting in 2003 as children's novels written by British author Cressida Cowell and published by Hodder Children's Books...
co-director Dean DeBloisDean DeBloisDean DeBlois is a Canadian film director, film producer, screenwriter, animator and editor. He is best known for co-writing and co-directing The Oscar-nominated animated films Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon , and for directing the acclaimed Sigur Rós documentary/music film...
also paid tribute to him. - Darren AronofskyDarren AronofskyDarren Aronofsky is an American film director, screenwriter and film producer. He attended Harvard University to study film theory and the American Film Institute to study both live-action and animation filmmaking...
wrote an eulogyEulogyA eulogy is a speech or writing in praise of a person or thing, especially one recently deceased or retired. Eulogies may be given as part of funeral services. However, some denominations either discourage or do not permit eulogies at services to maintain respect for traditions...
to him for a Japanese book.