Line #46 Creator/SatoshiKon


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8	->''"With feelings of gratitude for all that is good in this world, I lay down my pen.\
9	Now, if you'll pardon me, I have to go."''
10	-->-- '''Satoshi Kon''' closing out his final message to the world
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12	Satoshi Kon (October 12, 1963 – August 24, 2010) was a Japanese director noted for serious, thoughtful, arthouse films which examine their characters' psychology. He was especially preoccupied with the concept of subjective reality, and incorporated it into almost all of his works; that aside, his works cover a wide range of genres and themes: psychological thriller (''Anime/PerfectBlue''), MagicalRealism (''Anime/MillenniumActress''), wacky caper comedy (''Anime/TokyoGodfathers'') and ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent'' (which defies categorisation). He was closely tied to Creator/{{Madhouse}} studios and composer Music/SusumuHirasawa.
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14	Relatively unknown to most, he also drew several manga before moving into animation, many of which were eventually released in English in 2013-2015.
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16	He passed away on August 24, 2010 from pancreatic cancer at the age of 46. His [[FinalSpeech final words]] can be read [[http://www.makikoitoh.com/journal/satoshi-kons-last-words here (in English)]] or [[http://konstone.s-kon.net/modules/notebook/archives/565 here (in Japanese)]].
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18	!!Works by Satoshi Kon include:
19	[[index]]
20	* ''Manga/TropicOfTheSea'' (1990)
21	* ''Manga/Seraphim266613336Wings'' (1994-1995, incompleted) (with Creator/MamoruOshii)
22	* ''Manga/{{OPUS}}'' (1995-1996)
23	* ''Magnetic Rose'' from the anthology ''Anime/{{Memories}}'' (1995)
24	* ''Anime/PerfectBlue'' (1997)
25	* ''Anime/MillenniumActress'' (2001)
26	* ''Anime/TokyoGodfathers'' (2003)
27	* ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent'' (2004)
28	* ''Literature/{{Paprika}}'' (2006)
29	* ''The Dream Machine'' (Indefinitely delayed following his death)
30	[[/index]]
31	----
32	!!Tropes found in his work:
33
34	%% * CastOfSnowflakes
35	* CentralTheme: Systems, human psyche, social stigmas, surrealism, morality, mental illnesses, imagination vs realism.
36	* CreatorsOddball:
37	** His third film [[Anime/TokyoGodfathers Tokyo Godfathers]] is a lot more light-hearted, grounded, and comedic compared to his other works. However, the film still contains Kon's SignatureStyle including his atmospheric touch, keen social commentary, and insight on the human mind. It also still combines reality with surreality by using MagicalRealism and the theme of coincidences into its narrative.
38	** His incomplete film, ''The Dream Machine'' was meant to be a kid-friendly adventure.
39	* DiedDuringProduction: At the time of his death, he was working on a film about robots called ''The Dream Machine'' which would have been his first project aimed at a younger audience. [[invoked]]
40	* FourIsDeath: Rather eerily, his fourth film, ''Paprika'', was his final theatrical film to be released.
41	* GenreBusting: Most of his films have strange or unconventional premises.
42	* GenreRoulette: His work covered a wide range of genres.
43	** ''Anime/PerfectBlue'': Psychological horror-thriller
44	** ''Anime/MillenniumActress'': Surrealist GenreBusting drama.
45	** ''Anime/TokyoGodfathers'': MagicalRealism tragicomedy adventure.
46	** ''Anime/{{Paprika}}'': Science-Fiction thriller.
47	** ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent'': A satirical supernatural psychological thriller mystery.
48	* HeAlsoDid: Wrote, storyboarded and directed the fifth episode of the original ''{{Manga/JoJos Bizarre Adventure Stardust Crusaders}}'' OVA for {{Creator/APPP}} (the episode with the memetic scene where DIO stares up at a 7UP sign). He died before Creator/DavidProduction animated the more well-known (nowadays) version of the anime, so we'll never know what he might have thought of their take on it.
49	%% * HumansAreSpecial
50	* MagicRealism: Two of his works,''Anime/TokyoGodfathers'' and ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent'' have elements of this trope: in the former, the plot is driven by a series of incredibly fortunate coincidences, giving it a very "Christmas magic" vibe (And also,[[spoiler: the intervention of a supernatural force ends saving the life of one of the main characters ]]) while in the latter a seemingly mundane mystery ends becoming a supernatural SurrealHorror story, but never losing a certain down-to-earth tone for the most part.
51	* MindScrew: There's a reason he's called "the Creator/DavidLynch of Anime", a nickname he shares with Creator/KunihikoIkuhara.
52	* {{Mukokuseki}}: He's well-known for completely ''averting'' this in his works. Japanese people actually look ''Japanese'' and he relies upon art that gives everyone very distinct facial appearances and body types rather than just crazy hairstyles and OnlySixFaces.
53	* PostModernism: Intertextuality? Check. Unconventional narrative? Check. MindScrew? Check.
54	* PromotedFanboy: Kon was a fan of Yasutaka Tsutsui and Yoshikazu Takeuchi, and adapted works from the both of them [[Literature/{{Paprika}} into]] [[Anime/PerfectBlue films]]. He was also a fan of Susumu Hirasawa long before he first worked with him. [[invoked]]
55	* SceneryPorn
56	* ShadesOfConflict: Morality, while usually more GreyAndGrayMorality or sometimes WhiteAndGreyMorality, it differentiates depending on the project.
57	** ''Anime/PerfectBlue'': GreyAndGrayMorality
58	** ''Anime/MillenniumActress'': NoAntagonist
59	** ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent'': GreyAndGrayMorality / BlackAndGrayMorality
60	** ''Anime/TokyoGodfathers'': WhiteAndGreyMorality
61	** ''Literature/{{Paprika}}'': BlackAndGrayMorality
62	* SignatureStyle: Satoshi Kon was known and loved for combining imagination with realism. Also, very smooth editing that involved a lot of {{match cut}}s; when the editing was not smooth, he was quickly cutting to a shot that only lasted a few frames.
63	* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: Depends on the project.
64	** ''Anime/PerfectBlue'' and ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent'' are far on the cynical end.
65	** ''Anime/MillenniumActress'', ''Anime/TokyoGodfathers'', and most likely his unfinished film ''The Dream Machine'' are more on the idealistic end.
66	** ''Anime/{{Paprika}}'' is smack in the middle.
67	* SlidingScaleOfRealisticVersusFantastic: Going back to SignatureStyle, his films were known for brilliantly mixing in the two together.
68	* SplitPersonality: Comes up a lot in his work, bordering on AuthorAppeal.
69	* TakeThat: He was quite fond of berating the Japanese {{UsefulNotes/Kawaisa}} mentality. Shown in ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent'' in particular.

Context Creator / SatoshiKon