satoshi kon

Another great influence to Japanese animation is Satoshi Kon. He was born on October 12, 1963 in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. He was a Japanese film director, animator. screenwriter and manga artist. He was a member of the Japanese Animation Creators Association (JAniCA). He graduated from Musashino Art University with a degree in Graphic Design. Sadly, he passed away on August 24, 2010, at the age of 46, because of pancreatic cancer. Which robbbed cinema of one of the greatest thought-provoking artist. He was also mentioned on the Fond Farewells portion in TIMEs People of The Year 2010. He has made iconic films like Tokyo Godfathers (2003) and Paprika (2006). I will talk about the other films that were not mentioned in the powerpoint.

Satoshi owes the success of Akira (1988) for the start of his career. He first started out as a manga illustrator, but transferred mediums as he wanted to create animated films. Madhouse studios was the main studio that produced his films. His first film was released in 1998, called Perfect Blue. This was a suspense story about a pop idol dealing with a stalker, and the hardships of being an Idol.

Millenium Actress was released on 2001 and it centers around a former actress. With a movie studio being torn down, a TV interviewer and his cameraman meet a former actress and travel through her memories and career.

Satoshi Kon’s films have a universal theme, Distorted Love. In Perfect Blue, the obvious sign of this was from the stalker fan who wanted to cause harm to Mima, the main character, from all the “distress” her career caused him. Another less obvious one, comes from the feelings of the Mima’s agent, Rumi. Rumi was obsessed with the image of Mima the idol that she takes it upon herself to actually become Mima, referring to herself as “The Real Mima.” Millenial Actress’ distorted love is chasing after a lover long gone. Tokyo Godfathers distorted love focuses on a mother who had lost her child, so she desires any child to lover her as a mother.

It is interesting to what was in the mind of Satoshi Kon and how he depicted and explored social stigmas and the human psyche, which showed how complex life is. His work has been gritty and intense and he does not stay away from mature subject matters. His work will always be the middle ground between ‘cartoons’ and reality.

Julia Reymundo