Satoshi Kon is dead.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Damn yo. Wasn't he in the middle of a movie too?

I might check out Perfect Blue tonight.

http://www.ani.me/zine/home/article/130/

RIP

[ThePlashyBubbler]

Shit shit shit.

[number8]

WHAT. WHAT THE FUCK.

[Spinal]

This is awful.

[D_Davis]

Wow - that stinks. Wasn't a huge fan of most of his work, but at least he was doing something different. It always sucks when a great artist dies so young. Bummer.

[Grouchy]

Fuck that's sad news. Tokyo Godfathers and Paprika have been some of my favorite viewing experiences.

He was in the middle of something called The Dream Machine:


The title will be Yume-Miru Kikai. In English, it will be The Dream Machine. On the surface, it's going to be a fantasy-adventure targeted at younger audiences. However, it will also be a film that people who have seen our films up to this point will be able to enjoy. So it will be an adventure that even older audiences can appreciate. There will be no human characters in the film; only robots. It'll be like a "road movie" for robots.

[Sycophant]

I just rewatched Paprika the other night.

This is fucking sad.

And a tragedy.

:cry:

[soitgoes...]

:sad:

[MacGuffin]

I haven't seen any of his movies, but I'm still affected, as I know his contributions to animated cinema are vast. R.I.P.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I haven't seen any of his movies, but I'm still affected, as I know his contributions to animated cinema are vast. R.I.P.

I'm not a big fan of Tokyo Godfathers, but Paprika and Perfect Blue are pretty ridiculously awesome.

[Spinal]

Paprika, Perfect Blue, Paranoia Agent ... all amazing.

Millenium Actress is awfully good as well. Definitely time for me to watch that one again.

[MacGuffin]

I'm not a big fan of Tokyo Godfathers, but Paprika and Perfect Blue are pretty ridiculously awesome.

I've been meaning to see something by him. In fact, I rented Millennium Actress a while back and just never got around to watching it.

[Grouchy]

Spaceman, I changed your sentence to suit my tastes:

I'm not a big fan of Perfect Blue, but Paprika and Tokyo Godfathers are pretty ridiculously awesome.

[Melville]

He was responsible for one of my favorite scenes in any anything:

-0spB4OObrw

[number8]

I've seen all of this man's work. They are all amazing.

[D_Davis]

I really like Tokyo Godfathers - my favorite of his.

[Spinal]

-anabfAg06U

[Sycophant]

Paprika and Millennium Actress are two of my favorite films. Paranoia Agent is sometimes my favorite anime series. Tokyo Godfathers has become an essential Christmas tradition.

Goddamn.

[Spinal]

Goddamn.

Yes, I'm finding this personally to be the most upsetting celebrity death that has occurred in quite some time.

[Sycophant]

Yes, I'm finding this personally to be the most upsetting celebrity death that has occurred in quite some time.

Me too. This is a great loss, for many reasons.

[number8]

Same here. He had so much more to offer, and I was confident that they would be great. It's different when a legend, or a not-so-talented celeb dies. Those are sad, too, but not regretfully sad.

I think this is the most angry I've been at a celeb death since Heath Ledger.

[Sycophant]

It's going to be difficult to think and read about the future of anime in Japan and not feel the pangs of Kon's absence for many years to come.

[Sven]

Yeah, this sucks a bundle.

[Stay Puft]

I was just thinking about The Dream Machine, too. I thought it was supposed to be finished around about now.

I don't even know what to say, but I echo 8's sentiments. There's certainly some anger. I admire his work and was looking forward to many more, and better, films. Sad.

[Sven]

thedoifter: "Do you think Inception killed him?
because it was like Paprika but lamer?"

I laughed, and it was a laugh of great mirth and reverence.

[Watashi]

Awful. Awful. Awful.

[Qrazy]

That really sucks. Does anyone know cause of death?

[MacGuffin]

That really sucks. Does anyone know cause of death?

Cancer, supposedly.

[bac0n]

aw, man! that sucks. I absolutely adored Tokyo Godfathers.

[D_Davis]

I was thinking...

What if another director/studio is hired to finish his last film? And what if Oshii decided to make a biopic about Kon? It could turn out to be a sequel to Talking Heads, and it would be meta-squared. I think it would be a really neat way to pay respect to his legacy.

[EyesWideOpen]

So sad.

[dreamdead]

Damn. That's unexpected. I'll mourn this one a lot. Time to dwell with the proper music (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDp5WmdUn5I). Melancholy and introspective despite the main bounce of Hirasawa Susumu's music.

[megladon8]

Sadly, I don't think I've seen anything by Kon.

RIP.

[Henry Gale]

Wow, not something I would have ever expected. I realize now how much of his stuff I love just going through this thread and news articles about this.

Just last night I almost put in Millenium Actress to watch for the first time, but decided to wait for another night. I guess tonight (or any other night from here on out) I'll have to watch it with a much sadder overtone.

R.I.P.

[megladon8]

Actually I lied. I've seen Millennium Actress and it's a beautiful, brilliant film.

So very sad. To die at 47? Terrible.

[Sycophant]

It's not that anime will never be the same with Satoshi Kon gone. It's now much more likely that anime will always be the same.

~twitter

[EyesWideOpen]

~twitter

Satoshi Kon is my favorite anime director but I find that statement ridiculous.

[monolith94]

Satoshi Kon will always, always have a special place in my heart. It was 2003, I think, and I was in college with a part-time job at the nearby movie rental place. We'd get in advance movies that we could watch for free, to help the owner choose what to purchase for the store. When one batch came in, I saw Millennium Actress, and it looked cool, and I popped on with no expectations whatsoever. While laying on my bed watching it on a dinky little fifteen-inch imac screen, I was utterly transported, completely moved. Enough to go and create a thread about it on Rotten Tomatoes where I tried to get as many other people to see it as possible. Fun times. Can't find it anymore, I think the forum goblins have eaten it. But I'll still always have that magical night of movie-watching where my conception of movies was expanded.

RIP

[soitgoes...]

Satoshi Kon is my favorite anime director but I find that statement ridiculous.

Yeah, that statement's over the top. It isn't as if Kon was the only shining light in contemporary anime.

[number8]

I stayed up way late writing this tribute post (http://www.justpressplay.net/movies/movie-news/6887-satoshi-kon-1963-2010-saying-goodbye-to-a-godfather.html).

Holy shit, I gotta go to bed.

[Rowland]

I'll chime in as well that Millennium Actress and Paprika are both amazing, and I'm now even more inspired to catch up with what I haven't seen. It's genuinely tragic when brilliant artists are taken from us while seemingly endless throngs of mediocrity persist.

[Sxottlan]

I am utterly crushed. :cry:

[Spinal]

I stayed up way late writing this tribute post (http://www.justpressplay.net/movies/movie-news/6887-satoshi-kon-1963-2010-saying-goodbye-to-a-godfather.html).

Holy shit, I gotta go to bed.

Please forgive me for pointing out that Heath Ledger died in 2008, not 2005.

This was very moving. Thank you. I think of the kind of film that Kon could have made in 20 years, with all the wisdom of old age, and it is painfully sad that I will never see it.

[Spinal]

Whoa, if you put Satoshi Kon into Google, your article is the first thing to show up. At least right now.

[Sxottlan]

I stayed up way late writing this tribute post (http://www.justpressplay.net/movies/movie-news/6887-satoshi-kon-1963-2010-saying-goodbye-to-a-godfather.html).


Nicely done, though it should also be noted he wrote the screenplay for Magnetic Rose, far and away the best installment in Memories. It was haunting.

[number8]

Please forgive me for pointing out that Heath Ledger died in 2008, not 2005.

Ack. I fixed this and a number of grammatical mistakes. Yeesh.

[number8]

Oh man... His wife posted these on his official site.


May 18 of this year, an unforgettable day.

My wife and I received the following prognosis from a cardiologist at the Musashino Red Cross Hospital:

"The pancreatic cancer is terminal and has metastasized to the bone. You have at most a half year left."


When I conveyed my concerns for Yume-Miru Kikai to Mr. Maruyama, he said, "It's fine. Don't worry, we'll do whatever it takes."

I cried.

I cried aloud.


With feelings of gratitude for all that is good in this world, I put down my pen.

Well, I'll be leaving now.

Satoshi Kon

[Sycophant]

Oh, god. :cry:

[Spinal]

Goddamn. :sad:

[D_Davis]

Man.

[MacGuffin]

My thoughts go out to his family.

[Sycophant]

With feelings of gratitude for all that is good in this world, I put down my pen.

Well, I'll be leaving now.

Satoshi Kon


These are really beautiful words to leave on.

[Sxottlan]

Apropos to one of Kon's regular themes, I was kind of in denial about this and it's still settling in. I actually had intermittent little breakdowns throughout the day where I'd start to choke up, usually after reading the tribute threads and Kon's last statement.

[Spinal]

Satoshi Kon's final words in full. (http://www.makikoitoh.com/journal/satoshi-kons-last-words)

This is just about as painful to read as you might imagine.

[KK2.0]

beautiful final words, but yeah, had to finish it at home where i could cry without shame.

[DavidSeven]

That is an amazing piece of writing. Even in translated form. Beautiful.

[Sycophant]

Heartbreakingly beautiful.