Thread: Satoshi Kon

Ah good old mister Kon. He loves the psycho(logical) side of things.

For me, Perfect Blue and Magnetic Rose (part of the "Memories" collection) are his best works. Blurring the lines of reality is something he's very good at and if he couples it with paranoia then you're really in the party zone.

I was fortunate enough to see Paprika on the big screen, which only makes Kon's work even more impressive. The way he leads us by the hand into a character's descent into madness is sort of dizzying, and always satisfying.

I'd have to say my favorites are definitely Perfect Blue (a great mix of suspense and manic terror) and Paprika (begins with a sort of ethereal, fairylike quality and quickly becomes a schizophrenic nightmare). The only complaint I have about either of these is the endings:

 click to show spoiler

Everything wrapped up a little too neatly, too much of a happy ending.

Grumble Grumble Grumble

Satoshi Kon is also one of two Japanese Anime directors that have been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animation Feature Film (for 'Millennium Actress' and 'Tokyo Godfathers')

Now with 'Paprika', it was a enjoyable films, but I don't think (IMHO) that its his best work. The story requires a greater level of 'disbelief' on the part of the viewer then his first 3 movies, or his TV series 'Paranoia Agent'...

So this is where all the MODs come to hang out. lol I better not mess up anything here or I'm definitally in trouble lol

I think Paprika has just jumped to the top of my list from Kon's unusual mind! I just saw it as well and its just so amazing what one man's mind can produce! It really makes me feel like actually being weird is the right way of living my life.

Kon is simply brilliant in his versatility, vision and execution. and according to the Paprika extra behind the scenes goodness he is a detail oriented work horse. Someone show me another director who draws his own storyboards in unnecessarily minute detail or just his own storyboards period. I also got a kick out of the fact that he and original novel author voiced the parts of the bartenders. Like Gren I was lucky enough to catch Paprika in theaters which was my religious experience for the year. I would be a fully fledged artist if I had a slice of his inventive imagination.

my first exposure to Kon was Perfect Blue (seems to be a rite of passage nowadays) its stayed up on the top of my list to this day with its blurring of reality and crisp sexy artwork and animation. Surprisingly Tokyo Godfathers is a close second. I suppose one of his lesser mind benders if at all, still it goes to show you the man has a heart and an understanding conscience in addition to his use of other more thrilling psychologically engrossing themes. [/rant]

I'd go on but you would think I wanted to sleep with him. oh, and he smokes too much. which I'm thinking is a prerequisite for being an anime director/visionary.