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The Death of Satoshi Kon (1963 – 2010)

by Miguel Douglas on August 26, 2010

As an avid fan of Satoshi Kon’s work, I’m deeply saddened by his recent passing from pancreatic cancer. He was one of my favorite directors from the Japan and I truly enjoyed the creative attitude he always integrated within his works. To state that Kon was a great artist is quite an understatement–he embodied every facet of what I felt an animation director should be. He understood his works as important pieces of not only his personal creativity, but also as an extension of the social, political, and even psychological realms of humanity. Whether it was his intense look into the deteriorating nature of the pop-culture icon in Perfect Blue (1998), his pseudo-historical film on obscure Japanese actress Setsuko Hara in Millennium Actress (2001), a look into lives of homeless individuals in Tokyo Godfathers (2003), exploring the societal problems of Japan within his TV series Paranoia Agent (2004), and questioning the notion of reality versus dreams states in Paprika (2006), Kon has been one of the only directors within the field of Japanese animation where I enjoyed all of their works in some capacity.

In all respects, he will be missed by not only me, but I’m sure by countless individuals. He was an advocate for raising the bar of what Japanese animation could offer–not only for entertainment purposes, but for providing challenging premises that question the world in which the viewer lives. This is what true artists always do, and Kon would certainly fall within this sphere of artistic resonance. He was a true auteur–he will be sorely missed.