Satoshi Kon: Anime Revolutionary

I was about to post a blog about some news regarding my plans for Perfect Entropy in the fall. Just as I was typing my first word, I saw a link from my trusted hometown comic shop, Star Clipper, that anime director Satoshi Kon was dead. Needless to say, it's true and it's a definite loss. It's a sad irony that we cherish so much more that which we no longer possess. An unfortunate facet of human nature is to desire that which we do not have, but even more important just to desire to desire. Get it?

When I saw him Kon speak at a weekend-long retrospective of his work at Lincoln Center, I was in awe of someone who was able to speak so plainly about the complexities of distorted realities, persona shifts, and memories blending into dreams and waking. As an anime director, his work has only been allowed a certain audience due to the nature of the form, but those willing to experience something pure and cinematically mesmerizing will gladly find Kon's work more akin to the likes of William Gibson, Francis Bacon, David Cronenberg and a hints of Haruki Murakami.

In honor of Kon, I recommend the following films. If you're a fan of Christopher Nolan, David Lynch, Luis Buñuel or you're just a trippy kid with lots of ideas of parallel universes and time, I HIGHLY suggest discovering some of my favorites of Mr. Kon's work:

(More on Satoshi Kon can be found here: http://www.flicksnews.net/2010/08/influential-anime-director-satoshi-kon.html)


These are my personal favorites , but I suggest you see them all.


<-----"Perfect Blue" - I hear that there's a Hollywood remake being negotiated. Let us hope not . . Studying this film helped me structure "Julya" and explore the idea of "self" vs. "reflection." Highly recommended for the noir, horror and Takeshi Miike fans. The first time I saw the film at the Tivoli in St. Louis for a midnight screening (8-9 years ago?), I experienced the gut wrenching excitment and anxiety of watching a masterpiece take hold of your senses and let it guide you through its mad rabbit hole. I felt it while watching "Old Boy" and "The Proposition" and select others. In an age of celebrity idolatry, reality television and paranoia, "Perfect Blue" stands a prophet to what the world would and did become. "Paprika" - More reality and persona blending mania from
Kon. Here he masters the visualization and sensations of the "mass delusion" - the shared chaos/order of perception and reality.

I've always like how this film fits in the tradition of "Persona," "Inland Empire," and "Mulholland Drive." There's something very mysterious
about an actress losing her self. Highly recommended for fans of The Matrix film (just the one), Lynch, Bergman, Fellini, mushrooms, Inception, etc. You are in for a ride.


"Paranoia Agent" - Kon's only serialized work is a very unique anime that I remember seeing late at night on cable 10 years ago. It wasn't until I lived in New York, and found out about a Kon retrospective at Lincoln Center in the Summer of 2008. Seeing the series for the first time in context and its entirety is amazing.

Imagine walking into a dark room and being submersed to a words, colors, images and various mixed media in a nonlinear blender. Six hours later you walk out a little more conscious of the world around you . . .

Amazing series about the physical manifestation of the cummulative anxieties and paranoia of an interconnected community.

Great storytelling . Take a chance and check it out.


Take the time to see, study and be in the presence of your heroes, idols and mentors as much as possible. Time spent with inspiring company is an investment, so choose well.

{Another blog to follow with exclusive Perfect Entropy news, but I had to share this}.

jce