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THEMES

When asked about his interest in female characters, Kon stated that it was female characters were easier to write because he is not able to know the character in the same way as a male character, and can project my obsession onto the characters and expand the aspects I want to describe. Film critic Susan J. Napier notes that themes of performance are common in Kon’s work, the concept of the male gaze is a more important and obvious topic of discussion. The evolution of Kon’s gaze from its negative and reductive ways in Perfect Blue to a shared gaze in Millenium Actress before finally holding a gaze of uncertainty and illusion.

Satoshi’s use of hand drawn and painted animation combined with the themes he typically touches upon casts a light on the complexities and details of the human psyche that live action would not have been able to capture. The work was intense, nightmarish, and complicated and Kon did not shy away from the subject matter that occupies the dark parts of our everyday life. This may be what separates his work from the rest, the middle ground between reality and the fantasy of animation.

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DEATH

In 2010, Kon was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. Given only half of a year left to live, Kon abandon the movie he had been writing “Dreaming Machine” and spent the remainder of his life at home, with his family. He chose to keep his illness private, embarrassed at how emaciated and ravaged his body had become. He died at age 46, on August 24, 2010. Dreaming Machine was never finished due to the fact that the producers could never find a director that could mimic Kons work perfectly.

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PAPRIKA

In 2006, Kon announced the last film he would ever make, Paprika. The film was based on the novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui about a research psychologist who uses a device that permits therapists to help patients by entering their dreams. This device is stolen, and the thief uses the technology to enter people’s minds, when awake, and distract them with their dreams and those of others, ensuing chaos. The trio of main characters - Chiba, Tokita, and Shima - assisted by a police inspector and a sprite named Paprika set out to identify the thief as they battle the attacks on their own psyches.

Critics from all over the world have praised Paprika for the mesmerizing animation that is so common in Satoshi Kon’s films, as well as its intricate and beautiful backgrounds. The film was seen by the public as uncanny in the way that it captures the nature of dreams, and Rob Nelson of the Village Voice praised the film, saying “Paprika is not a movie that is meant to be understood so much as simply experienced - or maybe even dreamed.” Satoshi’s common theme inspecting the mixture of dream and reality are merged in this film, while also questioning the limits of science and the wisdom of the government.

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PARANOIA AGENT

In 2004, Kon released a 13 episode anime series Paranoia Agent. During the making of Kon's previous works he was left with an abundance of unused ideas that were excellent but did not necessarily fit perfectly into his previous projects. He explored further the idea of mixing imagination with reality and incorporated additional social themes into this work.

Paranoia agent revolves around a social phenomenon in Musashino, Tokyo by a young assassin named Lil’ Slugger. The plot explores the connections between a large cast of people, most of whom are affected in some way by Lil’ Slugger (victims, detectives assigned to capture him, etc). As each character becomes the focus of the story, more details are revealed to the viewer about the secrets the characters hold. Kon examines themes of identity, escapism, self-delusion and coping mechanisms heavily throughout this show, all topics that were touched on to some degree in his previous works.

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TOKYO GODFATHERS

In 2003 Kon announced his third work, Tokyo Godfathers. The film takes place in Shinjuku, Tokyo, on Christmas Eve. Middle-aged has-been Gin, aging transvestite Hana, and teenage runaway Miyuki are three homeless friends who have formed a found family structure. Their bond is tested when they find an abandoned baby while searching for food in a garbage dump. They have no choice but to care for the infant themselves. The group travels throughout the city, searching for the baby's family and coping with their personal feelings and reactions to the situation.

The film puts an emphasis on the themes of coincidences and individual bond. Movie critic George Peluranee notes that “Tokyo Godfathers is a film that shows the small yet significant ties that each of us has with supposed strangers, as well the story of miracles, family, love, and forgiveness.” Tokyo Godfathers is also part of a trend in anime as depicting families in an increasingly dark fashion, showcasing the problems with traditional families and attempts of individuals to form a found family out increasingly modern and isolating Japanese society.  

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MILLENNIUM ACTRESS

Following Perfect Blue, Kon began to adapt to work on his second directed film, Millennium Actress. The film was released to the public in 2003. This film is about a movie studio is being torn down. TV interviewer Genya Tachibana found its most famous star, Chiyoko Fujiwara, who has been a recluse since she left her career 30 years ago. Tachibana gives a key to her, and it causes her to think on her career; as she's telling the story, Tachibana and his long-suffering cameraman are drawn in. The key was given to her by a painter and political revolutionary that she helped escape from the police. She becomes an actress to aid her ability to track him down, and she spends the next several decades acting out that search in various genres and eras.

Kon created a unique combination of memories, imagination, and reality. With Perfect Blue and Millennium Actress, Kon was striving to make two different interpretations of the same concept, a story told from two different perspectives. Critics have speculated that both films engage with the concept of the male gaze; in perfect blue, the gaze is depicted as a negative patriarchal one, but in Millennium Actress Chiyoko us much more empowered and retains a unique identity outside of what she offers to men. The films aesthetic is also complicated and nuanced and referenced Japanese history, giving it a nostalgic quality. 

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PERFECT BLUE

In 1998, Kon began his career as a director, with his debut of the film Perfect Blue based on the novel written by Yoshikazu Takeuchi. A story based around the life of a pop idol, this suspenseful and eerie film was the first film by Kon to be produced by MadHouse. This film follows Mima Kirigoe, a member of the Japanese Idol group who retires from music to pursue a career in acting. She becomes a victim of intense stalking, and as this takes place gruesome murders are committed as Mima herself starts to lose her perception of reality.  This film is a perfect example of Kon’s masterful ability to blend real the real world and the imaginary in contemporary Japan.

Susan Napier uses feminist theory to analyze the nature of the film, stating “Perfect Blue announces its preoccupation with perception, identity, voyeurism, and performance - especially in relation to the female - right from its opening sequence. The perception of reality cannot be trusted, with the visual set up only to not be a reality, especially as the psychodrama heights toward the climax” Napier makes an additional point of how idols or stars in the public eye are impacted negatively by their performances and the sometimes unwarranted publication of their personal life. Tim Henderson of Anime News Network described the movie's effect of “over-obsession funneled through early internet culture” and produced a “reminder of how much celebrity fandom has evolved over a decade.”

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EARLY LIFE AND CAREER

Satoshi Kon was born October 12, 1963, in Hokkaido, Japan. From a young age, Satoshi had a fascination with arts and animation and knew he wanted to pursue a career in animation. He enrolled in Musashino Art University with the intention to study painting, but his interests soon shifted to illustration and began to draw manga for Young magazine. It was there that he met Katsuhiro Otomo, creator of Akira. Soon after he started working as Otomo’s assistant and worked on the script of Otomo’s live-action film World Apartment Horror. In 1991-1995 he worked as an animator on multiple films, and then served as the art director of the short film Magnetic Rose, the first of three short films in Otomo’s omnibus Memories. After this, Kon’s work would be distinguished in the animation community by the recurring theme of blending fantasy and reality together.