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Profile:
Kon Satoshi
You will find very few
directors as dedicated to their work as Kon Satoshi. Intense
research, strive for originality and viewing of anime as an
art form help him turn everything he touches to gold and allow
him, with only a few works under his director's belt, to compare
in reputation to the most prolific creators in anime.
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King
Kon
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Born October 12th, 1963
in Hokkaido, Kon Satoshi started as a manga artist influenced
by other manga-ka, such as Katsuhiro Otomo. He managed to make
quite a name for himself after his manga Kaikisen won the Kodansha
Manga Award. Looking back on it now, he feels directing an anime
is much like writing a manga; it is all about how shots are
presented and how to make them flow. Being an anime fan, Kon
was drawn into the world of animation in 1991 when he was given
a chance to work on the same anime as his idol, Katsuhiro Otomo.
The movie was Roujin
Z, and his job was to design the sets and backgrounds.
He liked making ordinary objects tell a story, and it really
shows in the movie. The complexity of the sets was astounding.
Katsuhiro Otomo must have been pleased with his work, too,
and realized he was not just good at drawing, but had quite
a creative mind. Kon again collaborated with Katsuhiro after
another layout job in Mobile
Police Patlabor II: The Movie as the writer for Magnetic
Rose, the primary piece of Memories'
short-film compilation. He naturally did his own designing
in the short and supervised the animation, as well. The guy
could draw and write, but as it turns out this was just a
sample of Kon Satoshi's talent.
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Redefining
reality
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Having the chance to head
1993's Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, the idea of directing
a feature of his own grew on him. After Memories
and a few literary projects, it was time to for him to take
the next step in 1999 with Perfect
Blue (Kon himself doesn't really know what the title
stands for). The heart of his storyline was based on a book
by Takeuchi Yoshikazu, but, as was proven with his following
works, Kon likes putting his own twists on things. He made it
clear that he would not direct the movie unless he could rewrite
the script he was offered. Aside from having an idol and a stalker,
there are very few similarities between the original and the
Konified result. All these changes must have been for the best
because the awards from international festivals pilled up and
the critics raved, making Kon Satoshi internationally admired.
Taking a liking to the
director’s chair, the now famous Kon immediately started
work on a second feature. It was actually producer Maki Taro
who came to him after being very impressed by his work (and
probably numbers…). He wanted to create a movie similar
to Perfect Blue,
in the sense that it could be viewed from different angles
and perspectives. With the help of some of his old crew members,
Millennium Actress
slowly started to take shape.
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Not
as warped, just as good
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This was a very ambiguous
project, but everyone must have been reassured by Kon Satoshi's
attention to detail. Location scouting and reference videos
are not things every anime director feel is important, but it
is to Kon Satoshi. After completion in early 2001, Millennium
Actress went on a tour of world festivals for months
before premiering in its birthplace, Tokyo. The results were
the same everywhere: "another instant classic" and
"we want more".
And he gave more. Tokyo
Godfathers was his next movie, which was also first
shown overseas at the Big Apple Anime Fest in New York City
on August 30th, 2003. Featuring a somewhat lighter side of
himself, despite being set in the darker side of Japan, Tokyo
Godfathers showed he had no problems delivering comedy,
as well. He also proved to us... and perhaps to himself...
that his movies did not need to be ming-boggling and have
a warped timeline to be enjoyed by anime fans across the world.
With endearing characters, amazingly detailed settings and,
as with Millennium
Actress, a big Studio Madhouse budget to back it up,
this story of three homeless people with conflicting personalities
worked marvelously well, and a lot of this is due to Kon's
magic touch.
His latest work is a series
called Paranoia Agent.
With the help of Studio Madhouse's checkbook once again, this
surreal thirteen-episode series is sure to generate enough sensation
to ensure Kon Satoshi's position as one of the top directors
of the new millennium. As long as his passion for this art form
called anime still burns, it will show in his works,
making them all must-sees for everyone who is not afraid of
a little brainwork.
Production Credits
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
Memories
Millennium Actress
Mobile Police Patlabor
II: The Movie
Paprika
Paranoia Agent
Perfect Blue
Roujin Z
Run (Hashire) Melos!
Tokyo Godfathers
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