Biography
This page uses content from the Satoshi Kon biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.
is a highly-regarded director of anime films Perfect Blue (1997), Millennium Actress (2001) and Tokyo Godfathers (2003) and the TV series Paranoia Agent (2004). His films are characterized by psychological complexity and realistic character designs and backgrounds.
Biography
Kon attended Musashino College of the Arts and intended to become a painter. Shortly after leaving school, he worked with Katsuhiro Otomo on the manga World Apartment Horror. Kon entered the anime industry by working as set designer for Roujin Z (1991), for which Otomo was the screenwriter and mechanical designer. Kon's early work was strongly influenced by Otomo. Other early projects include Run Melos! (1992), and Mamoru Oshii's Patlabor 2: The Movie (1993). After collaborating with Oshii on a short-run manga series titled Seraphim: 266613336 Wings he then wrote the screenplays for Koji Morimoto's "Magnetic Rose" segment of Memories (1996) and episode 5 of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure OVA. His directoral debut was Perfect Blue (1997), a Hitchcockian-cum-Phildickian murder mystery. His most recent project was Paranoia Agent (2004), a television series that examines the human psyche and archetypes within the framework of modern Japanese popular culture, as well as issues of personal and cultural identity. As with much of his work, Paranoia Agent has a strong subtext of social commentary on post-war Japanese culture. He just finished working on feature-length film which will be released to cinemas in 2007.
Kon's works often blur fantasy and reality, and his films deal with subject matter not usually found in anime. In the case of Tokyo Godfathers (2003), Kon discusses a topic (urban homelessness) not usually discussed in live-action Japanese films. Many parallels can be drawn between the views expressed in his works and those proclaimed by Takashi Murakami in his superflat manifesto.
Films
Director
- Perfect Blue (パーフェクト・ブルー; Pāfekuto Burū) (1997)
- Millennium Actress (千年女優; Sennen Joyu) (2001)
- Tokyo Godfathers (東京ゴッドファーザーズ; Tōkyō Goddofāzāzu) (2003)
- Paprika (パプリカ; Papurika) (2006) Based on the book by Yasutaka Tsutsui
Writer
- World Apartment Horror (ワールドアパートメントホラー; (Waarudo Apaatomento Horaa) (1991) (with Katsuhiro Otomo)
- Memories "Magnetic Rose" segment (1996)
Character designer
- Roujin Z (Layout) (Mistranslated on US DVD as Takeshi Kon) (1991)
- Patlabor 2 (Scene Design) (1992)
Television series
- Paranoia Agent (妄想代理人; Mousou Dairinin) (13 episodes, 2004)
Original Video Animations
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Episode 5 (1993) (Scene designer)
Manga
- The Tropics (海帰線; Kaikisen) (1990)
- Seraphim - 266613336 Wings (1995) (with Mamoru Oshii) - Only published in magazine form
External links
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify the biographical information on this page under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.
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