PEACE OUT, SATOSHI KON

Satoshi Kon died yesterday in Japan at age 46 from pancreatic cancer. This is some bullshit is what's up.


I was late to getting into his work-- somehow missed it during the first half of college when everyone else was first freaking out over Millennium Actress -- but was an admirer of his films and the wide-ranging inspiration to 2D animators and illustrators he wrought. In retrospect, I first saw his "Magnetic Rose" as part of Otomo's Memories, and have fond memories of the cerebral impact of watching Paprika's insane imagery unfold in front of my eyes. There's been no word yet on the status of his ongoing most recent project, THE DREAM MACHINE [Yume miru kikai].

+ Details via ANN
+ A nice tribute from LA Weekly
+ We're posting up Satoshi Kon art and works on the Same Hat Tumblr

"It's not that anime will never be the same with Satoshi Kon gone. It's now much more likely that anime will always be the same." - Jeff Betteridge on his twitter.

UPDATE: ANN has reported that Satoshi Kon's final message (written in May 18 after his terminal diagnosis) has been posted to his site today. The site is crashing from traffic, but you can read a copy here (in Japanese).

さて、ここまで長々とこの文章におつき合いしてくれた皆さん、どうもありがとう。
世界中に存する善きものすべてに感謝したい気持ちと共に、筆をおくことにしよう。

じゃ、お先に。
今 敏

With feelings of gratitude for all that is good in this world, I put down my pen. Goodbye now. Satoshi Kon