When Falls the Coliseum » Anime artist/writer/director had short — but brilliant!

Anime artist/writer/director had short — but brilliant! — career

Posted on August 27th, 2010 by Jeff McDonald

A passing of note for me — and for all fans of anime, really. Satoshi Kon, a highly acclaimed Japanese anime director, died suddenly of cancer on Monday evening. He was 47.

Kon was not an early pioneer of the genre … nor was he its most prolific artist. But he had a special significance, a special impact, nonetheless. Like many in the west, I was introduced to his screen works in the mid-90s, when he directed a segment of Memories. This was followed by a short list of films (short, but every one of them a gem), and one of the better animated series to ever appear on American television screens.

The films were Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers and (my favorite) Paprika. The television series was Paranoia Agent.

Each one challenged us — the viewers — in different ways, and stretched our definitions of “cartoons” to the breaking point, and beyond.

Probably the best comment on Kon’s death that I’ve seen comes from a Tweet by jbetteridge, who wrote, “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.”

So true.

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Jeff McDonald

There's a saying around here, something like, "I wasn't born in Texas, but I got here as fast as I could!" That's me. I'm a 'dang Yankee from back-east' who settled in the Lone Star State after some extended stays in the eastern U.S., and New Mexico. I worked as an archaeologist for a few years before dusting off my second major in English, and embarking on a 25-year career in journalism. Since then, I've embraced the dark side of the force, and now work in PR for a community college in Midland, Texas.