RIP Satoshi Kon

[Krug]

Sad sad news.

Award-Winning Anime Director Satoshi Kon Passes Away - Anime News Network

Jim Vowles, a member of the Otakorp Board of Directors for the Otakon convention, has announced on Tuesday that director Satoshi Kon has passed away. Kon was 47. The staff of Otakon confirmed his passing with MADHOUSE studio founder Masao Maruyama. Maruyama had wrote on his Twitter account on Tuesday night in Japan that an important director of the studio had suddenly passed away. However, Maruyama declined to name the director at the time.

Kon began working as a manga creator on such works as Kaikisen (1990) before deciding to delve into the anime industry with the art design of Hiroyuki Kitakubo and Katsuhiro Otomo's Roujin Z video in 1991. He then worked on the script and art direction of "Magnetic Rose," a segment of Otomo's 1995 science-fiction anthology film Memories.

Kon first drew worldwide attention with his feature film directorial debut, the psychological suspense film Perfect Blue, in 1997. He would follow that with a string of critically acclaimed anime projects: Millennium Actress (2001), Tokyo Godfathers (2003), Paranoia Agent (2004), and Paprika (2006). At the time of his passing, Kon was working at MADHOUSE on a new feature film called Yume-Miru Kikai.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Satoshi Kon, His Wife, Madhouse Studio Write About His Passing (Update 3) - Anime News Network

Satoshi Kon passed away due to pancreatic cancer on August 24 at 6:20 a.m. He was 46.

His funeral service will be held for family members only.

We are respectfully and deeply grateful for your kindness during his lifetime.

Kon'stone
Representative Director Kyōko Kon



In the beginning of the message titled "Farewell," Kon recalled:



May 18 of this year, an unforgettable day.

My wife and I received the following prognosis from a cardiologist at the Musashino Red Cross Hospital:

"The pancreatic cancer is terminal and has metastasized to the bone. You have at most a half year left."

That's awful. I own Paranoia Agent, it's a great anime. Gets kinda strange and (for me) less appealing later on, but that was intentional, and the beginning of the OVA is golden. Didn't even know he had cancer.