Thursday, August 26, 2010

Remembering Satoshi Kon

[Source: aicn.com] Visionary anime director Satoshi Kon passed away on August 24 of pancreatic cancer.

Madhouse tentatively plans on concluding work on his final project, children's feature The Dreaming Machine


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."

When I conveyed my concerns for Yume-Miru Kikai (Dreaming Machine) to Mr. Maruyama (MADHOUSE founder Masao Maruyama), he said, "It's fine. Don't worry, we'll do whatever it takes."

I cried.

I cried aloud.

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

Well, I'll be leaving now.

Satoshi Kon


 
Nina "Space Coyote" Matsumoto's tribute illustration





On Catsuka Player - MAD Paprika

from which the Satoshi Kon movie was adapted. It's not available in the US, but you can get a UK copy of the English translated Paprika novel Stone Bridge Press has posted preview pages of Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist - reviewed here