Anime Director Satoshi Kon dies at 46.

[Shinmaru]

[url="http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2010-08-24/award-winning-director-satoshi-kon-passes-away"]Link to the story.[/url]

Absolutely awful news. Satoshi Kon was a fantastic director and screenwriter, maybe the best working today. [b]Perfect Blue[/b], [b]Millennium Actress[/b], [b]Tokyo Godfathers[/b] and [b]Paprika[/b] are a great group of pictures, and his one TV series, [b]Paranoia Agent[/b], is likewise wonderful. What impressed me most about Kon was that he really got the delicate balance between telling a solid, entertaining story and simultaneously making his works intelligent, biting social commentary. It's a difficult task that many anime fail at, but Kon consistently got right from [b]Perfect Blue[/b] on.

There has not been an official cause of death named yet that I am aware of. Twitter rumors state that he died of cancer, but I'll hang back and wait for more official sources. At the time of his death, Kon was working on a movie, [b]The Dream Machine[/b], which was to be released next year. No word yet on the status of that picture; selfishly, I hope enough of it is completed for the movie to see release eventually. Satoshi Kon deserves one final great movie to be remembered by.

RIP to one of modern anime's great directors. Condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.

[Sangome]

[color="#9932CC"][font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]Too young. Way, way too young. He was the same age as my dad...

I've only seen Paranoia Agent, but I absolutely loved that series; easily one of the best ever aired on AS [dare I say television in general]. I've been meaning to watch his movies for awhile now, and I suppose now's a good time as ever.

I'll be keeping his family, friends, and colleagues in my thoughts and prayers. May he rest in peace.[/font][/color] Edited August 24, 2010 by Sangome

[Pleiades Rising]

I've been watching [i]Paranoia Agent[/i] recently, and I really wished he had done more series work. However, the films that he has left us with stand on their own merits, without further justification. Satoshi Kon had a keen eye for film; you could tell he loved the medium, especially when he presented us with the mesmerizing [i]Millennium Actress.[/i] I'll have to extend my Satoshi Kon marathon even further now, to take in the whole experience anew, afresh. He shall be missed, yet forever admired.

[Magus]

It's always sad to hear about someones death.

I've only seen Perfect Blue, but unfortunately I didn't really care for it. I do appreciate his contributions to the community though.

[Lilt]

[b]I've only seen Paprika, but I agree, it's always sad to hear about someone's death. Director or cashier at your local store, it's still sad.

I've only watched Paprika, but the part that got to me the most was from Paranoia Agent. I haven't seen any other part of Paranoia Agent than this though, so I'll spoiler tag it just in case. [/b]

[spoiler]It was a young girl and apparently it was the birthday of someone she admired. Well, he was out so she checked out his computer. Click after click revealed photos of her undressing.[/spoiler]

[b]I just thought it was incredible that even though I have no idea what the story was for that episode or who the character was, but out of that one little scene I felt so much empathy for that character. I felt so sorry for her and later on impressed at the director of the show. I still need to watch all of it one day.[/b]

[Zombie_Nosh]

It is heartbreaking news. The anime community has certainly lost a great man, and not even in his 50's. He really was a visionary. Tokyo Godfathers and Paprika are two of my favourite films, anime or otherwise, if recent years. He was working on a new feature when he passed. I wonder will it be released? Apparently it was pancreatic cancer that took him.

[Shinmaru]

[quote name='Zombie_Nosh' date='26 August 2010 - 12:24 PM' timestamp='1282850673' post='699891']
It is heartbreaking news. The anime community has certainly lost a great man, and not even in his 50's. He really was a visionary. Tokyo Godfathers and Paprika are two of my favourite films, anime or otherwise, if recent years. He was working on a new feature when he passed. I wonder will it be released? Apparently it was pancreatic cancer that took him.
[/quote]

Yeah, it has been confirmed that Kon died of pancreatic cancer. He left behind some [url="http://www.makikoitoh.com/journal/satoshi-kons-last-words"]final words[/url] that were translated recently ... let's just say it was pretty dusty in my room while I read them. Kon left the world in an incredibly dignified way, with his head held high.

[Heaven's Cloud]

[quote name='Shinmaru' date='26 August 2010 - 05:42 PM' timestamp='1282858932' post='699898']
Yeah, it has been confirmed that Kon died of pancreatic cancer. He left behind some [url="http://www.makikoitoh.com/journal/satoshi-kons-last-words"]final words[/url] that were translated recently ... let's just say it was pretty dusty in my room while I read them. Kon left the world in an incredibly dignified way, with his head held high.
[/quote]

[color=indigo]From the letter it at least looks like he was able to properly say goodbye to many of his friends and loved ones. He had a lot of talent that didn't go to waste, his films are some of the most interesting anime that have been created.[/color]