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NEWS: Satoshi Kon, His Wife, Madhouse Studio Write About His Passing


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Campbell



Joined: 25 Oct 2005
Posts: 7
PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 2:38 pm Reply with quote
Oh, how sad! He was a very creative and unique individual. I loved his works. I hope he found peace, and that his survivors do as well.
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nagato316



Joined: 04 Mar 2009
Posts: 306
PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 2:38 pm Reply with quote
To say anime lost a legendary genius when Satoshi Kon passed on is but a gross understatement. No one before (and I fear no one since...but i hope I'm proven wrong on that count down the road) has displayed such singularly unique creativity and vision, often twisted but many times uplifting and breathtaking as well, in anime or arguably any medium.

I've read that final message a few more times...that's just so bittersweetly poignant. It perfectly captures the concept of "mono no aware"; i.e. something beautiful that you know is impermanent and liable to be taken away at a moment's notice is that much more beautiful because of that impermanence....such is life. And such was this brilliant life and career.

*deep, slow and reverent bow* Domo arigato gozaimasu, Kon-sama. Sayonara.
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jsevakis
Former ANN Editor in Chief


Joined: 28 Jul 2003
Posts: 1684
Location: Los Angeles, CA
PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 2:42 pm Reply with quote
If he was watching rushes a few days ago, that means they're about at the 85-90% mark I'd say. "Rushes" are finished shots before editing (which, in animation, is just assembly and tweaking), so that means animation is nearing completion and they're probably scheduling audio work right about now.

Usually by that point they'd have announced a release date, but with all that's happened I can understand why they haven't.

That aside, to echo what everyone else has been saying, this is hitting us all a lot harder than I ever could have anticipated -- myself included. I can't remember the last time I was so devastated by the death of a public figure.

One poignant subtlety that was lost in translation: Kon ends his note with "じゃ、お先に" which is what people say when they leave the office, but co-workers are still there. It's a casual shortening of an expression that means, "sorry for leaving before you."

I hope someone translates the whole thing soon. It's a little beyond my abilities to read the whole thing.


Last edited by jsevakis on Wed Aug 25, 2010 3:13 pm; edited 3 times in total
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qollocust



Joined: 31 Jul 2003
Posts: 182
Location: Philadelphia
PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 2:42 pm Reply with quote
Satoshi Kon is hands down my favorite anime director and he will be missed. It's a shame he had to go at such a young age. So much left to create!

It looks like I'll have to remove meeting him from my list of goals in life Sad
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GracieLizzy



Joined: 26 Sep 2006
Posts: 551
Location: Sunderland, England, UK
PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 2:46 pm Reply with quote
la_contessa wrote:
Other people have suggested a public memorial, or looking for some way to donate for the memorial service. I think that's a great idea--maybe a fundraiser for cancer research would be a good way to honor his memory while helping others.


This would be very fitting, especially if it was toward specifically a Pancreatic Cancer charity, as it very little attention in relation to other cancers (all a bad of course but Pancreatic, as people have mentioned, a notoriously aggressive form).
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jsevakis
Former ANN Editor in Chief


Joined: 28 Jul 2003
Posts: 1684
Location: Los Angeles, CA
PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 2:52 pm Reply with quote
GracieLizzy wrote:
la_contessa wrote:
Other people have suggested a public memorial, or looking for some way to donate for the memorial service. I think that's a great idea--maybe a fundraiser for cancer research would be a good way to honor his memory while helping others.

This would be very fitting, especially if it was toward specifically a Pancreatic Cancer charity, as it very little attention in relation to other cancers (all a bad of course but Pancreatic, as people have mentioned, a notoriously aggressive form).


This would be very fitting. Might I suggest PanCAN, a SoCal-based non-profit research and support group with an affiliate Japan office?
http://www.pancan.org

According to PanCAN, incidence of cancer in general is much higher in Japan than the US (50% of the population dies from it, as opposed to about 1/3 of Americans), and of those, 1/5 is Pancreatic cancer. While the causes are still somewhat nebulous, smoking is a known link. Unfortunately, as is pretty obvious from all the video footage (and from his frequent cigarette breaks when he visited the US), Kon was a chain smoker. We'll never know if that was why, but it can't have helped.
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KAtchan15



Joined: 22 Dec 2006
Posts: 460
Location: NYC
PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 2:58 pm Reply with quote
Quote:

He concluded his message with the following:


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


I'm crying now. Words cannot express the grief I am feeling. I'm devastated.

Dan42 wrote:
At this point I'm not really sure how to cope with the loss.
It's not like i knew him personally, but I feel the same way. The anime industry just lost one of it's biggest gems.
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GracieLizzy



Joined: 26 Sep 2006
Posts: 551
Location: Sunderland, England, UK
PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 3:16 pm Reply with quote
jsevakis wrote:
GracieLizzy wrote:
la_contessa wrote:
Other people have suggested a public memorial, or looking for some way to donate for the memorial service. I think that's a great idea--maybe a fundraiser for cancer research would be a good way to honor his memory while helping others.

This would be very fitting, especially if it was toward specifically a Pancreatic Cancer charity, as it very little attention in relation to other cancers (all a bad of course but Pancreatic, as people have mentioned, a notoriously aggressive form).


This would be very fitting. Might I suggest PanCAN, a SoCal-based non-profit research and support group with an affiliate Japan office?
http://www.pancan.org

According to PanCAN, incidence of cancer in general is much higher in Japan than the US (50% of the population dies from it, as opposed to about 1/3 of Americans), and of those, 1/5 is Pancreatic cancer. While the causes are still somewhat nebulous, smoking is a known link. Unfortunately, as is pretty obvious from all the video footage (and from his frequent cigarette breaks when he visited the US), Kon was a chain smoker. We'll never know if that was why, but it can't have helped.


I have donated a small amount to them, I will try to donate more after Payday. I will also keep in mind this for Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Week in the UK, especially as it begins the day after a convention I am attending who's chair has mentioned attempting to do a screening in his memory of one or more of Kon's films.
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DangerMouse



Joined: 25 Mar 2009
Posts: 3980
PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 3:26 pm Reply with quote
KAtchan15 wrote:
Quote:

He concluded his message with the following:


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


I'm crying now. Words cannot express the grief I am feeling. I'm devastated.

Dan42 wrote:
At this point I'm not really sure how to cope with the loss.
It's not like i knew him personally, but I feel the same way. The anime industry just lost one of it's biggest gems.


Same here, that last message, wow....

Yeah, even with all of the awesome and creative movies and the great TV series that was Paranoia Agent when I watched it on [AS] that he had already created, he was still so relatively young that there's no doubt that were so many more brilliant works of creativity that it felt like we all and the industry itself had to look forward to for years to come. Sad
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15279
PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 4:29 pm Reply with quote
Shay: I tweeted it to Maruyama for you.

toru: Surprised you managed to access it right now. Must've taken you forever. Yeah, even if I didn't get the typical intonations of that language, I still thought he sounded different than usual. More vague and distant. But then one of the forum dwellers who does know Japanese didn't seem to "get it", either, as he/she asked to see a picture of him with the new 'do. So I guess you could say "mission accomplished" in keeping the condition under wraps this long. I just wish I had gotten it sooner so it'd be less of a blow.
The only positive is it's a week before school starts, 'cus I don't think I could keep up thinking about it now.

contessa: I feel stupid saying it now, 'cus I bowed to him @ an AFI screening of MA. But he seemed amused and even drew a sketch on my ticket stub. Though it always pissed me off that people walked out right after the show, even though he was still doing a Q+A.

Dark: I just hope, if Nolan wins the gold, he'll acknowledge Kon in his acceptance speech.

jsevakis: If I recall, they were supposed to get it out this year. I just hope you're right about them getting that far. It'd suck if, in his condition, he only managed to get half-way through it. I still remember that unfinished Douglas Adams Hitchhiker sequel, and don't want to see Dream Machine sufer the same fate. It's not that I want to see it that badly[I'm not really sure what to expect, so I can't tell if it'll work, especially if he wasn't in the right mind to get it the way he wanted, or at least correct it.], but I feel better knowing he doesn't have unfinished business.

Quote:
I can't remember the last time I was so devastated by the death of a public figure


For me, it'd be a toss-up between Phil Hartman and Joey Ramone. But maybe this will at least boost sales for Kon's older work, and help the family and Madhouse out, since I hear the company could use a shot in the arm.

Quote:
Kon was a chain smoker


What Japanese male in that age range isn't one? Hell, wasn't there an ANN article a while back about the country wanting Miyazaki to quit? And yet he's out-lived a lot of people, even if you ignore PTSD from the war. He should write a healthy living book, 'cus he still only looks like he's 50, too.

Oh, and thanks for the link. I'll see what I can do about donating.

Gawd, all I can think of is this Magnetic Rose cosplayer now. She ironically did not know anything about Kon's other work until I told her, and I never did get a reaction from Kon on his site about how he felt about her performance. But it comes off like a swan song now... *sigh*
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Twilightmaster



Joined: 24 Aug 2008
Posts: 129
PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 4:48 pm Reply with quote
It's a sad day to hear that Kon passed. He was truly a wonderful person, and his work moved countless numbers of people. I hope his family can find ease of mind knowing that thousands upon thousands of people across the world grieve for his lose.
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tuxedocat



Joined: 14 Dec 2009
Posts: 2183
PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 5:02 pm Reply with quote
BeanBandit wrote:
Sad

Kon was a legend and a true master of the art of animation. For me he represented some of the best of what Japanese animation has to offer and his contributions to the art form will be missed immensely. My deepest feelings and condolences go out to his friends and family, I just hope he was not in much pain these last couple of months.

The only thing I can say is even though he's gone at least his spirit lives on in the wonderful body of work he left behind. Let's hope Kon's legacy and contributions also live on and inspire the next generation of anime creators and filmmakers.

R.I.P


Well said.

Given his level of dedication and concern for his last project at Madhouse, I think it honors his memory more to have hope for the future of the industry. He taught at university, so have I hope that he has inspired a future generation of visionary animators.
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Mohawk52



Joined: 16 Oct 2003
Posts: 8202
Location: England, UK
PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 5:34 pm Reply with quote
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GracieLizzy



Joined: 26 Sep 2006
Posts: 551
Location: Sunderland, England, UK
PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 5:38 pm Reply with quote
There's a few pancreatic cancer charities in the UK, they organise an awareness week together in November.
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Supermutant



Joined: 26 Sep 2009
Posts: 376
PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 5:41 pm Reply with quote
Man I am crying. Just reading that last bit really made me sad. Cancer sucks. I won't get into who or what they worked in but there someone who I liked that worked on despite long battle cancer. Sadly lost there fight day after christmas in 08. My mom lost a sister to cancer before I was born and my grandma on her side of died when I was young. Sorry just wanted to mention that is part of why I feel so sad family. As someone who has had family die and suffer from forms of cancer I know how bad it can be. Sad to see him at 46 as who know what he could have done. I hope madhouse keeps there word and does whatever it needs to finish his last movie as a tribute to him.
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