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Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Satoshi Kon

Satoshi Kon.

Satoshi Kon was a renowned Japanese film director, animator, screenwriter and manga artist from Sapporo, Hokkaido.

He was a member of the Japanese Animation creators. Satoshi was born on 12th October 1963 in Sapporo.

His education from fourth elementary grade to second middle school grade was based in Sapporo. This was after his father got a transfer from his job.

Satoshi became a classmate and close friend of Seiho Takizawa, who was also a manga artist. His aspiration of becoming an animator began when he was attending Hokkaido Kushiro Koryo High School.

After completing high school, Satoshi joined the Musashino Art University in 1982 to study a Graphic design course. Satoshi Kon is the brother of Tsuyoshi Kon, a renowned guitarist.

Satoshi Kon went ahead and became a great film director, animator and screenwriter. Below are the top 10 Fascinating Facts about Satoshi Kon:

1. Satoshi鈥檚 Education was Halted due to his Father鈥檚 Job

Satoshi Kon was always among the best pupils while at his lower school level. He had to move from his previous school to another due to his father鈥檚 transfer.

Satoshi’s father was given a transfer from his previous job and relocated to Sapporo. From the fourth elementary grade up to the second middle school, Satoshi studied in Sapporo.

He, later on, joined Hokkaido Kushiro Koryo High School where he was a classmate of Seiho Takizawa, a manga artist.

2. Satoshi Joined the Manga Group while in College

In 1982, Satoshi Kon joined Musashino Art school where he studied a Graphic Design course. This is where his career as an artist began.

Satoshi joined the manga group and became a manga artist with the short manga toriko in 1984. This major achievement earned him a runner-up spot in the 10th Annual Tetsuya Chiba Awards.

The manga group is of comics and graphic novels that originated in Japan.

3. Satoshi鈥檚 Career Began as a Background Designer

After completing his university course and graduating, Satoshi Kon followed his passion in the film industry. In 1991, Satoshi officially began working in anime as an animator and background designer.

The first time he worked on the film known as Roujin Z. Later in 1992, Satoshi worked on his second project as a scriptwriter, layout artist and background designer as well.

The roles he worked for were for the film Magnetic Rose which was directed by Koji Morimoto. Satoshi then adopted the theme of 鈥渢he fusion of fantasy and reality鈥� for his works.

4. Satoshi Worked using the Theme 鈥淭he Fusion of Fantasy and Reality鈥�

As Satoshi Kon continued gaining more experience and skills in the film industry, he had to adopt a theme he could work with. In 1992, this is when he adopted the theme of a 鈥渕ixture of fiction and reality鈥�.

He used to depict the relationship between fiction and reality. This was made into work through various approaches in his films.

In some of his films; Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress and Paprika, there is a gradual change in the characters from being fictional to reality. This theme made him a huge motivator to other film directors and makers across the world.

5. Satoshi鈥檚 Brilliant Work on Tokyo鈥檚 Godfather that Cost More

Satoshi Kon worked on several brilliant projects among them being 鈥楾okyo Godfathers鈥�. This was his third work that was announced in 2003 and distributed by Sony Pictures affiliated Destination Films.

This film has majorly featured a trio of homeless persons in Tokyo who found a baby on Christmas Eve and began searching for the parents. The film was so costly to make and its budget was way more than the previous two films.

The film Tokyo Godfathers cost Satoshi Kon a budget of approximately 300,000,000 yen. The best thing is that this film marked the transition from celluloid animation to digital animation.

6. Satoshi鈥檚 13 Episodes TV Series of his Unused Ideas

Satoshi Kon was a very imaginative film creator who worked on bringing out different aspects in his films. In 2004, Satoshi released a thirteen-episode TV series known as Paranoia Agent.

In this series, Satoshi revisited his theme and blended the imagination and reality works, but also introduced additional social themes. This series was created from several unused ideas for stories and arrangements that he felt were good but never fit in his projects.

7. Dreaming Machine, the Uncompleted Movie Project of Satoshi

Satoshi Kon had a major project that he called the Dreaming Machine. This project began way before he passed away.

The project that was supposed to be completed earlier was Halted due to financial reasons. In 2013, the Dreaming Machine project was to be completed but due to funding difficulties, only 600 out of 1500 shots were animated.

The other reason for not completing this project was that the Madhouse studio has been seeking a director of Satoshi鈥檚 calibre.

8. Satoshi had one Wife who was Faithful to Him

Satoshi Kon kept his personal life so private that not many people knew him that much. He was married to Kyoko Kon.

Not much is known about Satoshi鈥檚 wife, but she was faithful to him alone until he passed away. Satoshi and Kyoko never revealed whether they had children or not.

9. The Last Message of Satoshi Kon that He Left in His Blog

Satoshi Kon enjoyed a healthy life since he began his career in the film industry. However, it reached a time when his health started deteriorating and he went missing from the public.

He blogged his final heartfelt message to his fans before he died. In the final message shared on his blog, Kon revealed that he chose to keep the news of his rapidly advancing illness private.

Other than that, he also revealed that he felt embarrassed at the drastic emaciated and ravaging of his body from the illness he had.

10. Finals Days of Satoshi and His Death

In May 2010, Satoshi Kon was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. He only had less than a year to live.

Satoshi Kon decided to spend his last six months close to his family. He, later on, died on 24th August 2010 at the age of 46.

This news of his death was a shock to his fans who never expected the worst to happen to him.

Satoshi Kon will always be remembered as a great person who was making major changes in the film industry.