There is not much I can add in regards to the death of Satoshi Kon that numerous people have not already written, or will write in the coming days. I was a big fan, myself; I enjoyed all of his movies and recently watched and loved Paranoia Agent. Part of what I respected about Kon is that he knew how to tell an entertaining story (both through smart plotting and character building, and visually) while also keeping his works intelligent and biting. They have something to say, but they don’t lose themselves in the message, which is where anime so often stumbles. It’s a difficult balance to achieve, but everything Satoshi Kon touched achieved that balance.
I can say that with full confidence, because I just watched the final major work of Satoshi Kon’s career that I had yet to see — the “Magnetic Rose” segment of Katsuhiro Otomo’s Memories. Kon wrote the script for the short based off a story by Otomo. It’s not difficult to see Kon’s fingerprints all over the story, either. I can’t say for sure whether the blending of fantasy and reality present in “Magnetic Rose” is something Otomo brought to the table from the beginning, or if it was simply the first of many times Kon would follow that role, but it bears all the Kon trademarks.
UNMEI KAIHEN 