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Andrew Osmond

Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist Paperback – December 1, 2009

by Andrew Osmond (Author)

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“Satoshi Kon makes an art of Japanese anime.”—Rolling Stone

The head-spinning anime fantasy Paprika (2006) introduced new viewers to one of Japan’s most visionary directors. Satoshi Kon crashed onto the world scene in 1997 with his smart slasher-thriller Perfect Blue. His subsequent films range from the silver-screen romance of Millennium Actress (2001) to the socially conscious comedy Tokyo Godfathers (2003) and the surreally satirical TV series Paranoia Agent (2004). This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the work and vision of Satoshi Kon, with background and analysis of the key reality-warping films by anime’s premier illusionist. This timely new collection follows the 2007 US release of Kon’s latest film, Paprika, which was met with an enthusiastic welcome from his fans. For many, Paprika was a first introduction to Kon’s work; other fans have been following his career avidly from its early days. Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist will satisfy newcomers and long-term fans alike.

Andrew Osmond is a British freelance film reviewer and journalist who was part of the “Akira generation” of anime fans. He has been writing about cartoons and anime for ten years and has interviewed numerous anime professionals, including Satoshi Kon. His articles and reviews have appeared in Animerica, Total Anime, Neo, Manga Max, SFX, Sight and Sound, Empire, and many other magazines.

Print length

128 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Stone Bridge Press
Publication date

December 1, 2009
Dimensions

7.1 x 0.4 x 9.1 inches
ISBN-10

1933330740
ISBN-13

978-1933330747
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Andrew Osmond is a British freelance film reviewer and journalist who was one of the "Akira generation" of anime fans. He has been writing about cartoons and anime for ten years, and has interviewed numerous anime professionals, including Satoshi Kon. His articles and reviews have appeared in Animerica, Total Anime, Neo, Manga Max, SFX, Sight and Sound, Empire and more.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Stone Bridge Press (December 1, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 128 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1933330740
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1933330747
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.1 x 0.4 x 9.1 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #2,332,196 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #461 in TV Direction & Production
- #879 in Animation Graphic Design (Books)
- #1,544 in Movie Director Biographies

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13 ratings

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praack

SATOSHI KON!

Reviewed in the United States on September 30, 2013

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the loss of Satoshi Kon from the anime ranks is felt deeply- though Makato Shinkai is looked upon as a spiritual successor he is not quite the same. This book helps bring some elements in perspective. I would like to see Paranoia Agent finally get a re-release- but hey - that's the problem with copyright- the owner dies and the last copyright holding company is out of business and we are left losing out on a masterpiece work.

his last work - dreaming machine will probably never be published- though one of his coworkers promised to - not enough was done prior to Satoshi Kon's death-i am afraid if we see anything it will be an unfinished work- and we will be left wondering where he would have taken us if he was still alive

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Amazon Customer

A must for Kon fans

Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2010

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Satoshi Kon is easily one of my favorite filmmakers. He's one of the rare types that can tell any style of story and make it uniquely his.

Andrew Osmond's book The Illusionist details this one of a kind filmmaker and his works.

If you're not familiar with Kon's work you may want to rent some before reading, since much of this book is simply an in-depth dissection of his stories.

The book is broken into 6 parts- one for Kon's early life and career and one for each of his films and TV series. Each work has a brief summary, a plot breakdown, a more detailed analysis and a sidebar of interesting facts.

Personally, I would have liked more insight into Kon himself and less plot breakdowns of his films, all of which I've seen multiple times. There's not much of a point in this book catering to anyone but established fans, so you might as well not talk much about things people already know

I at least would like to have seen pictures of Kon's actual drawings rather than just screen-caps and promo stills.

I will say the book prompted me to rewatch Millennium Actress for the first time in quite a while as well as try to purchase the now hard to come by DVDs of Paranoia Agent. So even though I would have liked to see this book done differently, it has made me better appreciate one of my favorite filmmakers. So if you're already a big fan of Satoshi Kon, this book may be right up your alley.

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Kathy McDonald

Informative but superficial

Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2018

This book gives a very informative rundown of information about Kon's films, and it's worthwhile if you want to flesh out your understanding of the films' production histories. It does this job quite well. The tone of the book is very shallow though, and at times unprofessional.
It would have been preferable if Osmond had simply reported the facts, but instead he adds his own very superficial commentary as if he were an expert. It is particularly grating when he nitpicks pointlessly about the fantasy logic of ghosts in Paranoia Agent, or when he harps narrow-mindedly about how Perfect Blue doesn't conform to American feminist politics. His occasional inane attempts at humor further show his lack of commitment towards intelligent analysis.

That said, despite its shoddy writing style (which would be more appropriate for a blog than a published book), this book is a useful quick read that provides a convenient string of facts about Kon's films. If you only care about getting the facts, this book will serve that purpose well.

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Lesley Aeschliman

A great book for inisght into Satoshi Kon's films

Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2011

This book includes an introduction, as well as a chapter about Satoshi Kon as a person that includes quotes by Satoshi Kon from interviews that Andrew Osmond had conducted with him. There are also chapters for each work that Satoshi Kon directed, a postscript, a filmography that lists the personnel for each work, endnotes, and a bibliography.

The introduction gives brief background information on Satoshi Kon and his works, and also includes acknowledgments from the author. The chapter "Kon on Kon" gives a biography of Satoshi Kon, which covers his childhood through his work and professional career prior to Perfect Blue.

This is followed by chapters devoted to specific works that Satoshi Kon directed: Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, Paranoia Agent, and Paprika. Each of these chapters includes a brief overview, the origins of the work, a description of the opening scene, and a synopsis. There are also sidebars labeled as "Points to Note," which include additional information on the work that couldn't be included in the main body of the chapter; this would normally include trivia about the work. A "Key Scene" is included, which is Andrew Osmond's description of the respective scene; it is written a way that tries to resemble a script. These chapters also include still images from each work with accompanying captions. It should be noted that in the chapter for Perfect Blue, one of stills includes quite a bit of blood in it.

The postscript opens with a quote Satoshi Kon made at a retrospective of his work in New York in 2008, and reading this book after Kon's passing, it becomes a rather chilling quote. The postscript works at wrapping everything together, and Osmond tries to look ahead to what Satoshi Kon's next planned anime was; this would be The Dream Machine, which Osmond talks a little bit about in this section. The filmography provides information for each work, including the personnel who worked on it, theatrical release dates, and the various home video releases for each work. The endnotes and bibliography provide information on the sources Andrew Osmond used for writing this book.

Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist is a good read, especially for anime viewers who have an interest in learning more about the director and his body of work. It was very informative, and it helped me better understand the works of Satoshi Kon. For me personally, reading this book has reminded me of what the anime world lost when Satoshi Kon passed away from pancreatic cancer on August 23, 2010. This book would be a perfect addition to an anime fan's library.

I wrote this review after checking out a copy of this book through the King County Library System.

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Sparrowsabre7

An Excellent Companion to Kon's Work

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 23, 2011

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Having been a Kon fan for only a relatively short time, I was deeply saddened by his abrupt and untimely passing last summer. As a result, I found myself pursuing every outlet I could to find out as much as I could about the visionary whom I had quickly come to respect and admire.

Sadly, this is the only book I could find on the great man, but fortunately it's well put together and provides a great companion for all Kon's currently released films (it does not touch on the soon to be released Dream Machine for obvious reasons). Each film is broken down into synopsis, creation, analysis and dialouge excerpts, replete with colourful images and interesting facts.

Some of the information may not be new to the most ardent Kon fans but it's still an enjoyable read, though some of Kon's own words can create a great sense of melancholy in the light of his death.

Nonethless, this is a fitting tribute to a master of cinema and one that any Kon fan should be proud to own.

3 people found this helpful

Paul Barrett

As a Satoshi Kon fan...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 12, 2010

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I found this book a pretty interesting read. He goes through all of Kon's work, providing a little background on the making of each one, a detailed synopsis, and a short analysis. Plus it's illustrated with plenty of stills from the 4 films and 1 TV series.

I'd recommend it to any fans of his work, but I don't think the book would be suitable of you haven't seen at least one of them as the synopsis provides a lot of spoilers.

6 people found this helpful

Francesca Boi

Completo ed accurato

Reviewed in Italy on October 16, 2013

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Per tutti quelli che vogliono conoscere a fondo Kon Satoshi ed i suoi lavori, ecco il più completo ed accurato libro a livello internazionalmente sul regista di "Paprika": non vengono solo date informazioni sulla sua vita, ma anche sulle sue opere e sulla sua visione del mondo attraverso le varie interviste che Osmond (l'autore) ha avuto la fortuna di fargli.
Ogni capitolo è dedicato ad un'opera, completo non solo di trama ed analisi, ma anche di piccole informazioni extra e curiosità.
In lingua inglese.

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C. Amis

Pointless if you've seen the films

Reviewed in Canada on January 15, 2014

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I didn't enjoy this book. It's essentially a breakdown of each of the movies with light discussion of themes. If you've already seen the movies and you put any amount of thought towards them, there's nothing new here. Disappointed after expecting to get a little insight into the director or process or business or anything other than synopsis for films I've already seen.

2 people found this helpful

Client d'Amazon

une perle pour les fan

Reviewed in France on November 17, 2016

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il est rare de lire des choses sur se grand réalisateur, et c'est toujours un plaisir d'avoir un livre qui lui est entièrement consacré à ce mettre sous la dent. Comprend une biographie rapide, ainsi que des analyses sur chacune de ses oeuvres, très intéressant.

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