Satoshi Kon: Setting Up for a New Production

In an interview with Tokyo Pop's Bill Aguiar during the Washington D.C.'s Cherry Blossom Festival, Satoshi Kon affirmatively stated he was working on his next feature. For fans of the popular manga artist and anime creator this is great news. Satoshi Kon is quoted as saying "I am already starting scriptwriting the next movie. It will be an original story scripted by myself, and I have a feeling that two to two-and-half years from now you will see it. It will not be like Paprika in that it will not have a mature target audience but be one that children could enjoy." (Aguiar) After previous titles such as Perfect Blue, Tokyo Godfathers, Paprika, and Paranoia Agent, this news comes as a huge surprise. Satoshi Kon also noted that the film would be one that could be viewed and enjoyed by an older audience getting something different out of it than children would get. In this way, it seems that Kon is exploring a little Miyazaki territory. It will be interesting to see how Satoshi Kon pulls off this latest feature, and what storylines are in store for audiences.

Satoshi Kon is one of the Godfathers of anime, especially those with a look into the paranormal, the future, and futuristic technology. His popularity among anime viewers has steadily grown, especially with the release of his latest film Paprika in 2006 based on a Yasutaka Tsutsui novel, and recent re-airing of his 2004 television series Paranoia Agent by U.S cable channel Cartoon Network. It seems a perfect time for the release of another film. However, Satoshi Kon stated that it will be around two to two and a half years before the release of the next film, a film that is to be an original work of Satoshi Kon. He also added that "after two or three more movies I will have enough ideas accumulated to do another TV series" (Aguiar).

Satoshi Kon plans his next piece to be something along the lines of a "futuristic folk" story (Aguiar), so fan seeking a more realistic piece might be disappointed. However, Satoshi Kon has made it perfectly clear that he wishes to jump back into the realms of the fantasy. It will be interesting to see what television series comes out of this need, and what future films will develop the ideas behind the fan and director anticipated TV series.

While it will take a while to see these projects come to fruition, it seems that fans of Satoshi Kon's work have a great deal to look forward to in the future.

Sources:

Aguiar, Bill. "Interview with Satoshi Kon." Tokyo Pop. 25 April 2007. Tokyo Pop. 29 Apr 2007 http://www.tokyopop.com/667.html