While I knew of Satoshi Kon, I never got around to reading/watching his work until recently when I suggested watching Perfect Blue (1997), Kon’s directorial debut, with my sister, and then reading through one of his earlier mangas Tropic of the Sea (1999).
A well-known animated movie, I knew it had mature scenes, but I jumped right into it without heeding its trigger warnings. Most appallingly, this movie has explicit scenes that depict sexual assault, so before watching this movie, please read the trigger warnings.
Synopsis: Mima is a member of an emerging J-pop idol group CHAM!, but due to the wishes of her talent agency, she redirects her career into acting. As she grows her career in her new industry, her fans from her idol days become dissatisfied with her new image and want her to return to Idol Mima. As a result, some of her fanatical fans decide to take matters into their own hands by stalking her. The incidents started out as threats, but as the days go by, they become increasingly violent. At a similar rate, Mima grows increasingly anxious and depressed not only from her stalkers but from losing control of her identity: to the public, is she Idol Mima or Actress Mima, and what do these identities mean to her outside of people’s perception of her?
My synopsis alone doesn’t do the movie justice — the cinematography is a masterclass in visual storytelling. If you’re unfamiliar with Satoshi Kon, his artistic touch throughout all his works is magical realism, or blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, so you really have to watch to digest the film in its entirety. The purpose of the film is to not focus so much on the plot, but rather to warn its viewers of the physical and emotional dangers of celebrity “worship”, a message that is still harrowingly relevant in today’s social media age. I don’t wanna go too deeply into the plot, so please review the trigger warnings (lmk if you need specific info on when to skip) before watching.
Now, I came across this whilst scanning through the manga section of Barnes & Noble (wanted to read before buying hehe). In this translation, the editors added a foreword by Satoshi Kon himself reminiscing about when he released this story.
What stuck with me is that he was admittedly a little embarrassed about this story looking back on it, but it was still a story that he worked tirelessly on, and is overall proud of it. Reading that is…pretty much why I started writing here. Writing is a way of expressing yourself, so what held me back is I didn’t want others to perceive me/analyze what goes on in my head. Or to be honest, to look back at this and…cringe at what I sound like (-_-). But being bad at something is how you get better at it, that’s just how things work!
Now on to the actual book itself — although Kon didn’t write the story for Perfect Blue, he did storyboard the movie on top of directing. And when you read through Tropic of the Sea, you can clearly see his cinematic style through the story pacing and in the scenes where there isn’t any dialogue; Kon uses these scenes to draw focus to the fantasy/reality setting.
Synopsis: Yosuke is a descendant of a family of Shinto priests. His ancestor was tasked with taking care of a mermaid’s pearl in exchange for favorable weather conditions of the sea that his town depends on for survival and to eventually return the pearl back to the mermaid in 60 years' time. This tradition is at risk of being broken as Yosuke’s dad, the current head priest who is cynical of the family tradition being purely myth, has plans to make the mermaid pearl into a tourist attraction so that the village can prosper and modernize. However, Yosuke’s grandpa and other town locals are in direct opposition to the project in fear of the mermaid’s promise being broken, but more importantly, the detrimental effects of gentrification.
Just like in Perfect Blue, the purpose of the story is less on the story’s plot, but rather more to focus on the theme it’s expressing, which is modernization/gentrification — which, again, is concerningly relevant in today’s late-stage capitalism. And Kon does an exceptional job in creating realistic arguments for both sides: Yosuke’s dad is seen as a sellout, but he is only interested in making improvements to his village overall—especially in healthcare. Because of the town’s unmodernized quality of life, the younger generation doesn’t see any reason to stay, resulting in the town’s dwindling population. On the other hand, Yosuke’s grandpa, who is viewed as a stickler for tradition, doesn’t want to see the village’s historical architecture and local businesses to be destroyed in favor of corporations. At the center of this dilemma is Yosuke, and so he guides the reader through the story as it fleshes out what stance he eventually makes.
While a little rough around the edges, I wholeheartedly encourage anyone to read through this story to not only appreciate Kon’s prose but to also appreciate his deeply detailed and visually stunning artwork.
If you don’t already know, Kon passed away at age 46 in 2010. And when he was alive, his work wasn’t nearly as popular as it is now. So, I urge you to please read/watch through his work if you can!