Satoshi Kon's Films and Series in Order, With Japanese Release Dates
Kon's four films and his one TV series in order, with Japanese release dates, the earlier festival premieres that confuse the years, and his unfinished fifth film.
Satoshi Kon directed four feature films and one television series: Perfect Blue (1998 in Japan), Millennium Actress (2002), Tokyo Godfathers (2003), the 13-episode series Paranoia Agent (2004) and Paprika (2006). They do not share a story, so you can start anywhere. We suggest Perfect Blue first and then release order, because the list is short enough to watch whole and the films read well as one director's development.
Kon died on August 24, 2010, at 46, while making a fifth feature, Yume-Miru Kikai. That film is not in the list below; more on it at the end.
Kon's work as director, in order
| # | Released in Japan | Earlier festival premiere | Title (Japanese title) | Format | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | February 28, 1998 | 1997, Fantasia Festival, Montreal | Perfect Blue (パーフェクトブルー) | Film | Adapted from a novel by Yoshikazu Takeuchi; script by Sadayuki Murai |
| 2 | September 14, 2002 | July 28, 2001, Fantasia Festival | Millennium Actress (千年女優) | Film | Original story by Kon |
| 3 | November 8, 2003 | August 30, 2003, Big Apple Anime Fest, New York | Tokyo Godfathers (東京ゴッドファーザーズ) | Film | Original story by Kon; screenplay with Keiko Nobumoto |
| 4 | February 2 to May 17, 2004 | Paranoia Agent (妄想代理人) | TV series, 13 episodes | His only TV series as director | |
| 5 | November 25, 2006 | September 2, 2006, Venice Film Festival | Paprika (パプリカ) | Film | Based on an original story by Yasutaka Tsutsui |
Dates and credits are from Anime News Network's encyclopedia entries for Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, Paranoia Agent and Paprika. The years agree with the timeline on Kon's official site, which records directing Perfect Blue in 1997 and the Japanese releases of Millennium Actress in 2002, Tokyo Godfathers in 2003 and Paprika in 2006, with Paranoia Agent airing in 2004.
Why lists disagree about the years
All four of Kon's films were shown at festivals before they opened in Japan, and different lists pick different dates. ANN records Millennium Actress's world premiere at the Fantasia Festival in Canada on July 28, 2001, more than a year before its Japanese release on September 14, 2002, so it is dated 2001 in some places and 2002 in others. Perfect Blue also screened at Fantasia, in 1997, before its Japanese release on February 28, 1998. Paprika premiered at the Venice Film Festival on September 2, 2006, almost three months before it opened in Japan, and Tokyo Godfathers screened in New York on August 30, 2003, ahead of its November release.
None of this changes the order. Whichever date you use, the four films and the series come in the same sequence. The table gives both dates so that a year on a poster or a streaming page does not look like an error.
Adaptations and originals
The credits split the films evenly. ANN's staff lists credit Perfect Blue's original novel to Yoshikazu Takeuchi and Paprika's original story to Yasutaka Tsutsui; Kon's own timeline calls Paprika a Tsutsui adaptation. Millennium Actress and Tokyo Godfathers are credited as original stories by Kon, and he shares their screenplay credits with Sadayuki Murai and Keiko Nobumoto respectively. Madhouse is credited for animation production on all four films. For Paranoia Agent, ANN credits Kon as director and among the storyboard artists, with scripts by writers including Seishi Minakami and Tomomi Yoshino.
Before he directed
Kon's official timeline lists earlier work that is not a film or series he directed, which is why it is not in the table. He wrote the script for Magnetic Rose, the segment of the 1995 anthology Memories directed by Kōji Morimoto, according to ANN. His own site also records that in 1993 he handled the script, storyboards and episode direction for episode 5 of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure video series. Our JoJo watch order explains where those older adaptations sit relative to the current TV anime.
One later short is also outside the table. Kon directed Ohayō (Good Morning), a one-minute piece for NHK's Ani-Kuri 15 anthology, in the third set of shorts that NHK aired from December 2007, according to ANN. It is a short, not a film or series.
His influence also shows up in later awards. Makoto Shinkai's official profile lists a jury prize called the Satoshi Kon Award, won by The Garden of Words at Canada's Fantasia festival in 2013. For one of Shinkai's own films, see our sourced Your Name quotes.
The unfinished fifth film
ANN reported the message from his widow, Kyōko Kon, that he died of pancreatic cancer on August 24, 2010, at 46. In November 2010, ANN reported that Madhouse had officially resumed production on Yume-Miru Kikai, the unfinished last feature, and that no release date had been set. We list no release for it, because none has been announced in the sources above.