Warning : The following post contains nudity/adult content.
Update 2019 – There’s a newer edition of this storyboard book.
The debut work of late anime director Kon Satoshi, Perfect Blue is a tight suspense thriller capped with a shocking ending that secured Kon’s place in the anime industry as a rising director of superb talent. Perfect Blue marked the start Kon Satoshi’s relatively short but brilliant career that saw him create such great pieces of animated cinema, namely Tokyo Godfathers, Millenium Actress and Paprika.
This 3 volume ( plus an additional supplementary booklet ) set collects the full storyboards used during the production of Perfect Blue, beautifully reproduced in A4 sized format . ( A smaller print sized version came bundled with the Japanese special edition blu-ray released back in 2008. )
Just like the storyboards by his mentor Otomo Katsuhiro and Ghibli director Miyazaki Hayao, Kon Satoshi’s storyboards are incredibly detailed and can be appreciated as beautiful pieces of illustrations on their own, although strictly speaking these storyboards were meant to serve only as production tools.
(above left) Anime storyboards are a good place to learn Japanese Onomatopoeia, because the empty box to the right of the image panel is used for writing down short explanatory notes as well as list sound effects used/required in the shot (Afureko). Here the sound of a character typing furiously away on his computer is expressed as “kata kata kata kata kata kata…”.
(above right) Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky paid homage to the work of Kon Satoshi by re-creating the bathtub scene in Requiem For A Dream, shot by shot ( see this older post ).
(below) Often when drawing wide panning shots anime directors break free from the constraints of the storyboard panel.
(above & below) The supplementary booklet contains posters and illustrations by Kon Satoshi, as well as some character sheets, background art plates and layout boards.
(above) Various background art plates used in the film. I only wish they’ve been given the full page spread treatment.
The 3 volumes come housed in a thin cardboard case ( image below ).
At 5940 yen the storyboard collection isn’t cheap, but Kon Satoshi’s masterful art work is worth every last yen of it. My highest recommedations.
“Perfect Blue Storyboard Collection Art Book″ Art book details :
– Dimensions – 11.9 x 8.4 x 1.1 inches
– Softcover, appr. 430 pages
– Full color /B&W, Japanese language
Buy From Amazon.com | Buy From Amazon CA |Buy From Amazon UK
You might also be interested in these items :
Perfect Blue Storyboard Book Review ( 2019 Edition )
Perfect Blue Storyboard Art Book Coming In March 2015.
Perfect Blue – Japanese Edition Blu-ray ( Kon Satoshi )
Perfect Blue limited edition dvd
Millennium Actress – Kon Satoshi Storyboard Book Review
April 2nd, 2015 at 9:01 pm
This is still my favorite piece of Kon’s work. I love it all, but this still stands out to me, probably also because I was a teenager when it came out. I kind of just bought it and watched it on a whim, and it just stuck. My mother was always a big Hitchcock fan, so growing up with that, and being into animation, this movie felt like it was mine. I usually avoid buying the storyboard books, but I might actually have to grab this one.
April 3rd, 2015 at 2:09 am
pure classic
April 5th, 2015 at 12:14 am
Zack – I’ll have to choose Millenium Actress as my fav because it moves me so much, but watching Perfect Blue as a young animation student definitely left a deep impression on me.
I’m hoping the publisher Fukkan will publish all of his storyboards in a bigger format like this one for all to enjoy.
DISTRAKT – absolutely. :]
April 29th, 2015 at 5:46 am
Just got this book! Such a beautiful and insightful look into the storyboards for Perfect Blue. Also I can clearly see the influences of Otomo in his work for certain! By any chance do you know if the storyboard paper the Japanese animation studios use are sold in any art supply stores in Japan? Where can I get them?
April 30th, 2015 at 12:51 pm
Genga31 – You can try one of the big art supply stores called “Sekaido”, one of them can be found near Shinjuku station.
If not I would say one of the stores in Nakano’s Broadway might carry it. Good luck !
May 1st, 2015 at 12:51 am
Thanks Yonghow! Found them! And as always, THANK YOU for having this blog up! This keeps me in the loop of any new releases in Japan!
May 4th, 2015 at 8:31 pm
Genga31 – You’re most welcome. If I may ask, where exactly did you find the storyboard paper ? 😛
May 8th, 2015 at 9:47 pm
Yonghow, my friend found it at Sekaido. 😀
May 10th, 2015 at 11:13 pm
genga31 – Cool ! I’m glad we can confirm now that Sekaido does carry it. Thanks ! :]
May 12th, 2015 at 1:18 am
No Thank YOU Yonghow!