It is hard to believe that 13 years have passed since the singular animation director Satoshi Kon left us. Since 2015, the Japanese publisher Fukkan has been releasing storyboard books of Kon’s feature length animated films; Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers and Paprika.

And now finally, the storyboards for his remaining 2 pieces of work is also available in this book, the 2004 TV series Paranoia Agent ( 妄想代理人) as well as Ohayo ( オハヨウ/Good Morning ), an animated short that was part of the AniKuri series of short films (2007).

The origin story of Paranoia Agent is rather interesting; during the makings of his previous three films (Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, and Tokyo Godfathers), Satoshi Kon was left with an abundance of unused ideas for stories and arrangements that he felt were good but did not fit into any of his projects. Not wanting to waste the material, he decided to recycle it into a dynamic TV series in which his experimental ideas could be used; and Paranoia Agent was born.

This hefty 600 pages storyboard book is released in the same A5 format as all of Satoshi Kon’s previous storyboard books, with a few colored pages at the front featuring character designs and some settei pieces. The print size of the storyboard panels themselves are pretty small, but the drawings are crisp and clean and make for comfortable viewing. Also, just like the Paprika storyboard book, the accompanying notes for the boards are type printed and not in Kon’s own handwriting, which makes for easier reading/is much more legible.

We will never truly get over the passing of such an animation luminary like Satoshi Kon. This volume, just like the ones for Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers and Paprika are a celebration of his amazing work, as well as an invaluable reference resource to study the way he compose and frame shots. Highly recommended not just for fans of Satoshi Kon’s work, but all animation fans and students.

“Paranoia Agent – Satoshi Kon Storyboard 今敏 絵コンテ集 妄想代理人/オハヨウ” book details :

– Dimensions – 1.5 x 5.83 x 8.27 inches
– Softcover, 600 pages
– Full color /B&W, Japanese language

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