Satoshi Kon's Opus Kindle & comiXology

Satoshi Kon still has yet to be ousted as my favorite anime filmmaker, though he passed away a few years ago. I usually don't preorder items on Amazon, but I didn't actually think this book would ever be published so took a chance. Most of Kon's work is difficult to find, but his vision is much more mature than what most people expect out of anime and manga.Opus is very similar to Kon's anime work that came out around the same time (Perfect Blue, Millenium Actress; there's even a reference at one point in Opus to the author's work on Katsuhiro Otomo's Memories). The plot is full of portal-to-another-world metafiction and centered on its own sense of being self-referencing. You can at times feel that the protagonist is Kon himself, and though Opus is less preachy than Paranoia Agent, the story does reach the same level of intelligence. The message is clear, and at no point do you feel that you are reading an author's early work (in fact, this was Kon's last long manga). It's gripping, it's unusual in the way it tells its story, and because of the story, the art is required to be careful in its development (the world's perspective, the backgrounds, are deliberate, and need to be for the story to work).I'm glad someone took the time to reprint Kon's written work, and for those who like a tight, clear story instead of fifty volumes of manga, this is exactly what you should consider purchasing.

Satoshi Kon's OPUS is a meta-manga dealing with creators, their creations, and how they affect each other. Bespectacled manga creator Chikara Nagai is under a deadline to finish his graphic novel RESONANCE. Lin, the character he wants to kill off, objects. At the end of the penultimate chapter of "Resonance". Lin steps in to protect the lovely Satoko who is battling the evil Masque. Even Chikara's editor just wants a happy last chapter where Satoko defeats the Masque. Later, while working on the final pages, Chikara finds a panel that has depth and gets literally pulled into his own story. Satoko wonders whose pawn he is. Lin discovers his projected fate and moves to make sure it does not happen. Chikara returns to his real world and brings Satoko with him. From then on, Chikara's world of the page and Satoko's world on the page riffle together like a shuffled deck of cards entertainingly stretching the boundaries of everyone's reality. But author Kon's career began shifting from manga to anime before the tale was finished. After Kon's death, the rough pencils of the final chapter were found among his papers. That chapter from beyond the grave is included here to supply the proper [if not totally satisfying] meta-fiction closure. Recommended for fans of both manga and anime with character.

Kon was a brilliant artist and this book is the best testament to that fact.And he deserves a lot of credit for steering clear of the guns-and-bombs stereotype established by predecessors like Akira to create instead believable, likeable and sympathetic characters, including himself at the book's end.

Satoshi Kon's Opus blurs the lines between the creator and the art, fiction and reality, and destiny and predestination. The author (Kon himself?) is working on a manga called Resonance when he decides to kill off one of the main characters. The character, Lin, objects, and transports into the real world, where he steals the page on which he's killed. The author follows him into the manga, and the reader is treated to a metafictional tale of psychics, heroes, villains, and crime.Metafiction has been around forever. Gogol used it in "The Nose" and Dead Souls. We've all seen blends of animation with real life. Walt Disney's "Alice" shorts are an example from nearly 100 years ago, as is the 1980s pop video for the song "Take on Me" by A-Ha. Still, there's something fresh and new about this manga. Resonance, the manga the author falls into, isn't terribly well developed, and the cancellation of Comic Guy's, which serialized the story, along with Kon's death mean that there isn't a definitive ending for the story. Still, I liked it. ****1/4

The manga itself is great. I was a huge fan of Paprika and Tokyo Godfathers. This did not disappoint. It has Kon's unique style and is incredibly visual. The characters jump off the page and are dynamic. It kind of reminds me of Bret Easton Ellis' Lunar Park. Both stories are very well told.Book itself was just a wee bit damaged when it arrived at my door, but nothing serious. Edges of the paperback were a bit mangled and there appeared to be an indentation from a pen on the cover when viewed from the side. If I were buying this book in stores, I probably would not have chosen this copy. However, you get what you get online!I especially love the last 2 chapters of this manga. They are unfinished and show what a work in progress manga is like. It's very special to get to see them.

Satoshi Kon will always be cemented as the master of anime. Any fan of his work will be absolutely enthralled with this book. A VERY Kon story, that always keeps you wanting to know what will happen next. The translation is excellent and my book arrived in perfect condition. The unfinished ending published in this version is also, in my opinion, the absolute perfect conclusion to the story. Recommend VERY highly.

A beautiful masterpiece from THE Satoshi Kon, with an ending that is both satisfyingly perfect and incomplete at the same time. The never before seen epilogue that was included was just as wonderful, and the final page made me cry. A wonderful piece of work from an artist who left too soon.

Satoshi Kon's Opus is everything you'd expect from him in terms of story and design. If I had read it with it's original ending (excluding the last chapter), I would have probably given it 3 stars. After reading the final chapter in this volume, I feel at ease with the story's final destination. Its in one sense resolved, and in another not so much. But that suits both the story and the artist.

Very good story really draws you in but just an air of caution that it does contain a unfinished ending and therefore does end on an somewhat unsatisfactory note this is no ones fault, and if you’ve done your research you already know the reason why.Sadly the author died before being able to finish this piece but it is still an excellent story never less.

Brilliant story, art, concept- and it just feels nice to hold. I'm not a reviewer or a critic but I'm sure you can find millions of reviews anywhere for this book.The cover is beautiful, its a good sized book so you can really feel it when you hold it, and it looks nice on a shelf, despite being bigger than most volumes of manga.

I can’t recommend Satoshi Kon. This manga is unfinished as Kon only ever completed one of his volumes. Highly recommend especially if you’re a fan of his work.

Incredible manga, satoshi seriously knows how to story tell and shows it through this trippy tale

I hope you like meta fiction.