Perfect Blue and Satoshi Kon’s other movies are streaming for free

If you’ve somehow never had the pleasure of watching any of Satoshi Kon’s films, this weekend is the perfect time and opportunity to start.

In partnership with the Japan Information & Culture Center and the Embassy of Japan, The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art is hosting an online retrospective dedicated to the legacy of the late anime auteur, streaming each of the director’s four feature-length films — Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Tokyo GodfathersAnd Paprika — in addition to Pascal-Alex Vincent’s 2021 documentary Satoshi Kon: Illusionist.

An ex-manga artist who was also an assistant AkiraKatsuhiro Ohmo was the original creator. Kon is known for his genre-bending work that focuses on reality and fiction.

Madhouse Photo

Beyond anime, Kon’s films are known for having inspired the work of live-action Hollywood directors including Christopher Nolan and Darren Aronofsky. Aronofsky is just one of the many admirers Kon has featured in. Satoshi Kon: Illusionist. Both 2000’s Requiem for a Dream and 2010’s Black Swan feature homages to Kon’s Perfect BlueMany fans, critics and Kon have described the homages as being almost plagiaristic.

Only audiences from the United States can view this retrospective. It will be available for viewing between March 26 and April 10. Viewers will have the option to stream Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, PaprikaAnd Satoshi Kon: IllusionistThe stream will be in Japanese and English subtitles, starting at 12 noon on March 26th. ET. After that they have 7 days to stream and 48 hours for them to complete the stream. Going by the stated timeline, it’s unclear what will be available to watch April 2 through April 10, but we’ll update this post if or when that is clarified.

Register for the Retrospective via the Eventive Page.