Dream Fossil (Kodansha, 2019)

Dream Fossil is a collection of 15 short stories by critically hailed anime auteur Satoshi Kon. The stories were serialized in a variety of magazines in the 1980s and provide a rare glimpse into the early stages of Kon's uniquely compelling style of storytelling. Buds of dreamlike themes and imaginative worldviews that would blossom in Kon's later animated works are readily apparent in flights of fancy anchored by knowing, empathetic portrayals of human nature.