Kanon

Title:Kanon
カノン
Overall:Buy
Keywords: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Notables: HORIE Yui
IIZUKA Mayumi
KAWAKAMI Tomoko
KAWASUMI Ayako
KISAICHI Atsushi
KOUDA Mariko
MINAGUCHI Yuko
Original Concept - KEY
SAKAMOTO Maaya
SATOU Akemi
SEKI Tomokazu
SHIOYAMA Yuka
TAMURA Yukari
Yuuichi is a high school student who can't remember much of his past. When he returns to the town he used to visit to live with relatives, his past catches up with him as he meets various girls, some of which he knew as a kid. And with time, more and more questions are demanding an answer: What is it that Ayu is searching so desperately but can't remember? Why does Kaori claim not to have a sister? Why can't Makoto remember the reason for the grudge she bears Yuuichi? Why is Nayuki trying to keep a stray cat? Why has Mai to fight monsters every night, leaving traces of her battles all over the schoolyard? And why did Yuuichi forget so many things about his past? Prepare for finding out that there aren't simple answers for certain questions, and keep your tissues within reach.

[TV series, 2002, 13 episodes, 24 min; based on a mild hentai dating-sim game for the Sega Dreamcast and the PC; OAV sequel episode: Kanon: Kaza Hana. See also: Kanon (2006).]
1:44min Series Opening - YouTube Video
Episode Details 
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 99
OverallArtAnimationCharacter Design MusicSeries StoryEpisode StoryReviewer
Watch 8 8 7 7 8 8 Dreamer [series:439#2279]
The only thing that spurred me to watch this was all the reviews. The images above was what initialy kept me away..... the giant eyes and a tiny circle for a mouth!

Art, Animation & Character Designs
The art wasn't too bad. It seemed a bit below par. Animation was about the same as well. The characters on the other hand... hmmm...... I can't say they were horribly drawn.... but rather, it seemed like all the them had a bad case of down syndrome. And I don't think that's even a proper comparison to make. In other words, I HATED the way their faces looked. It took me a great while to finally be able to overlook them.

Music
The OP was a soft ballad-type piece with female vocals. It wasn't bad but boring in my opinion. The music elsewhere were some light piano and wind instruments that really weren't noticeable. The ED, although not bad, didn't do it for me. It was a light and soft piece with female vocals.... sounded almost alternative but more accurately a ballad like the OP.

Series and Episode Story
The plot was actually pretty good. What made it stand out was the plot twists and cliffhangers... as someone else here had mentioned. By the middle of the series, you feel almost in-tuned with some of the girls..... emotional aspects are touched, thus it easily draws you into the mix.

Overall, it was entertaining and sometimes emotional but that was about it. It was fun one time around.

Last updated Sunday, May 10 2009. Created Sunday, May 10 2009.
Rent 7 7 7 8 8 8 Ggultra2764 [series:439#1552]
The Pros: Kanon is a series that takes off during its second half with an intensely emotional plot and a solid amount of characterization that will give viewers a connection with the hardships of the girls that Yuuichi meets. The show itself is an emotional roller-coaster ride as the second half reveals one revelation after another behind the hardships of each of the girls that Yuuichi supports in their struggles. Most of these revelations have to do with Yuuichi’s past connections to many of the girls he met at some point during his visits to the city on summer vacations. By recalling these memories of his childhood with these girls, Yuuichi develops a better understanding of their hardships and how to help them overcome their problems. Some of these problems are even on the magical side, which help create a sense of mystery and intrigue with how these girls got themselves in such situations. In terms of animation, Kanon features pretty character designs of girls as to be expected from Key’s animation work with the series and the scenery features a decent amount of detail to reflect the winter setting of the series.

The Cons: The first half to Kanon can be a bit slow since it is used to introduce the characters of the series. Compared to the second half, the first half offers nothing to engage viewers despite the bits of foreshadowing that there is leading up to the events of the second half. The 13 episode format of Kanon is also a problem since events with the characters do look a bit rushed thanks to the limited amount of time given to explore character revelations. This gives little time for natural, everyday scenes to become entwined with the revelations that the viewer comes across. It is also a big problem during Mai’s story arc as the series never fully explores relevant details about her past such as how she got her powers and when she first met Yuuichi.

Facts on the Series:

-Based on the popular 1999 storybook video game made by Key and Visual Arts, which is available only in Japan.

-Kanon was remade as a 24-episode anime series in 2006 to be a more faithful adaptation of the game. This version of Kanon is licensed by A.D. Vision.

Last updated Wednesday, January 09 2008. Created Saturday, January 05 2008.
Unevaluated 7 6 10 8 8 Kaali [series:439#1285]
[I have watched this series only once, and definetly will watch it again.]
When i first started watching this anime, i had no idea what to except. The beginning seemed a bit dull(it get's better later, don't worry) and i was _very_ turned down by the character art, they just look too cute and young. I got the image that they were in high-school, but with that drawing style and voice-acting i'm really not convinced. On one episode there was an age mentioned and since the "gone for 7 years" was the theme it adds up to being 11-12 year olds.. in high-school, eh. And their characters were not childish(they were quite deep at times, not something that i'd except from a child), when the "ugu" stuff is put aside.
The story was very surprising and left some things to think about. I have to watch this series again to understand some of the supernatural things that were going on. It had some very sad moments, but for some reason i just weren't reaching the tissue-box as i did for Kimi ga Nozomu Eien for example. Well, maybe i was just dullified by feeling a bit feverish when watching this.
Another comment is for pacing and emphasis of the animation and the story. It seems that the director has a lot to learn about this because there were many scenes story- and animation-wise that should have been re-timed. It just felt that they didn't have any time left for any emotional build-up or something. And there was a "slow-facial-zoomin" scene which just zoomed back and forth again and again, when in my opinion would have worked with just one slow zoom.
I don't have an exact opinion about this series yet, it was interesting but it felt like something was left missing. Maybe it was because it seemed to me that it was built from many story-arcs and when one was "completed" everything about it was just forgotten. I'll be sure to watch this series again to get a better view on this series. At this moment i'm going to recommend it to anyone who likes a sad romantic drama with some mystery added to it.
- Art: What's with the kiddy faces? Well, at least they were well drawn anyway.
- Animation: It wasn't that bad, but there really was some lack of emphasis and timing.
- Character design: Likeable, hateable, cute, mysterious, martyristic, romantic.. what else can you want?
- Music: I was so concentrated on this one, again, that i'm not sure if there were a lot going on musically; but it really added up to the mood of one scene when the music got up. Nice.
- Series story: It had some meaning to it, the characters played out nice. I'll have to see it again to rate it "correctly".

Last updated Tuesday, March 23 2004. Created Tuesday, March 23 2004.
Buy 7 7 9 8 9 10 Devil Doll [series:439#752]
[Score: 85% = maximum "Buy-"; episode reviews. Other recommended Romance/Fantasy Drama anime: Video Girl Ai, Clannad (TV), Chobits, Shuffle!, To Heart]
  • Drama: High (you won't believe it until you've seen it yourself)
  • Comedy: Low (Yuuichi occasionally has some really cool lines, especially in this gloomy context)
  • Action: Low (fighting scenes are short and rare)
  • SciFi: Med (all is not what it seems)
  • Ecchi: Low (naked thighs are about it)
The positive reviews here, and even more the way everyone avoided spoilers, attracted me to this story. And I truly have to be thankful for this, as the twists of the storyline during the second half of the series are really great. And the maker of this show does know how to use cliffhangers!

But what I actually like most are the characters. No, not the way they were drawn - this I rather consider a flaw, as these big eyes & tiny mouths are so unrealistic and make it difficult to accept the age of the girls. But I like their feelings and motivations. I wasn't disappointed by any of these characters - each of them (even those that had only short scenes) contributed to the show.
As I liked all of them, it was not so easy to pick my favorite - it might have been be Sayuri ("No 'but'!") or Shiori ("I hate people who say things like that!"), or Mai ("Beef bowl - you promised!"). But having rewatched the series for the episode reviews, it became clear to me that Nayuki is the character who is most important to me in this show, with all the flaws she has.
As the focus of the story, Yuuichi and his returning memory works fine; he sometimes reminded me of Youta from Video Girl Ai. On the other hand, dealing with promises from the past is a thing about which Keitarou from Love Hina could tell quite some story - and Keiichi from Aa! Megami-sama! OVA would be my reference about remembering a forgotten past...

The story here is about memories and dreams, and the boundaries of reality as we believe to know aren't always that solid here. The story development starts rather conventional, introducing all the players of the game before starting to resolve any of these many issues they have; therefore it is absolutely necessary to stay on track to the end and not quit watching early (although I considered none of these episodes to be fillers). Many stories are developed in parallel, giving the title 'Kanon' (an ancient musical discipline where different vocalists enter and leave in a certain order) another nice meaning. During the last third I had some problems to keep apart reality from fantasy, but after rewatching the series three times now (and discovering more and more hidden gems) everything made sense to me. Some parts of it, like the fox, are just so Japanese I guess.

As for the hentai origin of this story, I did in fact wonder why there were so many shots of girls' naked thighs (even more so as it is winter throughout the whole series); yet, I never considered these really annoying (there is a lot more fan service in other shows). I already complained about the girls eyes, and the girl's voices adapted to these; as for animation, there were some repeated stills that I recognized being in use and some unrealistic walking. I was rarely ever aware of the music (which was a highlight of episode 8 though), so it must at least match all the scenes nicely. But the most important parts of the series work great - both the story and the characters had me rewatch Kanon for several times soon.
And that hint from the other reviews about the tissues should be taken seriously...

My favourite quotation: "Is there something on my face?" - "Two eyes and a nose."

Last updated Wednesday, August 10 2011. Created Thursday, January 15 2004.
Buy 10 10 10 10 10 Ka-chan [series:439#1100]
If you can't tell, this in one of my favorite anime series. The opening and closing songs and story will just pull you in.
Kanon was a hentai game first, then a non-hentai game, and then an anime. Amazing how such a nice cute anime could have started as a hentai game.
The prolog is important so pay attention in the anime. The 13 episodes seems too short and the last four seems a bit rushed but it is still a beautiful anime from characters to story. Unfortunately it's is hard to describe Kanon with giving away the story.
The story revolves around Yuichi and his life from seven year prior in this snowy town. Yuichi has blocked his memories from those previous years but as he now lives in the town again, his memories starts returning bit by bit. When he meets Ayu, she ask if its really him. His answer is I'm me. She also says you kept you promise, you really kept you promise. Ayu is also constantly looking for something. She also loves taiyaki, as fish shaped pastry best eaten warm. Her love for taiyaki seems to come from their previous meeting as small child. Yuichi slowly remembers more and more about Ayu as the story continues. Yuichi also seems dense about Nayuki's feelings for him. Then there is Nayuki's best friend Misaka Kaori who seems to get upset when Yuichi ask if she as a little sister. There is also the monster battling Kawsumi Mai and her friend Kurata Sayuri. Then there is Sawatari Makoto who can only remember her name and that she has a gruge against Yuichi. Then you have Kuzo, the student body president. The guy to whom you may want to do serious harm.
Will Yuichi break Nayuki's heart again? Why does Mai fight monsters? For what is Ayu searching? What is the promise between Ayu and Yuichi? Why doesn't Yuichi remember his life from 7 years before?
To get the answers you will have to watch this beautiful haunting anime.

Last updated Saturday, December 13 2003. Created Saturday, December 13 2003.
Buy 8 8 7 8 9 8 AstroNerdBoy [series:439#436]

I have to tell you, make sure you don't give up on this after the first couple of episodes. At first, the story won't seem all that special, just another dating-sim game that has been brought to anime. However, once all of the girls have been introduced, the series makes a sudden change that will take you for a ride you won't forget. Just make sure you have plenty of tissue because even you tough guys are going to get the sniffles.

While it didn't seem like it at first, the introduction episodes also continued to lay the groundwork for future episodes, something that wasn't so apparent until those future episodes started playing. Most of the girls he knew as a child but had since forgotten, save for his cousin. There are five girls, each is roughly Yuuichi's age. Each has an issue of sorts to deal with and Yuuichi is key in helping them. There are a couple of other minor supporting female characters as well such as Yuuichi's aunt (though he never addresses her as such). All of the tales with the girls are very touching and some will get the tears to flowing. It proves that with good writing, one can have a really good series and virtually no fan service content. For a title based off a mild hentai game, I am very impressed!

There are a couple of minor issues I had with the series though. First, the character design is too cute for the very serious nature of the 2nd half of the series. So it seems out of place, especially since it makes the characters seem a lot younger than they actually are. Second, once a story with the first girls were completed, those girls were forgotten until episode 13, and even then, one still was forgotten. There was a symbol to represent her, but it would have been nice for Yuuichi to have said something about this girl.

Bottom line: Don't give up on the series based on the first few episodes. I doubt very many dating-sim games turned into anime series can be this good. Just don't forget your tissue!

Last updated Sunday, November 14 2004. Created Saturday, October 25 2003.

Buy 9 9 8 8 9 9 Jan-Chan [series:439#967]
(Nanee, Nanee..what to do? This is one of those stories in which if I explain too much, then I will spoil the surprises, and there are a number of them. So, like the other reviewers, I can only hint and speak indirectly about the plot..Well, here is my review....)
This is a very strange and touching story of Yuuichi and how he returns to point in his life some seven years ago, to a time that he had forgotten. It is a story of remembrance, of how a sixteen year old confronts not only his current situation, but also his lost mem.ories. Events and faces, both real and surreal, pull both him and his heart in many directions, as his past catches up with his present. He is surprised to remember a love of long ago, and through a journey of painful discovery, eventually found again.
It is very easy to categorize this story as a romance, but it is also might well be considered a mystery. Yuuichi remembers his past, but confronts a present in which demons dance in the school halls, spirit foxes prance in the windy fields, lost children haunt the school yards and mem.ories tackle him in the streets, but nothing is as it appears to be. With each new memory, a bit more of the magic is slowly dispelled. It is only in the last episode, when Yuuichi?s past fully catches up with his present, do we understand the true course of his journey.
If you enjoy a story of romance or unrequited love, or a drama of the heart, then this series might well intrigue you. Tears and tissues may be required as the viewer shares both the adventure and grief of Yuuichi. But, I have no hesitation to toss another voice in the (buy) category for this very good mystery/romance
Jan-Chan (10/2003)

Last updated Tuesday, January 25 2005. Created Thursday, September 18 2003.
Buy 9 8 8 7 9 8 BarrenSoul [series:439#859]
(note: my spelling aint to pretty)
episodes 1-13 verdict: buy
So far it's funny and down to earth (emotions are more like a real humans)
my my my i just finished it all and WOW what an emotional rollercoaster after episode 7. This is a very touching series that might make you cry. The main character has plenty of human flaws like jumping the gun (judgeing people to fast), anger, sometimes he's mean but in general hes a nice guy who isn't concerned with todays macho man image. Nice little series worth your money.
Errors:
there is something known as slipping, as in when some "still shot" BG's are used and the characters are moving the feet "slip" or seem to as the person walks

Last updated Saturday, August 16 2003. Created Monday, August 11 2003.
Buy 9 8 8 6 9 7 Kaneda [series:439#87]
Well, at first I wasn't really going to watchi this anime because it just seemed to be another anime about a uy surrounded by girls , but then my friend said it was based on a hentai game so I checked it out. The characters had a definite depth to them that was admirable , while maintaining a high quality of animation and art , In a lot of ways though this anime is more geared towards girls , but there are things that guys enjoy too , i'd say all in all its a good series worth getting.

Last updated Sunday, January 12 2003. Created Sunday, January 12 2003.
Buy 8 9 9 7 8 9 Alexander [series:439#416]
As said before, it does look like another tired "boy surround by girls" clone, yet it has a lot of differences.
Yuuichi goes back to his aunt's home, having trouble with his parents always moving to different parts of the world, he is to stay with is aunt and cousin. Having 7yrs. past he doesn't remember a thing from this little town, which makes it all the better, cuz it's a first look for us too. Go through watching Yuuichi go through he's days remembering details of his past, and encounter dramatic scenes.Romantic/Comedy, is the basic type of show, watch it cuz it's worth your money.
True it was based on a hentai game, but the game is also worth the shot at since it doesn't involve really dirty/sexually acts, but more of a real life experience.

Last updated Friday, January 24 2003. Created Friday, January 10 2003.
Buy 8 7 7 9 9 Midnighter [series:439#94]
I had origionally planned to watch only the first couple of episodes of Kanon at the all-night showing at Anime Iowa. I ended up watching the entire series and staying up till 6:00 am wiping tears away...Yes, Kanon is that good.
At first glance, Kanon looks like another tired Tenchi-Clone, one guy surrounded by cute girls. It quickly becomes evident, though, that Kanon is something else, something...dare I say...better. Yuuichi is another "non-threatening average guy," but he differs in the fact that he neither lusts after the girls lecherously nor avoids them religiously like so many tired anime stereotypes. Instead, he's just friendly. My only complaint is he's too nice and too perfect. Fortunately, the rest of the cast has plenty of human flaws.
These flaws make this series a real tear-jerker. Each episode left me wanting more--immediately (fortunately it was a marathon!) and the character growth is amazing, as everyone gets equal time to fill out and become real. It's very fulfilling to see Mai learn about how to handle emotions, or Yuuichi struggle with the tragic revelations. Kanon is one of the few anime series to choke me up.
The music is just so perfect. A Subdued, melodic score that seems almost whispered by the instruments. The voice cast is likewise top-notch, doing a remarkable job and standing apart from many anime voice casts that sound pre-packaged. The character designs were very cute, almost jarringly so and to me looked very much like Tachikawa Megumi's 'Saint Tail' characters. The animation was overall slick and done well enough to conceal the reletively low budget. I give it a high rating because the makers knew their limit and did so well that I didn't notice any eye-sore poor shots. Slick unobtrusive computer graphics round out the package.
Overall, buy this series, buy it now. And even though it should be packaged with a box of Kleenex, it's well worth watching again. Kanon is a fine example of the character depth I like in anime.
8-28-02

Last updated Wednesday, August 28 2002. Created Wednesday, August 28 2002.

Other Sites
NameURL
.::Falling Snow - a kanon site::. http://www.orangeday.net/kanon/
Information- Character bios, lyrics, Media- Images, wallpaper, stationary, skins and MORE!!
animesuki http://www.animesuki.com/series.php/108.html
torrent downloads for anime not yet licenced in the USA (R1) market (they are all GITS!!)

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