Anime Review: Kanon

Currently holding number 2 slot of my All Time Favourite Anime, comes the series Kanon. There are 2 version of this animation, the first came out in 2002 by Toei Animation, the other is the 2006 reworked adaptation by Kyoto Animation. Back in 2002, the story of Kanon got me addicted to this genre of anime, but once watching the 2006 version, it just blew my expectation sky high. There are vast differences between the 2 versions, especially in the aspect of graphics and flow of storyline, but not to bore everyone with the difference, I'll mainly introduce the 2006 version.

Plot Summary:
Set in the season of Winter, the main protagonist, Aizawa Yuuichi, once again returns to the city where he had once been visiting often 7 years ago. Due to arrangements made by his parents, he stays together with his cousin, Minase Nayuki, and her mother, Minase Akiko; the same arrangement as before. Despite having lived in the city before, his memories of it has more or less been forgotten, only minor details remains. As days goes by, one by one he meets up with individuals whom he had met before, but he has forgotten most things about them. However he'll slowly regain back his memories through spending time with them, to piece the whole picture of what happened 7 years ago, and the reason why he didn't return to the city for those 7 years.

Screenshot from series. It's scenes like
this which truly makes the story an epic.

Thoughts:
The main theme of the story carries with it the promise of miracles. There's a mysterious feel about the ever-snowing city, that allows the occurrence of miracles, even though it centers mainly around the main protagonist. Another theme would be on the continuation of a dream. Dreams are something we all have, be it when we're asleep or when we're wide awake; and when dreaming, the impossibles are possible, even if it takes a miracle to make it occur. In this case, the returning of our main protagonist to the city signify the continuation to a dream that was once broken 7 years before, in order to fulfill promises which only he can abide to.

Another screenshot from series.

There is also a theme on music, which can be seen on the usage of Pachelbel's Canon (Canon in D). A canon is a contrapuntal composition that employs a melody with one or more imitations of the melody played after a given duration (ninja-ed from Wiki). It is also said that the name Kanon came from this term. One thing I derived from the usage of Canon, could be that in order for a perfect harmony between different people, there must be a certain level of synchronization between them, to be able to understand each other, and to be able to lend a helping hand when needed, which brings to the point of "One can never walk alone" or basically, Unity through Friendship.

Another screenshot, favourite scene in series where Mai is dancing.

Also by paying attention to the episode names, you'll also see lots of terms which are used in the music world being referenced in them. Music has a certain magic to them, that it is able to touch the hearts and heal the soul of people listening to it. In a way it plays a part in this series, since each of the girls have their own unique past, thus the need for mending.

CG Fanart of Nayuki by Yukirin.

Animation and Music:
Kyoto Animation, currently well-known for their well-weaved storylines with top-notched animation graphics, has definitely upped the level of expectations required for successful eroge/visual novels to anime adaptions (Might be toppled by Clannad though, waiting for that series to end to make the final conclusion, but it has definitely gone for the better). The music used are the same as those from the Visual Novel and the various other OSTs (Original Soundtracks) which has come out ever since. I especially like to listen to "Kanon arrange best album 「recollections」" and "Kanon Air Piano Arrange Album Re-feel" to relax myself and do some deep-thought thinking (like now).

Conclusion:
Highly recommended series, especially for those who wants a story which will/might make you break into tears. For 24 episodes, you're definitely in for a roller-coaster ride of emotions when watching Kanon. Giving it a rating of 9.5/10 (That's why it's my no.2 all time favourite).

Going abit off-topic for the moment, this review is especially for my friends and certain people out there: The world of anime isn't just Bleach and Naruto. And there's more to anime than just getting into the pants of those cutey anime girls too. Please don't just group them all into the same category, not all anime with cute girls = hentai. I just hate it when people see these kind of anime and just label "Eh, hentai!".

This is the original picture that was used to make
the head banner for my site. Too Cute ain't it?

This is my second ever review I had done, and initially was discouraged to write it after looking at the way how other people did their reviews. But upon thinking about it, my writing style and theirs are different, so there's no point in trying to mimic others, but to do things my own way. It may not be the best, but I'll definitely try to improve on my writing skills.

Ending off, here's two videos for everyone. One is the OP from the series, the other is a AMV (Anime Music Video), using the dance scene from the series (Mai ^^) and the song is Pachebel's Canon on piano. Hope you'll enjoy it. Also wishing that Max Factory would faster come out with figures for the remaining Kanon characters!! Especially Mai, Shiori and Nayuki (isn't that all the remainder? lol) *Prays for Mai in her Ballroom Dress* Wished I knew how to sculpt it myself. Oh well, signing out.

Kanon 2006 OP - Last Regret (Tv ver.)


Kanon AMV - Pachelbel's Canon on Piano.