Customer Reviews

Kanon: The Complete Series

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It's almost impossible to find any reviews of Kanon that refrain from comparing it to the show Air. Now that Funimation has acquired the rights to bring both of these (already similar) shows out just one week apart will likely do little to differentiate one from the other. Having just watched the two series literally back to back, I can attest to the fact that Kanon succeeds in many areas where Air comes short. Yes there are some similarities between the two that will warrant direct comparison throughout my review but in actuality, Kanon is certainly more emotionally taxing in its prose and scope. Well before I get ahead of myself here, let's start at the beginning, shall we?

Released across 4 discs, Funimation is packaging up TBS Animation's Kanon in a complete series box set. The packaging is quite appropriate if slightly mysterious in its rear panel summary. Inside is a pair of beautifully artistic thin packs, each of which contains two discs. The choice of whites and pale blues is subtly appropriate for the oft-snowy setting of the story itself. I may even go on record as saying that the thin pack exterior art is the finest Funimation has released to date. In all the show runs 576 minutes and earns a fairly conservative TV PG rating (no nudity, language, or violence to speak of).

The set, as has been the trend of late, contains virtually no extras to speak of although the language options are thorough (English dub and original Japanese with or without English subtitles).

With stories like this that play out literally as emotionally driven mysteries, I feel it's critical that I don't provide any spoilers while attempting to summarize the plot here. That said, the story follows a high-school age young man who comes to stay with his aunt and female cousin after a seven-year hiatus. The viewer is treated to the same laid back pacing that Air relished and Kanon even operates off the sometimes-monotonous rhythm of daily routine. Where Kanon succeeds over Air is through the use of witty dialog that actually manages to be funny. The lead character (Yuichi) has many genuine moments of interaction, especially early on when the massive cast is being established.

Interestingly enough, save for one other male, the cast is entirely female. It sounds suspicious but manages to work surprisingly well. Much of the story plays off the fact that Yuichi basically comes back to town with amnesia of his previous visit (which was just over summer vacation seven years prior). The viewer is along for the unveiling of the facts right along side the lead character through frequent flashbacks that shed a bit of light present situations.

I won't sugarcoat the reality that this isn't a show for the overly sensitive as heartbreaks and a near endless succession of tragedies abounds. However, if I can offer any insight without taking away from the show's charm it would be to hold off on passing judgment until you've followed it all the way through to completion. Many of the show's mysteries and seeming impossibilities don't start making sense until the final couple episodes. In fact, the bigger picture isn't fully realized until the last section of the final episode!

Like such classic films as the Sixth Sense, Kanon is setup with clues and hints all along the way that cannot be fully appreciated until the second or third time through. Just prepare for a few of those "how could I have not realized this the first time" moments.

The show's art is simply flawless throughout. Landscapes, textures, lighting, and ambiance are truly second to none. Much of the show takes place over the course of a winter but don't for a minute suspect this left the artists with a pallet of drab grays and whites. Truthfully, the sunsets, snowfalls, crunching sound of boots and steamy clouds of exhalation just dazzle consistently throughout.

Additionally there are many that attempt but few shows that succeed in so charmingly capturing mood. Acting work, especially in the English dub, is outstanding. This is especially admirable considering that such a large cast of similarly aged females surely required unique performances for distinction. I should mention that a few characters do sound a lot alike but in the end the choice was most certainly deliberate.

With each of my reviews I like to attempt to nail down a single attribute that could be the show's greatest strength. With Kanon I may have to bend my own rule on account of the fact that so many aspects come off so well. I was initially leaning toward character development as, in this case, it is detrimental in moving the story along. Here we have a cast of characters that is near impossible not to adore for their sincerity, innocence, sense of humor, and in many cases, realistic interaction with each other. Coupled to the stunning visuals and solid voice work, it's tough to praise one aspect over the others.

In all, I won't kid you into thinking Kanon won't be difficult to market to the domestic general public. Upon first impression of the cover art, I feared a tale leaning toward the female-set what with the five glassy-eyed girls and pink lettering and all. However, and much like Air, this is a show with an abundance of heart and enough intriguing elements along the way to soften up even the hardest viewer. It's a story that transcends fads, styles, cultures and even defies genres come to think of it. We simply have nothing like this in the United States for a direct comparison and I'm certain that accounts for a lot of its charm. It's definitely not for everyone on account of the fact that what it lacks in action sequences is made up for with the viewer's ability to connect with the cast.

Take even the name Kanon for example- it is cleverly explained in one scene to have been inspired by the musical definition (canon) whereby a composition consists of a single melody repeated over and over with the addition of more elements each time. In a way I cannot think of a more appropriate metaphor for the show itself in its portrayal of life as being essentially the same day lived over and over with the addition of new experiences layered atop the familiarity of our routines.

Shows like this are successful not for their ability to focus on one aspect of the human condition but rather because they manage to grab hold of all of the little things that define humanity then put those elements together across a pace at which nearly anyone can relate. Kanon is more of an experience, a chance to briefly live among someone else's creative vision than it is simply entertainment. Kanon is truly timeless storytelling in the strictest sense of the word.

This is my all-time favorite anime series. You have to be prepared to watch it multiple times, as the plot is so delightfully interwoven. I'm from upper New York State and was born in a snowdrift, so the dead cold winter scenery is breathtakingly beautiful and the viewer will forget he/she is watching an animated production. Anyone reading this, believe me; I collected the individual discs while spending over $200. I never expected this to become available. It is a bargain. You get the entire 24 episodes here. Funny, thought-provoking and very serious, not to mention absolutely wonderful music, this series will run you through the emotional mill! I cannot recommend "Kanon" enough. I won't give away any of the story but you'll not be able to stop watching.
Sincerely, Harold.

This anime has a great story line, but be prepared to cry. I guarantee you will be sad. you will always be on the edge of your seat. I watched this anime twice it was so good. Don't let the being sad part scare you, it is one of the best anime i've seen. It even has tons of funny scenes as a bonus; so if you are not crying your laughing. =D

This anime series is almost as sad as "Grave of the Fireflies". It's a very odd series with a very complex story line that, like a musical canon (Kanon) repeats the same theme but adding more detail and texture to create a beautiful and touching story. This is especially odd, because Kanon started out life as a "ero" (adult) game in Japan. It then saw life as cleaned-up G rated games on the Saturn and the Playstation game systems and was popular enough that it was made into a 13 episode anime series, followed by an OVA. The art on this original series was barely better than the game graphics, and, fortunately, Kanon was later remade into a 24 episode anime series with nearly state of the art graphics and very nice sound track. Pachabel's Canon in D even is used as background music in a few scenes.

Kanon is a series about relationships, and nearly everybody the hero, Yoichi, meets has a tragic backstory. These sad stories are all interwoven around a mysterious tragedy that occurred when Yoichi was a boy that was so traumatic that he chose to lose his memory of past events. At times the series hovers on the border of becoming a Harem series as the hero meets and befriends one girl after another. There is his pretty, air-headed cousin, Miyuki, who faces a crisis near the end of the story after a tragic traffic accident. There is the foxy Madoka, who has lost her memory and can only remember that she has a grudge against Yoichi. There is the weird Ayu, a tomboyish girl who lost her mother as a child and is fond of swiping food from street vendors. There is Mai, the demon huntress, who has strong supernatural powers. There is Saiyuri, the first year student with a terminal disease. As Yoichi helps each girl come to grips with the tragedy in their own lives, he eventually begins to remember the tragedy in his own past. Overlaying it all are the dreams and memories of one of the girls who cannot wake up from the dreams that have consumed her soul. The identity of the dreamer is kept secret for the first half of the series. Several of the stories choked me up, but poor Madoka's story brought me to tears. There seems to be an odd undercurrent of supernatural events behind the intertwining stories.

The story is complex and holds up to repeated viewing, in fact, repeated viewing is necessary to catch all the subtle hints. On first viewing I didn't understand if the ending was a delusion on the part of the Dreamer, a delusion on the part of Yoichi, or if the whole story was a delusion on Yoichi's part with only the ending being real. I had to watch it a second time before the Dream sequences made sense and explained the story line. The anime is deliciously crafted. Hints to later events are hidden in the earlier episode, hints that may not make sense until the story is viewed a second time: hints like the strange look Saiyuri's doctor gives to Ayu when they meet up in the hospital, or the silhouette of a tree that features prominently in the opening credits. There are also some strange goings on that are so subtle that they can be missed. When the hero encounters the Dreamer in the last episode, she is holding a doll that had vanished in the haunted forest when Yoichi returned it to what appeared to be a ghost of the Dreamer, who Yoichi believed to be dead.

Although the anime is based on an old adult game, the anime series is completely innocent. There is no nudity and only a few sweet kisses. And, at risk of giving too much away, considering how much tragedy the anime series contains, the story actually comes to a happy ending.

The art is beautiful, the story wonderful, leaving me disappointed in only one regard: only Madoka's story - which I thought was the saddest of all the stories - doesn't have a happy ending. This anime series is a great one to use to introduce a loved one to anime. It's also a good anime series if you are sick and tired of spaceships that transform into giant robots or martial arts series that take 52 episodes to resolve a two minute fight. It is a superior series that actually make you think. And cry.

Kanon is probably one of the most touching, beautiful animes I've ever seen. The plot is great, the art is amazing, and it has characters you can care about (unlike many animes).

If you are a fan of Air, then Kanon is the anime for you. I wouldn't reccomend it to people who like comedy (although it does have a bit of humor in some episodes), but most anime fans are sure to like it.

I've watched this series 2 times, and I'm ready to watch it a 3rd. It's now my favorite anime (along with Air). =)

So, buy Kanon. You won't be dissapointed.

WARNING: Grab a box of tissues before you start watching.

Kanon the complete series is a romantic drama based of a visual novel by key. Its very similar to Air(tv)if you've seen it. The story here is rather simple. The ultimate nice guy Yuichi Aizawa has returned to the town snowy in which he once lived but he can't remember what happened back then. in this new town he runs into (or they run into him) several beautiful and troubled girls, so Yuichi as the nice guy he is has to worry about them and try to help them.

The first few episodes introduce you to all the girls. The begin is probably the best part because of the great humor and its less sad. Shortly after however you are Slammed with the saddest thing to ever happen in an anime ever. (unless you've seen another Key anime) the anime "solves" each of the main girls' problems one at a time as yuichi tries to recover his memory.
This has alot of super natural quality's as though strong emotion is not bound by reality. buy this show theres no way you'd regret it

In music, "canon" is a piece where a melody is repeated continuously, until additional followers in that piece begin to build on one another, resulting in beautiful harmony. I don't think the creators of this show - or the original visual novel, for that matter - could have possibly chosen a more appropriate title. Though a bit weak in a few places, and lacking some of the emotional "oomph" of Air TV, Kanon is still a worthy addition to Kyoto Animation's veritable series based off love sim games.

For those wondering, this review is based off the English language version of the series.

"Kanon" begins with a very beautiful, snowy town, a very cynical young high school boy with amnesia, and a bevy of young girls either devoted to helping regain his memories, or cause trouble for him along the way. Though you could generally brand this show as pure "moe" harem, to do so would be a sad misunderstanding of what the show is trying to build to.

If the show does have one major flaw, it's how easily Yuichi Aizawa - the leading man - flits from one girl's problem to the next. Once one girl's arc is through and thoroughly handled, it's on to the next! Though it's a way for the producers and writers to cover every girl from the game, at the same time it feels rather redundant and not as emotionally exuberant as how the lead from Air seemingly managed to do it. Ah well.

The viewer is forced to sit through some girls with a bit of the same problems we've seen before, ranging from "I'm going to die" to "I'm emotionally stunted." It can be eye-roll inducing, but the show's saving grace is just how hilariously dead pan Yuichi can be, let alone the clever bits of sarcasm thrown in there. Without that, I don't know if I could've survived the sheer saccharine cuteness of some of the show.

But what is truly the one special thing that makes this show really something to check out? The atmosphere. Kyoto Animation have outdone themselves by creating an absolutely beautiful, ethereal town of falling snow amidst bright colors and saturated hues. It truly does feel like another world, especially some of the scenes at night where the lighting against the barren, white landscape can be truly breathtaking. This is certainly a studio that knows how to make a series that can dazzle with the animation and artistry alone.

The few flaws that grace the show pale compared to how well the dub and scripting is handled, as well as the beautiful animation and slow, methodical pacing. Of the Key/Visual series adapted to anime form, it could very well be the most beautifully drawn, and perhaps even the best story of the three told. Very recommended and worth checking out.

Kanon is Kyoto Animation's second of three adaptations they have done of Key's visual novels. Kanon (2006) is preceded by Air TV (2005) and followed by Clannad (2007). These three series are not connected, but share some character design aesthetics and the formula of "main male character interacts with various female characters." That said, of the three, Clannad is the only one that can be classified as a harem show.

As this review's title suggests, Kanon is equal parts mystery and drama, with a good dose of comedy thrown in. There are also elements of the supernatural and romance genres present here, however, it's important to remember that Kanon is, primarily, a mystery drama. The reason it's important to remember that is this: I've seen many fans of the more popular anime Clannad (which substitutes the mystery for more of a focus on romance) come to Kanon expecting a similar experience, only to find Kanon lacking because the romantic relationships aren't as fully explored as those in Clannad. Since these people have seen Clannad first, and Kanon is made by the same company and shares many superficial similarities, they naturally try to watch Kanon as if they were watching a different version of Clannad. This doesn't work, because the real strength of Kanon doesn't lie in the romance area. Don't get me wrong; Kanon has romance, and does it well enough, but if you're watching it with the mindset of "this is primarily a romance story" you're going to be disappointed when you compare it to Clannad.

Kanon's strength lies in its mystery. Why can't Yuichi remember his last trip to this snowy town seven years ago? Are the legends of the hill overlooking the town being a magical place true, and if so, to what extent? Is the demon hunter actually fighting demons, or is she just insane? Who is the lonely, mysterious girl Yuichi sees outside his classroom window every day? And how does this all tie into his original problem of memory loss?

So, yeah. Clannad is a romance/drama with comedy and some mystery. Kanon is a mystery/drama with comedy and some romance. In many superficial ways they are quite similar, but if you try to watch them the same way you'll be doing one of these shows a disservice, and will probably end up preferring the first one you watched. I've seen both shows, and I prefer Kanon by far (Kanon is my favorite anime ever), but I recognize that Clannad does its own thing and that some people prefer its more romantic approach.

If you're not familiar with Clannad, forgive me for talking about it this much. You have to understand that many (most, actually) of the impressions I see from new Kanon watchers come from people fresh off Clannad, drawn to Kanon because the two shows are made by the same company. They almost always unfairly criticize Kanon for not being the romance it never tried to be. Part of the reason I'm writing this review is to prevent more people from going into Kanon with the false preconception that it's trying to achieve the same goals as Clannad. Like I said, you can't watch them with the same mindset. An example of that is this: since each of the main girls in Kanon represents a mystery, the girls don't become friends and associate with each other like they do in Clannad. The girls in Clannad all get to know each other because that plays into the function of the romance genre, creating a harem so that the male lead has to choose who will be his girlfriend. In Kanon, however, that same approach would downplay the mysterious nature of the girls. Instead, Yuichi interacts with them more or less alone. The girls do cross paths with each other from time to time, but they pretty much keep to their own separate cliques. Many Clannad fans claim this to be a flaw of Kanon's, when really it was a conscious choice the writers made to focus on the mystery genre. And Kanon pulls this off naturally. Just think about your own high school days - it isn't uncommon for a high school kid to have friends from various cliques, keeping those friends separate from each other. Since Yuichi is the new guy at school, this is even more appropriate, since such social drifters are often the kids who haven't established themselves firmly in one clique or another.

Kanon's visual theme is very pleasing. If you have a soft spot for snowy landscapes, you're going to love the look of Kanon's little winter town. The comedy is laugh-out-loud funny, relying on witty banter and an overload of cuteness. The comedy gives way to the drama in the second half of the series, and be warned: the drama can get pretty intense and depressing. If you don't want to be depressed, this show is not for you. Much of the drama stems from supernatural origins, and some of the supernatural explanations are derived from Japanese folklore. You won't have to know the folklore to understand, since the show explains things, but you may think the explanations are a little out there if you don't know anything about Japanese mythology.

I need to give a special mention to the English dubbing. It's superb. Often times with anime shows, I'll find the English voices grating and switch to Japanese voices with English subtitles. The English dubbing for Kanon is so good that I didn't even think about watching it in Japanese (though I'll probably do it in future viewings, to see how much the dialogue was changed). I love the voices for all the major characters.

Kanon is a series full of wonder, joy and heartache. I'm in my upper 20's, just old enough to have become jaded about my entertainment. Watching Kanon made me feel like a kid again. I can think of no higher praise for a show, anime or otherwise, and I know I'll be watching it again and again in the years to come. It's my favorite anime ever.

It was only a few weeks ago I was debating the purchase of this series right here in the review section of amazon.com.

5 stars? Well that's a good sign. I heard of this anime after watching and purchasing Sola, (A MUST BUY), after discovering that one of the creative minds behind the Sola anime was involved in this series. Sola was voted anime of 2007, and many sites voted Kanon to be the anime of 2006.

With the drought of quality anime this day, I was desparate to find something good to follow up Sola, and the reviews here at Amazon.com were enough to convince me to take the plunge.

I have to admit, after reading the plot under various product description sources, it didn't sound as if there could be very much depth to the series, but everyone gushed over it, so I gave it a shot.

I must say that despite my early concerns and pessimism, this series truly lives up to the hype. It does start off a bit slow, but as the series continues, things progress to a whole other level. And another, and another... Truly worth of the series title 'Kanon'.

The storytelling and pacing are truly amazing. There are so many subtleties that I overlooked initially, that all stood out as events unfolded.

Probably my new favorite anime. The characters, the atmosphere, the story, the setting, the emotional roller coaster.... Everything..

The one NEGATIVE about this series will be trying to find something to top it.

Took a chance buying this series and was worth every penny. I feel it's worth watching and even if it's not your preferred genre there will still be at least one scene you'll never forget. Also, please bring a tissue cause even my eyes got moist....it's very emotionally driven.