So he's now been proposed to by Makoto, very sweet. I'd pay to see that wedding. I know they'll do a play wedding in the next episode or so but how I wish he marries her for real. Do it Yuuichi! She's going to die, give her a last request, you can still love and marry whomever you wish after she dies and you'll get major kindness and awesomeness points!

I am not sure dragging Makoto's route to episode 10 is such a great idea, but what do I know.

Anyway episode 9 is so-so for me - not because it is bad (even though I must admit it's a bit cheesy), but because I have already played through the route and know all the events/dialogues already; therefore the scenes do not make as big of an impact on me as they should have.

And the animation is a little bit off?...

But the scene in the end of episode 9 still almost overwhelmed me. Damn. My eyes got a little watery, blah.



PS They used the game's true ending BGM/melody for episode 10 preview. Really, that could only mean one thing...

I actually felt episode 9 to be a rush and was glad they decide to devote another episode to Makoto (and Amano).

The animation was definitely off, especially the characters. imnsho this has to be the worse, artwise, so far. Not that it's "zomg my eyes burnz!" level bad mind you, just a few notches below the Kyoani level that we are so used to, and it was a little jarring. Hopefully episode 10 can return to the usual Kyoani quality.

Overall the episode was good. Again 2k6 Yuuichi's maturity and calmness plays very well into the overall atmosphere of the story. I especially enjoyed how Yuuichi read the same comic to Makoto but in an entirely different tone filled with emotion as it really convenys the change in Yuuichi's psychology at the time compared with his previous reading to Makoto.

Still, the "I want to marry Yuuichi. Then we can be together forever" in the end was destructive for me, like I thought it would be.:(

I forsaw a gradual destabalization of her human character. We all did. Those who had viewed the previous episode couldn't have not seen this coming. Here it came rather quickly. I won't complain about this. The producers wanted it to be rapid so it's fine. My gripe is how her "autism" (for lack of a better way to describe her condition) keeps fluctuating throughout the latter half of the episode. When we begin, it seems like she requires constant pampering. Can't stand up, can't lift her arm. Heck, Makoto can't even say a single word correctly. She can't even say her name either in the preview for episode 10. It's Auu this and Auu that. And YET, in the last seconds of the manga scene, she makes out "I want to marry Yuuichi".

Am I the only one going, "uguu" here? -_- I can complain about two things. First, I wouldn't mind this if the details of her condtion were explained here and in the previous episode to justify what occured above. But Amano called it a "gradual" degression of her intelligence, not one that fluctuates periodically. This momentary raise in verbal ability shouldn't have happened because it seemed like a desparate excuse to introduce another plot device that would strengthen the bond between Yuuichi and Makoto. If it was designed to be a last-minute miracle confession, the miracle was portrayed unsuccessfully to me, a.k.a. the producers failed to suspend my disbelief to make me believe that what I saw happened is suppose to happen. Second, such a proposition of marriage is incredibly far-fetched for two reasons. The first reason being is that Makoto was never mature enough to even consider Yuuichi as a suitable candidate - physically or mentally (she's somewhere along the lines of 12-14 if I recall and she's already proposing). Second is the level of relationship Makoto saw in Yuuichi. 10 years ago, Yuuichi bandaged her little fox foot and already she's in such desparate love? Desparate to become human and see him again? I can't concieve of such a thing happening, as it doesn't seem like something that can foster deep lust. Of course, the only saving grace for this could be that Makoto's brain was so mixed up at this point, she had absolutely no idea what she was saying.

I tend to look at it at a different way.

If you recall what the producer said - that Yuuichi is suppose to be a fatherly figure to the girls, then I think the proposal makes sense. I see it as not that Makoto has genuine male-female love/lust towards Yuuichi, but rather it's a child-father thing, sort of a daughter in her young age says she wants to marry her father so they can be forever, this is said not out of romantic love but out of innocense and family love, I'm pretty sure there's even a psychological term for this phase in childhood. If you look at it this way, then all the regression, the clinging to Yuuichi, and how Yuuichi treats Makoto, IMO all fits. I have to say it's actually a very interesting growth for both Yuuichi and Makoto as they move in exactly the opposite direction - Yuuichi grows from a bastard teenager brother-like figure to a fatherly figure, while Makoto regress from a bratty teenager to a kid of mental capacity of a 4 year old clinging to a father. In a way this also explains why a lot of people think that the sex scenes in the Kanon game felt tacked on, because Makoto's story was not so much about male-female romance.

As for the "fluctuations", I don't think it's out of place. Amano also talks alot about thoughts and emotions, that it's Makoto's desire that keeps her in the human form. In that particular scene we can easily appoint it to the reason that Makoto's strong desire and emotional state had given her that extra strength to mutter those words, whereas her everyday activity doesn't have as much baring on her mental state of mind because she's just having fun. I think this is due to the Buddism/Zen nature of Japanese culture that really emphasis on how the spiritual state of a being can overcome hardship, and in that proposal scene this is exactly what happened.

Actually I wouldn't say "only", but "already" rather. Not trying to sound mean here, but it's about time to come to a conclusion for Makoto's route, considering there're 4 more routes to cover (5 if including Sayuri's). Next episode will definitely be a tear-jerker, so be prepared. :(

PS A bit off topic but just found out KID has gone bankrupt. Still in shock.