Fantastic episode. I've always held the Shiori arc highly in Kanon narrative, mostly because she's one of my favourite characters, but moreso because the focus is on a sister-sister relationship than a progression of a plot. It also helps that both Shiori and Kaori are very difficult not to like (though for different reasons). The Kaori outburst in particular was one of the highlights of the episode. I love it when characters like that, who are usually cool and in control, show a human side and get emotional. That's the mark of a well rounded side character.
Two other highlights in the ep for me. The first was that moment in the hospital which very subtly showed a profound change in the way Mai carries herself after the events in her arc. She showed an ability to look back at things and reflect in a way that I'd argue she wouldn't have been able to do before her arc. I think it might have been better done at the end of last episode, but it was done... and it was done at a time when Mai was still in our memories so I can't really fault anyone for slightly-poor time management there. I did find it slightly humourous that she conveniently wrote herself out of the the story,
The other scene I really liked was the one between Ayu and Akiko. It's obvious why Ayu is so worried about Akiko and wants to go out of her way to care for her, but I do find it interesting that KyoAni took the time to show that the strength of the bond between Ayu and Akiko was mutual, after Akiko sorta shunned Makoto (I'm talking relative here, compared with the Toei series where the mother-daughter bond between Akiko and Makoto was really highlighted). I mean, there's no question that, if Yuuichi is the father figure in the story, then Akiko is the mother figure... to at least three of the girls anyway. I know I'm harping on events gone by here, but I'm still ruing that KyoAni didn't take the time to really stress the depth of the relationship between Akiko and Makoto. It's one of the few things that the Toei version did better than this version. But it is good to see that this isn't the case with Akiko and Ayu. Maybe KyoAni are playing favourites.
I've noticed an ongoing flaw in Kanon though. The music. There's nothing wrong with the music itself, or the choice of BGM in each scene... it's the choice of where the song begins and cuts out to match the action in the scene which is flawed. Minor, minor flaw, I know, but there are a number of scenes where songs are cut, shortened, mixed, etc so that they end just as scene ends, which obviously isn't anything new to anime, but for some reason I'm finding it a tad jarring here. On the topic of music, the insert song was about the first time I heard a remix of "Last Regrets" that I didn't like.
One of the best eps in the series to date, IMO.
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It was just Akiko getting sick and a cute date.
Aaand funny quotes! "You're not a fox or a raccoon".
The scene where Yuuichi was throwing snowballs at her was one of the cutest things ever. I grinned like an idiot trough it.
