[Triple_R]

Originally Posted by Arabesque

I do agree with that this was a very well made episode. I thought that this was the first time the background music truly shined in the anime, and I've liked how many of the scenes harmonized with the music.

And that's really all what I liked about this arc. The music and visuals in this episode. I felt that this story didn't need this long to convey, and it could've been told in 2 episodes had they cut down on trying to showcase her songs. Also, while she certainly received a great deal of time to develop, the amount of padding in between those moments made it very tedious.

Personally, I felt that the showcasing of Kanon's songs were one of the highlights of this arc; that they made it stand out (in a good way) from other arcs.

I'm surprised that this many anime fans seem to not like jpop. To me, getting to listen to pretty catchy (and with comprehensible lyrics!) jpop songs during a few episodes was a real treat.

I guess that there's no accounting for taste, of course, but I'm pretty sure that the makers of this anime included all the jpop songs in part because they felt that most anime fans would naturally like them (why else are the overwhelming majority of anime OPs done to jpop music?).

Personally, I'm apathetic towards Kanon herself, but at the same time I disliked this arc. I wasn't sure why when I was reading it, but the anime made it clear for me. It's really a journey into a pop idol mind and I found it to be a very bland one. To me her story was about her ''not getting enough attention'' until Kemia pointed out for her all the fans who care about her and that she'll be disappointing them if she doesn't get a grip. It made her look very self-centered and for lack of a better word atm, bratty.

I don't see how she's different from most teenagers in this respect. Most teenagers crave attention and validation from others. Also, the flashbacks made it clear that there was a time in her life that she was very lonely and unnoticed, and she understandably does not want to go back there. Keima wisely pointed out to her that she's already a star, and basically that her old lonely life is forever gone. Instead of self-centered, I see her as someone incredibly humble, as she actually doesn't grasp just how popular she has become, and how a lot of that popularity has come from her own hard work and talent. That's what I found intriguing about her character. That here you have someone who's the center of attention; who literally has the spotlight on her; and she's the one who fears becoming invisible. Honestly, I found it an interesting character study, due in large part to its irony.

As an aside, if you're looking for a more unusual journey into a pop idol mind, I'd highly recommend the anime movie Perfect Blue to you.

Kemia involvement was also something that bothered me. We noticed how he is showing more and more of an attachment with the girls he makes these brief romances with and is undergoing small bits of development to become a more empathetic person, but in this arc, his connection with the target is almost nonpresent. Kanon only noticed Kemia because he was ignoring her, and after she got what she wanted, it didn't matter to her if the two couldn't be together.

Well, maybe she took Keima's words to mean that he wasn't interested in a long-term relationship with her (i.e. him arguing how she doesn't need him). I'll admit that their final scene together felt a bit off to me as well. That part probably could have been done better, yeah.