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View Poll Results: Kanon 2006 Total Series Rating | |||
Perfect 10 | 235 | 52.34% | |
9 out of 10 : Excellent | 135 | 30.07% | |
8 out of 10 : Very Good | 38 | 8.46% | |
7 out of 10 : Good | 25 | 5.57% | |
6 out of 10 : Average | 9 | 2.00% | |
5 out of 10 : Below Average | 4 | 0.89% | |
4 out of 10 : Poor | 1 | 0.22% | |
3 out of 10 : Bad | 0 | 0% | |
2 out of 10 : Very Bad | 0 | 0% | |
1 out of 10 : Painful | 2 | 0.45% | |
Voters: 449. You may not vote on this poll |
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2007-03-19, 19:00 | Link #21 |
Pilot in Training
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Earth
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I just finished, at episode 23 I am thinking, well he got 3 for 5 on helping people. Not really a romance except for some parts(He never really ended up with anyone). So hes at a 4 outta 5 on helping, and I guess a 5 outta 5 if you consider making fox girl's last moments happy.
I have a question. So the Ayu through out the show, was an "out of body, body" type thing that she thought was a dream? Overall sad untill the end. Only one girl died. Saved the suicidal sick girl, the crazy suicidal demon slayer, the depressed cousin, and the comatose girl. Too bad for the fox girl. And for those saying the ending was not realistic...there was a fox girl, a ghost girl, and a demon slayer...ending fits perfectly. |
2007-03-19, 19:23 | Link #22 |
The Romanticism
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: San Jose, CA
Age: 37
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10/10 -- I suppose a perfect 10 would mean the series was the best thing I've ever seen, but no that is not the case. This series could have been better in my eyes, but you know what? Therein is a fact of life; No series should ever really be perfect for you because you have your own unique set of likes and dislikes. Comprimising to be liked among a broader audience (yes, there are 5 girls), I believe Kanon is perfect at what it is.
I personally would have liked more exaggeratation of emotions (as in, more drama) esspecially in those last episodes, but see, this is not about what I want. I still loved watching this series very much though! |
2007-03-19, 19:41 | Link #23 |
Somehow I found out
Join Date: Feb 2006
Age: 40
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If people have yet to see all 24 episodes of the series, they shouldn't be commenting in this thread, as per the rules that have been laid down in the OP. I don't see how people can (or should) be making any speculations or forming judgements on a partial viewing of the show when this thread is supposed to be a discussion of impressions/opinions formed on all 24 eps. Sorry about playing the wannabe mod, but that's a pet hate of mine.
Anyway, I figure a few people have already read my review, but I've given it a very strong "8". It's an outstanding series, and most of the flaws are really only minor. It's a series that demands a really fine analysis to properly form a judgement of it, since (like many of KyoAni's works) much of the devil is in the details. Much of the character development comes out of little character interactions that seem unimportant at the time but actually make quite profound commentaries on the characters, and much of the plot is propelled by little gestures from the characters that just say big things (Mai taking her mom to the "zoo" was one of the biggest examples of that). The technical aspects of the show were amazing. I wanted to discuss the seiyuu in my review, but it was already well-and-truly long enough as it was, but the cast was fantastic and there were outstanding performances all round, particularly from Kawasumi Ayako (who I think has seriously matured and come into her own over the last couple of years), Horie Yui and particularly Sugita Tomokazu. The directing was beyond reproach... I rank Ishihara along with Shinbo as my two favourite TV-show directors at the moment. And "Last Regrets" has become my most-listened-to song over the last few weeks. The only significant criticism I have of the series is that the final episode lacked dramatic tension, but as a conclusion it worked decently enough, and I think most people have already pointed out both its boons and banes, so I won't go over it. Overall, loved the story, loved the characters, will desperately miss the anime. It won't make my top ten list, but I won't be forgetting it any time soon.
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2007-03-19, 21:58 | Link #24 | |
Banned
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I have considered a LOT of written text and plot synopsis, review summaries of episodes on the show, clips of important scenes and the shows overall course and I am dead certain that 7/10 will be my final score. I've considered a lot more than those people who vote for an episode before it even airs. If I didn't know exactly what was going to happen in each coming episode right down to the minute I wouldn't be giving a final score and its more than just a gut feeling that I'm basing it on. The only thing that would change that is if the animation somehow tanks in which case it would go a bit lower, but I don't think thats going to happen with Kyoto Animation at the helm and from the clips I've seen it hasn't at all. So I hope this follow up to my original post has helped to explain for everybody my reasons for giving the score now. Last edited by Kaioshin Sama; 2007-03-19 at 22:28. |
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2007-03-19, 22:44 | Link #26 | |
Administrator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Age: 42
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You're putting the cart before the horse; you enjoy arguing about anime more than you enjoy anime itself. Your loss, IMO. |
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2007-03-19, 22:58 | Link #27 | |
Senior Member
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Alas, I have to spread my cookies around before offering you one.
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2007-03-19, 23:01 | Link #28 |
Dansa med oss
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Near Cincinnati, OH, but actually in Kentucky
Age: 36
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I think the reason that Kaioshin is having problems getting along with everyone (actually, it's probably the other way around) is because Kanon is quite unique in the fact that it's all about the experience, not the finale - the journey is more important than the destination, if you will. Naturally, not having actually watched it, he can't factor this into his opinion at the moment.
This anime version was my first experience with anything related to KEY (never even heard of them until this show was announced), so maybe one of the Kanon veterans can corroborate my claim. So, I think that under normal circumstances, Kaioshin would probably be just fine in making forming his opinions before actually seeing the show (lord knows I've done it with stuff like Mai-[whatever], Fate/Stay Night, Naruto, and others without ever actually watching it) provided that, upon viewing, he doesn't necessarily change his opinion but at least reevaluates and reconsiders it and remains open to the possibility of it changing. |
2007-03-19, 23:32 | Link #29 |
Anime Snark
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Singapore
Age: 41
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Man, writing my post is taking longer than I expected. The Yuuichi section alone is over 500 words... I think it is starting to turn into a pseudo-Wiki article. I don't think I can post it today...
(I had planned to complete it by Friday, which was when I expected this thread to be formed, so yeah... I got caught with my pants down when this thread got created so early.) My thoughts are still in a frenzied whirl, and my tentative score is 8. I won't vote it yet since I need to write everything down and evaluate my own opinions become drawing a final conclusion. Cheers.
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2007-03-19, 23:34 | Link #30 | |
Administrator
Join Date: Dec 2003
Age: 42
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But, secondly, and changing gears completely, everyone forms first impressions based on superficial factors -- it's hard-wired into our human DNA. And sometimes we have no motivation to look beyond our first impression, and just stick with that gut feel no matter what. That's fine. But you can't pretend or argue that a superficial impression is the same as knowing and understanding something deeply. You can't pass it off as being equivalent in any way. If so, then, as I said above, you're not really "experiencing" the story any more deeply than as a summary and an opinion. That's what talking about anime is about, but that's not what anime (or any form of storytelling) is about. Anyway, this is why I have a hard time coming up with some sort of a numerical score for a show, this one included. In the end, for me, it just comes down to a simple question: would I want to experience that story again? For this show, the answer is a definite yes. That's why I just can't imagine how someone could form a comprehensive opinion and defend it without ever having seen the show. A story is so much more than the sum of its parts. |
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2007-03-19, 23:39 | Link #31 | |
Waiting for more taiyuki!
Join Date: Jan 2004
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But stiil one should have at least experienced it in its entirety before rating the series as a whole imo.
This does imply that you've seen it imo. Quote:
This series was a bit difficult for 1st timers imo, especially with 3 Ayus to account for and Me-Uguu Elixir. But that deux ex machina maneuver just illustrates how difficult it was to pull all those paths together. (Kudos to Kyo-ani for pulling that feat off.) There was also the leap that we had to take to accept finding an intact hairband in a forest after 7 years, but that was another "miracle" I guess. Makoto took too long and by the end of her arc I wasn't that sympathetic since I just wanted the series to move on fearing that somebody would get shafted in the plot department otherwise. The decreased amount of blood in the Mai arc was disappointing. The seiyuus were great. The animation was great. The original scenes and episodes meshed in nicely with game based ones. Now only thing I want is to see Ayu with long hair, eyes open and in better clothes.
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2007-03-19, 23:46 | Link #32 |
Anime Snark
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Singapore
Age: 41
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Another convert to the Kanon story. Jaalin was initially one of the harshest critics of Kanon, but he is now appreciative of it.
Hehe, a real-life example of how the difference between first impressions and actual experience can matter a lot. On a semi-related note, Nayuki won the Random Curiosity poll. It was a close fight with Mai, 21% and 20% respectively, but Nayuki pulled ahead by a couple of votes. Ayu is 3rd with 14%, Shiori at 8%, and Makoto at 5%. Only 25% of the voters never saw Kanon, which implies that 75% of RC's readership watches Kanon. Cheers.
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2007-03-20, 00:28 | Link #33 | |
Banned
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Yes I am a very different breed than most anime fans, but I don't think its that I like to argue as much as my ideologies tend to clash by default and seem abrasive, arrogant and insulting to the average viewer who has never seen anything like it before. In that sense I will always be the subject of outrage among some people, but I've done nothing more than give my two cents and attach a meaningless number to it with no intention of arguing so that accusation is unfair I think. I like to think though at the end of it all, like the politicians of old who liked to address their opinion by day in the forums and receive fair rebuttal and reply, we can all find common ground over constructive discussion in these threads. To finalize it, even if I spend my whole time looking at the screen as the bar on my media player goes from left to right, the result will invariably be the same. It's not that I'm lazy, it's that I feel it would just be redundant. And that's really that from me, FatPianoBoy has it perfectly down on where I stand. This isn't meant to be a thread hijack as some will no doubt call it, but if people ask the questions or bring up the subject, I'll provide the answers I can everytime for all to see. Just as an aside if you ever want to talk about politics of any kind with me, don't hesitate for a second to send me a PM about any political topic. Now everybody can cast their vote again without worry I hope. Last edited by Kaioshin Sama; 2007-03-20 at 01:00. |
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2007-03-20, 00:57 | Link #34 |
lol whut?
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I gave it a 7.
Well, I'm looking at it from a rather subjective view (is there such a thing as an objective impression?). Strictly focusing on the story, Kanon was doomed from the start, since it suffers from the unfortunate fate of following a harem plotline. It is inevitable that we all have our "favorite girl" and by the time Ayu's arc comes around the corner, the emotional impact is almost nonexistent. There's a sense that each girl is "cheated" because Yuuichi never did love them; instead, he enters into these relationships almost as sympathetic plights rather than romantic affairs. Needless to say, Yuuichi resets everytime a girl's arc ends, as if he were rushed by the urgency to get to that last girl and the ultimate prize. The game has different routes for a purpose: they are not to be mixed and meshed and each girl is to receive a portion of the protagonist's love. Of course, this is strictly speaking from a personal bias against the Ayu ending, since I personally feel no attachment to her character. Really, KyotoAnimation has the talent to pull of witty quirks and parodies. Instead of trying to pull off the feat of producing a GOOD Harem (oxymoron, anyone?) they should return to what they do best: satire. |
2007-03-20, 01:47 | Link #35 |
Oyashiro-sama
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Animation Quality: 10
I think this needs no explaining... It's KyoAni after all Characters: 9 Although they fall into your typical category (Sickly girl, cousin, tsundere, loli etc), Kanon managed to mould their characters very well, making them very different from other typical harem characters. Instead of the typical cousin-who-has-a-crush-on-main-character build, Kanon managed to make Nayuki interesting by adding in her oversleeping problems. Although they may seem very steoreotypical from the start, once Kanon begins to develope them, they start to shine. Definitely a plus point IMO. The only complaint I have is that some characters seem to be forgotten once their respective arcs are over (like Amano for instance), but seeing that this is a VN adaptation after all, I don't think KyoAni could have done much about it either. Voice Actors: 10 I liked how KyoAni scripted Tomokazu Sugita as Yuuichi's VA, especially his sarcastic remarks that reminded me of Kyon. I also liked Ayu's "Uguu~" (Yui Horie!!), Nayuki's slower-than-usual responses, and Kitagawa ;P I think there's no reason to give it any less than a 10. Script: 8 I liked Shiori's arc the best, but the others weren't too bad either. Mai's arc managed to be semi-tragic yet exciting at the same time (Shinjin... Sorry, demonic battles, anyone?), while Makoto's arc was just plain tragic. That said, I feel that Nayuki didn't get enough attention (not that I'm blaming KyoAni or anything, since Kanon is a VN adaptation after all), and I just plain disliked the ending (It sorta diluted Shiori's arc for me). IMO they would have been better off ending at 23, but maybe that's just me Adaptation from Game: N/A I haven't played the game before, so I don't think it's fair for me to give it a score, but based on what people have said around here, it seems that it was managed very well, especially the last episode. I'll just refrain from giving this a score Music: 9 I really, REALLY liked the way they played Canon in D three times throughout the show. If you noticed, they played the song during episodes 1, 13 and 24, which are the beginning, midpoint and ending respectively. Coincidence? I think not ;P One more thing about the music is, having played EFZ, I recognized some of them (i/e: Character Select Screen) even without playing the Kanon game or watched the Toei version, which was definitely a plus for me. Bonus: AIR references (Peach-train, book store, rice shop etc.) +1 Final Rating: 8/10 Kanon was one of those shows which started off as a very typical drama/harem show, but quickly grew beyond that. It managed a skillful blend of drama, comedy (that dance scene was brilliant ) and tragedy. Although some supporting characters seem to be forgotten once their arcs were over, Kyoani managed to remind us of the other main characters from time to time (Makoto's bells in Yuuichi's drawer, Yuuichi's reference about Mai and Snow bunnies when Nayuki asked him about them etc.), and that's something I greatly appreciate. Although I still can't really get over the ending (Would have been a 9/10 if it ended at 23), I'll admit that Kanon was one great anime, and as such rightfully deserves an 8/10. |
2007-03-20, 02:23 | Link #36 | |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 67
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I will seriously never comprehend how someone having a "favorite character" prevents their being able to appreciate and be fond of other characters, especially when the story *needs* those interlocking relationships to work.
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Calling Kanon a "harem anime" is kind of like calling The Diary of Anne Frank a "nazi story" ... well... yes.. and no, not really. Simple labels or rote categorization usually undervalue a story. I mean, Deathnote is just a detective story with a few monsters, eh? But yes, I'm very anxious to see Lucky*Star and hopefully more satirical Haruhi...
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2007-03-20, 02:31 | Link #37 |
~Night of Gales~
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
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Overall, I'd say it's around 6.5 or 7 out of 10 for me.
To me, I'd say the most appealing thing to me about Kanon was the story of Yuuichi's journey. It wasn't so much about the girls in particular for me, but rather how a boy's insight and personal life revolves around the things he's involved in. The ambivient theme of miracles was also semi-beautiful on several levels, but at the same time, it doesn't have the same rigidness shown by the Makoto arc and Shiori's words in the finale, about it. I would've liked it better had it not relied so much on the bottle-breaker for character developments, but whatever. Sadly, Kanon just somehow lacks the something-in-the-anime that grabs me personally. It's a good show overall, but it doesn't have what one call the ONE reason you'd watch crap for, just like how some people watch crappy shows for their favourite seiyuu or watch crap just because there's several sakuga-animators they love in particular episodes. The closest was probably Kuze and first episode's Kaori, and his role was only being the realistic underminer of Mai, in which he technically vanishes soon after, and I didn't feel so much attached to Kaori after episode 1, for whatever reason. To be completely honest, I'm torn on the characters of Kanon. Aside from Makoto, most of the girl's character development was heavily reliant on shock-bottle development, where revelations of issues occuring in the past and present ignites and peels off the layers of their character by the whole shell. Well, Makoto had that as well, but it was really more on Yuuichi than her, so hers was fine as the layers of how she percieved Yuuichi as an important person to her was poignantly beautiful. I'm not saying that Kanon characters are bad by any means, but their developmental triggers in my opinion wasn't as good as it could've been. The character arcs itself made it worse since some girls get shafted following their conclusion.Yuuichi on the other hand, was solidly developed. The good thing about it was that his journey through each girl's arc didn't pull any major changes, but rather a subtle execution to how he treated the girls each in particular following what transpired before him. The plot of Kanon...frankly, was mostly predictable for me. Aside from Mai, I've pretty much guessed what each girl's particular unique traits were. However, it was the execution that made it good. The overall feel of the approach, followed by the solid visual directing with the good use of background imagery and character shots alongside good integration of the music during key moments made it feel more emotional than how it would on paper. The Makoto arc, personally was my favourite because the arc composition had the grim feeling alongside a proper flow of the mood, and a fitting finale to her story. In comparison, other girl's story arc, while good had several weak points in their overall transition and execution in my opinion. There were weak aspects I found with the overall composition, and several directional approach from a visual standpoint like Akiko's crash scene, and the pace-upped transition to the more sombre mood in the end, but they're acceptable. Though frankly, I wish Kanon did something with the ending song at times, especially when the episode ends in a semi-moody feel and came with the bright peepy feel. The Makoto arc's ending did it well with the integration, but not so much on the other parts. Frankly, some directional executions could've been more impactful music-wise had they do something like Gundam SEED's ED1, where the ED song played early, or was half-accompanied by instrumental to bridge the final scene with the ED. The technical aspects of Kanon, on it's own sense were good. There were times I wish they could'v improved on the background for a balanced consistency, but it's not like they're bad, so it's a minor thing. In the end, I'd say Kanon was a pretty good watch. Nothing outstanding or epic, but it's a worthy title in the libraries of drama animation.
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2007-03-20, 02:39 | Link #38 |
Bemused Scholar
Join Date: Jan 2007
Age: 36
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The term "harem" seems to have been diluted so much that I've pretty much seen it slapped onto any show with a male protagonist where the number of female characters outnumber the male characters (with the opposite being called, of course, a "reverse harem"). I honestly don't see any meaning in the term anymore.
But hey, I can understand it if some people just don't like any show that can be classified under "harem". I have a similar problem with mecha, meh... |
2007-03-20, 03:01 | Link #39 | |
Banned
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For me something falls under the term Mecha when there is a piece of machinery or technology a chararacter uses for various purposes that they can fit inside. So Tekkaman Blade falls under that heading as does Macross and Kyoshiro To Towa Sora. @Nightengale: I kind of had the Seed vibe with the ending of the episodes sort of segueing into the ending theme, though it didn't do it as well as Gundam Seed or Shakugan No Shana did since its more of an abrupt cut without a lead out than a clear segue. |
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