Kanon takes a page out of kyousora’s book…minus the melon pan
Yet another drama filled episode, the pacing is going a little fast for my liking, but that’s probably my Ayu fanboy talking more than anything. (Apparently we broke 100 Uguu~s this week) This ep covers the rapid development of Kyon’ichi and Ayu’s relationship and her equally abrupt disappearance.
Episode Rating: 9.5/10
Picking up right where we left off from last week, Kyon’ichi and Ayu stand in a state of mild shock as they have just shared their first kiss. The two are a little flustered and noticeably embarrassed, but Kyon’ichi manages to hold it together long enough for a confession, which Ayu reciprocates, promising to love Kyon’ichi as long as he feels the same way. The two then promise to meet again tomorrow at the bench from their past as they walk home together.
Back at the Minase residence, Akiko and Nayuki notice that something happened between the two. Noticing the disappointment on Nayuki’s face, Akiko cheers her up by inviting her to cook together.
The next morning Kyon’ichi receives the shock of his life as he sees Nayuki dressed and ready BEFORE him, and not a hint of sleepiness either. Then the universe collapses, the end…
Ok, I lied. Nayuki runs off to school, and Ayu leaves for school early as well, reminding Kyon’ichi of their date that evening. *insert brief Nayuki angst* Kyon’ichi arrives to the date a little late because of cleaning duty, but makes up for it by offering to hold hands with Ayu. Most of the date is spent looking for Ayu’s lost item and Kyon’ichi making fun of her as usual.
That night Nayuki dresses Ayu up in her seifuku, which despite being a bit too large, increases Ayu’s moe factor exponentially. On the topic of school, Kyon’ichi is curious about Ayu’s so called school in the forest, so Ayu promises to take him there the next day after school time.
So the next day after school, the two meet at the usual spot, they share another emotional moment together, talking about their past crushes and the future of their relationship and then set off to Ayu’s school, apparently a half hour walk from the station.
Upon arriving at the forest, they realize that something isn’t right, it’s a horribly inconvenient place to trek through, let alone be the site for a school. But Ayu persists and leads on, suddenly a clearing emerges, but instead of being the site of a school, it’s the site of…
…the tree of doom! Ayu goes Higurashi level berserk, insisting that this is where her school is, that she attended it this very day. She frantically grabs her bag and searches through it, but becomes only further frightened when it’s completely empty, and runs off. Kyon’ichi follows while desperately trying to piece together what’s happening, he eventually finds Ayu digging through the ground trying to find her missing item. Seeing her determination, he gives in and helps her, many holes later the two are tired, dirty and still unable to find Ayu’s missing item.
Ayu suddenly begins to apologize to Kyon’ichi, that even though they have finally been reunited after 7 years, that she’s sorry she won’t be able to see him again. Then, in an instant, she disappears, leaving only the coat Kyon’ichi used to warm her up.
Thoughts
Another great episode, though I thought it was a little bit rushed. No sooner had they began dating, Kyon’ichi and Ayu are forced apart. I remember the rushed pacing in Toei’s version as well, but KyoAni has double the episode count, surely they could have extended this part a bit…dare I say at the expense of Nayuki? =P
Nevertheless, the short time that Ayu and Kyon’ichi did spend together in a relationship was enjoyable. Sure it kind of came out of nowhere, but that doesn’t make it any less touching. One of the major things that I like about this episode is that the dynamic between Kyon’ichi and Ayu remained unchanged for the most part. Kyon’ichi continued to make fun of Ayu and Ayu continued to be…uh, Ayu. The only difference is that they are in complete acceptance of their feelings now.
Ayu in a seifuku is love
My only gripe with this episode, as you may have guessed, is how much they packed into it. KyoAni went from showing Kyon’ichi and Ayu prancing around as a happy new couple, to tearing them apart, all within the span of 20 minutes. As for Ayu’s disappearance, if I hadn’t watched the Toei version, I would be in a state of WTF!? right about now. Everything from her non-existent school to her Higurashi-esque freak out to her seemingly random digging for her missing item, Kanon virgins must be confused as hell right about now.
On that note, KyoAni is still tossing subtle plot hints left and right. As I said in my Kanon 19 post, these plot hints are mostly directed to the people who have already watched the series. Which confuses me, why would KyoAni even bother? All it accomplishes is reminding me of what’s to come, I watched the Toei version a long time ago, enough that I had forgotten most of the key plot events. But with KyoAni throwing the reminders in my face, it’s all coming back, and that’s not necessarily a good thing, I would have preferred to enjoy Kanon almost as if it were my first time through.
The only explanation I can think of is that KyoAni once again wants to remind the viewers that they know their viewer demographic. A lot of people who are watching the new Kanon have either watched the old version or played the game, KyoAni is most likely stressing that they know this is the case. Either that or they are looking to make the new viewers go back when all is said and done and go “Oh damn, I saw this coming back in ep __” Or they’re just bored and I’m looking way too much into it, orz.
Oh the ironing
Seems like we’ll be going into Nayuki’s “arc” next, if you can even call it that. I hope she puts up some sort of fight though, so far she’s played dead and accepted that she’s lost to Ayu. While this is excellent news to Ayu fans, anime is meant to entertain, an angsting Nayuki, though pitiable, is about as interesting as watching snow melt.
Nayuki fans, Soda included, please don’t hurt me for bashing your object of affection T_T I don’t hate her, I swear, she’s just really easy to sympathize with, consequently making it easy to pick on her. *equips flame shield* *fkees*
Oh, and if the quality of writing in this post seemed, for the lack of a better word, crappy…that’s not your imagination. Being the start of Chinese New Year festivities, and also the start of a one week break from school, I’m running low on sleep and am further impeded by the wonders of alcohol. If you find any grammar errors, syntax errors, or things that make absolutely no sense, feel free to point them out and I’ll do my best to fix them ^^.
What a waste =( Someone buy me some taiyaki!
~ Shirukii ~
17 Responses to “Kanon 20”
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“I hope she puts up some sort of fight though, so far she’s played dead and accepted that she’s lost to Ayu”
The problem is that KyoAni seem pretty unwilling to rewrite Key’s original script. Kanon is eroge, but it isn’t a harem game by any stretch of the imagination - whichever girl you ‘choose’ remains Yuuichi’s one and only and captures his undivided attention. Nayuki doesn’t put up a fight for Yuuichi in the Ayu story arc because she’s sidelined by the story, and she doesn’t put up a fight in her _own_ story because there’s no need - her story itself only proceeds once fate has conspired to eliminate the other girls from the running.
Toei recognised that following the game to the letter didn’t really make for as exciting a finale, and improvised accordingly. KyoAni have been far more faithful to the source material, though, and my expectation is that their Nayuki story is going to focus more on Nayuki and Yuuichi’s isolation (she because of what happens to Akiko, he because of what happens to Ayu) and the revelation derived from it rather than Nayuki taking the initiative with Yuuichi.
Good episode all around…..but I think my hope of a Nayuki ending is fading fast! :(…….if not completely shattered already :P…..
Kyo-Ani better have at least two episodes for her arc…I wanna know her story :)….not literally of course….no spoilers plz ;)
On a different note……..
The bath-tub scene helped me to realize that Ayu is in fact Yuuichi’s age lol…..up until now the whole relationship felt a little Lolita-ish :P….
Poor Yuiichi though….I mean think about it……out of the 3 girls he’s been involved with so far, all of them either disappeared or caused him serious amounts of stress…..Amazing this guy doesn’t have a complete meltdown lol…But of course, he is the protaganist :)
@ Shirukii:
The grammar for this blog entry is pretty good :)….believe me, I know what lack of sleep, alcohol and celebration can do to one’s mental ability lol :)…….
Happy New Year+enjoy your spring break….or “reading week” as we call it here in Canada :)
@ Tim: Yea, I know what you mean. I still feel sorry for her though, while at the same time hope that she gets out of the way for more Ayu goodness.
@ Kanon_fan82: Nayuki ending was an impossibility from the start XD
As for the bathtub scene, I agree that it made Ayu seem much older, without the kiddy clothing…but serious lack of melon pan =(
Haha, I pride myself on being a half-decent writer, part of the reason I write this blog is to keep my language skills in check. Engineering provides little opportunity for one to practice writing skills.
And for the record, I also live in Canada, I avoided using reading week since I thought it might confuse some people. =D
Out of curiousity, does anyone know the title of the track that plays during the particularily sad/emotional scenes of Kanon????
for example, when Mai & Yuiichi find Sayuri injured in the bathroom (end of ep. 14)
Ha - yet more Canadian Kanon fans! We love the sad girls in snow!
Taiyaki Banzai~ *runs b4 Nayu-Nayu fans start chucking rocks*
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Comments on episode.
I guess i was lucky that i wasn’t drinking coffee as usual but chomping on an apple turnover when i watched it during the morning…. the bath-scene hit me out of no where and i literally choked the food flying all over my laptop…… and i did it again due to laughter at “Ore, Tsukimiya Ayu!” scene @.@
advice for all anime lovers, nvr eat or drink upon viewing anime!!!
P.S. I swear Ayu was on Ero mode (gets dragged away…..
P.S.2. “Seifuku Ayu = love” +1
P.S.3. Ayu embarrassed = one-hit KO.
P.S.4. Its all Ayu!!!!! Banzai!!!! (gets dragged away again…..
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Once again I’m still having a lil trouble digesting the abrupt chemistry…. actually its the beginning of it that keeps my head spinning. I was fully aware the build ups in the preceding episodes, but it just wont work for me that U1, while had just finished dealing with and depressed from Shiori’s event, in split second he declares that he loves Ayu all these time. Hints of Ayu’s feelings towards U1 throughout the series? Yes. But U1’s feeling towards Ayu? Nope, at least I haven’t seen any until ep19, it just awkward.
In fact, for the first time in Kanon remake, I felt like punching U1 in the face when he kept on blushing…. the handling gives me an impression of a “hypocrite” after all his manly, non-harem performance up till the kiss. I mean, since when did U1 recognize Ayu as a girl this instinctively?
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Me think by having U1 begin his feeling towards Ayu earlier, or at least vaguely express that he has a thing for her, which is quite ez to do during the transitions, this abruptness can be cleaned out.
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Otherwise, their date is very warm-hearty and adorable. I have no problem with that. In fact, I luv it.
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But perhaps I’m holding the wrong view on the abruptness after all. due to the idea of “Ez come ez go.” Perhaps they did the abruptness on purpose, showing that, its a very short, but eye-catching relationship, by having it begin at peak, then having it shatter in split second. However, I still think they should have at least give us some hint about U1’s recovering his feelings towards Ayu earlier.
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Sympathy on Nayuki. I’m definitely not a Nayu fanboy, in fact shes only my 4th favorite out of the 5somes, but she REALLY deserves better than this….. But again thaz what makes her likable, the silent, noble supporter behind the veils. However those eyes…. man, its painful to look at.
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My favorite part is always the epic scenes. I felt rather painful when Ayu was screaming “Usou!!! Usou dayo!!! Sonnani Usoudayo!!!!!!!” Her voice cracking down, her desperation, the intense shock and fear reflected clearly in her eyes, and afterwards, helpless, all this with the addition of the crimson sunset, and a open yet seemingly boundless field covered in snow, with a giant stump standing alone at the center, the enviroment resembling her fate, a bloody, cruel reality. The camera shaking, as if it were echoing Ayu’s emotion, and the godforsaken music. They just played out so beautiful. It’s as if u r there, feeling the mood. Its incredible, an epic wonder of wonders…… incredible indeed.
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Ayu disappearing scene, IMO, is brilliant, and rather haunting with Ayu’s “farewell words” aka “last words” echoing in U1’s (and my) head. The echoes keeps going on and on until one cant stand it anymore, creepy in a sense, but whats more in it, is despair.
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Finally someone besides me sees the Higurashi in Ayu’s eyes!!!! Yay~ In fact I was rather suprised upon this, Nayuki has always been the one i expected to go L5 after Shiori….. but Ayu came in first O___o
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Jokes intended in the following images:
Bottom right screencap of:
http://animearimasu.animeblogger.net/image/Kanon06/20KanonAyuRealizes.jpg
compare with:
http://www.iogoo.com/AttachFile-68921
and
http://www.iogoo.com/AttachFile-68864
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Has anyone besides me noticed that the blue jacket Ayu’s been wearing on this episode is actually the same one Makoto wore back in ep08? I swear its the jacket of doom…. whoever wears it goes *poof* O_____O
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@Tim
*glares at Tim*
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@Kanon_fan82
Yea… as I mentioned above, Nayu-chan deserves better.
I also think its about time that U1 reaches his limit… after all, Ayu is the most integral factor of why he doesn’t remember anything from 7 years ago.
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@ Shirukii
1) I think the repeating plot hints are there not only for us viewers, but also a smart way to cut down on expense… (same images appearing over and over again) and for the sudden turning point (add me on the WTF list), i think having ppl saying “WTF!?” is better than having them saying “Psh, just as i thought…” it keeps them attentive.
2)Awww ….. give Nayu Nayu a break, we Ayu fanboys shalt not be so heartless =___=
3)Nope this blog entry is great. In fact, i think the entries are getting more and more interesting.
4)Shakes hand for fellow celebrator + sufferer of Chinese New Year =)
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I hope i didn’t pronounce this wrong,
Xin Nian Kuai Le~~~! =P
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(How about a red pocket taiyaki? *Flees*)
@Kanon_fan82
It’s
風を待った日 - “Kazewo matta hibi”
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Omg i did it again….. i ended up typing an essay instead of a comment =____=
@ ojisan: Winter sucks eh? Abundance of snow, lack of sad girls, orz T_T
@ Nightingale: That comment of yours ALMOST got pwned by Akimset spam blocker, but thankfully I decided to check the moderated comments on a whim, and caught it before it got washed away =P I think it may have been the links that caused the moderation.
I think everyone was blindsided by Kyon’ichi’s sudden change of heart, out of all the girls I think he showed the least romantic interest in Ayu (most would probably be Mai?). So the sudden turnaround confession was definitely out of place, but after more though, KyoAni doesn’t have that much time left, they have to hurry things along.
As for Nayuki, I would give her more credit, but she doesn’t really do much D= She only has three modes: sleepy Nayuki, track and field Nayuki and angsty Nayuki. Being someone who values character over all other aspects of anime, I can’t really bring myself to like her. That’s not to say I hate her though, it’s more of a neutral feeling.
I think you may be right about KyoAni using the plot hints as a way to save animation, they’ve flashed that tree about 30 times now. Never thought of it that way, nice theory.
Yay for Chinese New Year, Gong Hei Fat Choy (or however you spell it)
Red packet taiyaki o.O as in…taiyaki in a red packet, or…a money filled taiyaki? Well, no matter, either would be great XD
Wait… Am I the only person who absolutely LOATHES Ayu then? She is the worst character ever created and the fact that the other four are so good makes me think I’m ultimately gonna hate Kyoto forever if they don’t switch up the ending quick like. DAMN AYU!!! Arrrrghhh
@ PervyBastard:
Yes….yes you are :P…..even though she isn’t my fave Kanon girl, her moe factor is still off the charts :)….Uggu……..
Also, Shirukii has already declared himself an Ayu fanboy….I would tread lightly if you want to post more comments on this blog lol ;)……j/k
Haha, don’t worry, I believe that everyone is entitled to their own opinions and tastes. And am very aware that these opinions often differ, sure I’m a loyal Ayu fanboy, but that doesn’t mean everyone has to be XD
I just don’t want this place to become a flaming ground between fanboys, as long as everything is kept civil, all is well =P
*surprised Soda still hasn’t come along to tear me apart for the Nayu comments*
… Uguuuuu~ <3
*fkees*
Heh… There are plenty of Nayuki fans…I’m not one of them though….Ayu all the way…. I do have to agree, the tension and jelousy in the Toei version was more noticable… there are 3 or 4 episodes left to build it up though…
Thanks for saving my post Shirukii =)
Actually i was thinking of a Taiyaki in red-pocket XD
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Personally i nvr did like Toei’s portrayal of Nayuki. It’s just not like her. Nayuki will NVR go jealous and frets like in Toei’s version…. in fact, im one of those few who absolutely hates how Toei portrayed the characters and endings….especially with Nayuki’s personality and Mai’s ending……. rant ends here (FLEES
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another thing i hate about fanboy-ism…. theres hardly acceptance between groups,….. no peaceful discussions…. sigh. second rant ends here……. (and holds up an anti-nuke shield
I thought Nayuki’s ending was done fairly well in Toei’s version, they made her the catalyst for the YuuichiXAyu relationship. At the same time we got some closure, her feelings were expressed and accepted as one way, and she got to steal a forbidden kiss =D
But I totally agree with the fanboy factions, way too much hate between them, but I guess that’s how things go.
Moe. Serious fucking business? [/saimoe]
can somebody tell me how many episodes are left?
26 planned episodes, so 6 more left, if I’m not mistaken.
From what i no so far theres definitely at least 23 episodes, 23 being the last climax for the arc for sure, and 24 could either be an episode explaining the conclusion, like the Toei’s ep14, or merely a recap like they did bak in AIR. if theres a 25 or 26, then its very likely to be an OVA.