badger11’s take on anime

Kanon - (not one for the Top 10 lists)

Aaaand we’re back. Thanks to Maestro for his help on with this blog. It’s always those censored-Norwegian-swear-word outdated plugins, isn’t it? Now that the blog is back, I have a confession to make. I’m one of those Haruhi Suzumiya fans (as Jeff painfully reminded me) who wondered why KyoAni was cutting short Haruhi and wasting time by redoing an anime based on a porn game. I was wrong. From the start. I admit it. They weren’t wasting their time. They created one of my favorite shows*. But I wouldn’t include it in an objective top ten list.

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Huzzah! She’s Back!

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I could go for an episode full of Nayuki slepping
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Why? Well, its simple, not enough of Kaori’s hair-tossing (ep 23) or Kaori looking shocked when Akiko’s special jam was mentioned. Seriously though, in this case, to me a top ten list is a list of shows that can be objectively critiqued. As much of a Kanon (and Haruhi) fanboy as I am, I can’t objectively think about this show. I’m too wrapped up in it. Kanon does, however, share the first slot on my personal top ten list.

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Needed more of Kaori’s hair-tossing and looking unnerved at the mention of Akiko’s jamu

I don’t know if KyoAni’s Kanon should be called “one of the greatest” shows, but I’m going to do it. It is (for me) one of the greatest anime shows I’ve seen. I’m sure that someone smarter than me can point out why it isn’t. The only arguments that I have are: every episode held my attention, I cared for the characters (okay, okay I fell in love with Makoto, Sayuri, and Mai…and Nayuki, Ayu, Kaori, Amano, and Shiori’s nameless classmate), I thought the stories were compelling enough for me to want more, the artwork was great, the music was fine, etc, etc. At some point, this stopped being a show for me to watch. Every episode turned into an event.

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As for this last episode, at first I felt it was a little too jarring. Akiko, and everyone else, is suddenly out of the hospital. But it makes sense in away. This show is about dreams and miracles. And I was glad that I got a kick in the complacency. It pretty much did what any good ending episode does, in that it wrapped up things nicely. And I fell in more in love with Sayuri with her “Ahahaha” and “Ne, Maiiii”. If they had thrown in a “Pikyuuu” my head would’ve exploded. As I mentioned before, I can’t objectively critique this show. Even the Shiori arc was fine (though I think Kaori would’ve made a for a better storyline than Shiori. I know, it this way in the game). Every episode left me wanting more. In some regards, I think I should have waited until the show ended before watching it so I wouldn’t have to wait a week for new episodes.

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Everything about this show really satisfied me. But I can’t place it on any sort of list other than a personal favorite sort of a list. Right now, I’m sure that I’d place it at number one with a couple of other shows, but because I’m so “into” the show, I wouldn’t feel comfortable placing it any other sort of a list. Now that Kanon is over, I’m looking forward to KyoAni’s upcoming shows. And yes, the Haruhitard in me is ecstatic that the second season of Haruhi is on its way and bitching about how long it has to wait.

* Actually, KyoAni has created several of my favorite shows: Air, the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, and now Kanon. Let’s hope Lucky Star and Clannad follow the pattern

3 Comments so far

  1. j.valdez March 17th, 2007 3:52 pm

    In no way can I say that I dislike Kanon, but I can’t honestly say that the last episode was my favorite of them all. There was plenty to like. We get to see all the characters again.

    Megane-Mai. XD

    I’m not totally sure how this episode will affect my opinion of the entire series. That will set in later, I guess.

  2. badger11 March 17th, 2007 8:50 pm

    I never really expect much out the last episodes. This episode was rather monotone. I guess the true test of how well I liked this show is if I’ll watch it more than once this year.

  3. mey September 3rd, 2007 1:51 am

    i like anime soooo…much!!