Discussion topic for events from the Common Route (pre-character routes) of Kanon. Please mark references to events from later in the story with [spoiler] tags, providing adequate context in parenthesis.
Bookclub discussion begins from this post onward!
What would you rate this route?
0 voters
Ok, so the Bookclub has officially started and since Iâve only had enough time to advance three or four days in the VN, I thoght Iâd drop something here, to start a common route discussion.
So Iâve previously only read Clannad, Little Busters! and Angel Beats! from Key. What can I say, so far Kanon looks a bit like Clannad, a guy is presented and he does his everyday life, inside and outside the school. As for now, he doesnât do much at school and life is more focused around going to the shopping area, living at home with her cousin, and later, Makoto, and the way to school.
Compared to Clannad, the common route of which is almost completely done inside the school or in the dormitories (Sunoharaâs room), it feels like a similar life but with different scenes showed. Little Busters!, of course, is developed inside a School area with pretty much all the facilities the students need.
So, in my opinion, Clannad, in comparision, has better comedy thanks to Sunohara, while Kanon looks more relaxed thanks to the presence of Nayuki and, even though Ayu is noisy as hell, as long as you donât do her route I guess that you wonât encouter her all that much.
Long story short, Kanon feels like a calmed story compared to the hectic live of Clannad and Little Busters!
Itâs your turn guys, what do you think about Kanonâs common route when compared to other Keyâs Visual Novels?
PD: I would like to ask if there is any special hidden route like Clannadâs Baseball or Little Busters! Muscle revolution in Kanon. If there is, I would appreciate it if anyone dropped a link to a walkthrough that explains it. Thanks in advance.
Oh most definitely! The whole âtown in the snowâ gives Kanon this very somber vibe which I absolutely love when it comes to fiction. Itâs what puts Kanon at the top of my ranking of âsettingâ in all of Keyâs works~
Hello everyone, time for Bookclub. Iâll be posting my thoughts on Common as I play it, so Iâll be dumping these thought dumps in several parts for Common.
Prologue
This is good.
The very first line is âItâs Snowingâ, the atmosphere of Kanon as a whole is IMMEDIATELY set. Itâs calm, moody, and mysterious, Peeps used a good word, Somber, the drab atmosphere of Kanon is I feel one of itâs strongest points, and the prologue immediately dives into it. Yume no Ato is playing the soft notes of itâs people and you can see nothing but snow.
Nothing but snow and Yuichi bitching. In a time that, to my knowledge, the player character was just a penis for the player to pretend was their own and had no need for a personality, Yuichi shines as an absolutely asshole straight out of the gate, he comments sarcastically on his snowbound situation, heâs a bully to an extent that I can see people disagreeing with his words often, harder to self insert into and thus becomes something much better than a camera for the player, he becomes a character. The opening scene immediately establishes this with him fucking with Nayuki on her name to quite an extend.
But it also establishes the relationship between these two characters. How she can leave him in the snow for two hours, and he can fuck with her right out the gate immediately, but at the end of the scene, theyâre just walking together with no problem.
Last of all, Kanon has a few recurring themes, key concepts if you would, Promises, Memories, Miracles. The opening scene puts a heavy emphasis on the Memories part of that collection.
Opening
Woooo, lets throw some concept art and CGâs into windows movie maker and se what happens.
The opening is not really impressive, and I feel one can blame the times for that. The CGâs shown are harmless and focus more on establishing the characters personalities than any part of their routes. Ayu gets to take up half the OP because even though Nayuki gets the first scene, this is Ayuâs VN. Visually, the OP is weak, but the music is spot on, Last Regrets is a good song and well suited to Kanon, it has the somber, slow, calm mood the entire VN has. However the quotes given for each girl I find are the biggest meat to bite into with the OP.
Nayuki: âDo you remember my name?â
Do you remember this quote? Itâs up there in a screenshot, and has already appeared in the game and it helps drive in just how gooooood that opening scene is. Itâs already got out what the OP considers one of the characters most important and defining quotes and I agree with that sentiment, itâs stressing the importance of memories to this VN once again. Itâs an excellent and relevant quote on all fronts.
Shiori: âTheyâre called miracles because they donât happen.â
This one needs itâs context to fully be appreciated as a quote, but itâs its a very good representation of Shioriâs character. Like Nayukiâs quote, itâs addressing one of the three key concepts of Kanon I mentioned, this one being miracles.
Makoto: âSpring will come, I wish it were always spring.â
What does that even have to do with anything Makoto jesus you have established yourself as a terrible character immediately. I mean itâs definitely appropriate to her character but itâs not really doing it for me like the last two quotes.
Mai: âIâm a demon hunterâ
You might think this is the same case as Makoto, but not quite. Mai is supposed to come off across as this mysterious as all hell character at first, so this fits perfectly, because what the fuck, demons!? It is a self centered quote that doesnât mean anything to Kanon as a whole, but itâs fitting for Mai.
Ayu: âItâs a Promiseâ
Hey look itâs one of those key concepts again, Promises finally makes itâs debut, this is extremely important to Ayuâs character, a quote that is endlessly repeated, nothing fits better.
Dream Sequence
A mysterious scene that clearly hints at future events, makes heavy reference to the sunset and crying child. The details are fuzzy beyond those things and the reason for the crying is left in the dark. Itâs a great scene to build on the mysterious nature of Kanon. It once again calls back to the Key concepts, with the final quote mentioning Promise.
January 7th
Setting establishment and character introductions and interactions for this day, nothing groundbreaking, getting simple things out of the way and doing it in a pleasant manner. the main thing to note is some of that goooood old chemistry, Yuichi can barely open his mouth without a quip, but Nayuki will often retort with a straight answer, stuff like âfuck itâs coldâ âwinter is supposed to be coldâ, itâs true to the characters completely and I find it a joy to read.
And then Ayu crashes into this mellow scene, followed by Yuichi bullying the shit out of her, god damn, I love this asshole. I love THIS chemistry even more, Nayuki might casually retort something easy to Yuichi, but with Ayu he gets motivated to talk even more ridiculous bullshit to Uguu her further and I eat that shit up like jelly [SLURPING NOISES].
I think it may have something to do with spring representing new beginnings, birth and life. Also spring in Japan is strongly associated with cherry blossoms (sakura). Sakuraâs symbolism is something Iâll take from this website:
Cherry blossoms are a symbolic flower of the spring, a time of renewal, and the fleeting nature of life. Their life is very short. After their beauty peaks around two weeks, the blossoms start to fall.
Yeah, let this paragraph speak for itself. ^^;
I loved the Prolouge. The tone of âIts Snowingâ with Yume no Ato - a bell like song that has the melody of Last Regrets in it set the tone as dreamlike and airy, but still somewhat nostalgic. I was instantly sucked in.
Iâve seen both Kanon anime, but this is my first time with the visual novel, and I already feel like it has done things with mood that the anime didnât accomplish.
I find that while playing it a lot of the things normally levied as complaints - such as bad/dated art and presentation - things that I agreed with from having seen screenshots fade away from thought.
Itâs been a while since I last played Kanon. As I read through the posts, I was reminded of how those same concepts that memories, miracles, and promises were very important themes. The song âYume no Atoâ really does set the theme for Kanon with the cold, snowy setting and along with âLast Regretsâ of how it feels very relaxing and calming at the same time. I still think Yuuichi was very mean to Nayuki back then, even though he was trying to tease her but he mentions that their relationship got a little better compared than before those seven years ago. I laughed when Yuuichi said to Ayu when he first met her that he said âThis girl is weird.â Overall, playing the common route is still enjoyable back then and I will probably have further thoughts as I progress through the game.
Personal preferences but I love his chemistry with Nayuki a lot more. That banter with her on the first day just feels like a lot more mature teasing than his chemistry with Ayu, which feels like he is simply picking on a clueless kid 
Donât doubt me though, it is absolutely a joy to see!
Ah, Kanon. The one that started it all, technically. As Keyâs first venture into visual novels it was an ambitious one, and the common route is a large part of what makes it so iconic.
The purpose of a visual novelâs common route is to set up the characters and setting, and Kanon is no slouch in this department. Yuuichi has moved back in to a town he has not known for seven years, which is plenty of time to forget some stuff about it. Thankfully he has help from the local townsfolk, specifically six girls who befriend him within the week. As time progresses and Yuuichi gets used to his surroundings, he begins to uncover important, perhaps painful memories of his childhood from back thenâŚ
Kanonâs script is well aware of the tired tropes that plagued visual novels of its time, many of which served to give an excuse to unrealistically bring two people closer together. Things like strings of fate, childhood harems and exaggerated love for food are all represented here, and quickly made fun of. However, Kanon is also affectionate as well as persecutive, making an identity for itself in its plot and trope inversions while also utilizing what made visual novels of that era great. In effect, it set the standard for many visual novels like it, including Keyâs later novels and the works of Ryukishi07. Looking back after reading Kanonâs many successors is a great insight in how Key has evolved from its eroge roots.
The cast is diverse and likeable, although not quite as complex as some of Keyâs later characters. This gives an air of simplicity and charm to the dialogue, and allows every character to develop in subtle, but interesting ways. The dry humor that comes from the interactions between the deadpan snarker protagonist and the often simple-minded girls is a joy to read.
Kanon also carries with it several themes which, while not exactly original, add a layer of depth and intrigue to the narrative. What is immediately apparent is the absence of Yuuichiâs memories, which means that the mystery behind his relationship with the girls and the town reveals itself to us through Yuuichiâs perspective. This helps make Yuuichi relatable as a protagonist, and drives the reader to figure out the mystery for him/herself, as no one else is going to spoil the surprise for you.
Along with memories, dreams are also a common theme, as told by a disembodied voice at the beginning of every day. We arenât told much from the get-go, only that the voice desires to do something about the dream, be it make it a good dream or wake up before it becomes a nightmare. However, as time passes it becomes certain that it canât do either, and is stuck in a limbo of pain until someone wakes it up. Just who this voice is is part of the mystery, although someone who has read it all can easily piece together who it is.
Stemming from this is the theme of promises. Yuuichi makes quite a few promises in the first few days, but has a really hard time keeping those promises. This frustrates many of the girls, and gives Yuuichi a reason to become more involved in their exploits for the sake of atonement. As the rest of the VN unfolds, it becomes a lot clearer that Yuuichiâs inability to keep promises runs back into his childhood, but the details of how and why are topics for other routes.
All of these themes are accomplished through striking imagery that, while dated, still evoke some form of emotion from the characters and the reader. The persistent snow is one such image, and it means different things to different characters. Being a lover of snow, I find it associated with happiness and it turns out that some characters, like Nayuki, think the same. Yuuichi, on the other hand, associates it with pain, and avoids stepping into it whenever possible. As I read through the common route, I notice that Yuuichi is occasionally asked if he has gotten used to the town at that point. In a more specific example, Nayuki asks around three days in:
This begs the question: How does the image of snow run deeper into the mystery of Kanon than just being part of the setting? Also, considering the attention to detail many of the CGs have compared to other VNs, what other images do you think carry a significant meaning in Kanonâs common route? I would like to hear these answered in the eventual podcast when you guys get to that. 
It would be no surprise if the subtle hints and clues found within the setting of Kanon inspired the great mystery writer Ryukishi07. Iâm honestly looking forward to seeing the rest of Kanon as well. Next stop, Nayukiâs route! 
Todays only two day post is brought to you by distractions!
January 8th
Asa, Asa dayooooo~ Asa gohan tabete, gakkou iku yoooo~
Faiiito, dayo~ Unyu~ Uguu~ Kanon sure is a world of catchphrases and favorite foods. Iâm to believe this is Hisayaâs fault but it works out fine since the girls have enough depth to be characters whoâs purpose is not to just spout them.
Now look at that background Iâve chosen as the day image. Look at how drab and dark it is, itâs great, even this cheery ass high school scene has the somber mood lurking outside in the sky. I am firmly in love with the snowy town of Kanon, itâs atmosphere and setting are one of its greatest assets.
OH BABY THE SCENE WHERE THEY GET LOST RUNNING AWAY. Gimme dat natural juice, a natural segue that leads to Yuichi saying âI dunno the way, I just got back hereâ, allowing Ayu to confirm itâs her Yuichi, ez game writing is easy guys just do shit like this. And weâre not even done, Shiori is seamlessly introduced, she serves a purpose in helping Ayu and Yuichi be not lost while also being introduced. Is gud.
Ayu starts going on about promises, and the king of promises, the pinky swear. And weâre going to ignore it because this is a Nayuki playthough, see you guys in the Ayu thread!
January 9th
I told you guys promises were all over this shit.
Kitagawaaaaaaa. Here we see Kitagawa make his debut and immediately try and push Yuichi on the Shiori route. On that note, Shiori gets a proper introduction and it becomes clear that ALL THE GIRLS IN KANON ARE WEIRDOS, not that they donât all call Yuichi weird himself(I donât disagree, my god does he make some absolutely bullshit up on the fly). She establishes all her key points, her weak body, her mandatory catchphrase, and her first of many comparisons of life to a drama, theyâre out of the way, everything you need to know about her character is established and those who desire her personality are given enough fuel to pursue her and learn more about the mysterious girl.
makoto is here too i guess
Peeps are we gonna have to fight?
The snow is important, the snow helps bring the mood, Kanon is known for having itâs sad scenes and the snow is the perfect backdrop to all that, itâs cold and generally unpleasant. If you wanna get really pretentious you could also say the blank white expanse represents Yuichiâs memories in how empty they are, he canât remember and see the town because itâs just covered in whiteness from the snow/blank memory.
However a lot of the more heartwarming scenes turn it around somewhat, a lot of such scenes find themself taking place at Sunset, where the cold featureless snow is instead dyed a warm inviting orange, Yuichi tends to encounter Ayu in the wild when itâs sunset and Ayu plays off this by having colours that match it, with a browny/orange character design.
Shit like this is the reason Kanonâs atmosphere is truly unmatched.
Sayuriâs mini-route is the closest you will ever get to something like that. I already made a tip on how to find it in this post here. Itâs very easy to follow.
Somehow I feel like the 90âs was full of that kind of stuff. Where did it all go?
To be completely serious, though, the opening scene is memorable in every sense of the word. For a person just starting to read Kanon, they will know nothing about the setting beyond âitâs snowingâ and âthereâs a sleepy-sounding girl with an impossible facial structureâ. You can dismiss the art style and still be pulled in by the believable reunion of two acquaintances, who then proceed to give you a small taste of their personalities. You, as the reader, can feel this moment is the start of something new and amazing. 
Iâm starting to notice this as well through my current reading of Kanon. You can definitely tell that Nayuki and Yuuichi have a lot of history with one another and are far more than emotionally-distant cousins. The awkward familial connection they have makes them feel more like brother and sister than just another girl to woo, adding to the realism of the setting. Yuuichi admits that the idea of living with a cousin of the opposite sex is cause for gossip, but Nayukiâs charisma and level of trust with her peers goes to show that no one really cares. Even if they did gossip, it wouldnât last long enough to matter because itâs readily apparent they act more like siblings.
The chemistry between Yuuichi and Ayu, on the other hand, is a byproduct of the idea of Yuuichi befriending a complete stranger with behavior that seems less than normal to him. In fact, each sideâs perceived view of ânormalâ is contested as they converse, and itâs hilarious to read (or watch, if youâre prefer the anime). This doesnât change much over the course of the story, but it is still interesting to see how close they become through their hijinks.
In fact, you could say that for pretty much every other âstrangerâ Yuuichi meets, with varying degrees of snark attached to it from Yuuichiâs front.
Really loving Kanon so far, I started reading it not that long before the bookclub but then stopped until the bookclub after I was told about it.
I donât have a huge amount to say that hasnât already been written in a far better way than I could write, really loving the atmosphere and themes of dreams and promises.
In my previous reading I was going for Ayuâs route but then stopped near-ish the end of common. I really like Ayu and having to make Yuuichi be such a dick to her (to get into Nayukiâs route) made me so sad.
(Late common/Early Nayuki) The scene where Ayu says she found what she was looking for was so sad. Yuuichi just didnât give a fuck too. The CG and scene as a whole caught me off guard because I thought I was already full in Nayukiâs route. (Ayu speculation) What Ayu was looking for was probably Yuuichi too, or something relating him, and he dismisses her so much, thereâs so many choices to just ignore her.
Nobody has mentioned it yet, I looove the soundtrack! Last Regrets is timeless, and a lot of the music really adds to the atmosphere for me. The soundtrack has some really dreamy and sometimes melancholic tracks which I really like. Most of the everyday tracks are really catchy too!
I especially love Ayuâs theme with itâs alternate arrangements that make it very memorable and meaningful.
Iâve heard Maiâs theme in an arrange album a while back and liked it a lot, so Iâm looking forwards to actually getting to scenes with her / reading her route!
Pure snows really sounds like an AIR track. Or it should be other way around, AIRâs soundtrack is very pure snows!
Iâm sure thereâs more discussion to be had about the music and possibly itâs meaning to be explored. What is your favourite background music track in Kanon?
I canât quite decide on my favourite at the moment. I like A City in Sunlight (Hidamari no machi), pure snows, and Promise (Yakusoku) quite a lot. I like The Day I Waited for the Wind (Kaze o matta hi) a decent amount too.
My favorite background track would have to be âPure Snowsâ because the song makes it very reminiscent of how the scenery and the theme of Kanon portrays an evoking sense of nostalgia.
I love it, too! I just didnât think it was important for âliterary discussionâ, as it may be. Iâm sure Iâll talk more about the effective use of Kanonâs soundtrack in specific places in later routes, but I can probably cite at least one example here.
That would be Afterglow, for reasons I will explain later on in the Bookclub.
I think one of the more effective uses of background music in the common route is the reveal of Mai, as she is described by Yuuichi. Complimented by the CG, this scene needed something mystical to capture the juxtaposing surrealism of the moment. While I think Girlsâ Prison is a bit repetitive in its melody, it does its job well in introducing us to Maiâs sharp, enigmatic beauty. :3
It makes sense, considering whoâs on the front cover of every version of Kanon.
But I digress. Every character theme is pretty good in my eyes, some more than others. Ayuâs is my personal favorite, with Shioriâs a close second.
I sometimes feel like AIR was pretty much Kanon with a summer theme, particularly when it came to the music. If you asked me which OST was better, though, Iâd say AIRâs is better. 
One thing I do love about Kanonâs soundtrack (and Iâve said this countless times) is that it hits me with just so much nostalgia. Maybe itâs the fact that I first watched Kanon 9 years (man Iâm old) or because they use such old synths and those kinds of synths Iâve been hearing since forever. Either way! I love this OST to bits; not as much as others, but it has a special place in my heart
Which Shoujo no Ori is your favorite*
âŚif I had to pick Iâd say Fuyu no Hanabi(Winter Fireworks), the music thatâs usually playing in flashbacks. How best to describe whyâŚI dunno and I need to leave the house soon, somebody better at these things say why for me.
January 10th
Yuichi starts the day by talking to his clock, further proving that heâs a weirdo like the girls.
WOOO, NO MEMORIES, gobble gobble gobble themeing. For the most part the day is about Kyouko so I donât really care for it, Yuichiâs treatment of her is just right since sheâs a little shit.
January 11th
Scenes are starting to lose prominence and just becoming preludes to the girls routes, Ayu spends today forgetting something important because OH BABY THE MEMORIES. And then Mai steals the day.
The fact this encounter is optional is a a misstep for sure, itâs completely out there, the mystery of it all is cranked up to 11, the wonderful eerie sounds of Shoujo no Ori accompany the bizarre scene, and then Yuichi gets attacked by a fucking ghost. If one hadnât found Kanon mysterious before now, Mai kicks down the door with her crazy noisy bizarre introduction, and drops only her quote from the OP.
Kyouko leaves the day off with yet another prank, which I do enjoy for what its worth.
January 12th
As far as a Nayuki playthough is concerned, this is literally nothing, the day. Plenty of choices to do other girls, but none are needed.
Jamuary 13th
I T S H E R E B O Y S
(This is actually a very good day, Nayuki starts dropping hints and there is a lot of banter about remembering things, when it snows heavily later in the day Yuichi gets to walk home while Pure Snows plays for some mmmmmmmmm)
So I made it to 22 of January today, yay!!
I went to this thread to see how was the discussion doing and heck are there profesional criticists here.
Iâm afraid I wonât be able to keep up the level of the discussion.
Anyway, here are my thoughts. As you guys say, the snow theme seems ideal for these setting. It leaves a calm atmosphere which the OST amplifies. It also helps for that mistery setting, specially the fact that the misterious dreams are showed with snowflakes falling along with each sentence.
Another thing I was surprised to see is that apparently only @Pepe seems to like Nayuki more than the others in this common route. #TeamNayuki :kyogrin:
For me, Makoto and Ayu act far too childish. I mean, there were wholo conversations that revolved around Ayu saying Uguu in all sentences. Also, it strikes me how both Ayu and Makoto say Yuuichi is a bully but continue being his friends.
Now talking about Kitagawa (I donât know if I misspelled it), itâs surprising how he was pictured in the second anime (havenât seen the first). He looked like an stupid guy, almost like Sunohara but without being funny. Now that I read the VN, he doesnât look stupid. In fact, he looks quite average to me, with not much said about his backstory nor his personality.
And since you guys seem to be into metaphores and allegories about the snow in Kanon, Iâll leave mine here. For me, the snow is (Ayuâs ending according to anime) the trauma that struck Yuuichi 7 years ago, when Ayu fell from that tree. That snow covered Yuuichiâs painful memories and the orange-dyed scenes would symbolise how the snow melts, or what is the same, how Yuuichi overcomeâs that trauma and remembers everything that actually happened 7 years ago.
So, thatâs what Iâve gathered by reading until 22nd of January and having watched the second Kanon anime. You experienced folks can tell usa all about all the metaphores you can come up with. They donât necessarily have to be about the snow. It can be about charactersâ phrases, accessories, elements of the sceneryâŚ
Let your imagination flow!!
January 14th to January 23rd*
Memories! Promises! Favorite Foods!
(makoto stuff)
Aside from the Makoto stuff, common shifts focus here, the world building and introductions are over and the focus shifts to picking your route, the meat of girls routes is not touched upon, but by your own choices, you begin to dive into girls and start to solidify their relationship with Yuichi
Bad End Epilouge
What a melancholic as fuck epilogue, itâs laced with depressing quotes like that. Yuichi never remembers, he never gets with a girl. Memories are prominent here, the biggest trigger for the bad end is really that Yuichi never remembered anything. Any promises he made are long forgotten, the miracles never happen.
The quote that can be found at the end of the OP makes its apperence, closing out the VN as it does the OP.
âIt was snowing
The memory is buried in pure white crystals
In the white misty town I visited back then
The snow falls even now
I met a lone girlâ
I mean it sounds poetic as fuck but itâs not too meaningful. For real though, thatâs the kind of writing you sell a game on, those are some good words!
Overall
Common has an amazing start, it properly introduces all itâs main girls(if weirdly optionally for Mai) and firmly establishes the setting, the main themes are thrown around and itâs overall a completely solid begining. But this ends almost immediately and it makes way for the more dating sim part of the VN where you simply go for the girl of choice to begin her route, by all means, you can keep the other girls around to an extent, but if you focus on one youâll get scenes that matter only to her and are completely detached from the rest of Common.
That said, I donât think this makes Common bad, the first week, as stated, I think is absolutely fantastic and excells at everything it aims to do, introductions and world establishment, the second week is the week of picking your girl. Ultimately, this is what Common is for, introductions and choosing your ending, sure I miss the life to be found in Clannad or Little Busters Common routes, but I canât honestly say Kanon fails at being a Common route, especially considering the times.
