Well anyway, I feel like talking about my love for Kanon, huehue.
Kanon saved my life in a way. I was in a really rough spot when I began to watch it. I’m not exactly sure why, but one fateful day as I was struggling with daily life, I suddenly felt like watching an anime.
Now, in all honesty, I haven’t watched as many anime as I should, the reason being because of a huge lack of energy and motivation. At the time, it was very rare for me to start an anime and actually complete it.
Even though I am a huge anime fan, I didn’t really have much to show for it, since my list of completed anime was honestly quite small (and even now it still kind of is). Because of this, I was surprised when I felt like watching one.
Considering that my favorite genre is drama, I was scrolling through MyAnimeList for ones with at least a decent rating, and came across Kanon.
The first thing I noticed was how familiar one of the characters looked. I then remembered that, SEVERAL years ago (like, back in 2009), I had come across a video centered around the very end of Mai’s arc in the 2006 anime. Of course, it contained major spoilers. I questioned how I was even able to remember this just by glancing at the character, but after reading the summary and becoming interested to see the context of Mai’s actions in the video, I hesitatingly decided to watch it.
I say “hesitatingly” because I definitely didn’t have high expectations. Despite its good rating on MAL, most of what I found on a Google search was people making fun of the 2002 version, and of course the classic “uguu” meme. At the time I didn’t even know two anime adaptations existed, and was confused to see screenshots that looked nothing like the only anime version I was familiar with (that of course being the 2006 anime). I of course also found people saying that it couldn’t compare to Clannad, so that lowered my hopes even more so.
Because of that, I just figured that Kanon was just a stereotypical romantic drama with a few minor feelsy moments scattered throughout. Since I honestly didn’t hear much about Kanon’s feels, I thought that I had nothing to prepare myself for.
On top of that, it’s 24 episodes. When I saw the episode count, I remember sighing and thinking to myself “I’m never going to finish this.”
Back then (and even now), I had trouble completing anime that were over 12 or 13 episodes. I thought that I would never finish it, but I could at least watch some of it to get my mind off things.
I was completely unaware of what was in store for me.
Simply put, Kanon exceeded my expectations to the extreme.
From the first episode to the twenty-fourth, I was completely hooked. In fact, I would have most likely binged the entire series in one go if I was able to. Never before have I been so hooked with an anime and felt so many emotions. Excitement, happiness, fear, sadness. I felt all of these emotions with the characters.
I was never bored, not even once. The story, the characters, the animation, the soundtrack… it’s all just so amazing. The characters are the best part to me. For a while Ayu was my favorite character, but Shiori soon stole my heart with how relatable she was to me. In fact, I could relate to all of the characters in at least one way. Despite its fantasy elements, the issues the characters go through are very much real, and I was able to sympathize with them. I like every single one of these characters.
Of course, the anime isn’t perfect. Some of the characters could have needed more screen time and the ending left a bit to be desired (to me anyway), but the flaws were overshadowed by the tons of positives.
After being blown away by how great the anime is, I was amazed at how such an anime could be so forgotten. It deserves far more praise and attention than it gets, and it’s really sad to see that it’s been completely pushed to the side.
For a while I was obsessed with it (I still am!), and I began editing on the Wiki and then eventually made the server dedicated to the series.
I then went on to watch the 2002 anime, and actually enjoyed it despite the many criticisms targeted towards it. Even though it’s nowhere near as faithful to the visual novel as the 2006 version, as it adds its own random things to it, I still found it pretty good for what it was. The soundtrack was still great, and the animation never really bothered me that much. Despite the many jokes centered around its animation, I personally only thought Yuuichi looked off. Most of the other characters looked perfectly fine, although the anime was very bad at doing upward angles. The anime even looks adorable at times, actually.
It had enough differences from the VN and the 2006 anime to still be interesting and worth the watch. However, there is no denying that the 2006 version was better handled in almost every aspect. Because of its 13 episodes (14 if you count the OVA), it wasn’t given enough time to flesh out and develop the characters nearly as much. As such, I wouldn’t recommend Kanon 2002 as an introduction to the series to anyone, but I would recommend watching it if you enjoyed the 2006 anime. It’s like a completely new experience despite the both of then sharing the same basic story.
After I finished Kanon, I was actually temporarily motivated to watch other anime. Because of Kanon, I was able to find new anime that became some of my favorites, and I also found my inspiration in life (Shiori).
Kanon will always have a special place in my heart, no matter how many anime I might watch in the future. I still have yet to find an anime that I have enjoyed watching as much as Kanon, and I’m not sure if I’ll ever find one. It’s just so amazing and special. Truly a masterpiece that I will never ever forget.