Kanon - Makoto Sawatari Route & Character Discussion

Key Discussion
#1

Discussion topic for Makoto’s arc & character in Kanon. Feel free to discuss anything from the route, but mark any comparisons to events outside of her arc and the common route with the [spoiler] tag. Her arc refers to episodes 7-10 of the 2006 anime. For all intents and purposes, Makoto’s route commences from the 17th of January onwards, but feel free to refer to earlier events relating to her character as well. Her birthday is the 6th of January.

This topic also hosted Kanon Bookclub discussion from this post onward, and was referenced in our Makoto Route Podcast.

What would you rate this route?

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Kanon - General Discussion
Kanon Bookclub Topic
#2

It’s shit.

This route is like, a so much worse written version of Shiori’s route with the Miracle at the other end of the route.
Makoto has some funs and bubbles, but it all comes from Yuuichi interacting with her, the route is simply one of Kanon’s weaker parts.

#3

Makoto is in an interesting place for me . If she was a “skipable” character, aka you don’t have to get involved with her, then she might have been my favorite character. Because you have to go through her stupid antics every time it becomes incredibly repetitive and annoying.
The beginning of the story is really my biggest issue. When Makoto grows more comfortable with Yuuichi the atmosphere is a lot nicer. While this is an extreme version of it, seeing someone close to you slowly fading away is seriously depressing and something many has to deal with. The route does give you that feeling even if it has to cut some corners. I’m not sure about the ending; I pretty much always prefer when stories give me the answers. The ending just shows a picture of Makoto and she could be alive or there in spirit but there is no conclusive answer given.
So there are parts I really like and some I really don’t; the route kind of comes out somewhere in the middle, but memorable moments like the wedding keeps it from fading into the mass of mediocrity

#4

I disagree with this somewhat. Now every route in Kanon ended in such a way that allowed you to interpret them in multiple ways. In Makoto’s route, it’s pretty clear that she is dead, but because of that picture some people might have doubts. I generally go with the earliest ending (things like Makoto being dead and Mai having killed herself) but there is always a small follow-up that lets you decide if you want a happy or a sad ending.

#5

I’d love to write a bit more about this here, but since I dont really remember much. I’d say it wasnt really memorable and I remember that I never really liked her. I remember it having some nice moments, but overall it wasnt that good.

#6

It’s the inclusions of those extra possibilities that confuse me and a confusing ending will lower my personal opinion of the story. I know some people like that sort of stuff, see Inception, but I don’t and I can’t really talk about anything other than what I personally think.

#7

I hated the adaptation for this route because it was like half the damn anime.

But Chi-chan is pretty cool I suppose, just outshined by everyone else. She has a nice design.

#8

I agree they could have taken some time away from Makoto to use later with Shiori, but with the way they adapted it, they explored Makoto’s route while also developing the others in preparation for those routes. It makes her anime “arc” feel longer than it actually is.

#9

Ye ye for riz yo.
The early episodes were Makoto centric but not exclusive, the early route fluff could be scattered with the other girls early route fluff for the others, but Makoto had no buffering time for her early route fluff.

#10

Makoto at least in the beggining was very annoying. I didn’t like her bratty attitude and most of the times I kinda like when her pranks backfired on herself. That being said though, she got better as her story arc progressed and I felt sad when she died at the end. . Plus I can’t forget this scene.

#11

The first half of this route is like a huge (and somewhat entertaining) catfight between Yuuichi and Makoto while she struggles to regain her memories. There is a point where Makoto becomes more interested in Yuuichi, and that’s when the route starts to slow down and become boring.

That being said, she’s not as interesting as the rest of the cast for two main reasons: one, her simple-mindedness becomes rather predictable and hurts the pacing of the story, and two, it became plenty obvious that she is too easy a catch, that she exists as a fanservice character. She does have quirks like the rest of the cast, but she’s easily the least memorable character.

However, I did like the ending of the route when she dies after Yuuichi ‘marries’ her. I did find the last few days before her passing rather sad, and her final moments made me want to reach out and stop Makoto from dying, but I never cried. She could have been a more interesting character, but it seemed like Maeda got tired of writing the quality routes and wrote Makoto’s route half-asleep. I liked her as a character, and her route is okay, but both have their flaws.

#12

I actually thought Makoto’s route was the best one in the entire game, besides maybe Ayu’s. But a lot of that came from how unexpectedly relatable it was (replace “expiring miracle” with “dementia/Alzheimer’s” and it actually hurts to read).

I don’t really remember the opening of her route so I won’t judge that, but Makoto’s final days was a highlight of the game for me.

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#13

Yeah you’re totally right about the dementia/alzheimers analogy. I feel like that was the big message of the route: what it means to watch someone you love slowly lose themselves and disappear.

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#14

Bookclub discussion begins from this post onward!

#15
#16

I haven’t finished her route yet, nor I know if I’ll be able to do so since Makoto is my least favourite character from all KEY works (at least, everything I’ve played/watched from KEY). Still, here are my thoughts until now.

She starts off claiming that she lost her memory and in a matter of less than 12 hours she has found her new home: Akiko’s house. Now, I won’t discuss whether Akiko was way too permissive or not. I think that belongs to the Nayuki’s thread or somewhere else, but not here. However, what I find unbearable is that despite having been welcomed by complete strangers and having been invited to stay at their house, she doesn’t care even the bare minimum about the inconveniences she might cause (and in fact, is causing).

This leads to an interesting question. How old is Makoto? She acts like a noisy brat but she phisically appears to be from 14 to 18 years old (maybe closer to 14). This difference between real age and mental age is what really bugs me. My guess is that all characters in Kanon where designed to fill some kind of moe, and thus, Makoto was there because a childish active girl was needed (yup, that’s right, Ayu wasn’t enough). Once they created her and her personality, they thought about a more or less fitting backstory for her. This is why, in my opinon, this character route doesn’t work all that well: they had a character that didn’t fit well with Kanon’s theme.

Anyway. this is it for now. I’ll keep posting as I read through the route. I may not like Makoto, but I will surely enjoy discussing about her with you guys. :kyogrin:

#17

I originally rated this route a four, but upon this rereading, I’m legitimately considering giving it a five. This is Maeda’s best-written route out of the three he wrote for this novel, even though it’s not without its own tiny problems.

My approach in analyzing this route is going to be a bit different. I have no Key Points for this route, because the route pretty much does all the deep thinking for us. Still, I wanted to point out my own personal thoughts and feelings on the characters and themes of the route in the same vein as Nayuki, just with less open-ended discussion. And it definitely isn’t because my Key Points for common or Nayuki were complete garbage or anything… ._.

Makoto can be best described as a child in a teenager’s body; she’s curious, playful, and has no clue about how the world works. It is her strict purpose, she believes, that Yuuichi is the source of all her problems, such as the loss of her memory and her poor treatment around the house. Yuuichi takes it upon himself to rectify her childish behavior, and as the route progresses he becomes something of a father figure to her, for better or worse. Yuuichi’s actions, however, are not quite in her best interest until the 17th, when he discovers that she really has no home to go back to. Yuuichi and Makoto both are shown to be conscientious characters, in that they mean no harm to each other in truth, and only interpret each other’s actions as malicious because it conflicts with their own personal desires and standards. Yuuichi especially develops as a character through his increasing interactions with Makoto, subtly coming to understand the value of human life and coming out of his own selfish circle. The change is small but significant, as the ending hints at him coming to tolerate the more mundane parts of life that only Makoto seemed to care about.

The backbone of the whole route, however, takes the form of Mishio Amano, a quiet girl who takes interest in Yuuichi upon recognizing his relationship with Makoto.

EDIT: While I was originally going to talk about her here, my notes are simply too large to place here without getting flagged for being more about her than Makoto. Instead, you can read my unabridged notes on her character here.

Just to point this out, I noticed the presence of several objects and themes that Maeda would later go on to use in future stories. The dilemma of Makoto’s fading lifeforce reminds me of a similar dilemma in AIR, particularly the curse of the girl in the sky as mentioned in Misuzu’s route and Summer. Family and friendship are both prominent themes in this route, and said themes would get a much greater focus in AIR, CLANNAD and Little Busters. And speaking of Little Busters, those who have read even some of it would know that Rin and Makoto share a similar taste in accessories and pets.

Just thought I’d put that out there. :3

Anyway, I also wanted to point out, as another excellent use of background music, how Winter Fireworks is used here. From my personal notes:

Now comes the inevitable question surrounding everything that happens in this route: was it all worthwhile? Regardless of what I or others have said before me, I believe that, in the grand scheme of things, this was an excellent, thought-provoking route. I’d even go so far to say it’s one of my favorite Key routes ever. What makes me appreciate it even more among others is that it is definitely the beginning of something far bigger for Maeda, something that would help him come out of his own hole as well.

Mai’s next, I assume? Better make sure my skip button works and I have lots of ginger candy.

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Kanon - Mishio Amano Character Discussion
#18

Makoto’s arc raised an interesting question for me. What does Makoto’s arc say about the way we treat those who are about to die?

Reading through this arc, I realized that the way people treat their beloved friends and family on their deathbed is very different from the way they treat pets. For people, the focus seems to be on the living: allowing everyone to have a moment of closure with the person that they are about to lose. For pets, though, we focus on the soon to be departed, comforting them and making sure their last moments are the best they can be.

While we all likely have different images of how our last moments will be, I imagine my last moments will be spent comforting my loved ones. Offering my final good wishes to each of them, telling them how much they meant to me, and letting them know that I am at peace. Even if I was in pain, and all I really wanted was release, it would be my responsibility to see that I left the ones I cared about as best I could. Perhaps this image has come to me from culture (I must admit, it feels a bit cliche, and I’ve never been present for someone’s death), but it’s hard to imagine feeling selfish in the last few moments of being myself. I might have a few last requests for myself, perhaps a good last meal or a few items to help comfort me, but I feel like my main interest would be for the world that I’m about to leave.

If I had to deal with the loss of another, I think I would assume the same of them. I would want to make sure they had their affairs in order, and I’d be ready to take on any responsibilities they had for me. There’s a reason why a dying person’s last wishes are considered sacred, and I’d treat them with appropriate reverence. Sure, I’d want to make sure they were comfortable, but more than that I’d just want to take advantage of those last moments so I could remember my life with that person as I went on in my life without them.

Compare this to how people treat pets in their final days. I’m reminded of the story that went viral called “I died today.” The story follows a dog’s last day before being put down. Everyone joins the dog for a picnic on the floor, and the dog gets to eat cheeseburgers, human food that he only gets normally as table scraps. Then, the dog takes a trip to a park and plays in a water park. I’ve never known a dog that didn’t get excited when going to a park or playing in water, and the pictures made it look like this dog was having the time of his life. The last time of his life, but the time of his life.

In the end, the way we treat those last moments is so different. For humans, the legality of euthanasia and physician assisted suicide is hotly debated and varies from place to place. For animals, though, euthanasia is almost unilaterally considered merciful.

Makoto’s arc really feels like the last moments of a pet. Everyone’s focus seems to be on Makoto, and making sure that he final days are as good as possible. Yuuichi lets her sleep in his bed, Nayuki comes outside to play in the snow, and even Mishio is willing to suffer through the pain of loss just so Makoto’s final days can be a little brighter. To the end, Yuichi is doing what he can to ease her fear and distract her.

While one might say that the disconnect is a result of pure selfishness, I think it actually comes down to an understanding of the future. Animals, we assume, live in the present. They don’t think about what’s to come, and only give the most passing consideration to things that have happened before. All that matters is the here and now, the body and the senses. For people, though, the future is a tangible thing. Even as we die, we think about what the world will be, even if we won’t be in it. To comfort an animal is to ease the pain of the instant, to comfort a person is to assuage their fears for a world that goes on without them.

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#19

Well now that I’ve gotten a bit of headway in the route (and am not as rushed as I was during Nayuki route), I figure I can contribute some more discussion on here. So far I’ve gotten the bad end of Makoto’s route, which is pretty easy to do by ignoring Amano all the way. So far my only comment about the route is, well, it’s kind of a boring read. Sure, all the pranks slowly disappear once the route gets started, but I feel the events where you interact with Makoto are a bit too repetitive for their own good.

Another thing I disliked about this route so far is that I had a hard time empathizing with Yuuichi’s emotions towards Makoto. He starts with such an antagonizing view towards Makoto, but as we reach the end, he has this sort of closeness to Makoto that I cannot understand. He even goes so far as to internally be angry at Nayuki for calling Makoto “that girl”. As I read this route, the only emotion that is shown to me as a reader towards Makoto is pity. And I am not all that convinced that pity is what Yuuichi feels towards Makoto by the end of the route.

#20

Man, I really wasn’t expecting to like this route as much as I did. After the stunt Makoto pulled with the cat on the overpass, I wanted nothing to do with her but her route just came out so well. It really struck all the right notes and her growth as a character and the impact it has on Yuuichi really sold this route well for me. Either way, time to get in to this route.

The first few days are really welcome with Yuuichi getting back at Makoto for the trouble she’s caused him and him trying to motivate her to keep her job. She opens up so much more after he brings her back. I’d like to believe it’s because she has Piro™ back with her and it’s Piro opening her heart up instead of Yuuichi bringing her home just so it hurts even more when Piro disappears later on in the route. Either way though, she became so sweet after she came home and that was a welcome change to the angry, vengeful Makoto we first meet.

She also began actively bringing herself closer to Yuuichi by waiting for him after school and wanting to do all sorts of different activities with him. This was a surprising turn of events and I totally didn’t see it coming. It was a very welcome change from the pranks though as we get to see Makoto grow much more as a character and see that she doesn’t actually think too badly of Yuuichi or that her opinion of him has changed drastically. That said, how does everyone feel about the whole “let’s share a bed because I want to be with the cat and the cat wants to be with you” thing? I thought that was very strange but it was actually easy to accept after I considered the bond she had made with Piro after she had run away to find him.

Yuuichi even started opening up to Makoto after seeing her change in attitude and because of Amano’s words to him. Finally believing that she is an amnesiac, he accepts her as one of the family. Mean Yuuichi is cool, but nice and playful Yuuichi is pretty damn awesome as well. It felt weird for the first day but I got used to it quite quickly. I do feel it’s Amano’s words that push Yuuichi to really want to learn more about Makoto and spend time with her instead of his dreams.

Makoto’s clumsy nature really turns tragic after figuring out why she is that way. It only get magnified by Yuuichi getting abandoned by Amano, who has been guiding him through the Makoto situation, leaving him to figure out how to handle everything on his own. It was completely heartbreaking watching Yuuichi trying to take care of Makoto and keep her happy as she slowly drifted away while Nayuki doesn’t seem to do anything to lighten his load. She even goes as far as to call her “that girl” instead of “Makoto” after Yuuichi spends his night trying to find Makoto after Piro disappears.

The final days were so well executed (Nayuki route) in comparison to Nayuki’s awfully written last week in her route and really was the highlight of this route. Yuuichi finally figures out what he needs to do for Makoto to enjoy her final days and Amano decides to come back and help him through it. I was also very surprised at how quickly Akiko accepted that Makoto was the fox that Yuuichi cared for as a kid. She didn’t even think about it, just took it at face value. I guess then that would mean she knows of the legend of the foxes on Monomi Hill then and believes it to be true after Yuuichi’s story.

Akiko is seriously a hero, man. She plays with Makoto all day so Yuuichi can have a break and go to school. Then she agrees to go out for dinner even after she already cooked for the family and doesn’t make a big deal out of it. And everyone convincing Makoto to join in the picture was such a great scene as well. They just had to lay the heartbreak afterwards too. That last day just tore me apart and was an emotional roller coaster. I really just loved this route from beginning to end and I’m excited to see if the other routes wil captivate me the same way. If I had to pick, I would say the big theme of this route is coming to accept loss.

My one big complaint though is that all throughout Kanon, the town is always covered in now, yet Monomi Hill or the surrounding hills never have any snow on them. What’s up with that?

Amano “Perhaps if we were to gather many of them (foxes) in one place, one could cause a miracle.” (CLANNAD spoilers) Replace the foxes with light orbs. Tomoya really learned from Yuuichi’s plight.

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