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.