Kanon - Nayuki Minase Route & Character Discussion

Key Discussion
#41

Prologue

Nayuki’s route starts as soon as the VN starts, Yuichi teasing her, being and overall dick, not knowing he’s actually really worrying the girl who’s genuinely afraid he’s completely forgotten her. That’s an opening scene right there, immediately tying into one of the last scenes of a route while also properly establishing itself as an opening scene. My dick is frankly rock solid.

January 8th

“Hey bro do you remember this path hey bro you haven’t just known me for a few days HEY BRO REMEMBER?”

Nayuki fishing asap and hard for Yuichi to remember things.

January 19th

“Feels like a date to me EY LUICHI?” “Feels like siblings to me”

Wheeeeeee. Nayuki making him buy something for her because that’s what you d-d-do on a d-d-dato, Nayuki really is good at this subtle implication thing. Yuichi is also great at not noticing it at all.

January 21st

That said ‘you probably forgot because you were sad wink’ is the subtle starting to loosen up, going for a more direct assault, directly provoking a memory, probably because she’s too tired to give a shit.

January 22nd

Kitaaaaaaaaa, for a Nayuki only playthough, this day marks the debut of the wonderful Fuyu no Hanabi(Winter Fireworks), this music is a special little thing, generally linked only to flashbacks, although the scene itself is entirely in the present, you’d think it seems out of place, but the snow bunny is incredibly important to the past between these two, being present when they last saw each other. To Yuichi, and first time players, the scene and music with it might not seem like much, but when you’ve got the full picture, the music playing here is a fantastic nod and very subtle foreshadowing to thinks to come.

Not done with new music this day however, as the couple step onto the balcony for the first playing of Kaze o matta hi(The Day I Waited For The Wind), the atmosphere of this scene is fantastic, the dark blue colours, the dramatic slow music, it is ill fitting for the extremely casual conversation the two are having, but the combination of it and the atmosphere makes it feel like so much more.

But this is the day that keeps on giving, and rightly so, at this point there is no turning back, you’re in Nayuki’s route. Winter Fireworks comes out once again for it’s true purpose, a flashback scene. The sketchy CG being the only image is great, it invokes seeing the memory from Yuichi’s eyes, as Nayuki patters on about snow bunnies, before she finally gets to the point with ASA DAYOOOOO

(From this point onward, I will no longer mention dates, we’re in Nayuki’s route)

Nayuki’s horoscope tells her her luck will be bad for the next week. I concur. Her mom getting hit by a car is pretty shit luck.

The next balcony scene is once again wonderful, Yuichi pretending he’s Tomoya and hating the town, the snow, while Nayuki tells him upfront that she loves these things. And then Yuichi tells himself upfront that he loves this narcoleptic girl. And this is where the extremely short routes of Kanon rears its head, maybe people, myself included, would think that this is too early for a bombshell like that.

Damned if it isn’t good to have that followed by Nayuki saying the same thing in the flash back immediately after though. Too bad Yuichi is a fucking savage and smashes the shit out of her bunny, and feelings. It’s with the full flashback you realize how horrible his teasing is in the Prologue, how her last memory of the guy is him ignoring her and killing her bunny, and he comes back only to pretend he doesn’t even know her name.

The conffespologize is good shit, but better is the next balcony scene, with the music finally really suiting the content of the scene, and Nayuki’s laughably weak requests for Ichigo Sundaes to make up for it. It’s true to the simple nature of the character while also supporting how she does love him enough to not be mad for 7 years of nothing.

OOPS H-SCENE. The H-scenes of this game are a magical thing, they’re absolutely hilarious, I choose to always play some more fitting music over them, the theme for this playthough will be Metal Gear Rising Revengence music, the track for Nayuki’s H-scene I have chosen to be Collective Consciousness. Some of my favorite quotes from this one are:

“AY YO NAYUKI GET NAKED” “BUY ME FOOD” “K SURE” “AIGHT”.
“I want to replace the pain I’ve caused her all these years(with my dick)”

Nobody is going to say the having Nayuki quote the alarm clock scene is top tier stuff. Shortly followed by Yuichi calling her fat.

Hello Ayu what are you doing here this is Nayuki’s route I’ll get to you later.

We need some despair, lets hit mom with a car. The scenes following this are good, Toudo Kougen playing as Yuichi just kind of lives though his day, and the realization that Nayuki actually broke the day after, leading up to Yuichi entering her room.

“…do miracles happen, Yuichi?”

He doesn’t answer this question, she doesn’t even press him for an answer, but it reeks of Kanon. All references to miracles in this route so far have been in reference to Nayuki getting up early, someone she’s always dismissed as not a miracle in the slightest. But when a real miracle is needed, Yuichi can’t even think of a sentence. Not right away.

The last day begins and oh baby is it good, deliberately invoking that glorious prologue, the skys which had been clear for the past two days are thick with snow, Yume no Ato plays for the first time in a long while, the scene is the same. The parallel is wonderful, someone up there mentioned how Kanon likes to repeat(I’ve found my time short as of late, I’ve not been able to full read all the posts of this thread) and this is yet another example of that, for the big finale scene to so deliberately and effectively invoke the very first scene is fantastic.

The glorious Alarm Clock that’s been with us the entire game saves the day, it’s very interesting that Yuichi ends up saying he can’t do miracles, going back on the absolute certainty he told Nayuki that Akiko would get better, and instead focusing on what if she doesn’t, focusing on being a reason for Nayuki to smile again. Kanon may truly be a story of miracles, but this route certainly supports that even if you need one, you can go on if it doesn’t happen.

Nayuki Epilogue

Umaretate no Kaze(A Newborn Wind) is some good stuff, I don’t believe it shows up anywhere but Epilogues, and of course, being remix of the ED theme it shouldn’t have to, the Kanon soundtrack I find, while weaker than a lot of other Key stuff, is certainly fantastically used in game. Yuichi makes one last reference to miracles, with him examples being such simple things like Nayuki’s smile. Stuff like that makes Nayuki the perfect starting route, the miracles are simple, and the route heavily invokes the first scene.

Nayuki’s Character

Nayuki is wonderful, the dozy cheerful ditz is generally a good character, her personality shines extremely strong but despite all that, she’s incredibly simple. Along with it’s Atmosphere another thing Kanon really shines at is it’s Character and Nayuki is a great example of that. The route is much like her character, it’s extremely barebones and basic. Unfortunately this does have it’s flaws, because I have nothing more to say about Nayuki.

Akiko’s Character

Good Morning Yuichi-san.

Akiko is extreeeemely bare in the VN and I know you guys have had a bit of a fussle and bussle over her up there. Akiko is simple and likable, much like her daughter, unfortunately she lacks the screentime to truly be any more than that.

Overall

As I said in Nayuki’s Character, the route is extremely simple and barebones, focusing more on the character interactions than any ongoing situation, the drama is a 15 minute ride at the end at best, while it suits Nayuki, and like I said, makes it a fantastic first route, I do think it leaves a lot to be desired as a story in general. I do like it but ultimately it’s just never been a huge thing to me.

Sorry for the fairly bare post and lack of responding to anyone, you guys have said a lot of things I’d want to say because I’m so behind and lacking in time hopefully I can bring more to future route discussions.

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#42

https://kazamatsuri.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/original/2X/6/651d500bd31847a34e9a114bdd5f33fa6c66082e.mp3

Adapted from @NotKyon’s upload, I made this more alarm tone friendly. I’ve been using it to get up each morning~

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#43

http://puu.sh/p7HzI.mp3

For people who want their moe to sound less shit.

1 Like
#44

The shittiness adds to the genuineness! That second one would never wake me up.

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#45
#46

Now that the podcast is done, I still feel compelled to write something about Nayuki’s route. Well, I quite like the discussion, despite how controversial it had been. I honestly think none of the thoughts given on here about the route are wrong, they are simply just unique. While some of the others may have had pretty stringent opinions, there is still some truth to be told in the concepts given.

I personally liked the romance in this route. While reading the climax, it kinda irked me how Nayuki just suddenly decided to get off her slump and head to Yuuichi in the station. But when they finally showed the alarm clock recording, I just melted~ Definitely agree with @therationalpi in that they straight-up felt like wedding vows.

That aside I think the message of the route was also conveyed pretty well: miracles can’t happen, but as human beings, we can each support each other to help push us through the bad times; and that kind of message, I feel, is very down-to-earth and I quite appreciate that as well.

As for the whole Nayuki’s past with Yuuichi thing, well… I honestly think that it wasn’t some deep-seated grudge that she was holding for 7 years. I have no proof for this, but I personally feel that she was able to get over it. She probably realized that something sad happened to Yuuichi that caused him to be in the sour mood that would make him toss away that Snow Bunny; and I think that realization allowed her to forgive him in her own way, during the 7 years they were apart. In that sense, I think the whole “7 strawberry sundaes and I forgive you” was quite realistic; she already forgave him a long time ago, and she was genuinely still in love with Yuuichi, after all these years.

I just wish more focus was put on her love for Yuuichi, rather than it being a simple “crush”. Like, they could have expounded more on her liking Yuuichi as he is now, thus her falling in love with Yuuichi; or flashbacks towards what made her fall in love with him in the first place (after all, she does admit that he hasn’t changed much). I think that would’ve made the romance a lot stronger and more memorable. But hey, it was short and got the message in a concise way, so I think I can’t fault the game for that.

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#47

I might have been late to the podcast but I wanted to post my overall thoughts about Nayuki’s route. It was a simple but yet sweet route and the relationship between Yuuichi and Nayuki were always funny to watch and how they interacted with each other. They always tried to bicker back and forth about trivial things and sometimes I wonder about why Yuuichi has to be so mean to her but it was probably his nature to tease her as he saw fit. It is hilarious to see how Nayuki act when she gets sleepy and when she loves to eat strawberry jam with her toast while Yuuichi has to get her going to school on time.

Getting into the route, I noticed how Yuuichi had changed his feelings about the cold when Nayuki had asked him at the beginning if he was used to the town, even though he hated it from the start. As I read through earlier posts, I wanted to talk about the significance about the snow bunny and the strawberry shortcake. I think the snow bunny had referenced to the seven years ago how Nayuki had felt for those times she had spent with Yuuichi and wanted to tell him how much he cared him, despite the fact that Yuuichi was hurting with despair. For Yuuichi to toss the snow bunny away from her made it felt like there wasn’t anything for him that could break away from the feelings that he wanted to bury deep along the town itself. I didn’t realized that Yuuichi had mentioned earlier when he said what if their roles were reversed and that would he be able to wait by the bench for all those seven years in that she would reject his feelings toward him. As for the cake, it was stated that it was Nayuki and Akiko together that they lived in the house, how it was always them to take care of each other, and for the incident to happen on such short notice that the emotions that she held all for the seven years came tumbling down and why Nayuki was angry at Yuuichi that he never took into consideration of how she felt for him and it may have been wrong for him to say that he loved her.

I do agree that the route could have taken a better approach in the ending because it felt short and it was resolved too quickly. I liked how “Yume no Ato” was playing at the end where Nayuki came to Yuuichi just like the beginning but the roles had changed and the text where Yuuichi would promise to be her strength and that she would need him to be dependent on him. They do make a great dynamic with each other, even though they do act like more a brother and sister relationship. I would rate her route a 3 out of 5 and I hope I was not be too critical with her route despite the late post.

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#48

I was super sick for like a week, so I’m a bit behind. Also I have a birthday coming up, so if I don’t rush these things I might fall further behind… But hey, I’ll still join in the posting since the memories are fresh in everyone’s mind.
The full thing is on my blog, but I’ll post the analysis section here. It refers to a couple things in my overview of the plot, but it should work standalone.

Instead of going over the little details we can look at, some of which I briefly went over in my story post, I will instead focus on a big idea that is present throughout Kanon.
First, let’s talk about the repetition. This is a pretty big thing in Kanon, but Nayuki’s route exemplifies it. We learn of Yuuichi’s past by reliving it through Nayuki’s eyes. While we aren’t given a concrete explanation of what happened in the past, we can put together the basics of it. Yuuichi loved someone, they got into an accident, and Yuuichi blamed himself for both the accident and for his inability to help. He smashed Nayuki’s bunny and her attempts to help him, and then he ran away from it all and forgot. In the present, Nayuki loved Akiko, she got into an accident, and Nayuki blamed herself for the accident and for her inability to do anything. I feel like Akiko’s cake being smashed is kinda shoe-horned in, and Nayuki doesn’t really try very hard at stopping Yuuichi, plus she doesn’t run and forget, as much as she wants to. This leads to a little theory I have about this route…

Nayuki wanted Akiko to be hospitalized. More than wanted, she wished for it to come true. I believe that something in the setting of Kanon can grant wishes. My evidence?
One, Nayuki acted suspiciously wary on the day Akiko got into an accident, for no reason. I don’t want to believe this is just awful writing, so this is the best explanation.
Second, the monologue at the end from the anonymous dreamer says that their wish (which we can assume is the safety of Akiko) is the final wish, but it is their only wish. Saying both of those things is redundant if this was the only wish to come true, so there must have been preliminary wishes. I’m gonna say it wasn’t Yuuichi who made a wish, because his wish was to forget about the town. However Nayuki’s biggest driving force throughout this route was her desire to understand what happened to Yuuichi seven years ago. The best way to understand is to be in that same position, and she needs closure on that traumatic event. Sure Yuuichi and Nayuki were together now, and sure they repaired that snow bunny one time, but Nayuki still doesn’t understand why Yuuichi was so different that day (although it’s implied she knows who Yuuichi liked and what happened to them if you go back through the route.)
So Nayuki wishes for Akiko to be hospitalized, she goes through what Yuuichi went through, but in the end she doesn’t go as deep into despair as Yuuichi did and breaks the repetition to be with Yuuichi. Someone else wishes for Akiko to get better, and the family moves forward.
If you want further convincing, think back to my mention of the song Afterglow, and what Yuuichi said during the scene with that song playing. “It’s as if it were a dream.”
Afterglow signals the miracle is taking place. It signals the wish is coming true. With the stories of Kanon you can choose to believe that the miracles signaled by Afterglow are real, or you can believe they are a dream. In this case, you can believe that either Yuuichi and Nayuki lived on with Nayuki never really getting over her trauma of the past, you can believe that the two stayed together happily without Akiko with them, or you can take the ending for face value. Currently this idea may not make 100% sense to you, but keep these ideas in mind throughout the rest of the VN and you will realize that the endings of Kanon aren’t so simple.

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#49

I wish I had things to say about this route, but I don’t, really. It all just kinda happened for me. I like Yuichi, I like Nayuki, but nothing in the route really interested me much. The character interactions fell rather flat for me, which left very little else to appreciate much. Doesn’t help that Snow Girl was a pretty boring character theme. Special note to Winter Fireworks though. The moment that track started playing I literally stopped in my tracks and for a short while did nothing else but listen to it, and so far it’s my favorite track of the OST.

Perhaps I’ll come back to this route when I’ve finished Kanon and the characters are more dear to me and I can find more things to appreciate in it, but for now it’s a 2/5 for me.

#50

Ehehe I started reading really late but I’ll still try…

Overall I thought this route was okay. Up until around the 25th, it was mostly the same thing every day, Nayuki struggles to wake up, they go to school, they come home. I found the repetitiveness boring, especially since the same 3 or 4 songs kept playing (by the end I came to like them though). There might be some analysis for that pattern but nothing came to mind.

After that was the H-scene, which felt really forced and came out of nowhere, and like @Kanon said, it was instigated rather quickly. Another thing that I felt happened too fast was the Akiko incident. After she got hit they stopped showing the date(I think…?) so I thought Nayuki’s route was starting, but then about 5 minutes later it ended and Akiko was alive and well, so I was really confused for a minute. Not sure about this but I think they continued to play the happy morning music the day after which also struck me as weird.

I really enjoyed the Yuuichi-Nayuki parallel, where by the end they were doing things that the other had done, like Nayuki waking Yuuichi up.

I don’t really have anything to say about the romance, other than I thought it was fine.

I think I’d rate it 3/5, for general enjoyment but some confusion.

(made it through without eating the jam…yaay)

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#51

Just from the 2006 anime, it’s not that obvious that there is a Nayuki arc as such but I thought it was quite well integrated into Ayu’s arc in the last few episodes. Yuuichi isn’t really mature enough to know how to handle Nayuki’s irrational guilt but then how many of us would really know how much to be proactive and how much to back off? Of course Nayuki is genuinely remorseful and emotionally shattered and I had a lot of empathy for her at that point, anyone who has lost or believes they are losing a parent will feel some small degree of guilt.

I like @therationalpi 's comment about Naruka being an anchor in the story; the most solid, dependable and apparently “normal”, least traumatised of the principle younger characters that Yuuichi had upset all those years ago. It was all a bit quick but I was glad that this was resolved by Nayuki managing to make her feelings known, because even if she wasn’t being entirely rational she and Yuuichi needed this catharsis.

And…Sleepy Nayuki is a definite candidate for best girl - she’s adorable in a sinister waiting for two cars to crash kind of a way

#52

This was really a good route to start Kanon off with, I think. I enjoyed being introduced to Kanon through a route established on a sense of familiarity. It felt like they were just living and enjoying life until something suddenly went wrong, which is kind of just how life goes. And that is what this route felt the most like to me. An idyllic, day to day, happy couple’s life. And the accident may have felt totally rushed and sudden but like I sort of said, I think that’s the point. When you’re living life happily with a routine and not a care in the world, all it takes is one sudden moment for everything to be thrown into disarray. Perhaps I’m just giving the route the benefit of the doubt. But I don’t think it’s poor pacing. I think it being sudden is exactly the point. This wasn’t the most engaging route, but I think that was kind of the point, and I think it did a lot to help establish Yuuichi as a character.

As for Nayuki herself, I think she’s pretty cool. Like most of Kanon (and as I found out, most of Key’s earlier works) you can tell she’s a character centered around an archetype instead of being built up by a few. So I feel people’s enjoyment of these characters will largely center around how they feel about the archetype, but I enjoy Nayuki’s goofy, sleepy, doting self. Even with the familial relation, I felt she was a good fit for Yuuichi and the romance was pretty cute. And I really enjoyed the end, how Yuuichi and Nayuki’s “ways through the darkness” ended up being reflective of each other.

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#53

Nayuki’s route was a great introduction into Kanon in my opinion, but had many faults that held this route back from what it could have been (I say this but I love the route). For starters, the ending was completely rushed. One second you’re living happily, the next Yuuichi realizes he has feelings for Nayuki. He then remembers how Nayuki confessed to him as a kid and decides to do the same thing. Nayuki doesn’t know how to respond but later returns his feelings. Yuuichi then thinks about whether his love could survive if his and Nayuki situations were switched. Well what do you know now Akiko’s hit by a car. I feel to some extent the ending needed to go somewhat fast but at the same time pacing could have been better. Even with these problems, I loved the route because of its themes. The idea that people can’t make miracles, but that you can support each other through the tough times so you’re able to make it without one. It’s a simple idea but it really hits home in the context of the story for me. Yuuichi isn’t able to solve Nayuki’s problem. But similarly to how Akiko supported Nayuki all her life, Yuuichi too could become a force similar to her in Nayuki’s life.

Now for some final random thoughts
Nayuki was really cute. Her sleepy face was perfect and so were her pajamas.
Nayuki’s va did a great job at portraying Nayuki’s emotions when she’s bother at her highest and lowest. From her cheerful uns to her weak voice within her room. More on the scene in Nayuki’s room. The ost mixed perfectly to show just how weak willed Nayuki was in that scene. I started tearing up the more I read hearing just how quiet her always cheerful voice was.

Overall, Nayuki’s route struggled to keep its pacing right near the end, not that it was that bad. There’s been far worse pacing in vns. Even with its faults, it had a strong theme of supporting those around you that really hit home for me, leading to an overall great route.

I’ll add my rating of the route once I finish the vn as a whole and reflect on each of them.

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