I don’t think my feelings about this route have changed much since I last read it. It’s up there with Makoto’s route in terms of how good the writing is, translation patch errors aside. Also, it stands one of the most unique routes in Key history, as it’s written more like a TV drama than a typical visual novel route.
Shiori is one of my favorite characters in Kanon as well. She’s about as close to a normal sixteen-year-old girl as a visual novel can get, although she’s never so complex as to bog down the story. She’s afflicted with some indescribable plot disease with vague side effects, eats ice cream and loves to draw. These traits, for the most part, exist to help propel the story forward, which is something other characters in Kanon can’t say about themselves. (Sorry, Ayu… ;; )
Shiori’s route is not one to shy away from inverting tropes like its sister routes, as Shiori can’t find it within herself to say profound things despite being on the last legs of her lifespan. It’s also self-aware of how much it falls into TV drama tropes, but plays it out rather affectionately. I’m not terribly familiar with how TV dramas unfold myself, despite hearing crazy things about them from my drama-savvy sister. This route didn’t need much to make itself enjoyable and heartwarming, though, and I applaud it for that.
Shiori is also unique in that, unlike the other routes of Kanon, it doesn’t focus on Yuuichi uncovering memories of the past. Rather, it places its focus in creating new memories, helping Yuuichi grow more attached to the town through his interactions with a complete stranger. Obviously it’s refreshing, but it also raises the question of why it decided to break away from the previously-consistent theme of accepting the pains of the past. However, I feel that’s not really what Kanon is about. It’s more about finding happiness despite the mistakes made and the consequences reaped, distinguishing the dream from reality and coming to accept the pains of life.
This is especially true when it comes to Kaori’s dilemma. I wrote a post about her before, but I feel it needs a little elaborating. What Kaori did is actually closer to what Amano did in Makoto’s route, only Kaori did not share the experience of losing someone important to her. Kaori’s actions stem out of not knowing how to deal with the pains of losing someone dear, and in her mind, distance and apathy were the only ways to deal with the problem. The catch is that it meant acting cold to her sister and anyone who dared get close to her. Growing to accept the pains of losing someone dear, not just on Kaori’s side but Shiori’s as well, is a major theme of the route, and helps tie it in with its sister routes nicely.
Shiori’s route also emphasizes the concept of dreams. Shiori expresses that her biggest ‘dream’ is attend school with her sister, although her condition makes this difficult. When she did go to school once, her collapse mid-day marked the end of her dream, where the pains of reality began to set in for her. In a similar vein, the enjoyment she has spending time with Yuuichi while holding no regard for her decreasing lifespan is also considered a dream. When the dream ends, Yuuichi is left alone in emotional grief, perhaps because of things left unfulfilled or from the loss of a person he invested so much time in. Whatever the case, Shiori’s life was spared by a miracle, implied to be the work of an observer who only wants the best for the one she loves. She is finally able to pursue her dream of attending school with her sister, and Yuuichi is able to rest easy and spend more time with the girl he loves.
Before closing my discussion, I wanted to talk about my admiration for Shiori’s theme, “The Other Side of a Smiling Face”. Composed by Shinji Orito, it’s on the slower side as far as character themes go, but it’s no less joyous. The feeling I get from it is simple and carefree; perhaps showing awareness of her circumstances, but choosing to take things easy and not worry about them. It’s a fitting piece for Shiori, conveying her general attitude around Yuuichi as well as she can rave about ice cream.
In short, Shiori is a fun and refreshing read, and I think it’s a route no Key fan should miss. Still, I think there’s something all of us have been putting off for a while. She’s been nagging us for a long time, and it’s about time we answer her call. Next up is Ayu, and I can’t wait~!
Still reading through, scrambling to get it done before the Bookclub, but just wanna come out with a thought I had while reading.
Ice cream aside, there’s some really good character writing here. As they’re going on their date and walking home from the park, Yuuichi finally decides to ask “So what are you into anyway?” I figure it’s about time you start learning about each other! Because, well, that’s what people usually do. Skipping straight to the ‘precious memories’ and ‘dating’ before you even know each other does feel a little odd! But anyway, we get Shiori to tell us something about herself!
No punchline or recurring gag here. Just, a genuine moment where Shiori reveals something about herself. This is so important from a character writing perspective. She likes art! She’s not just a blank slate of mysterious quirky girl with some unique habits. She has her own interests that may not have anything to do with the present moment. There’s been no obvious tells that she’s into art, she doesn’t go around with a paint kit everywhere and there’s no major effort to imprint on the reader that she’s ‘The Artist’ of Kanon. She just, likes art, and used to paint a bit. Maybe they’ll go into this more later for the sake of the story, but I really like how, natural this felt.
For the first time, I feel like I’m reading about a real person. Instead of a mash of different ideas and archetypes for the sake of the plot, and the sake of some laughs or basic charm points, this is just, a part of what makes Shiori herself. It’s a humble reveal which doesn’t overstay it’s welcome. But from hearing it, we begin to realise that hey, Shiori is in fact a person with her own interests, needs and dreams that go beyond what is presented in each scene. And I looove that! Way to go Hisaya, showing up Maeda.
And hey, it’s also a great way to show how their relationship is progressing in a very subtle way, there’s that too.
I kept thinking about the route searching for some deeply hidden symbolism, and this is what I came up with:
Shiori’s sketchbooks represent Shiori’s life, or rather, how Shiori and Yuuichi think of her life. At first, it’s a full sketchbook, with drawings in all pages, symbolizing how Shiori has already filled all her lifetime with different experiences. Then, the drawings themselves are those experiences. They don’t look as if they had been very well painted, so maybe this is a sign that Shiori didn’t live to her fullest, or that she didn’t end up doing what she really wanted in life (actually, I just wrote something about this in the Favorite Quotes Topic).
However, later on Yuuichi gives her a brand new sketchbook, with the first page occupied by a portrait of Shiori’s face. This sketchbook means that Shiori now has a whole new life. She can now paint with memories all those blank pages so that the next time she looks back at them she can be proud of them.
This metaphor might say that her life was never something she liked too. It was when she met Yuuichi (the one who gave her the new sketchbook) that she realized that she had to life to her fullest, which is what she did during those 2-3 weeks she was with Yuuichi.
Then again, if we accept this whole theory, this might give a meaning to Shiori’s suicide attempt. She never liked her past life and had no pages left in her sketchbook (life) to fill in, so there was no purpose in life for her anymore ( Mai ending spoilers surprise surprise, this is similar to Mai! ).
Ok, now going back to some more down to earth stuff:
Yeeeees!, this is it. Finally someone that doesn’t just not fill up a character spot in a previously written story. She can be a character even without her backstory!
Seriously though, I can’t say it better. It is this kind of things that make her a more complete character than others in Kanon (in my opinion, of course).
Yet another thing I like about the route. While it isn’t bad to have routes focused on Yuuichi’s memories, it was getting a bit repetitive (and I’m afraid Ayu is going to be like that).
Just to clear things up, I guess you are referring to the things-you-want-to-achieve dreams.
Yeah, a theme I’ve seen in pretty much every KEY’s work so far is the ability to find happiness in every little thing in life. This is represented with character who aim for very basic dreams, dreams that you might think that aren’t even true goal in life.
It is interesting though, how these dreams normally end up in both a sweet and sour way. @EisenKoubu has already pointed out these endings in this particular route (if we leave KEY magic aside). And I was wondering. If Shiori had definitely died, what would her death mean to the reader? How would this impact the whole route after all? I’d say that not much would change. Then I say, why do KEY keep using these magic endings?
I’m not actually criticizing the fact that they do use them often, but I just can’t find a meaning for them in most of their works…
Hoooo boy lots of questions about this route. I’m glad to see lots of people talking about the message of the route because that, to me, consists of the most integral part of any of key’s stories. So let me take some time to give my own answers to some of the questions… I’m on mobile right now so I apologize for not quoting properly; it’s seeming a bit buggy on mobile xP
I have a unique twist on this… I think the reason she cut herself might have been out of guilt; she was about to die and will be causing pain to everyone around her, but she never even felt any pain herself. She might have felt as if the pain she is causing was totally unjustified. And that’s where the cutting comes in: in justifying her death and the pain she will cause. She perhaps thought “If I felt pain, then the reason for my death is justified”
I personally would try to spend time doing what makes me most happy, and those would be the simple things: spending time with my loved ones, playing silly games, etc. I would go into more detail but I don’t think this is the topic for that
I agree with you and also say nothing much has changed. The point of the route was not to try and save her life; the point was getting shiori to feel like a normal girl again and letting her know her life had meaning. If she died, it would be bittersweet, but the fact she lived gave her more meaning in continuing her life. Heck, if anything, seeing her at the end with the giant bag of ice cream was just so sweet and filled up my heart to the point of tears, and that’s what I also love about Key’s stories.
Now then, what do I think about this route? I’ve always considered this the best route of kanon, and I still feel that way til now. One good thing is that it is very grounded in reality: it’s a very real situation that could happen to anyone we know. It’s that simplicity, along with shiori’s quirky personality, that makes the implementation of that simple setting such a beautiful story.
Perhaps the only flaw I can find in it is that her strained relationship with Kaori was pretty easily solved by having a gigantic parfait with her. If I remember correctly, the anime took a lot more time with this topic, having a birthday celebration and everything. But hey, I personally don’t see it as much of an issue. Kaori was being dumb anyway, and it just took that tiny nudge to make her realize just how much she needs to value her sister.
As for the ending, I still think it was handled very well. Shiori leaving Yuuichi with her self portrait was a beautiful touch, even though I cannot explain why. Seeing her with the bag of ice cream also goes to show that Shiori never forgot the promise she made to Yuuichi, and that she never forgets that 2 weeks she spent with him. Even though she’s going to spend much more time with him, those two weeks taught her a valuable life lesson, after all.
She does leave us with a weird idea though. What if all this was a dream, and this miracle is simply achieving the wish of the dreamer? It does jive in with those dream sequences we get every now-and-then, talking about the dreamer and her “final wish”.
But what do you guys think about this idea? Did all the morphine from the hospital just go to Shiori’s head, or is there some sense to what she’s saying? I honestly find it impossible to talk about this without referring to other routes, so I’m going to go ahead of the bookclub with this and say (ayu route spoilers)I think it’s quite possible that Ayu herself is the dreamer. Ayu had the power of this one wish, and she decided to dedicate that wish to Shiori getting better. But that begs the question: is this miracle simply a dream that Ayu kept, all while staying in that hospital bed? Or did her miracle somehow go past her own dreams and affect the lives of these other characters? I personally don’t remember enough about ayu route to answer all these questions that I ask, so stay tuned while I get back to that next week!
Box cutter in her introductory CG woo woooo. Good introduction though, it seems completely harmless first time, but as you find out later, it’s a huge scene to Shiori.
January 9th
January 11th
Yuichi comments on her cheerfulness, recalling that her first appearance isn’t matching how she’s acting now. G O O D S H I T right there. He also notices she keeps trying to find ways to play around. Yuichi sure is making my job easy this route, pointing out all of Shiori’s odd and meaningful actions. The Kaori connection is brought up but already the issues surrounding it are written all over her face.
January 12th
Shiori does that thing I like where she comes up with a real cheesy quote and then gets upset when Yuichi is like ‘lol the fuck?’. Yuichi continues to passive aggressively tell her to go the fuck home because he’s a nice guy, no matter how much he doesn’t like to admit it.
January 13th
Time for Kaori to get in on this, getting reeeeeal pissy at calling arriving on school on time as a Miracle. While other routes dive into miracles in a literal sense, this is the route that likes to talk about miracles a lot. Kaori’s quote on miracles is “Miracles don’t happen that easily”. She also flat rejects the existence of Shiori right to Yuichi’s face, showing her professional skills as an absolute unkawaii pig dog. Shiori has to spaghetti her way out of it when pressed by Yuichi while hints of the route spill onto the ground.
January 16th
The date is fun, by the way, it’s not a date. That’s interesting in it’s own right, Shiori strives for a life like a drama, so a date fits right in that. even as Yuichi and even Ayu dismiss that wording, she continues to insist.
January 17th
“it’s not still two weeks, it’s only two weeks” “It’s daijoubu if I have to repeat a year of school” are the quotes of the day, oh wait I missed one, I missed “did I mention I’m going to die?”. This is the first time she says her catchphrase but she seems to really mean it, when Yuichi bullies her about forgetting the next d-d-dato, this makes it a pretty good catchphrase, it can be casually thrown out for the sake of it, but it can also be used as an actual response, and a serious one at that. It’s a little bit better than ‘auu’ in that respect. It also happens to be a promise she’s pissing over, because this is Hisaya
January 18th
Shiori’s ‘Friend’ cuts the shit and tells Yuichi about the cold, she’s got a cute design in the anime.
January 18th
“Yuichi-san…time has nothing to do with how precious memories are. They’re about how important the moment was…how meaningful it was to the person who experienced it” SHIORI ROUTE MORE LIKE REALLY GOOD QUOTE ROUTE.
(dates not listed from now on)
So D O R A M A T I K U, the scene in the park where Yuichi confesses, it’s dramatic and romantic, just like a drama, and dispute living just like one of her Japanese animes right now, Shiori has to reject him. She also agrees with my philosophy on stories, you should have a happy ending.
Kaori gets her big scene, spelling out exactly what’s going on and relieving her self centered fucked up attitude towards the whole thing. It’s a really good scene, the set up, setting, music, atmosphere, all top notch stuff, but I can’t sympathize with Kaori at all, she puts more pain onto Shiori to try and save her own, she’s a failure as a big sister.
On the topic of Kaori being worst sister, Shiori immediately one ups here with an even better scene the following day. Just like that previous scene, set up, setting, music, atmosphere, it’s all here, the fountain at night background looks absolutely fantastic(Kanon, in general, has really great looking backgrounds, especially the night ones), they try and act casual and joke around before Shiori drops the bomb Kaori dropped the day before. And Shiori fucking smiles. While Kaori is broken completely by this and drops even more pain on Shiori, she grits her teeth and smiles though her own impending doom, because if one thing about Shiori is apparent by this scene, it’s that she fucking lifts.
Scene ain’t done though, Yuichi asks the question he asked last time they were in the park, that if it were one of Shiori’s Dramas, what sort of scene would it be, she repeats the same lines about happy endings being great and fiction being a door to ignoring the pain of life, only with a whole lot more pauses and a sad expression on her face, the difference is the kiss happens this time with a fantastic CG to complement it. I want to avoid mentioning the Anime in this bookclub, I really do, but this is the kind of stuff that makes Shiori the route that got absolutely the worst adaptation, the romance of this route is fantastic, loosing it impacts the route greater than any other.
SCENE STILL ISN’T DONE. Because at the end, it’s got one more trick up it’s sleeve, one of the greatest, some would say best scene in Kanon, it’s all done and done, the scene should be over, but as Shiori walks away, Yuichi screams her name, “Is there really nothing that can be done? Is it so hopeless as all that?” Is there really no hope at all?", Yuichi clings to a hope, begging Shiori to give him something to tug on to save her with no matter what, her response is…probably the best quote in Kanon “If only a miracle would happen, it might turn out all right…but…they’re called miracles because they don’t happen”. Lets back up a bit here, ok first of all, that is such a good quote, it’s the quote the OP used for Shiori, that sounds suuuuper good, but embrace the context a bit more and it boils down too “is there no way I can save you” “No, I’m going to die”, she says this with a smile, Shiori has some insane strength, she really does stare at death and remain cheerful, for herself and others, it bears repeating. And you know what? That quote isn’t even done, Kaori gave her quote for miracles way earlier, saying they don’t come by so easily, Shiori thinks they don’t happen at all, but Yuichi hasn’t given his miracle interpretation yet, so this amazing scene isn’t even over and done with completely.
In short, yeah I think the meeting in the park at night is a pretty alright scene, probably the best one in the VN.
AND THEN IT PLAYS THAT WHOLE ‘route over’ MUSIC, you know Zankou(Afterglow), acting like 'Shiori has accepted she’s going to die, nothing more to see here. Screw you Hisaya she still has a week of being a normal girl left and you are going to write it and I am going to ENJOY it.
It’s worth noting that Ayu and Nayuki…exist in this route, it’s unusual for Kanon, Hisaya don’t give a shit about the Maeda girls but he’s making decent use of his girls for this route, they do speak up with reason in this route.
The great Shiori Disaster of February 2009 is a fantastic scene, well known for it’s powerful atmosphere and excellent music choice.
For todays H-scene I have It has to be this way, there is not Revengence music that really fits Shiori, so I simply went for my favorite song that isn’t already taken. The scene was slightly actually better than the rest, but still amusing more than anything else.
We return to the fountain at night once more, Shiori pops a small revalation, she slit her wrist, the box cutter in the very first CG of Shiori is the most subtle ass hint in the world about this. Shiori tries to act like a moment of weakness makes her not stronk as fuck but I don’t buy it and at long last, we get the last Miracle quote, the one that I personally like so much more than Shiori’s more famed one, we get Yuichi’s “They’re called miracles because they do happen, even if things seem hopeless”. To Shiori ‘I can live if I get a miracle’ means ‘I’m going to die’, to Yuichi it means ‘until it happens, it’s not guaranteed’.
The voice acting is some real good shit after that, Shiori saying how there is so many things she wants to do, if by saying I mean whimpering, she gives a death speech, talking about her memories, before she drops “I…don’t think I want to die.”, strike one, she shouldn’t have to say that, ouch
Then, a few lines later “Did I manage to smile, did I manage to keep smiling, all this time?” What the fuck Hisaya. How do you even respond to that, how as she dies she thinks foremost of smiling the entire time, that’s an extremely powerful sentence, and proof that Shiori lifts more than you do.
It’s dramatic, it’s romantic, it’s genuine and emotional, it’s everything Shiori could have wanted, and myself as well.
Shiori Epilouge
You know, after all that, all those quotes I put up there, you’d think one of them would be my favorite. Nah, epilogue exists.
“Yuichi-san, can I…can I…cry now?” “I’ll be in trouble if you don’t” “Why’s that” “It’s not right for the man to start crying first”
Shiori getting to break her smile and cry, she had no reason to hold it in, but she did, she had no reason to ask permission to let it out, but she did. I don’t know why, but that K I L L S me.
Shiori’s Route
OH LAWD THE WRITING, LOOK AT HOW MANY TIMES I HAD TO JUST STRAIGHT UP QUOTE THIS ROUTE BECAUSE THE WRITING IS SO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD. HISAYA CARRYING MAEDAS HACKJOB IN KANON SO HARD.
Like seriously actually really good route, makes a certain other route worse because Come on, Makoto is the same overall concept but done so much worse Maeda is a hack it’s just that much better than it. The writing is masterful, the characters are solid and everything is just overall extremely tight.
Shiori’s Character
Shiori stands out so much in Kanon, she’s much more intelligent than the rest of the girls in general, she will retort Yuichi and talk shit back making for a different experience to the other girls. Her smiling in the face of death is admirable and makes you root for her so hard. The romance of the route is great, which is perfect to match Shiori’s craving for it.
Kaori’s Character
KAORI A SHIT, WHY TO PEOPLE ALWAYS GIVE ME STRANGE LOOKS WHEN I SAY KAORI A SHIT DID YOU PLEBS NOT READ THIS SHIT SHE’S A TOTAL CUNT.
Overall
Seriously fantastic route, funny how Kanon has the whole ‘past’ boner but it’s completely missing in this route, but where it misses out on the Memories, it makes up for in spades with the Promises and especially Miracles, this is a Kanon route though and though, the atmosphere of Kanon is perfect for the story it presents and is, in all honesty, probably the best route in the VN. Anyone who’s only seen the Anime is missing out on the full Shiori route and is to me, the major reason to go VN over Anime for Kanon, even though I believe it’s a very good adaptation otherwise.
I’d have to fill that one under fuck yoooooou.
Shiori believes fiction should have happy endings, THIS IS FICTION, SHE SHOULD GET THE ENDING SHE WANTED AND DESERVES.
Yeah the message and feel of the route would be preserved either way, but fuck yoooooooooou.
This is it, this is the point of the route, this is what is most important. Never be a Kaori, enjoy each day like it’s going to be your last. Shiori basically did. I dig that philosophy and in turn this helps fuel my attraction to this route.
THIS ROUTE DID HAVE MEMORIES DAMMIT! They may not by Yuuichi recalling his past memories in the town. No boy, Memories in this route is all about making precious memories right now!
So here I am, devouring yakisoba in a park in midwinter, and the girl next to me is enjoying a nice tub of ice cream. I don’t know whether to be more worried that it’s happening, or that I saw it coming.
In contrast to Mai’s route, which was long and encompassed a lot of different themes, this one was short, concise and simple in its core.
What I liked most about this route was the romance. It was light-hearted and sweet at the beginning. It felt very natural. A normal romance of two normal people who met each-other by chance. No other Kanon route has this amount of romance, which, to be honest, has been bugging me lately. But this time around? A boy and a girl meeting every day in a special place at school, just the two of them. Affectionate teasing on both sides. Dates. A real heart break that knocked out the protagonist for several days! A brilliant kiss scene.
I would even go as far as to say that it’s almost ok for the H-scene of this route to exist. After all, this was the girl’s seemingly last chance to experience this kind of thing…
This is a wild guess, but she might have had similar motives to certain characters of the visual novel Narcissu. Mortally ill people are likely to commit suicide, so much that hospital areas where they are being kept at employ various countermeasures like windows that can’t be opened properly. Their reasons for seeking an even earlier death are various, some of them being explored in Narcissu. My guess in this particular case is that, at some point, Shiori couldn’t handle the loneliness, helplessness as well as the despair of death creeping up on her slowly but surely to the point where her emotions were harder to endure than their cause.
Overall, I now agree with Pepe that this is the best route in Kanon.
Notably, the epilogue was quite awesome terms its value for the entire game. Foreshadowing, hints and speculation. An implication that there was more to the “miracle” that occurred.
Only one route left. Soon, we can stop pretending like we don’t know why and how certain endings in this game come to be!
Okay…I am almost angry at how much better this route was from every other one I have read in Kanon so far. It had a clear theme, did a good job with foreshadowing, and had a gradual and logical build. And for the first time in two routes I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED IN THE END.
I also really like Shiori’s theory crafting for Kanon at the end. It reenforces the thought that I am supposed to think every route ends in a miracle though, which is not really how I had viewed all of them until now.
I agree? Kind of. I think justified might be a strong word, but Kaori withdrawing to protect herself is a very understandable thing. I have seen it happen in real life more than once, and I am of the opinion that a person needs to make the choices that allows them to keep going afterwards. I do really wish they had spent more time on the conflict or the resolution between Shiori and Kaori. It was probably the most random feeling part of the route.
She probably felt guilty and isolated, and I wonder if in a way she maybe felt like it was the one way she could take back control of her life. She may have felt that she was causing pain for her family, and the reason was so out of her control, that if she was able to control bringing an end to herself and let her family get to the healing process it may have been more valuable than another week of isolation and depression.
Am I the only one who has several plans in mind based on timeframe of my impending doom?
I think this is an example of a person needing to accept that for most people going in one direction too far is not going to turn out well, and that you need to find the balance of building a better future while filling your days with happiness. Because the end could come at anytime, but you also can’t deny the importance of reading yourself for the hope that you can make even greater things happen in the future.
I love this metaphor.
I really hope that Ayu’s route feels even half as good as this. This set a high bar for the leading lady to follow.
This is actually the only Kanon route that I have played and finished. And wow it is amazing. I always thought I will never be able to fully enjoy a story with romance as its main focus. For example, in CLANNAD I love their family theme, in Rewrite I love the world’s fantasy and conflict. Of course, these games got romance in them, but they’re just one aspect, not the main one, which is a primary reason why I can enjoy them. But Shiori’s route turned that long belief around, it is almost wholly romance themed, yet I love it.
One reason was that there’s no meaningless drama in the route. Yuiichi’s and Shiori’s romatic relationship was normal, realistic and funny. Just like what you would expect from a normal happy couple. Then there’s the way on how the problem with Kaori was resolved, there was no drama or anything, it is just resolved naturally, with Kaori taking up the initiative. There was no need to make any drama narratives to beg pity from the readers, this route managed to make everything natural and normal while keeping the readers entertained, which I believe is a great thing to do.
My next reason was how they used the miracle in this route. The route really did a great job by spending its time making me love Shiori as a character and understand the despair of her situation. Because of this, by the end of the route I found myself longing for a miracle, “Please God, please bring forth miracle in this girl’s life. It is too sad.” This was one of those moments where I love the unexplained super natural events, or should I say miracle.
In conclusion, you could say I fell in love with this route for impacting my view on the romance genre and and its amazing writing and buildup. This route proves non-dramatic writing can just be as sad or even sadder than a dramatic one. (As a side note, Shiori is definitely the best girl in Kanon for me).
And finally, remember guys, it is called a miracle because it does happen.Thanks for reading.
I have really, really enjoyed re-reading Shiori’s route and I would have to say this was the best route yet. My overall thoughts about Shiori is that she is a sweet, delicate and funny girl to be around with and that everyday hanging out with her is exciting. I think I understand this route a lot more because Shiori really did not believe that even a single miracle could even be granted to her if it was possible despite her condition and it did feel that Yuuichi could have done more. It was the only way for Yuuichi to spend her remaining moments with him and enjoy the precious times they have being together. At first, I didn’t understand why Kaori had to act distant and not even acknowledge her sister while she kept avoiding her, but from reading it again, I can’t blame her for not doing that though it did seem very harsh that it could also be painful for just for Kaori because she did not know how to handle her sister from her cruel fate.
I loved the quote that was stated where Shiori had said that the precious memories and that the time spent should be treasured every day and to experience the moments shared with others. It may not be the exact quote but something similar to the fact that we have to live our lives as if they mean we hold those times as important to us as individuals.
Also, I love the scene where Yuuichi and Shiori were at the park during the night where Yuuichi had promised her to treat her as a normal girl and make the remaining days of her life of what she wanted to do and that kiss scene was remarkable and sweet.
I not sure how I could answer that question but I think I would need to do things different with my life but changing how I view myself and my attitude on those perspectives and spend the time remaining with those who care about me, treasuring those moments, and creating new memories without regrets.
Shiori is a very lovable character and that although she did not have a backstory like the other routes, it felt very relaxing as well and having her theme “The Other Side of the Smile” felt very appropriate for her. The theme about miracles come back yet again but more thought-provoking near the end of her route where she mentioned that they may be living in someone’s else dream and that there was a possibility that wish had to been granted for the miracle to save Shiori. I would have to rate this route a 4 out of 5.
Just going by the anime 2006 epis 16 - 18, I expected more waterworks from this than happened but I enjoyed this little story very much ( of course we see plenty of Shiori earlier too). Shiori is the most “ordinary” of the girls so far but that’s not meant to be a criticism, no outlandish pranks or super-abilities just a very delightful personality in a tragic tale not presented tragically if you see what I mean. The little reconciliation with Kaori was nicely understated, not falling into melodramatic goo, and the more believable for it. The strong points resonate here with those I found in the Narcissu VN series, but again I assume there is much more in the Kanon VN to give some more depth. Again I’m glad not to have an H scene though.
Definitely a very good 4, not quite a 5 for me but the most fully enjoyable mini-arc so far.
This route battled with Makoto for my favorite route. The way Shiori continued to unabashedly have Yuuichi in her life and continue spending time with him instead of pushing him away to save him the pain was a really good contrast with how her sister handled things. You’d expect it from Shiori, but she doesn’t have that attitude for the most part. She faces death with a smile, and knowing she did so because Yuuichi and Ayu goofing off kept her alive and resulted in the events of the route is pretty heartwarming despite how dark the circumstances were. When Yuuichi woke up alone, I was totally expecting Shiori to be dead. The whole thing felt like a good delivery of finding joy and positives in life, even in the darkest of times.
Shiori as a character is really well done. She seemed the most “real” to me. She has shades of archetypes but I would not really say she has much of one outside of that. And her relationship with Yuuichi thus feels really real too. All in all, very good.
