This post is a part of the Remembering Love series of posts by trzr23, where we bloggers rewatch our favorite anime series and write about them for the heck of it. I encourage other bloggers to come and participate as well. It’s not Sunday anymore, but that hasn’t really stopped anyone.
Anyway, I’ll be writing about one of my very first anime, Kanon (2006). Despite being one of the first shows I watched, I still have a very big place in my heart for it. In fact, it’s no.4 in my (still not finished) Top 30 list with a score of 8. Obviously, there’ll be spoilers.
What really sold Kanon for me was the drama. Before Kanon, the only other nakige-based anime that I have seen were Clannad and Clannad After Story, my all-time favorites. Clannad was a turning point in my life as an anime fan, but that will be for another post. Kanon was very similar to Clannad (first season) in almost every aspect, but there were a quite a few moments where Kanon hit me harder in the chest than most other anime in existence.
I can remember myself bawling my eyes out for some of the characters in the show. I was crying buckets while Sayuri told the story of her brother, Kazuya. In fact, even now, I still found myself in tears when I rewatched the scene. Considering that I don’t have siblings of my own, and have lived in dorms since I was 12, emotional moments among family members is the type of drama I am weakest against. The part where Sayuri brought toys and candy to her Kazuya’s hospital room was so heartbreaking for me, especially since I already knew what would happen afterwards:
Sayuri: “Look, I have water guns too. Here.”
Kazuya: “…”
Sayuri: “There’s no water in it, but when you get better, let’s play together, okay?”
Kazuya: “…”
Sayuri: “Actually, your sister’s quite the athlete, you know…”
Kazuya: “…”
Sayuri: “I know lots and lots of fun things…”
Kazuya: *nods*
Sayuri: “And the truth is, I really, really love you Kazuya!”
It may not sound as heartrending on paper, but for me, this was one of the best parts of Kanon. There’s also the scene with young Mai and her mother. They were going to the zoo, but Mai’s mother suddenly has an attack and needed to rest on a nearby bench. Mai decides to make some snow bunnies while her mom was asleep:
Mai: “Mom… hey, Mom…”
Mai’s mother: “Ah, sorry, Mai. I must have fallen asleep.”
Mai: “*shakes head* That’s okay. Look…”
Mai: “It’s a zoo. Our very own zoo!”
If I were to become a father someday, and my son or daughter was to do something like this for me, I’ll be the happiest man alive. I really mean it.
So I’ll stop here for now, there are a couple more bits of Kanon that I really enjoyed. Please look forward to them next week.
Other Remembering Love Participants (to be updated):
- Nopy’s Blog: Martian Successor Nadesico Part 1
- Trzr23: Clannad–Beauty in Negativity
- OASG: Usagi Drop Part 1
- Anime B&B: Uchuu no Stellavia: Heading off to Space
- deluscar: Gintama: The Art of Randomness
- Konspicuous Klux: Opposite Attractions in Lovely Complex
- Watashi wa Bucho!: Death Note and it’s characters’ questionable morals
- Temporal Vortex: Kare Kano – Obsession to Popularity
- Chikorita157’s Anime Blog: Clannad After Story Part 1
Ambivalence , or is it ambiguity? 
Kanon (2006) is one of the few harems that I really enjoy, others including CLANNAD After Story and Ai Yori Aoshi. It really does excel in the emotional aspect, tying its viewers in so closely to the characters that you can’t help but feel their pain. I remember in particular crying at the end of Makoto’s arc.
Jun Maeda is one of the few people who can squeeze and shatter my stone-cold heart, so I have a high respect for the guy.
The end of Makoto’s arc was similar to Fuuko’s. Though I liked Fuuko’s arc more (because sisters), I think my eyes still watered from that wedding scene.
Kanon was good, more so than Clannad, of which I hate. However I’m not jumping over the moon for this show. Maybe because it was among your first anime which is why you hold such a high regards for it and I don’t blame you. Most people tend to do so. Myself included
Well, you love Bleach, which I hate, so yeah, tastes differ.
I have to disagree on the “seeing it early raises your opinion of the show” belief of many people. I’m not like that. I rated my first anime, Mahou Sensei Negima a 5. I go over my MAL scores at least once every few months to make appropriate adjustments.
Kanon was also among the first anime series that I watched and I think it will always have a special place in my heart. (My husband actually made me a winged backpack like Ayu’s for my birthday one year ^^). The emotion and feeling you get towards the various characters is undeniable and isn’t something you simply write off and forget as soon as the final credits play. It definitely stays with you, in some way or another.
“My husband actually made me a winged backpack like Ayu’s for my birthday one year ^^
Aww, how sweet of him! ^^
Anyway, agreed that when one gets attached to a character, it’s hard not to sympathize with/like them. Perhaps that’s why Nodoka Miyazaki is still one of my favorite characters, despite having seen the Negima anime about five years ago.
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Oh god Kanon…I nearly picked this as my choice of remembering love, because unlike Usagi Drop, when I saw the first episode of the show, I was hooked. I was compelled to keep watching every episode on (who remembers this site) Veoh, but then they didn’t have the rest of the episodes. I was crushed, and at the time, had no knowledge of where else I could watch it. Eventually I found a DVD version of the final episodes and finished it. Such a emotional ride from start to finish. I’ll have to re-watch it again and see if I still have those same feelings I did years ago.
I think you’ll probably enjoy it more the second time around. That was the case for me. To tell the truth, this was my fourth rewatch of Kanon 2006, and it still gets to me somehow.
Mai in particular, stood up to me as a pretty good character. The other heroines are good too, no doubt. The emotions are just so heart-wrenching D: This, together with Clannad and Air are one of my most favorite anime to date. I wonder if Little Buster anime can obtain this level of achievement?
Mai was amazing, especially in the visual novel. The climax of her arc was much more heart-wrenching in the VN than in the anime.
I put faith in the staff members of Little Busters to do the visual novel justice. The word of assurance from the president of Visual Art’s is like God’s decree – so far, at least.
I remember liking this show and admiring Mai as well. I raeged pretty hard when Sayuri got injured because of those damn illusory monsters. I also found Makoto’s back story silly but I still got teary eyed when she lost her ability to speak.
I could almost feel that I was in Mai’s shoes when Sayuri got done in by the invisible monster. I think I punched a wall after watching the episode just to get it off my chest. So much raeg, indeed.
Makoto’s story was much better told in the visual novel. Each passing day in the game took out Makoto’s humanity bit by bit, which was really heartrending as it is.
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Well, guess it’s time for me to rewatch all them Key shows and remind myself of the reason I started watching anime in the first place.
Yeah, go do that and find your inner self once again.
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I’m tearing up just from the memories this brought up..