Kanon: Episode 24 (END)
Rating: 9.9/10
Overall Series Rating: 9.8/10
Impressions:
I couldn’t help but take this many screen shots, as one, it’s the last episode of such an awesome series, and two, the background art quality seems to have leaped through the roof. The animation quality is still impressive like always though. The subtle background music, midway monologues and the mixture of depression and happiness are all thrown at you throughout this episode, and overall, by the end of it, you can’t help but feel giddy and squishy inside. Well, maybe. As for me though, it unfortunately didn’t quite have this ideal effect I was really hoping for, and part of the reason; I blame it on Nayuki being too cute.
Well, I really was hoping for an AIR-type, where everyone takes out axes and boxcutters in a grand finale of bloody massacres dies, though presents happiness to the series, making it end very literally bitter-sweetly. So yeah, I was almost crying (sorry but I just never cry when watching anything…guess it’s not my thing, so being ‘on the verge of tears’ is already a big thing) when Misuzu ‘died’. Technically, it’s meant to be a happy ending (somewhat) as her eternal curse is lifted, but the show treats life more realistically in the sense that you can’t have everything you want it to be. Essentially, you win some; you lose some.
Kanon however, had a directly opposite ending, where just about everyone survives. Actually, everyone does survive if you count in Makoto being a fox as alive (technically she is of course, just not as a human). The theme is obviously ‘miracles can happen’, which is really disappointing as that it meant Yuuichi’s life in the end is completely amended and he gets to keep his harem AND happiness. Where did the bitter-sweet ending go? I hate it when everything works out perfectly. I mean, Shiori didn’t even die. I knew Ayu wouldn’t (from spoilers SIGH), so at least make a few other casualties. Make it so Yuuichi’s only source for reconciliation is with her.
Actually, my ideal ending is obviously a Nayuki ending since she is just too adorable and sweet. Ayu doesn’t suit Yuuichi at all. She’s much more like a fun little sister to Yuuichi than a soul mate. Nayuki however, is perfect for that role! If only everyone had died except Yuuichi and Nayuki, which would be such a nice but twisted ending for Nayuki fans. It would be sad how so many people died, but then again, there’s still Nayuki for comfort, and so the ending would manage to present that extra emotion, like Air did. That is probably why some people prefer Air over Kanon. And it would be so sweet if Yuuichi actually showed some romantic interest to Nayuki…
Anyway, now for the good things this episode. Apart from the high quality etc, the execution and pace of this episode, and the way it neatly ties everything and everyone together is superb. It’s a little sudden to see everyone alive and well, but then that shocked sense is meant to be created. The portrayal of everything being Ayu’s dream was nicely done, though there is some speculation that it was Mai who healed everyone…except Ayu, since even back in her arc, she was explaining how Yuuichi had to solve his issues with her on his own. Ayu’s time in hospital manages to get everyone together though.
It’s heart warming to see all the characters back (I think even Makoto gets a cameo as a fox somewhere), especially Sayuri. Her ‘ahaha~’ is so pleasing…lol. Too bad we didn’t get to see Amano again in detail (or did we?) She’s one of my favourite side characters, and her flirtatious nature is so much cuter than Shiori’s. She’s also what made Makoto’s arc a lot better, as otherwise I wouldn’t have liked it due to its overdramatic nature. Mai’s arc was good, though I didn’t like Mai, so that was a downer. Shiori’s arc was nice, though it was too short (sigh). Then there’s Nayuki’s semi-arc, which was bad because there wasn’t enough Nayuki. In the end I guess there’s only Ayu…
Judging by all the crap I can come up with to talk about every episode of this series, I’d say this show is pretty thought-provoking. This really is the ideal type of show to blog in my opinion, so now I need to get out of the habit of trying to write about all the shows I like. But then again, that’s something I really can’t help. Ah, and if you still don’t know, Kyoto Animation has announced that they will be doing the Clannad anime. This will probably occur around this time next year. Starting next month, we’ll have the slapstick Lucky Star anime to enjoy by KyoAni, while this fall will be occupied by the glorious return of Suzumiya Haruhi (both of which I will surely watch)!
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Timings Based on the [a.f.k.] Fansubs:
[16:54] Human Makoto( the Kitsune one) was on Momomi Hill as Ayu talked about the seasons.
[16:56] Amano Mishio cameo.
[22:08] Kitsune Makoto
Cheers.
mm very good show (:
happy ending for all , but still maybe i grab some time someday and watch the old kanon
and that little trailer for clannad on the end made me want to watch it 2..
nasty commercial stuff ;p
I agree. Ayu is far too loli for a pimp like Yuuichi. But that aside, I think that Kanon has made me adore all of its characters, so even if Ayu is not ideal in my opinion, it is still very pleasing to watch and does definitely not effect the show in a negative way.
KyoAni seem to be suddenly on fire in the past few years. I know they have been around for decades, but I have only noticed them since the release of Air. Prior to that, I don’t think they released any good anime at all. However recently, every one of their releases has been an absolute masterpiece. Full Metal Panic: Fumoffu has become my favourity comedy, Melancholy of Haurhi Suzumiya bring one of my favourite all-timers, and Kanon being the best anime I have seen so far.
I sure hope they can keep this quality up and release Clannad and SHnY season2 with equal, if not better, perfection.
But yeah, Kanon rox.
Watching this and seeing the background quality, I had to stop and check the file name to make sure I wasnt watching Byousoku 5cm. The quality jump was just insane.
I’m going to agree with RevyFTW with that. The reason behind this is probably that the first 23 episodes were 99% set in Snow White, which I believe doesn’t require as much detail as Spring.
Seeing the Spring this episode is marvelous!
btw, I agree that Nayuki should have been the one (my fav), but Ayu was already chosen, mah, only in dreams.
Cheers ^^
“the show treats life more realistically in the sense that you can’t have everything you want it to be. Essentially, you win some; you lose some.”
This particular perspective is one that never fails to perplex me. ‘You win some, you lose some’ _isn’t_ a ‘realistic portrayal of life’ - it’s a platitude uttered in the aftermath of a loss engendered by the need to rob disaster of its sting. People tell themselves ‘you win some, you lose some’ because they’ve just lost and they want to try to let go of the negative emotions that naturally arise from that loss by convincing themselves that the nature of life meant that they had to suffer it. But though it’s a comforting thing to say to oneself when things aren’t going well, there’s really no reason why it needs to be true - there are plenty of people of whom it is not true, the scope of whose victories make their defeats dwindle into insignificance, and others on the other end of the scale, who experience nothing but loss and hardship for the course of their entire lives. To criticise a work of fiction because it portrays the former instead of the latter seems a bit petty, to me.
As a matter of personal preference, I actually prefer the muted qualified victory to the all-out sunshine-and-blue-skies finish, but I don’t think the one is any more or less realistic than the other. Quite frankly, it irritates me when people try to justify a preference for semi happy or sad endings by claiming that they are more realistic than happy ones. They aren’t.
*Cough* Sorry, pet peeve. In any case, on the subject issue of the perfect girl for Yuuichi, I agree that it isn’t really Ayu, but I don’t think it’s Nayuki either. Of all the girls that Yuuichi finds himself involved with, I would have to say his relationship with Nayuki is the most one-sided and the least likely to translate effectively into a long term romantic relationship. It isn’t even a particularly caring relationship - it’s a relationship where she dotes on him and he laughs at her, using her ignorance, her inability to understand when he is being serious or sarcastic, and her occasionally slow wittedness for his own amusement. She is just not a priority for him - she’s the girl he spends time with when the other girls are occupied, or when he’s got nothing better to do with his time - and her story in the game reflects that. Locking onto Nayuki’s path involves eliminating, one by one, the other girls from the Kanon story, until Yuuichi’s all alone and only has Nayuki left to talk to.
That really doesn’t seem like a good basis for any kind of relationship, to me. Much better Shiori, who is quick enough to keep up with Yuuichi’s jibes and teasing, or Mai, who interests him sufficiently to provoke him to make midnight trips to school with food in tow.
Ok Tim, let me rephrase that. I am really only talking about the average person who is living in a second/first world society. I would call living in Japan being average enough. And for the majority of people, the idiom ‘you win some, you lose some’ does apply. It is only natural for it to happen, so yes i know for some it doesn’t, but that’s why it becomes abnormal. ‘win’ and ‘lose’ is simply a broad term used to refer to positive and negative aspects of your life. No matter how small though, you will have some negative and positive things in your life. I hope you understand where I’m getting at Tim. Like I could say that, if Yuuichi was 1.8 meters tall, it would be abnormal and I dont like him (this is a WHAT IF). But then of course there do exist Japanese/Asian people who are that tall, but the average is lower. This is one reason why ‘kids’ shows are called ‘kids’ shows because the main characters _always_ win in the end. But let’s not get into that, it’s irrelevant.
Craapp my 1page comment got cut off for some reason damit x.x Well I also made an argument against Nayuki x Yuuichi but Tim explains it sufficantly enough for me to not have to repost it.
K since I’m pissed I’ll just condense what I tried to say before. I thought the ending was great, nice conclusive and appropriate despite the abundence of miracles and that a Nayuki ending where everyone dies, while nice for Nayuki would screw over the many fans of the other characters and due to the large amount of Ayu fans in Japan I knew they’d go with Ayu’s ending.
The main thing I like was that they didn’t screw up Mai’s end like they did in Toei’s seeing as shes my favorite Kanon character (Mai x Yuuichi yay oh well that’s the same as wishing for a Nayuki ending) I have nothing against Nayuki, in fact she’s also one of my favorite characters and I like her alot but a Nayuki centric ending would have felt wierd imo. Ayu doesn’t seem like Soul mate material but neither does Nayuki so oh well
Although if I was him I’d pick the more attractive one but hey I guess Yuuichi likes lolis?
well flamestrike they shud’ve gone for a ‘all dies except ayu’ ending…it doesnt really matter to me who yuuichi ends up with, as long as more people die (no not heartless, i just like my entertainment more entertaining :-D)
@Danny
Well yes - I know. But we’re talking about endings - about resolutions to extended periods of stress - and not lifetimes, or even a large portions of life times. Yuuichi’s life is not one from which negativity is absent - he is just a person who manages to resolve the few conflicts we see him face in a positive manner.
I really don’t see anything unusual, let alone realistic, about that. When one views an individual faced with a problem in their life, one would generally consider that if they were positive about their chances they had a reasonable chance of happily resolving it. Why should it be any different for fiction? It’s not as though we got a ‘Yuuichi and Ayu win the lottery, open a business and monopolise taiyaki sales in Japan, have 13 children and live happily ever after’ ending - we just got an ending where the various conflicts present during the series resolved themselves happily. Where the protagonist encountered a group of girls with problems, and helped them to each resolve those problems. I don’t really think that’s an unusual outcome, let alone an unrealistic one.
the ‘unusual’ part is how shiori is suddenly alive, how ayu woke up, how akiko is fine after being in critical condition etc. sure, it CAN happen, but unlikely, so thats what i dont like about it. im not saying its wrong, im just expressing my opinion
omg. i love Kanon, i’m so happy that yuuichi and ayu had a happy ending! now i’m sad that Kanon’s over. omg! but then there’s CLANNAD!!! i can’t wait until that anime series is out and they also have a CLANNAD movie like AIR, it retells the series! yay!
@Danny
One would generally think that it is more unusual for a comatose person to walk around whilst still comatose than for them to actually wake up. As soon as the series didn’t end with the second last episode, it should have been obvious that she was going to return for a happy ending; not having her return would have left too many plot devices in her story working without a purpose, and having her return only to promptly leave again would smack of the ridiculous after already having two tearful final farewells. I still fail to see how all of this is any less realistic, or unusual, than the Air conclusion. Realism is implicit in neither series; why is the Air ending more realistic because it doesn’t end happily? More to the point: would it really have made the Air conclusion more unreal if Misuzu had survived and found a way to overcome her curse and retain her life? Would it have made Kanon any less fantastical if Shiori had been polished off in the final episode?
With regards to Akiko and Shiori - what smacks of unreality is not their survival, but the fact that the series omits the recovery period. I do not know what the mortality rate is for hit and run victims who do not die on the spot, but I imagine they would be decent. Similarly, irrespective of the supposed seriousness of Shiori’s condition, her sickness never manifests itself in any physical frailty or even any symptoms we’re privy to. To add to that, we’ve been told for the last three or four episodes that she’s still alive and kicking.
nothing is perfect, but Kanon comes as close as anime can… it is only personal preference what is that lacking point, but as everybody has own preferred girl, no agreement is possible here…
ok Tim, youre blowing this way out of proportion. Let me make this simple and clear:
I did not like the ending because everyone survived.
That is the final statement. I’m not going to try and justify it or give reasons, that’s just how it is. I’m not saying the ending is bad because everyone survived, it’s just a personal opinion. And sure, to the whole concept of the story, the ending would be pretty realistic. However, people have their preferences of realism. For example, imagine a show like Bleach (doesn’t matter if you watch it or not), where everyone can move around at lightning speeds, shoot beams out of their swords etc. Of course this is unrealistic, but then there will be times I will start complaining because someone got stabbed five times yet is still able to live. It probably isn’t as unrealistic as the whole concept of the show, but according to my own preferences, it just doesn’t work.
I’m not trying to argue about whether the ending is realistic or not. It doesn’t really matter. The only thing I was trying to say was that I didn’t like the ending. Simple.
I’m sorry I appear to have offended you. I am not, nor have I ever been, taking issue with your preference for semi-sad endings (which I actually happen to share). It is just that you attempted to justify that preference in your original post as an aspect of realism:
‘the show [Air] treats life more realistically in the sense that you can’t have everything you want it to be. Essentially, you win some; you lose some.’
It’s a trend I notice amongst anime bloggers, and really, reviewers in general; bittersweet endings get higher praise because ‘they’re more realistic’, and it quite frankly irritates me. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with liking sad endings better than happy ones; I just don’t like it when that preference is justified in absolute terms; it belittles the viewers who prefer the happy endings by suggesting that the sad ones are in some way empirically superior. It claims for the sad ending a majority vote, when really, I think in most instances the opposite is probably true.
Arh… What a great anime. From the storyline to characters design..everything is awesome. After Kanon 2006, I kinda hoping to see the previous 2002 version. Anyone seen it b4?
Show Spoiler ▼
Great anime, though I have heaps of questions re. Ayu, and if anyone can help clarify them, it’d be great:
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hope the questions make sense.
@ Fastcud
Dang, it would take an entire essay to answer ur questions … OTZ
Just a few main points:
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Hope that helps =)
Thanks Nightingale, makes a lot more sense now.
And for those who haven’t seen Kanon, watch it!
I just watched the entire thing in one sitting on my day off. I just happened upon this anime while poking around for something interesting online. Although it started out slow, It was one of the most emotional and thought provoking anime I’ve seen. The ending was very realistic in the context of the moral of the story, which revolves around promises and miracles.
But i found it tucked away somewhere after an hour of frantic searching and a little praying 
Oh and just a note. How’d you like to get thru 23 and ONE HALF episodes of this series..and right around the ayu montage, the video cut off. No other ones to be found in english…I nearly thru myself off a cliff
Nayuki Nayuki Nayuki! You can put your opinions a couple times, but making the whole thing a huge rant is ridiculous! You did a great job with the screencaps and everything, but instead of comparing it to Air(which was a really great show) and complaining about the pairings again and again, talk more about the actually show. Kanon’s too good to rant about… Sorry, I just got annoyed. I love Ayu, and I usually dislike the cousins who try to get in the main characters way, although Nayuki was the best cousin/lover character I’ve ever seen.. Your still mad aren’t you.. Heh heh
I didn’t read all the way through this one, you did a good job blogging it. I just noticed how much complaining you did on the other blogs and thought you were going to do it all through this one when i saw the begining. Gomen
NAYUKI = LOVE
NAYUKI = # 1
NAYUKI = my favourite character of all time
NAYUKI = LOVE
NAYUKI = # 1
NAYUKI = my favourite character of all time
Ayu is annoying, why would any guy like someone who looks like and acts like a 7 year old?
Whoah, whoah, whoah.
Nayuki was my favorite character too but we’re starting to sound a little callous and opinionated. To each his own. There are some Ayu fans out there and I’m just looking out for the little guy.
Any way great series. Just rewatched it after about a year, although it doesn’t have exactly amazing replay value. Didn’t hate any of the characters. Yuuichi’s a pimp. Nayuki ftw. And I was really hoping for polygamy as an ending >
>
Ok I think the closed eyes expression is doing it. *continuing*
And I was really hoping for polygamy as an ending, but it would probably ruin that unique Kanon charm.