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Anime DVD Review

Kanon Vol. 1 – Anime DVD Review

kanon-1-dvd-cover.jpg

Hey, it’s Kanon! Again! It’s a good thing that I like Kanon, and don’t mind watching it over and over and over again. Here’s to more Uguu~ in 2008!

kanon-1-dvd-cover.jpg

Hey, it’s Kanon! Again! It’s a good thing that I like Kanon, and don’t mind watching it over and over and over again. Here’s to more Uguu~ in 2008!

Synopsis:
It’s been seven years since Yuuchi was last home in Japan. As he settles into a new school and a new routine, Yuuchi reconnects with his cute cousin Nayuki and all the other girls he knew so well as a child. But a lot of time has passed since those days, and these aren’t the same innocent little girls he left so long ago…

Analysis:
Yuuichi has a severe case of amnesia. At least he got that chin job that he severely needed from the previous Kanon series. Upon returning to his childhood town, he starts remembering things. And unearthing facts about his past that he might not want to remember.

But this isn’t some paranormal thriller, or at least, we haven’t reached that part yet. In volume 1, we get a bunch of fun fluff with the introduction of all the ladies of Kanon. There’s Nayuki, Yuuichi’s moe cousin, Nayuki’s hot mom (who isn’t technically a “lady” of Kanon, but I think she should be!), Ayu Ayu, the moe bokukko who steals Taiyaki by day, Shiori, the moe sick girl, Mai, the moe silent type, and Makoto, the moe tsundere.

You’ll notice that almost all the girls (besides Nayuki’s mom) were described as moe. It’s true. As I rewatch these episodes I get the “MOEEEE” feeling pretty much non-stop. And that is the sign of a great anime. All the girls are different, yet moe. I think Kanon actually expended most of the moe archetypes (some of which I can’t really go into since they’d be spoilers, though I’m not sure who I’d be spoiling at this point).

I can’t figure out which is my favorite. I mean, Nayuki should probably win for outright moeness, if not for that darned Ayu and her childhood friend connection. Though Ayu really is super cute with her uguu~. But Mai is so cool! And Shiori is so sick! Of course, this is why they make the visual novels with choices, so you can play through all of the scenarios. I should really stop discussing the moeness of the characters and get back to this review.

Kanon is good. I don’t know what else to say. The humor is light, the animation is good (though there are some Initial D style CG cars for some reason) and this will probably be the “happiest” volume for a while. Yes, I’ll do some foreshadowing and say the series gets really sad, starting pretty soon. So it’s nice to have some fluffy stuff to start out with.

The Actual DVD:
I watched the dubbed version of Kanon until I couldn’t stand it anymore, then switching whenever a new character showed up so I could hear the voice. For the most part, the characters in the English dub just sound really wrong. Yuuichi sounds like Batman most of the time, and Nayuki fails in cuteness compared to her Japanese VA. Ayu sounds okay, though still a little too old. At least they kept all of the “uguu~s” in. I think Mai is okay, too, but that’s about it.

There’s a behind the scenes extra that goes into the making of Kanon. This means a look at Kyoto Animation! Their director sports a pretty impressive afro (for an Asian guy). I think it’s the source of their success. The afro, not the guy.

Conclusion:
If you’ve never seen Kanon before, there’s something wrong with you and you should see it right now. If you have seen Kanon before, then good. The original giant cheek Kanon was one of my first (and favorite) series, and this updated version actually improves on it in a lot of ways.

Many thanks to ADV Films for sending me a review copy of Kanon Volume 1!

8 replies on “Kanon Vol. 1 – Anime DVD Review”

You gotta remember, back then anime wasn’t as fancy as it is now. It was poorly animated, and we liked it that way!

The old Kanon still had a good story, as does the new Kanon.

i just started watching this anime and it looks good so far nice review it makes me want to watch it more now 🙂

Great blog i just found it today! I also blog about anime 😀

Old Kanon also still holds a place in my heart as well.

But I’ve got to admit, it’s also very odd when the English dubs leave in those phrases like “uguu” or “gao” in Air. It just never sounds right like that.

I too was shocked when they decided to redo Kanon, but given the original was 13 episodes and the new one 24 episodes, they did actually cover a lot more story. I too also enjoyed the new Kanon a lot, though I’m not sure I can really pick out which one is better.

I don’t think there’s been one Key anime produced that I have not shed a tear for. The latest of course being Clannad.

Uguu Power!

when i first found out about kanon i searched it n found kanon 2006…then i saw 2002 version too….but after watching the first episodes of both kanons, i like to watch kanon 2006!!!…i dno y but i think its the quality of the anime that made me watch it…or it may be the cute girls in it xD but i did get tears while watching kanon T_T….so i think i like kanon 2006 better!!! i didnt watch the full kanon 2002 because i think it was telling the same story 🙂 and i like to picture kanon in my head as the 2006 version 🙂

das my opinion! 😀

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