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Anime First Impressions

Kanon Remake – Anime First Impressions

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Kanon was one of the first anime that I watched when I started out way back around 2001. It was on every list of “must see anime” and I have a feeling it still is on a lot of lists today. Fast forward to 2006. Kyoto Animation is handling the production of a remake of one of the greatest anime ever! Everyone’s expecting this to be pure win, but is it?

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Kanon was one of the first anime that I watched when I started out way back around 2001. It was on every list of “must see anime” and I have a feeling it still is on a lot of lists today. Fast forward to 2006. Kyoto Animation is handling the production of a remake of one of the greatest anime ever! Everyone’s expecting this to be pure win, but is it?

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Aizawa Yuuichi is returning to a city he often visited when he was young. He hasn’t been back in 7 years. Like many anime protagonists, he suffers from an acute case of memory loss. Perhaps caused by a traumatic event?

Yuuichi will be attending high school in this town until he graduates. Until then, he’s staying with his cousin Nayuki. Nayuki totally wants to get with Yuuichi, but I don’t think he notices at all. In this episode, Nayuki takes Yuuichi on a tour of the town which incidentally includes cameos from all of the other girls in the anime.

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Of course, the most important event of this episode is the meeting between Ayu and Yuuichi. In the course of the first episode, Ayu pretty much wins the “most moe ever award.” Here’s why:

  • Ayu totally glomps Yuuichi while running away from the big bad taiyaki man.
  • Ayu says “uguu~” like a hundred times
  • Ayu refers to herself as “boku.”
  • Ayu spins around like a dog chasing its tail trying to see her backpack wings
  • In a flashback, Yuuichi thinks Ayu’s name is “Ayu Ayu” and Ayu says “Ayu Ayu janai mon~!”

MOEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Basically, this anime is made of pure win. I guess I should also note that since I saw the original anime (and don’t have memory loss skills like Yuuichi), I know where the story is going. And it’s good!

The only other thing I think I should mention is the pacing. This anime is really slow. Like nothing happened besides the Ayu stuff. Since this version is getting 2x the episodes of the original, it’ll probably be twice as slow. This doesn’t bother me at all, though. If the anime decides to take a leisurely pace, I’m all for it. I’d really like to see each character’s story told in more depth this time anyway.

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The most obvious difference between the old Kanon and the remake is the animation quality/character designs. The animation itself is what you’d expect: really awesome. I’m sure that any second now, a website will pop up with the real life counterparts to the locations found in the anime.

I still have the old episodes on a CD somewhere. Back then the only complaint I had was with the super big cheeks of the characters. They’re still too damn big, but they’re about the same as AIR, which was tolerable. It isn’t like they can totally change the designs, since they’re all based on a game.

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The OP fits perfectly with the theme of the anime. Girls eating taiyaki in slow motion? Check. Girls looking sad in the snow? Check. Girls looking wistfully out the window? Check. Pure awesomeness? Check! The ED is slightly less appropriate and has Ayu running in the snow for a minute and a half.

Download the OP: “Last regrets” by Ayana
Download the ED: “Kaze no Tadori Tsuku Basho” by Ayana

As a special service to my readers, I’ll also include the videos for the OP and ED since my host gives me way too much bandwidth:

OP – Last regrets by Ayana

ED – Kaze no Tadori Tsuku Basho by Ayana

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Kyoto Animation has taken an awesome anime and somehow made it awesomer. Ayu is just oozing moe. Seriously, I dunno if she was that cute in the first series, but this one is almost coma-inducing with the moeness. I’m yelling “MOEEEE” like an Ouran High School Host Club patron every time Ayu does something.

If you only watch one anime this season, there’s something terribly wrong with you. Get help, and make that one anime Kanon.

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12 replies on “Kanon Remake – Anime First Impressions”

As i always say, Akiko > everyone. Sadly, everyone also includes Ayu, awww.

lolol, anyway, oddly enough the parts im looking most forward to seeing in the anime are really random and unimportant. Namely, when Makoto makes a bath of curry and defiantely Akiko’s jam being introduced to all the non-gamers. I think they should sell it…i’d buy it, hell, i’d even risk my life eating it every morning. But yeah, i dont see how theres anywhere but up to go with a remake of something already amazing.

Yay, Kanon!

Considering the music is from the game, yeah, it fits -perfectly-. I totally dig how the music is played during the same scenes in the show that it’s played in the game and whatnot. Way cool~

Another nice touch was having Canon by Johann Pachelbel play in the background in the shop that Ayu drags Yuuichi into. Something for us classical music nerds to smile about~

So far, Kyonon (this short-name doesn’t really work, does it?) seems to be hitting all the marks very well. KyoAni has breathed new life into this series~

In other news, Ayu chases taiyaki~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi84itng8OY

Is that where the music is from? I was wondering about why it sounded so gamish. Solid.
Ayu eating taiyaki in slowmo is FANTASTIC! *nibble nibble* haha
Nice video inclusion!

When I heard Yuuichi’s voice, I started to expect the entire anime to be narrated. I couldn’t figure out why until I realized the voice actor also was Kyon from “Suzumiya Haruhi”.

Well, over at AnimeSuki, the term of affection is Kyuuichi. There are also a bunch of parody videos on Tokyo Toshokan titled, “Tsukimiya Ayu no Taikutsu”, in which they inserted the audio of “The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi”. Rather well done.

Heh, if you couldn’t tell that was Kyon in the first 1/2 of a second …. Then you must not be a MoSH fan…. Based on the first episode there is definatly a lot of Kyon in Yuuichi….

P.S. I took had the urge to yell MOE….. everytime Ayu does something… Her chasing the backpak caused a full system meltdown…. I had to be rebooted to come to my senses….heh

So that’ s what I did wrong. I kept saying “kawaii” instead of “moe”. I’m glad it started off slowly because I’m hoping for a deeper storyline in this run for all of the girls, especially Makoto (and Kaori. Yeah, I know, once a secondary character, always a secondary character). I’ve only seen a few episodes of the Toei version so I only know part of the story. KyoAni’s got the time to tell a good story to go along with its great artwork. Especially if they take their time with the Nayuki, Mai, and Sayuri pile up shown in the Prelude.

the younger nayuki was totally moe too. i think the big ass eyes really make all the girls cute unlike air. i looked at some 2001 comparisons to this remake and the animation is wayy better. i wouldnt have thought ayu was cute even if she said uguu~ like 12 million times =D

>>I’m sure that any second now, a website will pop up with the real life counterparts to the locations found in the anime.

LOL you just gave me an interesting idea to brood on. Just give me enough time to setup my digital camera, photoediting software and a few scrounges from the Net and it’s done. XD

I shall make it my duty to be the only person who does not watch the Kanon remake. It didn’t keep my interest before(I think pacing was my biggest issue). I don’t think it can keep my interest a second time. D:

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