You know what comes to my mind when I see Kyoto Animation mentioned? Two things – the first one is Full Metal Panic:Fumoffu which is one of the best anime comedies ever. But the second one is more relevant – the phrase that comes into my mind is “what a waste of great animation”. First, it was The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi and now Kanon. And while I found Suzumiya Haruhi to be merely a mediocre series that I might one day actually watch to the end, Kanon is mystifyingly bad. I say mystifyingly because apparently everyone but me loves it and all I see in it is a stupid harem show that needs this great animation quality as much as car stuck in a traffic jam needs a 500 horse power engine. It’s not fun at all, it is so moe-ish that I think I got a nearly deadly dose of moe after just two episodes. Most importantly – will I live to see the day when high school girls behaving like little kids all the time will be considered stupid and annoying by the majority of anime fandom rather than cute and endearing as it seems to be the case now?
I have watched only the first two episodes of Kanon (2006), so feel free to yell “It gets so much better, you blasphemer” but I can’t help but write my impressions which are anything but positive. So far the only thing that seems to happen is that Yuuichi, the main character who is an absolute clone of the already boring Kyon of Suzumiya Haruhi, bumps into random girls, most of whom he has known from before. But the poor soul suffers from amnesia. Oh, god, amnesia is so beaten to death but that’s hardly the main problem. The main problem is that the series bores me to tears – nothing interesting happens, if we don’t count the girls from Yuuichi’s future harem trying to look ever cuter dumber and more childish – but that’s hardly interesting, is it? All kinds of annoying antics, expressions and noises (I still can’t believe people are crazy about “uguu!”) are used to achieve this goal. Oh, well it was achieved too well in my case, I have rarely been wishing for the painful death of all the main characters after watching only two episodes. In the case of Nayuki, I demand not only slow death but also eternal damnation in the depths of Hell. If I can hear one more time her ubiqutious “Uhm!”( or however this sound expressing agreement is spelled, you know what I am talking about) I might just go mad. And the way she says “Yuuichi” is probably a joy for all the lolicons out there but I can’t stand it. Moral of the story – Haruhi from Happiness!, who is totally moe high school student as well, is a mature adult when compared to the Kanon girls we have seen thus far.
The million and one cliches (transfer student, amnesia, childhood promise, etc) and non-existent plot aside, there is another drawback – the character designs! What’s the fucking point of having such awesome backgrounds series when the girls (let’s face it, they are supposed to be the thing that sells such series to the fans) are not attractive at all? In fact, the beautful scenery just makes them look even more plain. Even if we assume that Kanon is a highly intellectual show with a moving story (who knows, it might well be but I don’t intend to watch it to find out) and not a silly harem comedy, the character designs still stick like a sore thumb among all the beatifully drawn buildings and lanscapes.
I am aware that this short rant will hardly convince anyone and that the KyoAni worship seems to be a dangerous infectious disease these days (just kidding, of course) but I just felt like writing this. But I can honestly say that I find Happiness! to be many, many times better than Kanon and the former is not even that special. It’s just a romantic comedy that is actually funny and enjoyable, despite being full of cliches. Anyway, I hope next time Kyoto Animation pick a watchable show which to remake. But who knows, maybe I just don’t like the way they do their job so even if they make a remake of Noir and change only the art, I might be disappointed once again. 
November 4, 2006 at 9:01 am
DESUDESUDESUDESUDESUDESUDES..
Ah heck.
November 4, 2006 at 9:06 am
The thing is, Kanon is not a harem anime. ^^; It is based on a dating-sim game, but the main purpose( even in the game itself) was never about scoring with the girls, but finding out about their problems and helping them resolve their issues. You’re getting a wrong impression if you think that Kanon is only about the ‘moe’.
I stress on this point. Kanon is a favourite because of its’ storyline, not because of the girls’ ‘moe-ness’. You will what I mean when Kanon starts revealing more in the future episodes. The reaction from the anime community should prove interesting.
As for character design, well… it is based on the game’s own design. KyoAni has actually beautified it, if you can( or want to) believe it.
As for Yuuichi’s ‘lack of memory’, how much do you remember from your own childhood, when you were 8-9 years old?
In fact, how much do you remember from when you were 5-6 years old? I ask this, because these are the two important timelines in Yuuichi’s past.
Cheers.
November 4, 2006 at 10:57 am
All those ‘uguu’ and other phrases could be cute, but they totally overused that aspect. Misuzu in Air didn’t use ‘Gao’ with every sentence and managed to keep it somewhat fresh while here half of the female cast seem to use their own phrase too much. There is a limit for everything.
November 4, 2006 at 12:05 pm
It is true that Happiness is an awesome show, many times more than Kanon. And it is true that Kyoani has a Midas touch that turned the mediocre Haruhi novels into a totally amazing anime series. It is also true that if Kyoani did more sci-fi and less of these girly stuff I would worship them.
November 4, 2006 at 1:43 pm
well, i wouldn’t say kanon is good for now, for it is just a normal, average anime at the very least. I do disagree on the Happiness! verdict because I felt that in comparison, the weakness and lack of character for the leads completely killed the show.
I mean, when the most recognisable character is in fact a very side character, it tells quite a bit about the show. At least, in the character aspect, kanon is pretty decent.
Might get better too, but everyone has their own views ^+^
November 4, 2006 at 6:15 pm
“You’re getting a wrong impression if you think that Kanon is only about the ‘moe’.”
This impression seems absolutely inevitable to me if one has watched only the beginning of this series without knowing anything about the game or the previous Kanon series. OK, maybe the impression is that it is not “only” about the moe but 90% about the moe, I can concede this point. And anyway, the attempts to show some meaningful flashbacks seemed even more boring than the moe fest to me so I guess I would have hated the serious parts too.
“As for Yuuichi’s ‘lack of memory’, how much do you remember from your own childhood, when you were 8-9 years old? ”
I do remember at least the faces of my friends but that’s not really the point. How can the girls remember and Yuuichi cannot if it’s about kids not being able to remember well in general? But even if the plot of the series is brilliant (something which I have great difficulties to believe) it would still be a failure to me unless the characters improve drastically but I don’t think there is any chance they will lose their over the top moe-ness so that won’t happen. It’s not my cup of tea, that’s all. These days I tend to stay away from series that lack characters I can emphatise with, no matter how promising the plot might be or how awesome the art is. There is just too much anime to choose from, so my tolerance is running low.
“As for character design, well… it is based on the game’s own design.”
I know. That doesn’t change my negative opinion about it. Bad character design is still a bad character design, regardless of who has created it.
November 4, 2006 at 6:33 pm
I totally agree with you and am relieved that I´m not the only one thinking this way.
The over-moe-ness and bad Chara-design makes me want to kill them painfully, too and the “Plot” is, like you said, stupid and full of clichees.
Thank you for your posting on the anime, it made me smile ^_^
November 4, 2006 at 6:38 pm
Wow, that was some harsh stuff, Matrim :heh:
For what it’s worth, I tend to lump my anime characters into two categories: fictional representations of people and characters. Kinda self-explanatory, so I’ll just add that characters belonging to the latter side don’t come with the same expectations of behavior of the former. I don’t expect them to behave like real people do, and the fact that they don’t is kinda the whole point. If that doesn’t do it for ya, then I guess that’s fair, though. Some people only like realistic characters and some only like ‘characters.’
And, considering that Kanon is the material that spawned all the cliche mediocre bishoujo series, it seems pretty unfair to call Kanon “cliche.”
Oh well. If it’s not your thing, it’s not your thing, I guess.
November 4, 2006 at 7:06 pm
I don’t always want realistic behaviour – if you have seen Happiness! or FMP:Fumoffu or basically any comedy for that matter, you must have noticed that their characters are not realistic either. But they don’t bring in me the desire to see them tortured to death, just to put them out of their misery.
As for the cliches – I am not talking only about bishoujo ones, I am talking about more common ones like childhood promise (Love Hina anyone?), transfer student cliche and so on. But cliches are not a stumbling block per se – Mai-HiME is chock full of cliches and I love it still. But when everyone is raving about a series I expect to see something more than cliches and moeness. I am sure there is more but if it wasn’t for the whole hype, I would have hardly finished the first episode, let alone the second – Kanon just failed to keep me interested to see what will happen next. Neither the characters, nor the plot intrigue me in the least. Why should keep on watching except for the dubious joy of bashing every episode?
November 6, 2006 at 2:50 am
Nobody needs 500hp in their cars. Heck few people need even 300hp. But people have it even when they’re just driving to work or taking a stroll to show it off. The market for that stuff is alive and well.
I wouldn’t even say “you don’t get it.” It’s more like you don’t even try. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with not liking Kanon, because it is a genre/era piece; a remake. It’s a harem. But to criticize it for what it isn’t makes no sense.
November 6, 2006 at 4:11 am
Well, if you want to judge a show in the first two episodes, I don’t think you are giving the show much credit that it may deserve. Kanon has a really good plotline, one that is way deeper than AIR if you look at it carefully. But it takes time to get to the different plotlines. AIR took a fast approach to many of the girl’s problems, but Kanon needs time to cultivate it. So, if you don’t mind, watch it until the end than give an opinion please. I do believe Kanon would be worth something at the very end.
November 6, 2006 at 5:09 am
” It’s a harem. But to criticize it for what it isn’t makes no sense.”
What do you mean – “criticizing it for what it isn’t”? I am criticizing it not because it’s not sci-fi or thriller or whatever, I am doing it because from what I have seen it is not good enough even by the standards of its own genre. Or any genre for that matter – I doubt there is a genre in which I can like the anime even if I hate the characters and the plot does not intrigue me at all.
November 7, 2006 at 8:31 am
I’m planning to watch Kanon after it finishes airing. I found the first two episodes slow and boring, too, but the hints of something else look promising. Perhaps it really is the kind of show that needs viewers to stick around longer– those of us who don’t immediately fall for its moe-ness, that is.
November 13, 2006 at 8:09 pm
Good Day Matrim.
Rets and I send our regards to this fine abode of yours.
I was pleased to see your comment on Ret’s entry with regards to Kanon 2006 totally failing at life.
This is war against the KyoAni Infection, they need to do more Haruhi related material and stay away from this harem stuff. Haruhi was a bigger cult hit than this Kanon remake (with Fanboys making up for the viewing bulk).
Its good to see Soldiers like you fighting the good fight. Semper Fi, Matrim.
December 12, 2006 at 9:05 pm
Two episodes? I wasn’t able to even watch the first episode. v.v
December 26, 2006 at 8:12 pm
Everything in the series is really pretty but too far from reality. I agree with you about the fact that none of the girl really act like high school student(more like junior high student for me).
January 15, 2007 at 2:08 am
For the record, Kanon 2006 doesn’t get all that serious until… oh, around episode 6 or 7, I think (when Makoto’s — aka Miss Auu’s — backstory starts getting unraveled.) Beyond that, though, it’s one rather sordid and melancholy story after another, up to and including episode 15 (which is as far as I’ve gotten — as far as the fansubbers have gotten as well.)
But hey, I like this show. Maybe it’s because I’ve been getting into slice-of-lives this latest year and the fact that Kanon, like AIR, was based on games made by Key, and AIR actually took me somewhat by surprise when I watched it first. (I expected it to be bad. It wasn’t.) It also broke me into the over-moe’d character designs, so I could get that down far easier this time around. And, like AIR, this show seems to have deep roots into magics and such, so while I do define it as slice-of-life, I would hardly call it realistic as compared to… oh, Aria or Asatte no Houkou (who features magic and such to a far less degree.)
I don’t really have anything against your opinions as I full well realize that people might be adverse to Kanon’s character designs or pacing, but to call Happiness better than Kanon would probably have made me snort whatever I might have been drinking through my nose.
March 21, 2007 at 9:11 am
Don’t go against the grain even slightly like I did or the fans will try to dice you up on the most baseless of grounds. I respect it somewhat on the grounds that they do eventually try to do some interesting things with the characters, but this does not make up for the fact that beyond attempts and tragic storytelling the characters are little more than archtypes of the type we’ve seen before. Kanon mistakes sudden shock value exposes on the characters for Character Development, when in reality it should be focusing less on overwhelming the viewer with moe. The Animation and music is worthy of a 5/5 as I’ve said and the Voice acting is a 3/5 for Sugita Tomakazu having an annoying voice and the rest of the cast being solid enough to save this section. The characters get a 3/5 for being average and so does the plot, which while moving in some regards is bogged down by what I refer too as Moe antics all too often. So the final series rating for me is a 7/10 regardless of the circumstances which I already explained far to many times. Sheesh I tried to be nice and civil and deferrential about it on those boards and I just keep getting slapped in the face, so I’ve decided to go the Joseph Biden route again.
June 5, 2007 at 1:39 am
asshole… >:(
kanon is no were near boring it is one of the mosr interesting anime series i have watched, hmm although i guess we all have our seperate view’s…
November 24, 2007 at 9:54 am
I enjoyed Kanon 2006. I guess the anime took kinda long to introduce the characters, so the people watching would become attached to the characters to create more of a shock at the peak of the storyline, where the mood suddenly drops. (basically what Northy said.) I just enjoy these drama type animes, so i decided to watch all the similar ones animated by kyo-ani.
It pretty much depends on your interest.
Btw, I personally enjoyed kyo-ani’s drawing styles, but we all have our own opinions. ^-^