FreezeFrame: Kanon Mystique October 7
…I just don’t get it.
The uncharacteristically short girls with gigantic chins, the mouths way too close to their noses, and that freak tendency to stand in random locations such to allow as much wind to blow through their intricately animated hair as possible. Oh, and the proverbial “call of moe” that never fails to dupe unsuspecting audiences. Uguuuuu~
Yea, you know what I’m talking about – that one show that everybody’s been talking about, the one getting subbed by 50 groups and blogged by another 200. Its predecessor was the originator of “uguu”, later evolving into some cult-status t-shirt reading “gao gao stegosaur”, which somehow was enough of a hit to prompt the production of a full-blown 24 episode remake of the original.
WHY?
As I’ve been trying to explore in the FreezeFrame column, some shows are just fantastically memorable, having that inherent quality of being “timeless”. Add recent successes Ouran and Suzumiya Haruhi to that list – both of those shows did so much and did them to perfection, striking a perfect balance between humor, drama, and character development, along with great character design, animation, and voice acting.
Apparently Kanon was memorable enough to warrant a remake from juggernaut studio Kyoto Animation.
I watched about half of the original Kanon before I got tired of the taste of puke in my mouth. I lasted through the entirety of AIR, my fingernails completely worn down after continuously clawing away at my desk in torturous pain.
I tried to understand it, I really did. Kanon and AIR were good at setting a mood and sticking to it, but they completely failed at drawing me in. I got tired of watching these toddlers whining, crying, bumping into unsuspecting single guys with amnesia for no particular reason. Every episode. And how the hell does the wind blow through their hair when they gigantihumongormous chins are redirecting all air flow? Wait…who the hell cares?
I realize that it’s supposedly an otakian wetdream to be thrown into a small town with pixilated prepubescent honeys throwing themselves at your feet, but there are other shows that do this much better. SHUFFLE, Suzuka, Da Capo (pure trash but at least their chins were proportional) – even that animation travesty ICHIGO 100% was more enjoyable.
Is Kanon 2006 different? The seiyuu work is excellent, the animation strong, the chins have been downsized – but the formula is still essentially the same. A rehash of the original, twice the fun with 24 episodes. That’s not to say remakes don’t work - on the contrary, the beginning of Futakoi Alternative and the new Negima series pull it off quite well, but these shows brought something new to the table. While I doubt the prospects of Kanon Seed Destiny, it would be nice to see the story retold from a different perspective or placed in a different setting.
Maybe I’ll finally understand it the second time around. In the meantime, can somebody please explain the appeal of this show?
-Jaalin
Omni’s Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of Jaalin and do not necessarily reflect my own opinions.
Ero at 5:56 pm on October 7th, 2006
30 minutes remeaning to Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori
MG at 5:58 pm on October 7th, 2006
So… after all the waiting… this show really disappoint
you that much?
lolikit at 6:00 pm on October 7th, 2006
>>(pure trash but at least their chins were proportional)
Were they really?
It’s “just another art style”… anime is full of different styles and that’s one of the things about it that makes it as interesting as it is. Of course not every artist uses the same style. And there’s no one style that’s “the best” in technical terms. Anime is not proportional. Chins, necks, noses, eyes- what have you, it’s never going to add up right. The chins in Da Capo weren’t “proportional”. Eyes in anime, while rarely as large as those in the two Key animes Kyoto Animation has done, are almost always ridiculously large and disproportionate. No matter where you go, there will be problems. Inconsistencies with real life. Because anime is not realistic.
>>it would be nice to see the story retold from a different perspective or placed in a different setting.
Isn’t that what just about every show in genre has been since 2002?
jojo at 6:02 pm on October 7th, 2006
I see what you mean and I agree with you !!!
jaalin at 6:14 pm on October 7th, 2006
>> Isn’t that what just about every show in genre has been since 2002?
lol! good stuff lolikit.
in regards to the chins, what you say is indeed true, but i believe that anime has since established its own standards and norms as to proportions - why is there a general consensus that tenshi na konamaiki character designs suck? as a closer comparison, haruhi char designs also featured in some places a facial design similar to kanon’s - but why do we hear no talk of big chins in that show, but rather how great the char designs were? it’s cuz it wasnt THAT obvious and it fit well with the rest of the art of the show.
regardless, in the scope of anime, it just doesn’t look “normal”, and i personally don’t think it’s all that cute. for shows like kanon, i believe the cuteness/moe factor is a major aspect in drawing fans - and while their personalities and voices may be as cute as can get, the character designs don’t hold up their end. so whats left to appeal to audiences? the impeccable hair animations?
Kaito at 6:15 pm on October 7th, 2006
lol, strongly opinionated eh?
terelildevil at 6:15 pm on October 7th, 2006
LOL yeah, yeah,yeah there is always something that gets to people, and i guess uncharacteristically short girls with gigantic chins, who’s mouths are way too close to their noses, and the freaky tendency to stand in random locations to get wind to blow through their intricately animated hair is the thing that gets you lol!!!
*Chi* at 6:17 pm on October 7th, 2006
Everyone has his/her favourite show. That’s how it is Jaalin. It’s not a shame, if you don’t like, or get the point of a popular show.
For me i.e. it was Fate/ stay night which was quite ‘OK’, but not more and nothing against Mai Otome.
For myself, Air or Kanon are special, because the stories told there remember me somehow of my dreams and feelings. And to be honest, I was also bored in the first anime of Kanon although I like the game. The one and only reason I’m watching this remake, is because it’s by Kyo Ani, so the same company which did Air, which I really love.
The one say it’s cute, the others it’s nice and heart warming.
You are attracted to an anime because of your own feelings, dreams and opinions.
That’s how it is. So, do you really like it after all or is it just the pressure of the majority?
tensai_otaku at 6:26 pm on October 7th, 2006
WHO cares to other opinions if they don´t affect YOUR opinion!!!
-> 
So my answer to that article to every anime( harem and similars) is :
If your an OTAKU lord like I am I´d say:
” yes he has got a point ”
but hey I am an OTAKU lord…I am tensai…and that´s what matters so…:
” Hey I LOVE EVERY SINGLE ANIME THAT COMES OUT “That´s why I am like a lord I DO need to be benevolent to my sheeps around the otaku world
” MOEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! MORE MOEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! ”
Tofu at 6:28 pm on October 7th, 2006
Kanon Seed Destiny LOL
This just became my favorite Anime Blog. The best coverage AND a tasteful opinion. Da Capo was the only one barely memorable out of the bunch. FanGrrls like Kanon because it is the only show they can copy the crappy drawing style from. The rest actually require some talent.
wildarmsheero at 6:29 pm on October 7th, 2006
Ouran is a perfect example of shitty shoujo trash.
p00kie at 6:30 pm on October 7th, 2006
Quote 922: [02:54] tonagura is crap [02:54] thats what makes it good! [02:54] now we know why JaaLin watches all the series he does ;o
AznSoulBoy at 6:45 pm on October 7th, 2006
Personally, u got a point somehow but I dont like it.
Kaito at 6:46 pm on October 7th, 2006
btw Omni, isn’t is about time you put a link to the Fall 2006 Schedule on the main page somewhere?
It still shows the Summer 2006 Schedule link on the navigation column on the right. =P
Omni at 6:47 pm on October 7th, 2006
Not until I decide on exactly which shows I’m following. Probably sometime in the next week.
Rasmiel at 6:55 pm on October 7th, 2006
You are not going to understand any better the second time if you didn’t the first time. 500% better animation quality won’t change that.
I myself tried to watch Ergo Proxy to the end because I didn’t want to waste that awesome animation quality. I really did. But in the end, none of the episode made me stay awake for more than 10 minutes. It was the same with Ghost in the Shell series. To me, they are all “Once upon a time in a dark and screwed up world” kind of series, which I happen to hate.
Maybe you don’t like thinking about meanings of life and death while watching an anime where the characters keep on talking about their past and throw around rhetorical questions. Chi already said it. There’s no need to try and understand what the fuss is about. If you don’t find it as interesting as others do, it just means you have a different taste.
And no, otaku’s don’t necessarily watch animes like AIR and Kanon because of moe…Like somebody implied.
Vyse at 6:55 pm on October 7th, 2006
In the meantime, can somebody please explain the appeal of this show?
I’d love to know the answer to that question too. The old show had zero appeal whatsoever, and I fail to see how better animation and drawing are going to make the same boring story interesting. Beats me.
danny at 7:01 pm on October 7th, 2006
The original Kannon(2002) is way overrated. I watched it about two years ago and it was decent but nothing special. I never understood why people talked about it so much. It had many plot holes and the ending was iffy. The Ayu revelation scene that everyone seemed to love I thought was done very badly. I see no point in a remake.
Drayen at 7:05 pm on October 7th, 2006
Yeah, gotta agree they try too hard to make the girls “cute” and its rather disturbing.
However, where kanon win isnt there (duh), its in the drama, the really sad little stories, thats where it really wins, and compared to pure shit shows like suzukua, da capo and shuffle, the drama isnt, like, RETARDED AS HELL DRAMA ABOUT DUMB MISUNDERSTANDINGS AND IDIOCITY that have been repeated in every single godamn show, so its actually interesting.
As far as i know, kanon was the only show that won at drama for me, air was good too but nowhere close to kanon, where the real stuff starts after half the episodes that you skipped ;p
danny at 7:09 pm on October 7th, 2006
wildarmshero I am with you brother. I am a HUGE HUGE fan of shoujo and avoid shounen like the plague but even I thought Strawberry Panic and Ouran which both aired last season to be some of the worst anime in a long time. There was some great shoujo shows last season though like Bokura ga Ita which is amazing. It has pushed me down a hole and asked me to put lotion on my skin. Yes, that good.