I finally had a chance to watch the last episode of Kanon last night. I had a feeling that, like Air, I wouldn’t understand the ending too well and it would probably leave me with some questions. So after watching episode 24, I’m still a bit confused, but I think I understand the main gist of it. As I said before in my past Kanon reviews, it’s a very beautiful and touching series that gives you more mysteries to contemplate than answers…
After watching all the episodes, my opinion of the series hasn’t really changed too much since I wrote the halfway mark review. The story as a whole was good, certain episodes and character arcs were exceptional, and the animation was top-notch. I can’t really find much to complain about. But one thing is the characters. Personally, I thought they were a bit on the stereotypical side or, as Answerman once put it, “one-dimensional fantasy fulfillment characters designed to be as fragile and subservient as possible.” But even though Nayuki, Shiori, and the rest of the girls were obviously given personalities to appeal to otaku moe-lovers, they were still interesting and likable enough, thanks to how each of their story arcs were brilliantly executed.
Although the Kanon story was well detailed and unique, in order to understand how and why everything happens requires some thinking and attention to subtle details that happen throughout the episodes. Air was exactly the same in that sense, so even if you watch the whole series and understand the main idea of the story, you’ll more than likely be stumped about certain subplots. Some fans like this, because it allows you to use your brain and think, form your own opinions, and debate about what the meaning of things are. Other fans are turned off by this, because the story gets so confusing that it becomes frustrating and almost meaningless. For me, as long as I can relate to and understand the general story and theme that the series is trying to convey, I can enjoy it, even if I don’t know the meaning behind every detail.
But anyway, in conclusion, though I like Air better, I enjoyed Kanon a lot. I’m also looking forward to Visual Art’s/Key’s new series Clannad, coming later this year.
Oh, and below are some of the questions I had about Kanon…if anybody wants to enlighten me, it would be much appreciated ^.^
– There was a lot of talk about dreams in the last episode, so is everything that happened in the series a dream that Ayu was having? Or was it just that the Ayu we saw throughout the series is her “dream-self” that she created while she was in the coma(out of her desire to be with Yuuichi?)
– About the headband and the little angel ornament, did Yuuichi actually give those things to Ayu 7 years ago? It looked like he gave her the headband, but then he later found it again in the woods. And Ayu had the angel ornament with her when she was in the hospital…maybe I’m just forgetting some details, but I can’t seem to keep track of those things.
– Like dreams, there was also lots of talk about miracles in the series. So what was the story behind this? I know the miracles were Makoto taking a human form, Shiori being saved from her illness, Akiko surviving her accident, etc., but did these things just happen on their own or did it have something to do with Ayu?
I don’t know, maybe these questions are all open to debate and there is no one correct answer, but I’d love to hear everyone else’s opinions.
Heh, I read Answerman’s article, and I just can’t agree with his use of the term “one-dimensional”, as that implies none of the characters changed throughout the story (which is decidedly false). Then again, I don’t think Answerman ever even saw the series to begin with, so I take what he says with a grain of salt.
Now, for your questions:
1. Your latter hypothesis is closer to the truth than the former. For a show that talks a lot about dreams, there really weren’t many dream sequences at all. Note that the final little-Yuuichi and little-Ayu scene wasn’t meant to be a dream either, but rather a symbolic metaphor for Yuuichi finally giving the headband to Ayu in real life, followed by him telling her to come with him (i.e. her awakening).
2. Yuuichi did give the angel doll to Ayu in the past, but not the headband. The “flashback” of Yuuichi giving Ayu the headband at the end of episode 22 was fake. It was something his own mind came up with to ease his own pain over watching Ayu’s accident, sorta like a subconscious defense mechanism. When he realizes that Ayu never got the headband in the last episode, that was when Yuuichi finally came grips with reality. As for the angel doll that comatose Ayu had…I’m under the impression that Yuuichi giving the doll to Ayu’s spirit in episode 23 has something to do with that.
3. Heh, there’s been tons of fan speculation on this, as KyoAni deliberately didn’t tell us Ayu’s last wish to keep us guessing. I’ve heard many theories as to what happened; some think what Shiori said about the wish being for Yuuichi to be happy is true; some think Mai’s power had returned and she healed everyone else; some also think the magical foxes on the hill perhaps granted Yuuichi a miracle in thanks for his taking care of Makoto. Your guess is as good as mine, pick whichever one pleases you the most. ^_^
Awesome! Thanks so much for your input, Mirrinus! ^_^ I think I understand it better now. But in regards to my third question, I think I sort of forgot what Ayu’s first two wishes were…but yeah, the whole thing about the wishes was kind of vague too. I guess all of the mysteries is part of the appeal of the series =)
I would agree that Air had more impact than Kanon 2006… simply because the former just had a more powerful story to tell and the ending was a tragedy of sorts unlike Kanon, where everyone lives happily ever after.
Sometimes the story gets too complex simply coz we make it seem too complex… the theme of the show has a lot to do with the supernatural, so it isn’t beyond the realm of imagination to think that Ayu’s “astral projection” (for lack of a better word) was the character that the ‘present’ Yuuichi interacted with for most of the series.
Like Air, it seemed that the town itself had something magical about it, not specifically related to Ayu. Mai’s powers were already evident even before she met Yuuichi, and Makoto’s transformation isn’t related to Ayu either. It’s an existing theme in all the “anime-fied” Key games that something magical is going on in the background – and Clannad is another example of the magical element, ableit in a full blown manner.
Glad you liked the series though. It’s a pity that a few other bloggers prefer to nitpick rather than sit back and enjoy the story ;) Cheers!
– T