After I was blown away by Clannad and Clannad After Story, I decided to start watching another series by Key. I had a choice between Air and Kanon. I started watching Kanon first, since the memory loss theme appealed to me more than Air.
Having just finished Clannad After Story, I found myself helpless to comparing every detail in Kanon with Clannad. Between the two series, I found that Clannad has the more cryptic and subtle story. This is evident towards the end of the story, when you see that no explanation is required to understand the ending for Kanon. As in other Key productions, there are subtle clues here and there to understanding the meaning behind everything. I thought that the episode names were fairly neat as each one contained a term related to music.
The story revolves around delusions and the psychological causes behind said imaginary realities. At different points in the show, characters are explained to have been living in an alternate reality where they could escape from reality and the pain associated with it. Of course, the show is a big play on the infamous “childhood friend” cliche that we all know and love in the Japanese culture. However, it works well and it is definitely enjoyable.
I thought that the voice acting in Kanon was very strong and a major driving factor in the success of the series. Tomokazu Sugita (who you may remember as the voice actor of Kyon from Haruhi) does an amiable job at playing Yuuichi. I also felt that in the female voice acting department, there was a close contest in making the cutest girl voices possible. I present this award to Mariko Kouda. I found that her mumbling while she is half asleep early in the morning simply irresistible.
Even though I rate Clannad higher than Kanon in terms of overall quality, Kanon still remains to be a must-watch for the Kyoani fans. Of course I realize that the series is from 2006 and I am probably very late to the game. At this point, I very much look forward to what Air has in store for me in terms of sad-face plot and an array of incredibly “kawoi” characters.
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