HIGHLIGHTS
Yuichi arrives back in town after seven years to begin a new faze of life with his Cousin and Ant. Although it's only been seven years since he last visited, he does not remember anything about the town or the friendships he had made there. Over the next few days he meets several people that seem familiar but who also have similar issues with their memories. Over the span of the 24 episodes their stories unfold. Kanon's story revolves around this group of five girls whose lives are connected to Yuichi. The story opens on Wednesday January 6, 1999 when Yuichi arrives in the city and is very detached from it and its inhabitants. Prior to his return, it is decided that he is to stay with his first cousin, Nayuki Minase, and her mother, Akiko. After his long absence, Yuichi has forgotten almost everything except minor details of what happened seven years before and is in need of being reminded of what he left behind. Nayuki initially tries repeatedly to jog his memory, but is unsuccessful. Throughout the story, as he learns about the supernatural undertones of the city, Yuichi is reminded of the events of seven years ago.
Kanon is a story of friendship, understanding, making promises and knowing how to keep those promises, but most of all it is the story of true innocent love that will transcend both space and time. Is it possible that two 10 year old children can love each other so much that seven years and a devastating accident can not keep them apart? This story attempts to prove the power of this love and friendship.
Yuichi is a truly remarkable human. He may not stand out in the crowd, but if someone or thing is in need he finds a way to help them overcome their life crisis. Full of compassion and empathy Yuichi seems to always know what to do or say that will make all the difference. The fact that he is a real chick magnet also helps. Yuichi also has a very sarcastic wit that does offend, but most often it bring normalcy to these young ladies lives. They all have special needs that set them apart from everyone else and Yuichi somehow understands that they require something special that will help them lead much more normal lives and he does everything he can to provide this something. In the end Yuichi's needs are discovered and he is able to find a way to not only help himself, but the one who is his true love.
EPISODES
Disc One: 1. Silver Overture, 2. Introit in the Snow, 3. A Forgotten Partita, 4. Holiday Caprice, 5. Demons' Serenade and 6. A Mysterious Divertimento.
Disc Two: 7. The Runaway and the Kitten's Fuga, 8. The Fantasia of Reminiscence, 9. The Berceuse of the Baby Fox, 10. Requiem Atop the Hill, 11. Intermezzo of Light and Shadow and 12. A Strange Looking Waltz.
Disc Three: 13. A Dangerous Trio, 14. A Cracked Concerto, 15. Sonatine of Hide and Go Seek, 16. Midnight Oratorto, 17. Lieder Ohine Wrote of an Elder Sister and a Younger Sister and 18. The Disappearing Adagio.
Disc Four: 19. The Etude of Contrast, 20. The Nocturn of Farewell, 21. A Ronde Without You, 22. Symphony of Recollections, 23. The Scarlet Red Finale and 24. Kanon at the End of the Dream.
OVERALL
Kanon is a heart-warming tail that will bring tears of joy and sadness. The one real problem I had with it was that it could have condensed the story into 12 episodes and still been able to fully develop the characters. The original story was written by Mariko Shimizu in 1999 then after several attempts at production in the Manga, Anime and Gaming, world with most success in the Gaming Platform, Kyoto Animation redeveloped that story and provide this 24 episode collection for us to enjoy. Kyoto has a real flair at developing these type of story lines, with the best example being Air. Kanon tries to do a lot with the characters and story, but I feel as though they spend entirely too much time on creating an atmosphere of the town and overdeveloping may of the minor characters. Other than being too long and somewhat overdeveloped, Kanon is a wonderful story that made me feel very satisfied in the end. Once again Kyoto Animation made sure they touched on many of the eastern philosophical ideals that work well in creating a supernatural love story, and provided the quality animation that makes it very easy to spend Nine and a half hours enveloped by this story. Additionally, any animator that will take the time and effort to create a cat using their sandbox always makes me smile.
ComicsOnline gives Kanon: The Complete Series a 4 out of 5 Dreams of the Setting Sun.
