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REVIEW: Kanon DVD 1


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Madame



Joined: 04 May 2007
Posts: 13
PostPosted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 12:55 pm Reply with quote
The music gets better. Kaori's arc has some of my favorite music combined with animation ever, especially when spoiler[Yuuichi is trying to convince Shiori to come to her birthday].
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Leebo



Joined: 14 Nov 2005
Posts: 179
Location: Connecticut
PostPosted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 3:25 pm Reply with quote
Richard J. wrote:
teh*darkness wrote:
I can't wait for this to release so I can pick it up and rewatch it "officially". This was such an amazing series.
The first volume is available for order now at Robert's Anime Corner Store, just in case you want to cut that wait time down a little.


I pre-ordered from RightStuf and my copy came on the 22nd, even though RightStuf still lists it as shipping Jan 1.

It was good Very Happy
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Ongaku_no_tenshi
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Joined: 29 Jun 2003
Posts: 181
Location: Virginia
PostPosted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 5:20 pm Reply with quote
Leebo wrote:
I pre-ordered from RightStuf and my copy came on the 22nd, even though RightStuf still lists it as shipping Jan 1.

It was good Very Happy


My copy was just delivered in the mail today. I like it a lot so far. Nice start to the series and very beautiful artwork. Kyoto Animation did a great job animating this show.
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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 4531
Location: Indianapolis (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 5:47 pm Reply with quote
Crisu wrote:
I agree with Levon_r that the music grade of C was a little harsh. As who_is_friend mentioned, Kanon used the game's original soundtrack for all the music in the anime, so it really feels as if you're watching the game played for you. Perhaps because of that, the tracks might sound dated or slightly lackluster (given today's music standards, I guess), but fans of the original game really love it. And I think it grows on you, too. After all, if it worked for the game, it should work for the anime, too.


I strongly disagree. Granted, I'm basing these next comments on just a couple of visual novels and a handful of dating sims, but in my experience game/visual novel background music is just that: background filler for those players who like to have something playing in the background. (Fortunately any decent game has the option to turn that off for those of us who find it a distraction.) Music for an anime title needs to be much more dedicated towards setting mood and supporting and uplifting the content. That's why the series trying to make do with just the game music doesn't work here. Except in one or two places, the music doesn't do anything to enhance the series in the first volume. If it does get better later on, well, I'm not judging on later volumes at this point.

Quote:
The reviewer uses the term "moe-fest" as if it's a terrible thing that plagues anime and reduces its quality. ^^; I would wholeheartedly disagree, but I guess that's me being biased because I'm a huge moe fan. Like crilix said, moe fans do not perceive "moe overkill" as there is no upper limit to moe.

But I understand if the reviewer was just trying to give fair warning to non-moe-fans. However, Kanon should not be avoided by those who dislike moe, because the storytelling and character development are one of a kind.


Hence my comments about how even those who aren't moe fans can find something to like here. I'm not normally a moe fan myself (if that wasn't obvious from the review), so I was surprised at how well this one worked for me.

Quote:
But I do hope the voice actors read ahead in their scripts (or have studied the whole game already) instead of doing the job one episode at a time.


Although occasionally American VAs are familiar with the source material when they start, most don't get to read ahead in a series beyond the volume they're working on, and sometimes that is done deliberately so that the emotions seem more immediate and the actors' surprise at how things develop translates into the characters. That's not an unusual practice in Japan, either, and is pretty common in live-action series on both sides of the Pacific, too.


Quote:
That B rating for the story is fine for now, but I'm looking forward to seeing it become A+ by the last DVD review (if not sooner =X).


Wouldn't hold your breath on that. I've done around 340 reviews for this site now and only ever given an A+ once for story because I insist on perfection and unsurpassable eloquence for such a rating. But who knows? Wink

Edit: corrected grammatical error

Last edited by Key on Mon Dec 24, 2007 11:30 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Leebo



Joined: 14 Nov 2005
Posts: 179
Location: Connecticut
PostPosted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 11:20 pm Reply with quote
I can't really see an A+ for story being justifiable. Visual novels are always hard to adapt to a linear viewing format, and any story that revolves around characters forgetting background material only to reveal it later is at least somewhat hamstrung.
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Ongaku_no_tenshi
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Joined: 29 Jun 2003
Posts: 181
Location: Virginia
PostPosted: Tue Dec 25, 2007 9:48 am Reply with quote
Leebo wrote:
I can't really see an A+ for story being justifiable. Visual novels are always hard to adapt to a linear viewing format, and any story that revolves around characters forgetting background material only to reveal it later is at least somewhat hamstrung.


While I do like this first volume, I don't see the rest of the volumes earning an A+ for story content. I mean, come on, how many times has the old "protagonist forgets and/or blocks out important (often tragic) memories after many years upon returning to his hometown, only to have recollection of these memories after being reacquainted with old childhood friends (mostly female), with the usual dramatic results" cliche been used in anime series of this type? Far too many times I'm afraid, because this setup is many years past it's prime to be considered original. This type of thing just comes with the territory, and far too often, when dealing with visual novels and dating sims.

Don't get me wrong, I'm ragging on this show itself. I actually like the first volume and I'm glad I purchased it. I plan on continuing the series, volume by volume, as well. But you just can't deny this show's origins and let's not pretend that this is some masterpiece of storytelling that should easily warrant such a high marking grade under the (sometimes extreme) bias towards the material or genre. (I saw a lot of this on many forums from fans who had nothing but high praise for this show and cursed those who talked bad about it or picked out it's flaws constructively.) But then again, that's just my opinion, because I can't speak for anyone else but myself.
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GreatTeacherKen



Joined: 18 Nov 2007
Posts: 59
PostPosted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 7:36 pm Reply with quote
^^I think part of the reason it may seem cliche is because of how hugely influential the source material was. I don't know if the game was the first to use this set up but I wouldn't be surprised if it popularized it.

It's kind of like The Lord of the Rings. If you've read lots of fantasy novels written afterwards before reading The Lord of the Rings, it might seem cliche to you, but then that trilogy pretty much influenced a good chunk of fantasy novels afterwards.

I hate to use the word overrated because of how self-righteous it sounds, but I do think people perhaps promote originality a little too much. To me, a good story is one that's told well. That's it. Doesn't matter if it's one that's been told since the beginning of mankind or if it's one that's never been told before. It has to be told well.

I like to use Hajime no Ippo as an example of this. It's nothing you haven't heard or seen before, but there are few shows that tell this kind of story as well as this one with its strong characterization and excellent fights.

But back to Kanon, I think Kanon 2006 utilizes its set up better than most works like it. I don't think it's perfect, but I do think it's excellent.
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Zalis116
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Joined: 31 Mar 2005
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 12:16 am Reply with quote
Leebo wrote:
I can't really see an A+ for story being justifiable.
Neither can I -- I'm biased towards this genre, and I didn't give Kanon 2006 a Masterpiece rating, only Excellent. Knock off a point or two for fanboy bias and you get a 7-8 rating, which seems appropriate for a B or B+ grade.

Regarding the music again, there was talk on the thread in the Anime forum that KyoAni had done some remixes with the game music to give it more variety. So maybe there's hope for later volumes, we'll just have to see. I'm just glad enough to see a generally positive review from the "mainstream" anime community (as opposed to the fansub fanboys that ongaku_no_tenshi references) that I can deal with a lower music score. Game music can work in anime, and when it does, it's recognized accordingly -- refer to Key's and Carl's reviews of the Rumbling Hearts volumes.
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Tyrenol



Joined: 13 Sep 2005
Posts: 349
Location: Northern California
PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 5:45 pm Reply with quote
The show sucks.

Not that I have any problems with cutesy anime about cutesy girls. That's why we have h-anime. But the "uguu~" and the "auuu~," the "moe sound effects..." Japanese vocal sound effects during an English dub.

They just had to introduce some secondary male lead who's a pathetic loser. (And he's voiced by Greg Ayers. DUDE.)

I'm making this official: Moe anime is a waste of time and money; shows like that should stay in Japan where they belong. Evil or Very Mad
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Leebo



Joined: 14 Nov 2005
Posts: 179
Location: Connecticut
PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 10:48 pm Reply with quote
Tyrenol wrote:
The show sucks.

Not that I have any problems with cutesy anime about cutesy girls. That's why we have h-anime. But the "uguu~" and the "auuu~," the "moe sound effects..." Japanese vocal sound effects during an English dub.

They just had to introduce some secondary male lead who's a pathetic loser. (And he's voiced by Greg Ayers. DUDE.)

I'm making this official: Moe anime is a waste of time and money; shows like that should stay in Japan where they belong. Evil or Very Mad


Don't you think it's a bit wasteful to direct negative energy at something that doesn't affect you at all? No one's making you watch it. On top of that, you wouldn't have to watch the English dub if you didn't want to. And the "pathetic secondary character" appears in only a handful of episodes. How exactly would you benefit from keeping something other people like out of their hands?
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Tyrenol



Joined: 13 Sep 2005
Posts: 349
Location: Northern California
PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 11:03 pm Reply with quote
Leebo wrote:
Don't you think it's a bit wasteful to direct negative energy at something that doesn't affect you at all? No one's making you watch it. On top of that, you wouldn't have to watch the English dub if you didn't want to. And the "pathetic secondary character" appears in only a handful of episodes. How exactly would you benefit from keeping something other people like out of their hands?


I have an opinion.

I'm not forced to watch it. I just happened by to see it. And I'm giving out my opinion accordingly.

"If you're going to release that, then you'd better release something different along with it." That didn't happen.

Welcome home.
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Leebo



Joined: 14 Nov 2005
Posts: 179
Location: Connecticut
PostPosted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 11:20 pm Reply with quote
Tyrenol wrote:
I have an opinion.

I'm not forced to watch it. I just happened by to see it. And I'm giving out my opinion accordingly.

"If you're going to release that, then you'd better release something different along with it." That didn't happen.

Welcome home.


That still doesn't really explain to me your comment about how people who enjoy it outside of Japan shouldn't be able to buy it. What do you mean by "If you're going to release that, then you'd better release something different along with it."?
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Keonyn
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 28, 2007 3:18 am Reply with quote
Please discuss your opinion rather than tell people they have to abide by it Tyrenol. Spending a few sentences just to say, more or less, "it sucks" doesn't really do anything to foster a real discussion or even explain your point of view. It's more or less just trolling and we'd rather you keep that to a minimum. The line where you "make it official" is especially pointless and uncalled for.
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billyarnie



Joined: 03 Dec 2007
Posts: 189
Location: San Antonio, TX
PostPosted: Fri Dec 28, 2007 9:13 am Reply with quote
I just watched ep 1 on this site. I'm more or a shounen or seinen fan & except for trailers of Ah! My Goddess, this is the 1st "moe" series I've seen. I'm posting here because the page with the video link doesn't have a link to the forum. The first time I started watching this ep, I stopped because I had other things to do or I just didn't like it. I forced myself to watch the ep & once I got past the 1st 5 cutesy-poo minutes, it got interesting. The deja vu moments & missing memories intrigued me. I haven't seen Air & it's supposed to be a downer, but Kanon has enough humor to keep this ep from being depressing.
Would I buy Vol. 1 to see what else happens? Probably not. I'm intrigued by the moments I mentioned above, but I don't think those plus the humor & relationships, past & future, will compell me to pony up. I'd rather watch ep 2 of Gurren Lagann subbed.
A comment on the recent (within this year) trend of 1st episodes being streamed for free. Series producers need to make their 1st episodes a bit more complete, instead of teasing future plot points. Foreshadowing is fine, but you may have to be more obvious to hook people into buying your Vol. 1. Witchblade ep 1 solidified my interest to purchase the 1st DVD, & Vol. 1 hooked me on Vol. 2. I need to get a little more money to get the next 2 DVD's soon.
Even without the 1st 3 G-L eps being streamed for free, ep 1 piqued my interest; the next 2 should tell me if G-L Vol. 1 is worth my money.
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Mohawk52



Joined: 16 Oct 2003
Posts: 3857
Location: Celebrating Lindsey Hawker murder suspect arrest, in Basingstoke, UK.
PostPosted: Fri Dec 28, 2007 10:12 am Reply with quote
Restricting that first episode to US only is so pointless. Just what are they trying to protect? Rolling Eyes
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