Forum - View topicKanon 2006!
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abunai
Old Regular
 Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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A brief observation:
While the new series' animation is (unsurprisingly) much better than the original series, the slightly caricaturish character designs of the game (and the original anime) have been left unchanged. As a result, there is (to me, at least) a slight dissonance between the quality of the character designs and the overall animation quality. I'd also venture to remark that the original anime, in my opinion, did a much better job of presenting the background story for the viewers who had not previously played the game. This new series often seems to be assuming that the viewer is familiar with the previous series or the game, beforehand. Overall, I'm not disappointed, as such -- but there is certainly a great difference between this anime's adaptation of a game/anime background and the SHnY adaptation of a series of light novels. The latter were far more elegantly adapted to the anime medium. - abunai |
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6867 Location: Kazune City |
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I also watched the first episode last night (AKA Friday Night, as posting or sending PMs at 4:45 AM tends to skew the reference points for people who don't keep odd hours), and I'd say it was everything I expected -- gorgeous KyotoAni work on backgrounds and character designs, and an expansion of the story that I knew from Kanon '02. There's some talk about the dialogue--I wonder if this is dependent on the fansub group one is watching. Coincidentally, the same group that did Melancholy~ is doing Kanon '06, and their version has more free-flowing, naturalized English, and the other group stays a bit tighter to the literal meaning. I will say it's true that Kanon '02 had a better introduction for the uninitiated, and I did like the wintery, dream-like feel of the old series. Kanon '06 is definitely a sleek, modern production, done in an era where anime based on "crying games," of which Kanon was a pioneer, are not new ground at all (see Air, KgNE, Shuffle!, and others). Speaking of Haruhi...
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frentymon
Forums Superstar
 Posts: 2362 Location: San Francisco |
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So overall, my primary gripe is that it's trying to "animate a game" and be an anime series at the same time, and that doesn't quite work.
In essence visual novels work like this: You have a bunch of scenes, each with a different background and background music playing. In each scene, there is dialogue, one person at a time, and when one person is finished speaking, you click the mouse to have the next person speak. Transitions from scene to scene are often immediate and simply involve a background change with the exact same character standing in the exact same place. Kanon 2006, to an extent, tries to emulate that style, and it doesn't seem to quite work. For example, the transition between the spoiler[train in the very beginning and the snow scene with the music box playing didn't feel smooth. First, the music change was too radical. You start with no music but you have the sounds of a speeding train (in which you would probably expect fast and exciting music), and it shifts right to a melodious music box playing.] There was also no pause between the two scenes, and no lead-in; the other scene just popped right out. Now, this sort of maneuver might work in a visual novel, but for an anime, it doesn't really feel right. Many other transitions also felt rushed and in the style of a scene change in a visual novel. I appreciate that they kept the original game's background music, but coupled with the transitions, it only reinforced the notion that the series is just "animating a game." The music being played is better suited for a visual novel, and not an anime series. It could be made to work, but only with very smooth scene transitions, which I feel Kanon 2006 is lacking in. Also, as abunai said, the character designs have been left intact but with everything else brought into the KyoAni animation world of 2006. I myself didn't really notice it earlier, but it does seem to leave "a slight dissonance between the quality of the character designs and the overall animation quality." The dialogue is also mostly kept intact, which feels slightly out of place in an anime (again, smoothness). I think the original Toei version tweaked the dialogue slightly, but I'm not sure. So, they take all these steps to preserve the authenticity and "feel" of the game, but decide to make certain characters sound different. Ayu sounds relatively the same, but Akiko and Nayuki sound different. The seiyuu work is definitely one that belongs in an anime and not so much in a game (and I do think there are differences in seiyuu work between a game and an anime). As I've mentioned before, Kouda doesn't take her time projecting her voice in a sleepy-type manner like she did in the original/game, but now speaks in a more conventional sounding-voice. Akiko talks faster than she did before as well. I've noticed that the KyoAni remake seems to almost ignore the original series' existence and focus solely on the game, which might explain why Kisaishi got ousted. All in all, it seems to cater to someone who has already played the game (especially since it never explained why Yuuichi is even there in the first place), but someone who has played the game would be really picky anyway (like me), which kind of defeats the purpose. Despite this, I still did enjoy it, and seeing Kanon brought to life with modern animation is pretty exciting. |
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Stupidman007
 Posts: 394 |
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Having absolutely no previous experience with Kanon whatsoever, I felt that the first episode of Kanon 2006 is nothing special. When I saw the first episode of AIR, it instantly made me feel interested and wanted to watch more. When I was watching Kanon, I was watching just for the sake of watching, and wasn't at all very interested. Of course, this is a comparison to shows like AIR and SHnY, which are both very highly rated. While Kanon isn't supposed to be amazing, as the ratings would say, the remake really did make people want to believe that way.
I completely agree with this. The first episode has been a bit too straight forward, and the subtle details of animation that took SHnY and AIR to another level hasn't really done much here. Nevertheless, the show is definitely above average, and hopefully it gets better as it goes. |
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vroenis
 Posts: 61 Location: Australia |
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I'm going to have to watch it again, but I must say that it seems the animation quality isn't up to KyoAni's usual standard. While I didn't really get into Haruhi, I fully acknowledge that the animation quality was outstanding. Kanon 2006 doesn't seem to be as good.
In comparison to the original production, I'd agree that it was paced differently, and at first I didn't like Yuuichi and Nayuki's first encounter, but upon reflection it feels like there will be slight differences in what is accentuated. I get the feeling that the emotional set-ups may be perhaps gentler in the beginning, with the aim being that when they finally come to fruition they'll have a greater emtional impact. I wasn't totally dissatisfied with the episode either, it's just different. It would be unfair to expect a totally new production and interpretation of the source material to be a carbon copy of the original (let alone the games), and I look forward to seeing how differently things are presented. |
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Daemonblue
 Posts: 701 |
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I personally thought that it was a pretty good first episode. I have watched the prior series (as it was related, by company, to Air) and have to say that keeping the old music was a good idea. We also must remember though, the series is being stretched out an extra 11 episodes, so there's still a lot left to see, and compared to the original 13 ep (as well as Air being 13 eps or h/e many you see it as) there's bound to be more contents and more plot line, otherwise the extra 11 episodes will be a waste . The first episode kind of has the same feel as the first episode of Shuffle!, probably because of Sugita ebing the common seiyuu, and then probably because of the way it was handled. I can't wait to see the final product, as I expect it to be really good. My personal feelings on the first episode: Excellent, now hopefully it'll keep up that rating with me and raise it for others.
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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To frentymon and all Kanon fans: Mariko Kouda will visit Taiwan on Oct. 22. It's almost certain that most questions would be Kanon-related.
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frentymon
Forums Superstar
Posts: 2362 Location: San Francisco |
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Hm, it's times like this when I wished I lived in Taiwan. Above all, I'm interested in knowing how Kouda sounds in real life when she's not voice acting. From the 5-minute special with the original series, it seemed pretty obvious that she was consciously bringing her voice higher than what it normally would be. I haven't heard her in anything else besides Kanon (game, 2002 series, 2006 series), but judging from those performances (if it seems like I hate her 2006 series performance, I don't, it's just that I'm really picky when it comes to one of my favorite series), I can name her one of my top 5 favorite seiyuu (along with Horie Yui, who coincidentally, also happens to play a character from the same series, although her performance as Ayu isn't one of my favorites [although it's still really good]). Hope we'll eventually see a feature on her visit to Taiwan (by the only staff member around who lives there). 
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ryokoalways
Posts: 562 |
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christ... I'm not back till december. Bleh. |
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selenta
 Subscriber Posts: 1774 Location: Seattle, WA |
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Everyone who has seen the first series seems to be mentioning this, but for the life of me, I can't undestand why. What's wrong with them not explaining it in the first episode? Is it super important that we know it immediately? Everyone here seems to love Haruhi and the mystery and episode shuffling of that series, but then goes on to nitpick that the show that KyoAni took people from Haruhi for isn't exactly the same as the original. If they make it exactly the same, they wasted their time remaking it. I'm not saying it's inherently better or anything, but it's going to be different, and it doesn't sound like returning fans were expecting that, for whatever reason. What's wrong with having a little mystery? That only adds to the mysterious atmosphere for those that don't know, and I think almost anyone here can agree that the almost supernatural feeling of Air is a huge part in what made it so appealing. I think the approach with the character introduction is also important to note. When you're playing with a short series, like Air, it is far more effective emotionally on the viewer to concentrate solely on one relationship at a time. If you try to work on 3 or 4 relationships in a 6 episode stretch, your show will fail, period. However, it should be fairly obvious though that simply multiplication doesn't work when trying to extrapolate this. While you can't cover 3 to 4 relationships in 6 episodes, you might be able to do it in 12, and if done right, will be more effective than dealing with each relationship one at a time. It sounds kind of wierd, but start to consider some typical romance shows you've seen, you'll probably come to a similar conclusion. What I'm saying is, they're probably introducing Ayu earlier on to let her 'mill' a bit in our minds and let her age a little (no, not just because she's a loli) before they come back and pluck her (EDIT: wow, that sounds a little dirty. Then again...  )
If anything, it's far far too earlier to start judging KyoAni on these sort of things just because they're "different" from what you expected. They're a very good studio in general, and despite having never seen the original or played the game, I really like it so far. It definitely feels like a ren'ai game at times (which is definitely a flaw in my book) particularly due to the 'oh my gosh so generic' character designs, but the atmosphere is fantastic, and just from the first episode, I'm torn between an 8 and a 9; and I know it will get better. Last edited by selenta on Wed Oct 11, 2006 3:04 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Noggy
 Posts: 88 |
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Reading through this topic, I thought the same thing. This is my first experience with Kanon and I didn't think much of it. Based on the line about spoiler[there hasn't been a man in the house in a while, I just figured the uncle was dead or skipped town or something like that.] I didn't think it was meant to be a huge mystery or that it's very important to the overall plot. |
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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Em, well, very unlikely, for she is invited by Fancy Frontier / Petit Fancy and they have reserved the exclusive right to interview her, not to mention I was among those many who complained how they treated Mai Nakahara and her fans two months ago. Furthermore, without interviewing opportunity, it's next to impossible for ANN to carry out a feature for a non-English doujinshi convention. Therefore I'll enter only as a regular attender and not as press this time. P.S. (slightly OT) honored guests of Fancy Frontier 7: Autograph sessions: Keitaro Arima, Haruhiko Mikimoto Live concert: Halko Momoi, Hironobu Kageyama (imagine over three thousand people singing "Cha-La Head-Cha-La" together) Fancy Frontier 8: Autograph sessions: Poran Amamiya, Carnelian (absent due to hospitalized then), and Aoi Nishimata Live concert: Mai Nakahara (only with an OP theme of Mirmo...gawd) |
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frentymon
Forums Superstar
Posts: 2362 Location: San Francisco |
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Thing is, it wasn't anything particularly intriguing; it was simply a trivial little detail that would have taken all but five seconds to add to everything else Yuiichi said when he talked about the town. It's not really a big deal to me, it just feels like sometimes they already expect you to know pretty much what is going on, especially when they sort of skimmed through some background details (including the part where Yuiichi talks about the town, it got condensed a bit). I'm aware that many people experiencing the story of Kanon for the first time didn't really feel anything missing, but watching through the first episode, I felt as if KyoAni was trying to appeal more to those who have already been exposed to the story before as opposed to "newcomers". My complaint with introducing Ayu too early is that I felt Nayuki did not get enough character development beforehand, and her introduction felt a bit rushed. Perhaps it's the simply the faster pace that the 2006 series is moving at; in the mindset of a "newcomer" to the series, I felt that Nayuki had barely been introduced at all before Ayu was thrown at you. This is a complaint I probably would have made regardless of whether I had already been exposed to the Kanon storyline or not. I am not opposed to change being made in the remake, but there is the unavoidable and inevitable tendency for me to automatically start drawing comparisons to another version of the storyline (2002 series, game, etc.) when I watch the first episode (or any episode, for that matter) of the remake. I will of course make criticisms, but that's not to say that there were no changes I enjoyed seeing as well. I enjoyed the superior animation, the vastly superior OP and ED sequences, the somewhat subtle introductions of all the major characters in the very first episode, Yui's slightly new (and better, IMO) approach to Ayu's voice, the powerful impact the fox scene had on me, Kaori's slightly more playful personality, and the wonderful atmosphere provided by great background music and animation. I definitely don't expect them (nor want them) to make it the exact same as the original series, but the changes I do pick up on I will tend to comment on, and being a human being, will automatically lean more toward the criticism direction (I'm trying to be more open minded about it, but really, it's not easy). So far, after watching the first episode of Kanon 2006, I'm only judging the first episode of KyoAni's remake of Kanon, and not KyoAni as a whole. I agree they are a great studio, and have handled series wonderfully in the past. I'm a bit partial to their remake of Kanon not really because they changed it, so to speak, but more that it seems to try a bit too much to cater to "returning" fans (that's the impression I got at least), which accounts for its "game" feel and certain changes that it made that I don't quite like. For now, I'm giving the series a 9/10, and am hoping eventually the 9 will go up to a 10. |
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godakame
 Posts: 112 Location: Disney World |
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Just watched episode 2, and now I have a sudden urge for jam
 . There were lots of scenes in this one that made me chuckle. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
So...anyone else constantly replay the Ayu super-dash tree incident? I remember watching that one particular scene in the promo multiple times. I still can't get sick of it. |
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ManSlayer07
Posts: 214 |
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The first episode of Kanon 2006 was interesting. In was like the 2002 version but with improved animation and Yuuichi is no longer hideous.
I'm glad they redid his character design but he looks too similiar (the same?) to Kyon from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.
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