As someone who holds Clannad After Story as the benchmark against which all other animes are to be judged, I have to say that Kanon succeeds on every level, and may actually surpass AS on some.
After having watched Clannad After Story and Air, I've grown accustomed to the character design and actually come to love it for its expressiveness. It's no surprise that Kanon is beautiful in every possible respect, from character design, to backgrounds, to music, plot and character development, Kanon is a masterpiece. Again, knowing more about Key Animation's background, it's no real surprise. And, having watched Air and After Story, I was much better prepared for the "fantastic", and was easily able to understand and even anticipate some of the more complicated plot-lines Although I have to admit, the ending was a surprise, and almost bitter-sweet in it's own way. But that being said, I doubt I'll be crying at the drop of a hat for the next week after finishing Kanon, whereas After Story left me more then a little concerned for my emotional stability. Yeah, I bawled like a girl from pretty much episode 8 on, but Kanon's ending was far more "accessible" than After Story's, and even though I'm sad for Nayuki, I can deal. smile
Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 1:04 am
I can agree on most of those points, as someone who has watched all of KEY series, I have to say Clannad AS was my benchmark as well. Kanon 2006 was one that, if anything, tied with AS, but didn't surpass it like you had mentioned. I thought the fantastic, and the dramatic moments were a bit forced and cliched, simply because they were expected. Sure, they made for a really great story that most can get attached to, but unlike AS, there was nothing to RELATE to. I sobbed like a newborn baby that stubbed his toe at AS because I could relate to the storyline, but Kanon had too "magical" of a plot that i couldn't relate, therefor didn't sob as much. However, It was a GREAT story, just not AS good as Clannad. Just a little different perspective. xp
I can agree on most of those points, as someone who has watched all of KEY series, I have to say Clannad AS was my benchmark as well. Kanon 2006 was one that, if anything, tied with AS, but didn't surpass it like you had mentioned. I thought the fantastic, and the dramatic moments were a bit forced and cliched, simply because they were expected. Sure, they made for a really great story that most can get attached to, but unlike AS, there was nothing to RELATE to. I sobbed like a newborn baby that stubbed his toe at AS because I could relate to the storyline, but Kanon had too "magical" of a plot that i couldn't relate, therefor didn't sob as much. However, It was a GREAT story, just not AS good as Clannad. Just a little different perspective. xp
Fair enough. smile I've read Sci-fi and Fantasy books my whole life, whereas romance and slice-of-life are both relatively new encounters, so the fantastic is nothing I'm not used to and isn't going to lessen the impact of a story for me. I still think AS is the benchmark, don't get me wrong. Nothing fictional I've ever experienced has even come close to having the impact that AS had on me, so there's no arguing it's place at the top. That being said, I struggled with the ending at first, because even though the groundwork had been laid for it, it was still unexpected for me and seemed somewhat Deux ex Machina, if you know what I mean. Once I read some discussions about it, it worked much better, but because Kanon was so infused with magic from the get-go, it's ending worked better for me. I also think that having seen AS and Air before Kanon also put me more in a "Key" frame of mind, and the previous experiences made Kanon's ending seem very much in keeping with the story.
I'm not going to lie though, a lot of why I liked Kanon so much was the happy ending. AS had me desperate for days afterwards because I couldn't accept the ending, but because Kanon's seemed more "natural" and in keeping with the story, it was easier for me to get past the tragedies.
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