(I'm surprised I haven't seen more Kanon topics since the patch was released a while ago. I thought the board would be flooded... O_O)
I just started playing Kanon a few days ago. I'm now on January 19. It seems fairly interesting so far. I still am waiting for all of the drama to happen though. :P I think I'm on Mai's path even though I really wanted to do Ayu's first... I just didn't want to be mean to Mai. XD Oh, well. I was going to do her path second anyway.
Anyone have opinions on the different paths? (please hide spoilers)
Comments
I have to admit I only tried Kanon almost a year ago, but never got myself to play it. I saw both animes and I guess that was enough for me..^^
Btw, Mai is one of my fav characters :inluv:
But I wasn't just referring to this board when I said Kanon hasn't been discussed much. I meant eroge boards in general. I have seen almost no topics for Kanon on VN boards I often lurk at... (minus hongfire, of course :rolleyes:)
I've been holding off on watching the animes until playing the game. I do that for most visual novel anime since they usually spoil the game's plot in condensed segments. (School Days and KimiNozo was an exception for me :P) I can't wait to watch the KyoAni Kanon though. That version looks really nice.
Sometimes an anime can even say enough bout a series in general. For me Suzuka is the best exmaple at the moment. I started reading the manga a few days ago, however I watched the anime and know like bout the first 50 chaps. I still enjoyed it, but I got bored now after chap 38, just skipped to the last 5 chaps and finished it. I just don't like endless drama/ romance stories, Ichigo 100% bored me to hell in the end. Went a bit off topic I guess, just wanted to use this as example, how an anime can tell you most bout a series/ game.
My opinion (major spoilers for Mai):
[SPOILER]WTF. O_O
My guess on what was going on with Mai was completely wrong. I thought she would turn out to be a ghost battling her dead family so she could "stay together" with Yuuichi or something contrived like that. (yeah, cheesy, I know XD) I never guessed that she was creating the "demons" because she felt she had to defeat them with Yuuichi.
I thought her path was really good, but there was way too much forced drama. If Mai's powers are so great, why can't she just start things over instead of killing herself? It seems like the only reason they added in the death scene was to add more drama. I also hated the whole thing with her dying mother. Kanon felt like a soap opera then. I was expecting Mai to suddenly reveal another random depressing detail about her life after that. (reminds me of what I've heard about the Kud path in LB!) And why was she forced to appear on the ESP show without her consent? It's not like TV producers in Japan can suddenly turn peoples' lives into shit without their consent.
I also should say that Kanon has probably one of the most random H-scenes I've ever seen in an eroge. You just randomly have sex with Mai before you even fall in love with her. The next day she goes all yandere and it's like you never had sex in the first place. At least some games try to acknowledge when characters do something intimate together...
That's not to say I didn't like her path. I had a really good feeling inside after finishing her path. (but why did Sayuri have to move in with them? That just seemed too perfect to be true... -_-;;) I just think that there is too much filler dialogue before the actual drama starts. (some days would consist of the following: see Mai and Sayuri while going to school, eat lunch with them, and then go to school at night and watch the "demons" escape Mai once again. Rinse and repeat untill the last two days. -_-) It kind of reminded me of ONE in that aspect. Sigh, I hope the other Key games don't have so much filler/overdosed drama as Kanon and ONE...
I also finished the Sayuri mini path. It was also excellent, but like Mai's path, some scenes lasted too long. I'm glad they included a mini route for her.[/SPOILER]
Now onto Ayu's path! ^_^
I also fell for the temptation and watched the Kanon 2006 series back then - thought it was great. Don't mind still playing through the game though.
I have a friend who has played through Mai's route, the route which interested him the most. I convinced another friend of mine to give it a try because he adored the 2006 anime (and Mai), but I think he has lost interest in the visual novel.
I myself have owned a copy of Kanon for well over a year, but I never read past a couple of days into the story. I told myself that I'd delve into it when the English translations began to wrap up so that I could at least finish a route before returning to university, but ultimately that hasn't happened.... If LeMU's enthusiasm keeps pace though I might just go for it and forsake everything else I'm playing and reading. By virtue of its reputation alone I know Kanon won't disappoint, although admittedly I gave into watching the anime the same as Vatina.
My opinion on Ayu's path (major spoilers, obviously):
[SPOILER]It was good, but it could have been better. The filler-ish scenes are seen much less than in Mai's path and are more interesting. (of course, I like Ayu more as a character, so...) I think some things were a little confusing or unexplained. What exactly happened to Ayu's mother to make her die and where did Ayu go after that? How did Ayu appear to Yuuichi if she was in a coma for all those years? (I was expecting that Ayu would be revealed as an angel or something XD) Why did Ayu suddenly give up when digging for the time capsule if she hadn't found it yet? Why did Ayu lose her memories? etc. There is just way too many unexplained situations in her path...
Like Mai, her path was still good excluding the annoying points. It just isn't as amazing as fans make it out to be...
(and LOL at the hat she was wearing at the end. Did she just randomly decide to cut her hair? XD)[/SPOILER]
I really like the ending theme. It's surprisingly upbeat, like something you would see in a fanservice anime. I really want the soundtrack for Kanon... T_T
Now onto Shiori!
I liked Ever17 better since everything just -- works -- at the end. Unlike some games where I only like certain paths, Ever17 is incredible all around and has the best conclusion I've ever seen. Someone needs to license the rest of the Infinity series...
So, are AIR and Clannad (for instance) any better than Kanon? (assuming you have played/seen the game or anime) While I came into Kanon not expecting much, I'm hoping AIR will be as good as I've heard.
Haven't tried AIR, as I don't think it's translated completely yet. Clannad is much better though, in my opinion.
Opinion (contains possible spoilers for MOON. as well):
[SPOILER]She is really underrated. In 'favorite character' polls, Shiori usually ranks on the bottom - including most side characters like Akiko! I don't see why so many people dislike Shiori... She's probably my second favorite character personality wise right after Ayu. While I think Ayu and Makoro are cute, Nayuki and Mai don't have to be moe as well. When almost every character says "uguu!" (or something of the sort) every other sentence, it gets to be a little annoying... Shiori is the only normal heroine in Kanon.
As for her path, it was good, but like the others, really didn't pull the drama off well enough. While Ayu and Mai's paths were drowned in awkward drama, Shiori actually doesn't have enough. I feel like her path could have been more emotional if they just wrote a few things differently. That's kind of how I have felt for all of Kanon's (and ONE's) paths... It had potential, but it just wasn't written well enough.
Random observations:
-Shiori's path doesn't really have boring filler like the others. (that doesn't mean that the scenes are amazing though)
-Shiori's H-scene actually fits, unlike Mai and Ayu. (though it is still written much more poorly than the rest of the game...)
-Kaori is a bitch. Adding her into Shiori's path was fairly pointless. Nothing gets resolved with her and she doesn't even appear in the end! I hope she some how died creating a more happy ending. :D
Also, I hate how Shiori's path shared plot elements that Yui had in MOON. Yui: a. cuts herself. b. has a selfish bitch of a sister who hates her for trivial reasons. c. blames herself for what happened. The same things happened in Shiori's path. I really hope the "KEY Endless Eight-esque variations" don't continue in their other games...
Shiori's path was the most enjoyable. (not necessarily the best, but at least it didn't have soap opera scenes or filler) I felt really happy at the end. ^_^[/SPOILER]
BTW, the voicing stops at the beginning of day 28 for Shiori. I contacted the voice patch creator about this and he kindly made a replacement patch for me. (thanks! :D) It can be located here if anyone else wants it:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=360C2R7C
It should be noted that this is from the PSP version's voice acting. Shiori sounds a lot different in this patch and the sound quality isn't as good. (Yuuichi is also voiced, whether that's good or bad to you) However, until RadicalR fixes the game engine to include script for the 28-30th day, it's the only working voice patch available for Shiori.
Yeah, I had similar problems, where the voices stopped around day 28 in every route I tried, and sometimes (I know it happened for Mai, don't remember if it was in the others) Yuuichi started to become voiced for a little bit.
Surprised me, too >.> I'd never watched the anime before, and his voice just seemed... Much older sounding than I imagined...
And yeah, I don't like Yuuichi or Shiori's voice in the replacement patch. Shiori totally loses her character with the new seiyuu! I hope Kanon 2006 didn't get her... But it's better than no voice! XD
Well with me, and I'm guessing with many others, Kanon holds a nostalgic value, since it was my first real entry into the VN world. I remember importing Kanon years ago when I couldn't even read a single Hiragana xD (The real entry being the Air anime).
From what I hear people say, I think both Air and Clannad are better, especially Clannad. So you can look forward to that :)
I don't know how much time I'll have for eroge with new school (and I have a roommate). I hope to get back to games soon :)
Hmm, actually I think KID reached the peak of their storytelling in Ever17.......Ever17 was chosen to be translated because it was the best one out of the infinity series, while compared side by side with 12Riven and Remember11
Remember11, while having a complex plot similar to Ever17, uses an extremely confusing storytelling style and the insane amount of decision points leading to bad ends are ridiculous.
12Riven has good pacing, but it's notable that the story and production values suffered a bit when KID went bankrupted.
Even if E17 is the best, I also still want the rest. I also remember Hirameki saying that they had gotten the rights to Memories Off, or that they were close? Sigh... such a waste.
Oh well, I think we're getting off topic :P
And not that anyone is probably reading these, but my opinion on the last two paths:
Makoto
[SPOILER]In some ways, the most emotional path. I wouldn't have expected this from Makoto from the first-impression I got from her. However, like the other paths in Kanon, there are unexplained things that happen and tons of plot devices. *shock*
So I guess the 'Good Ending' is more of a 'Eternal Death Ending for Makoto'... XD Makoto came back to life but she will just have to die a few weeks later. (and reappear magically again) What a wonderful life she and Yuuichi will lead!
Also, her H-scene is the most forced out of all of the girls. It left a huge 'WTF are you doing, Yuuichi?? -_-' impression on me...[/SPOILER]
Nayuki
[SPOILER]Unlike how terrible I thought her path would be, it actually isn't that bad. (at least for a fluffy game like Kanon) Still, she didn't really have any real problems besides getting to see Yuuichi again. The whole thing with her mom getting into a car accident and magically getting better was really forced. Too bad Akiko didn't really die to add some spice to a totally cliche game...
Her H-scene is the best. It actually fit into the scene unlike the other girls besides Shiori. (not that the dialogue is good or anything...)[/SPOILER]
Kanon could have been really good, but it is just WAY too cliche and fluffy. I was expecting a little more especially since I heard how 'emotional' it could be at times. There is just way too much filler and pointless fluffy scenes in the game. Why did everything have to magically get better with a miracle at the end? It made everything so predictable.
It's not completely terrible though, just HIGHLY overrated. If you like games like Snow Sakura, you might like this. (I liked Snow Sakura more though. :/) I would give it a 5/6. It's kind of required reading if you are really into visual novels simply because it's just that popular. MOON. is a lot better! ^_^
I'm guessing Kanon worked better as an anime (a first for a VN anime...) since there wouldn't be as many boring "'Light streamed through my window and I woke up'/'Yuuichi-kun, let's eat lunch in the cafeteria!^-^'/'I studied for the exam'" scenes. I've watched the first episode of the original anime and it seemed to work better than the game. (minus the anime's original music and the animation...) They talk REALLY fast though! O_O
But i assume that some of you have already finished Kanon.
Me, I am still starting
@leMU: can you share a walkthrough?