Kanon is about Yuuichi Aizawa who has come back to live with his Aunt and cousin after seven years. He always visited there when he was younger however he does not remember anything.
Story: 9
As usual, the story starts out like a normal harem. Something simple, in this case, Yuuichi was transferred to the school his cousin goes to. It's normal hey? That's completely normal. You start meeting the girls who are possible lovers.
Get this, it ain't a normal harem. The pacing is slow at first, making the series somewhat boring but once you get into it it's just one BAM thing after another.Like I said before, because the pacing was slow, the story got incredibly rushed at the end to the point that I was anxious whether the story actually had a proper good ending.
Onto the actual story, this is the most I've cried in any anime. Even more than Clannad and Clannad in my opinion is the absolute best (that includes After Story). I have cried non-stop just watching it. Kanon is such a tear jerker. It had it's funny moments though however the anime faced more to drama and tragedy. I couldn't believe at everything that was going on all at once.
The overall story was just great. The plot was just incredible. I loved it though the pacing was somewhat bad, earning it a 9.
Art: 10
I'm not surprised. KyoAni gives you the best of the best. Though KyoAni has improved in art (impossible but they did it!) over the years, the art was truly the best of 06. You can go through all anime released in 06 never finding one with as much detail to it than Kanon.
Now KEY's productions are usually set for a certain season. For example, Air was set for Summer and Clannad for Spring. Kanon is obviously set in Winter. KyoAni has done a damn good job of executing the season. Every single thing was just beautiful.
Since I've bought the DVD of the dub version (luckily it included the Jap version as well and subs), the quality was greatly downgraded. Because of all the whiteness from the snow and the brightening that FUNimation had done, it was incredibly hard to see. The colours were not rich and you couldn't see the outline. However if you look at an original episodes being fansubbed, though maybe pixelated (is that a word??), you can see everything.
It's unfortunate not to be able to view the series with great quality but I am definitely more than happy just to have watched it.
Sound: 8
The sound was definitely not Kanon's strongest part for me. I never actually liked the OP and ED. The BGM has never stayed with me. It was just there fitting to the mood. Sound, for me, wasn't outstanding. I've heard better.
Seiyuu however was great. The voices for each character fitted them perfectly. The catchphrases will forever stay in my heart. However seiyuu can speak in such a cute form and say the cutest catchphrases will always be a mystery to me.
Sound was good overall. nothing too special. Seiyuu gave it a boost otherwise it would be a seven.
Character: 10
Characters are another strong point of Kanon. Each character had their own story to how they are now. Their reasons are reasonable. I liked most of the characters, Mai and Makoto being my favourite, but a few others were slightly to whiny for my taste. But hey, that's what we do, whine and whinge until we learn.
Everybody changed, most for the better. The main cast for Kanon cannot be forgotten.
There's Ayu with her 'uguu~'; Nayuki with her heavy sleeping; Shiori with a love for sweets and 10 metre snowmen; Makoto with her 'auu~' and her failed pranks and Mai with her demon slaying sword.
Each character is individual and real. That's what I find important in characters. None of these characters did anything dramatic...well some may have but they had their reasons. You know. But I do feel that some character's weren't explored deep enough. I would've liked for Kanon to have continued on a few more episodes to look into some characters a bit more. You'll know what I mean when you're finished with watching Kanon.
All in all I loved each and every character though I did find some annoying. I've never actually liked a character who wasn't the main main character. Like how in Sailor Moon, there were a ton of other main characters but Sailor Moon was like just the main character that you liked? Well that's what happened for me anyway. Loving a different character is really nice.
Enojoyment & Overall: 10 & 9
Don't think I'm emo or anything, I'm not, but I really do love anime that make me cry. Kanon was the most that I've cried in though I Clannad is still the best for me. I guess Kanon would come in second or third considering there's After Story. It was funny at the right time and it was just a work of art. Kanon is truly one of the best anime that you can get.
I must warn you though, it is a very sad anime. It's very tragic. So you'll be needing a box of tissues. It will come in handy later on.
