SPOILERS BEWARE Here we go its time to review the Kyoto adaptation of their own VN firstly Toel adapted it in 2002 and then four years later Kyoto had their take on it and well how did it they do? Well I now understand why this anime is regarded as the predecessor to Clannad what a wild incredible ride this adaptation was I will be talking about the show in general as well as comparing it to Toels adaptation at times and well just as a sneak peek I will say that this adaptation was sublime. I havent played the VN so I dont know how either of the adaptations compare to the original VN but I can safely say Kyoto swung their magical wand once more and created another masterpiece with Kanon. For reference in this review when referring to Kyotos adaptation I will say Kanon and when referring to Toels I will say Kanon 2002. Now in my Kanon 2002 review I mentioned how I was still unsure why this anime is called Kanon and well the very first episode in Kanon here gives me a slight idea there is a caf that Yuuichi and Nayuki I believe go to and what plays in the background? Pachelbels Canon of course which gives me a reason to believe the show may be named after the song but since the song plays a pretty small part in the show I doubt this was the case there is also the fact its Kanon not Canon like the name of the song regardless this song plays in three episodes from what I noticed episode 1 11 and 14 and well the moment I first heard this song in the first episode I was like no way Its Canon which is a classical piece of music that I absolutely love and adore as its simply beautiful and super relaxing its a song I can easily listen to on loop for hours. A little bit on the OST which I already touched on in great detail in my Kanon 2002 review but since both adaptations come from the VN then both use the same soundtrack from the VN and man is the OST godlike. One new noticeable song in Kyotos adaptation would be the OP cover with piano and vocals only at a much slower pace which is present in episode 23 when we get flashbacks to all of Ayus moments in the show this is at the time when Yuuichi finally understood the whole situation surrounding her and when he possibly starts reminiscing about his lost love. Either way this OST was beautiful and super fitting for the scene it represented it even makes you feel a little emotional so overall an outstanding OST with incredible songs that I already covered in my other review so wont bring them up again here. Now that that little easter egg is covered lets move on to the main premise of the show the first five episodes is what I would refer to as meeting the cast of the show these episodes are bright cheery goofy and are just a buildup as to what follows so I dont have much to comment on here besides they were pretty similar to Kanon 2002 as far as the beginning of the show goes. However the show starts getting real good in the following episode. Episode 6 and the following four episodes after up to episode 10 is what I would refer to as Makotos arc and wellwow just wow Kyoto spent five episodes on Makotos arc compared to Toel who only gave her one true episode well the first significant difference with Kanon here is that this arc hit hard like REALLY hard its so early in the show and the true nature of Kanon is already coming out this whole arc is adorably heartwarming but bittersweet since its sad at the end. Makoto just for reference is a reincarnated fox that Yuuichi saved ten years ago when he was still living in this town now that he has forgotten his memories one day Makoto appears in front of him to assault him and says she has a grudge against him but thats all she remembers. Well later on in the arc we learn that Makoto has a grudge against Yuuichi for leaving her in the green field ten years ago on the final day before he left the city we learn that in order for someone to be reincarnated they have to sacrifice two things their life and memories which explains why Makoto behaves as such a child even though she is meant to be close to Yuuichis age. Over the course of this arc Makoto starts getting more and more attached to Yuuichi in the sense that if he leaves her side she fears that he will leave her once again over time Makoto starts losing her human qualities as the reincarnation lasts only for a little bit of time then even loses her sense to even speak and just says awoo which is a reference to a fox. Nonetheless the awoo is pretty damn adorable and just watching how clingy Makoto becomes is really sweet slowly bit by bit Yuuichi is guided that he should remain by Makotos side first from Mai and then he gets the full picture from Amano. Near the end of the arc his memories of the fox he saved resurface as he finally remembers the name Makoto Sawatari which is a crush he had back then and he only told one person about this crush and it was the fox he saved years ago so you see how the picture connects here. Watching the final moments of Makoto was painful if I was looking for a sad story then I definitely came to the right place as this arc crippled me for good its an emotional arc packed with many sad happy and memorable moments for the viewer and if that wasnt enough Makoto had one wish which she wanted to be granted and that was to get married which ends up happening at the end of episode 10 even though she only has a veil it still feels like it was good enough for Makoto and in the following instance by supernatural powers shes gone and the tears dont stop this arc is pretty phenomenal compared to Toels adaptation which did play on my feelings very briefly since her arc was only one episode Kyoto does a phenomenal job at adapting Makotos arc by extending it and giving it the time it really needed having the arc be covered in five episodes was an incredible decision as it gave Makoto a lot more meaning then just a random girl that appears one day with a grudge. Since Im watching this adaptation straight after Toels I knew what was coming but what I couldnt see coming is how incredibly well Kyoto would adapt this this single arc is on Clannads level which is not really a surprise since its made by the same studio and only a year before the masterpiece that is Clannad was born. This predecessor certainly didnt disappoint in adapting the first of many girls. So after ten episodes and by being already crippled emotionally I accepted what I saw and prepared for the next arc. The next major arc that Kanon focuses on would be Mais which is already going in a different order to how Toel handled it but thats irrelevant here since they both conclude in the same place Mais arc actually got a decent amount of screen time in Kanon 2002 but here in Kyotos adaptation the arc was once again handled beautifully for the next five episodes up to episode 15 the anime focuses on Mai who has a really strong contention for being best girl since her personality is a strong kuudere and I have a strong habit of falling for the kuuderes in anime. Since Toel handled Mais arc pretty well as well Kyoto there arent that many distinct differences between the two adaptations but there was certainly one noticeable difference Kyoto shows us Mai when she was little and the fact that her mother was ill which is where Mai gained her supernatural powers to heal living things at will one scene which really touched my heart was when Mai and her mother were unable to go to the zoo so what did Mai do? She brought the zoo to her mother by creating many snow bunnies this scene right here hit me hard Mais arc which I thought wouldnt be packed with much emotion but damn was I wrong since Kanon 2002 had no mention of her mum but once her mum gets brought into the equation then it became a different story instantly yet another fabulous arc which was adapted beautifully and really brought out the best of Mai over time she becomes more likeable but thats how it is with most kuuderes and they seem to have a magnet which pulls me to them as the moment I see a kuudere I already know its going to be a character that is emotionless and ostracized as well as really not giving much care about anything and anyone or at least thats how they are shown on the outside but what they keep to themselves is what makes them so loveable to me and I always want to sympathise with a kuudere. In this case Yuuichi is what I would be doing if I was in his shoes paying the girl enough attention until she opens up to you and eventually Mai does open up which leads to her backstory as Yuuichi starts remembering more and more about his past this time its the bunny hair band which was given to him by Nayuki that starts triggering his memories to come back and the final nail in the coffin is the final monster and well this time its a heartwarming ending to the arc its not as emotional as Makoto but still has its moments of spotlight and is very satisfying to watch. Another distinct difference is how the arc ended in Kanon 2002 Mai attempts to stab herself but is stopped by Sayuri whereas here in Kanon she does indeed stab herself but its the little Mai from the past that appears to heal Mai once more I dont recall if Kanon 2002 showed us much of the orange flower field that we see plenty in Kanon but these flashbacks of Mais mum and the flower field is what push this arc from great to an absolute masterpiece the conclusion of the arc was handled so well and was super satisfying to experience. The backstory of her mum is the icing on the cake and the way this arc was handled was so well done from one arc to another and we have ten sequential episodes which have been incredible just over halfway into the show and at this point I already knew this was going to be a masterpiece especially since I already knew whose arcs were left and how the anime will end. Mais arc was incredible but I preferred Makoto in this adaptation since it made me cry like a baby and reminded me of Anohana at times which is another anime I absolutely love to bits. The next three episodes that follow Mais arc is Shioris arc who was the shortest arc in the anime but that didnt stop it being as enjoyable as the others already knowing how this arc will conclude since Ive watched Kanon 2002 at the time of watching the remake and well even though I knew how it was going to conclude it still hits me hard as its another arc that goes straight to the point already in the first episode of her arc she starts getting plenty of screen time as Yuuichi starts getting much closer to her and its either at the end of this episode or the following one that Yuuichi learns that Shiori is supposedly not going to be able to live past her birthday which is about a week away he learns this information from her sister Kaori who has been neglecting her existence in order to make the goodbye the least painful it could be but deep down inside Kaori was torn as its her blood related sister that was going to disappear soon and was this approach really the correct one to take? As clich as an anime would be the answer would be no as in the final episode Yuuichi gets together a group of his friends to celebrate Shioris birthday and Kaori is invited as well since there is one thing that makes Shiori happier than anything and that would be spending time with her sister and making up all the lost time this wish is somewhat granted as Kaori attends the party but this is where the atmosphere turns really awkward as the sisters dont know how to act towards each other since Im sure back at home Kaori just disregarded Shioris existence as a whole anytime she would speak so in a sense Shiori did want to speak but was afraid of being in an awkward situation where she would get ignored by the end of the party Kaori finally acknowledges Shiori as her little sister. Then we spend the last hours of Shioris time by the fountain she loves to visit Yuuichi is there too so you can imagine how that went what I noticed here in Kanon which is done differently from Kanon 2002 is how the ending arcs are handled here in Kanon they are more focused on Yuuichi since he is the only person with Shiori and Mai when their arcs conclude in Kanon 2002 as I already mentioned earlier its Sayuri that stops Mais from taking her own life and similarly at the end of Shioris arc it was Kaori right up to the end that was present but here in Kanon its always Yuuichi who is last standing and there to comfort each girl I definitely prefer these conclusions compared to Toels. Similarly to how Makotos arc ended Shioris ends in a sad bittersweet way too as she leaves to go get a drink only to never return but leaves a goodbye message next to the vending machine which concludes her arc this arc was just as every bit enjoyable as the other two even though it was the shortest since Kanons strongest aspect is getting that emotional feeling across and each arc that has been implemented had gotten me so its no surprise that I love this show since it will memorable to me for years to come. Each of the girls in their retrospective arcs feel so precious and are waifus that should be protected at all costs. So even though Shioris arc covered only three episodes which is a similar length as to what Toel gave it it was still a super impactful and memorable arc for me with another really precious character. Also so many times during this arc I just kept thinking Shiori is literally Nagisa from Clannad as her body is weak she is somewhat socially awkward but deep down a really wholesome and great character. With those three arcs concluded that leaves the final arc of the anime and the one which I originally thought was going to be the most emotional to me since thats how I felt when I watched Kanon 2002 but well this arc spans the last six episodes and I wont say it was the most emotional but that doesnt make it bad its still an incredible arc Ayus arc seems to run at the same time as Nayukis as this was the case in Kanon 2002 as well Nayukis arc starts when her mum gets into an accident and these are also the episodes that Ayu starts getting more screen time and gets ever closer to Yuuichi. Ayu is the main character of Kanon after Yuuichi since shes been around since the very beginning but she was never treated seriously there were glimpses of her serious character but more so than not she was a goofy character right until the final episodes when Yuuichis memories finally start resurfacing flashbacks to her and Yuuichis past are also present throughout the entire show usually before the OP in a similar fashion to how Clannad handled the world with the girl and the robot at least thats the vibes that I was getting here. I covered a lot on Ayu in my Kanon 2002 review since that arc stood out the most too so I wont go into too much detail here but the base of the story here is that Ayu is Yuuichis childhood friend who fell off a tree on the final day before he left the city so all this time he had no memories so its hard to say if he thought she was dead or just forgotten anyway in the present time he accepted Ayu as his childhood friend but no more than that since he had forgotten all that he knew from when he was a child. At the end of episode 20 I believe they confess to each other so at this point Yuuichis memories have started resurfacing but the most important one hasnt come back yet. What follows are some pretty touching yet sad scenes as Ayu and Yuuichi head into the forest to where Ayu says her school is located but this of course is only fabricated since it was a made up school back when they were children once they reach where there used to be a huge tree only to realise that its not there Ayus memories start resurfacing about how she is actually no longer here since at this point the show wants you to believe she fell and died back then and in a matter of instances by supernatural force she disappears and what gets left is her backpack as well as her red hair band I believe which is important either way. At this point Yuuichi should be nearly getting the full picture of the situation if he hadnt yet Im going to go with the assumption that he has gotten the full picture at this point so now that he finally remembered about Ayu and how she is no longer here once more he sets out to that exact spot she died goes beyond to get a pretty beautiful view of the whole city which I guess would be a reference to the same view that Ayu kept seeing on top of the tree since theres a blizzard he begins feeling frail and weak and collapses only for a new character to make her appearance the new character is none other than the real Makoto the Makoto he had a crush on as a child and told stories about to the fox which would later reincarnate with the same name. Even though she doesnt really play a major role in the series it was nice seeing the real Makoto as she is another character that was completely cut out from Toels adaptation. While Ayus arc is running we also have Nayukis arc who closes herself off to everyone after the realization that she may lose her mum but ends up being comforted by Kaori who came out of the exact same situation involving Shiori I still feel like Nayuki doesnt get her own arc since even here her arc is part of another major arc so Nayuki just feels like a side character even though shes been there since the beginning and even before Ayu appeared. So in a sense Nayuki is the fifth main girl but doesnt really get that much dedicated screen time to just herself and her past there are glimpses of her but thats all it doesnt focus mainly on Nayuki solely at any point so to me she still feels like the only girl without a true arc. I dont really have much else to say about Nayuki as her existence is present but nothing more so she almost feels like the least important character from the main girls and one without an actual wholesome arc dedicated just to herself. Now back to Ayus arc which concludes really well its sweet adorable and cute. In the very last episode Yuuichi finally meets the real Ayu that has been in a coma for seven years since her fall on the day that Yuuichi left the city Kanon isnt a sad story so it ends happily as she does indeed regain her consciousness but this arc was still packed with emotions the backstory was really heartwarming as it had been touched on basically throughout the entire show we saw glimpses of their childhood so we already knew that Ayu was the main character of this show after Yuuichi. The confrontation and realization that Ayu had of herself that she wasnt actually real was really touching and hurt my heart but Im used to these kind of stories and for some reason love themeven though they destroy me emotionally. Its almost like I enjoy crying which sounds pretty dumb but it is what it is. So surprisingly enough Ayus arc wasnt my favorite this time its still an incredible arc nonetheless but then again all of them have been which is why this experience with Kanon has been a masterpiece if I had to pick my favorite arc then I would probably go with Makoto since that one was on a whole another level compared to its 2002 adaptation Ayu is still best girl of the show but all the girls are really precious and need to be protected. So where do I stand with Kanon? An incredible masterpiece of course and a worthy predecessor of Clannad its very darn good but its not Clannad then again nothing will ever replicate what Clannad did for me so thats to be expected however Kanon which is done by the same studio did a fantastic job at adapting their VN in an wonderful way which has created another masterpiece for me to remember for years and come back to from time to time to experience Kyotos best works as I now have two old masterpieces from Kyoto this and Clannad are both two godlike anime from my favorite studio out there their sense of writing for supernatural and slice of life stories really is unmatched and something I will treasure for years to come it only makes me sad that I didnt find Kanon sooner when all I had to do was search for shows similar to Clannadbut oh well found another old hidden gem and a show worthy of getting the highest score rating since it was incredibly enjoyable from start to finish and the blessing that this was twice as long as Toels is what makes this a masterpiece having each of the arcs longer and more sophisticated with more interactions for the girls as well as Kyotos unique old art style which I love to bits as well made it one of the greatest experiences in anime Ive had for a very long time. Its a show that has stood the test of time and one thats worthy of being one of the best that Ive seen in all the time since I started watching anime so that says a lot. Again if you like Clannad then this is a must watch as its same studio same art style and same godlike writing. Kanon 2002 Reviewhttps://anilist.co/review/13088