Mysterious Town, Indeed…
November 10, 2006 | Otaku | Kanon
Excuse my nerdiness for a moment, but…
It’s never explicitly stated, but the setting for Kanon is assumed to be an unknown town located somewhere on Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido. Yes, I know Key used the real city of Moriguchi, a suburb of Osaka, as inspiration for the town in the game, but seeing as that area only receives a minuscule amount of snow each year, it’s fairly obvious the story can’t actually take place there. I suppose it’s possible the story could take place somewhere along the Sea of Japan coast, as yearly snowfall totals there rival those of Hokkaido. However, it’s clear the people of Kanon are accustomed to prolonged cold, and the architecture of the town and surrounding landscape suggest Hokkaido, so… it’s probably Hokkaido. One can reasonably assume it’s at least north of the 38th parallel.
Now, Kanon obviously takes place during Winter (for the most part). And, as of Episode 6, one can assume the time of year is somewhere around mid-January. Why? The Japanese school year is typically split into three terms, beginning in April. Breaks between terms occur in Summer, around New Year’s, and in late March. Yuuichi transfers into Nayuki’s school at the beginning of a new term, and given the time of year, one can safely assume it’s at the beginning of the final term in January. Granted, some locations in Hokkaido are snowpacked until April, but the snow is usually melting by then. And, besides, April marks the beginning of a new school year… Yuuichi clearly transferred into an existing class.
So, where am I going with this? In Episode 6, Yuuichi promises to meet Ayu in front of the train station at 5:00 PM for their movie date. Beforehand, he drops by the school in search of Nayuki, only to bump into Shiori instead. There, they talk and admire the sunset until a bells ring in the distance, signaling that the time is 5:00 PM. There’s just one little problem…
At no location in Japan north of the 38th parallel is the sun visible at 5:00 PM in the middle of January. At the earliest, sunset occurs around 4:00 PM. At the latest, sunset occurs around 4:45 PM. Either way, the sun is long gone by 5:00 PM.
Now, should Kanon actually take place in Moriguchi (damn global warming!), the sun would be visible at 5:00 PM in the middle of January… for about 5 minutes. It definitely wouldn’t be a good 30 degrees above the horizon as depicted in the image at the top of this post.
Of course, none of this is important, but given KyoAni’s standard attention to detail, I found it amusing, especially when you consider how explicit the scene was about the time of day. Although, if the scene played out in a similar fashion in the game (I don’t really recall those sort of details), I suppose it’s Key’s fault, and KyoAni should be commended for respecting the integrity of the original material despite its logical inconsistencies. Bravo, KyoAni?
Maybe they mean kinda postacopaliptic setting, like in that Hollywood movie where New York froze over, or YKK. If there was a nuclear war in the Middle East, there ought to be nuclear winter in Kanon universe.
Maybe KyoAni was taking some poetic license to make the audience say “Oh look, a romantic moment.” Or, in my case “He’s trying to take advantage of a sick child.” I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Yuuichi is one of those player types with a 12-step game plan.
Congratulations, you have earned yourself a staff post at KyonAni. They will surely call you anytime now :P
Mmm.. interesting observation, to say the least. I’ll be inclined to let KyoAni have their poetic license than to have to stick 100% to the details. ’sides, anime is a form of escapism, right?
Anyways, I find myself liking Shiori more and more as she makes her appearances, most notably for her snappy lines. Somewhere in my inner Kanon fanboy, it’s /r/’ing for a Shiori ending.
Maybe it is in a town who likes to have a non official summertime :p http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time#Japan . It’s in Hokaido, after all. So… do I win a No-prize?
Well, based on that, it doesn’t appear Daylight Saving Time is actually in use anywhere in Hokkaido… there’s just a movement to adopt it. And, besides, DST would only have an impact in the Summer months.
Sunrise does come ridiculously early to many parts of Japan in the Summer, though. Even in Tokyo, it comes up at 4:30 AM in the middle of July (oh, how I came to hate that giant east-facing window in my apartment). If you’re used to living somewhere that observes DST, it requires some adjustment.
Anyway, this is all tongue in cheek, although I will admit to noticing the mistake the first time I watched that scene. I’m just tuned in to this sort of thing, I guess.
Bravo.
Good Work, Jeff!
nice, I hadnt realized that about hokkaido before, (i study geography every now and then)
But personally, its more fun if you dont know where they are, I bet, KyoAni did that on purpose. maybe.
It feels so good to blow things up!!
hmmm, nice logic!… but let me play devil’s advocate… not having seen the show (yet, lol), let’s assume that the darker-orange cloud layers in the image you have, are actually distant hills… also, let’s assume the scene isn’t located on level ground, but perhaps on a down slope… that would lower the 30 degree angle to about 5-10 degrees above the “horizon”…
also, i can’t be sure, but is it possible for the scene to be in a volcanic/mountainous location of hokkaido?… so depending on the altitude of the scene, they could be looking down on a sun that might already have set in other regions… or at least, that’s the best thought i can come up with to swerve around the apparent inconsistency ;)
p.s. pardon me for being the new guy… yesterday i finished the surprisingly powerful “figure 17″ for the first time and was looking for some decent images… and google listed some of your blog pages…