I don’t want to spoil the latest episode of Kanon for anyone, so I’m going to be intentionally vague here…
I thought the way the episode’s final scene was constructed was nothing short of amazing, given how it deals with multiple time frames. Think about it: the scene seamlessly moves from Yuuichi and Nayuki in class, to Yuuichi’s childhood flashback, to Yuuichi and Nayuki being called out of class, to, well… you know. You might say, “Well, that’s nothing special, really,” but I thought it was remarkably well done and designed in such a way to give the scene as much impact as possible. I mean, as if the flashback sequence itself wasn’t heartbreaking enough…
But, at the same time, the scene’s climax bugs me. Or, to be more specific, the moments leading to the scene’s climax. It’s as if the Director gave us entirely too much opportunity to mull over what was about to transpire by loitering on that distant shot for such an artificially long time. But, I already knew what was coming, and I suspect the same could be said for a lot of people watching the show. So, perhaps it was all for the sake of keeping the Kanon veterans on the edge of their seats.
For those of you new to Kanon, however… what did you think? Were you genuinely surprised? Did the pacing of the scene seem awkward in any way? Or were you too shocked to care?
Oh, and if you could… please mind the spoilers when commenting.
I never saw the original Kanon so this was a big surprise. And I thought that the pacing was excellent but I just knew something was coming. It does allow the scene to give as much impact as possible.
First time I watch Kanon and I have to say, I didn’t see that coming. Sure, when the focus shifted away from Yuuichi’s flashbacks, I could imagine what would come next, but that didn’t lessen the shock.
I thought the pacing worked fine. The short flashbacks during the episode gave me an idea of what had happened between the two, so when I saw it, it was easy to assimilate. (That didn’t make it any less painful, though)
What followed next, with the pauses in between, gave me enough time to know what was coming, but there was no way I would have been prepared to see that. I still wince when I remember it.
I wasn’t surprised after they assaulted Sayuri, but I wasn’t expecting it. I took her getting sick a few episodes back as a foreshadowing device. I agree with Scott and Eirik that the pacing was fine.
That was pretty brutal. Really well done, though. Shocked me quite a bit.
I have to agree, I was utterly shocked at that scene…With the sudden focus on “that” character, I kinda knew something big was gonna happen, but seeing it firsthand happen really shocked me
And yea Kyoto Animation did a very good job on the scene transition during that “scene”, you could really feel for the characters
Saw it coming a mile away, with all the foreshadowing. It seemed like the scene was set up less to surprise, and more to create a crushing feeling of utter dread and horror to eclipse the sun.
I like the strawberry-cake metaphor. It was tastefully-done( no pun intended), and drives home the impact of what the aftermath must have looked like. In some ways, it reminds me of Canvas2, where we had the ketchup being squished over and over again( along with squishy sounds to boot).
Cheers.
I forgot most of the story after the “tree” scene so this came as a shocker for me. That had to hurt, yeah. It took me a while to actually digest the moment after the episode ended.
I’m afraid I have seen/read too much about Kanon in English and Korean to be surprised, but still cringed at the screech, impact, and overturning. I was slightly perplexed when ’someone’ suddenly vanished as ’something happened’, but for the anime not to be gory and filled with red, I guess it was enough.
One thing I do wish is that I hope they would show more features in that tall tree to help us believe that Ayu did climb that high without levitation.
While I’d seen the old Kanon, the use of multiple timeframes here just put an entirely new perspective on it. Sure, we all saw it coming from a mile away, but when it hit us, it hit us hard. I did a double take at that last scene, since it went by so fast—just like it would’ve been in real life, I suppose. Bravo, Kyoani.
I usually skim through the TOEI episodes before I watch the KyoAni version, so I wasn’t surprised by it. I did actually forget that “that event” takes place, but remember when I watched the old one. After for the actual scene, I thought it was very good. Even though I knew it was coming, the way they worked up to it was great, especially how they strung all the scenes together. I knew it was coming, but it was still powerful–so much so that I had to pause, sit for a few seconds, and then continue. You could say that this new version is a lot more gruesome than the first version, but I also think the emotional impact is greater as well. I didn’t think KyoAni would that event as fully as they did.
Watching the series for the first time, my jaw dropped to the floor as realizing what was about to happen finally sunk in at a conscious level. Part of me knew it was coming but I was (and still am, kinda) in shock actually hearing/seeing it. Part of me is reminded of Saikano for the last few eps as to how brutal they were. That, and it hitting a little too close to home kinda hurt. But still, wow. Hats of to Kyoani for that.
I think that the slowness…everyone knew something was coming, but then the actual thing happened so quickly, and the actual event happened so quickly, and right after Yuuichi’s memory…it was awe-inspiring. The ending was such an intake of story and suspense…but what a big cliffhanger!
As a first time watcher, I have to go for the last option - it was too much for me to care about the pacing beforehand.
I’m a Kanon virgin, so I didn’t know what was coming. If it was meant to be a surprise, it didn’t work. With the cuts back and forth from the street scene to the school, they may as well have put a big flashing arrow pointing to an expensive vase on the screen.
However, if it was meant to make you grab the arms of your chair in dread, then I can say IT WORKED. The guillotine blade started to fall, then got stuck… but you knew it was still going to fall anyway.
Was it awkward? I’m going to go with ‘yes, but only in retrospect.’ When it occurred, I was just finishing a five-episode marathon, and was completely engrossed in the show; they could have had a parade of flying howler monkeys going down the street, and it would have been okay with me. Having rewatched the scene in question just now, though, it DOES seem a little stiff. But that’s 12 hours after the fact, and knowing what was coming.
It worked for me.
And yeah, it’s gonna leave a mark.
As I thought, many people were moved/touched/shocked/any-similair-to-that.
(((((NOTE: if you did not see any of kanons episodes stop reading and go watch the episodes you heretic :P oh, and because there are spoilers in upcoming lines.)))))
But to me, it did not really worked as well as when Ayu disapeared. I am a virgin like wonderduck above, but somewhere I knew what was coming, it’s like there is an order in it, and every girl in yuuichi’s life is going to get something bad (?) or touchy moment, I think Nayuki’s next, if Ayu ever comes back, that episode with her was really good and it was all moe when they kissed.
just how I look at things at the moment :)
in any case, I’m not going to stop watching it, I want to know more more and more ^^
I’m like noooooo!!!!! but, it was not as touching as when makoto… disappeared, first time an anime has ever touched me… sad sad sad…
Just to clarify, I’m a Kanon virgin. Thank you, that is all.
I was pretty shocked. It was focusing on Nayuki and Yuuichi and I wasn’t really focusing on anything else. I sort of got a bad feeling though but didn’t know how bad it’d be…
I for one am glad that I avoided the spoilers for this episode. I saw what was coming during the last few moments, but I was in a state of “oh god no” at the moment, so the scene really worked for me.
I’m a first time Kanon viewer, but I could see that coming. I thought it was pretty obvious what was going to happen. Granted, maybe not exactly how, but at least a pretty good idea.
That scene was really well done for full affect, I was completely shocked.
First time viewer, but I was spoiled by the discussion on some other websites and someone’s Youtube clip. Even so, hats off to KyoAni for the way they wove in and out of three different timelines leading up to it. Knowing it was coming didn’t make it any easier to watch, though it might have lessened the suprise value.
Kanon is the one that has convinced me that just seeing Kyoto’s name on it means a series is worth checking out. And as I noted over at my place, FMP:TSR is another winner.