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Since Kanon's value is spending the time with its characters, let's glance at what's offered. The main thing that struck me overall was how the personalities felt non-anime. Or mostly, anyway. Mai would be matching for the "dark and tall" type, and one could stretch Nayuki over a shape of "girl next door". Even those two were well developed (as we know, Lawson opened up to Mai eventually and Omo was hardcore enough for Nayuki to rage at the anime).

Yuichi's penchant for tactless jokes was so obvious that even the GameFAQs observed:

He is friendly and outgoing, and though as nice as of a person he is, he has yet to learn the sensitivity of women. He constantly teases the main cast of girls throughout the story which varies in severity depending on the girl. Despite this, he does have a soft side that likens him to an older brother as noted by Shiori Misaka.

Yeah. What's interesting, however, is how Shiori made him tone it down. Draw your own conclusions.

Shiori by herself was rather powerfuly drawn. Omo said that her defining trait was being an enigma. There's some truth to that[1], but she also emitted an intense aura of romanticism. I don't recall even seeing anything comparable in anime before. As the plot unveiled her mystery, Shiori's interplay of stoicism and weakness also came into view.

Ayu, the main heroine, develops on an ultimate idea that is familiar to anyone who's ever had an imaginary girlfriend. Still, I think the action field available to her is rather small out of necessity, since she's functionally 10 years old. She does not have a range of experiences: gastronomical ones most of all, but dealing with love too.

Makoto is handicapped by a similar problem: she does not have a full access to her own consciouseness. In practical terms, however, when she has to learn what a book or a nikuman is, it's amusing and endearing. Unfortunately, she is taken away from us too soon.

I think overall, in the game, Shiori has the deepest character and Ayu loses to her through no fault of her own. Not that it would be a productive way to look at it. Everyone offers something in this story.

[1] At some point, Yuichi observes after one of Shiori's remarks: "これが本当の姿なのだろうか？" or, approximately, "Is this her true shape?"

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at 08:03 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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