Kanon (Live Playthrough)

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I don't think there's another way I can start Kanon other than by bringing up the time I watched the Kanon anime in high school, bought an artbook from the visual novel, and spent like an hour sticking post-it notes on all the H scenes to cover them up.

This was also the period of my life where I burned 4 episodes of Kanon at a time to DVDs and showed them to my family. I can still hear them attempting to 'uguu' in an attempt to build solidarity with their kid when I close my eyes.

Hold on I have to go watch the 2006 anime opening again, I can see those slow panning cuts over the cast in my sleep

(it is uncertain why so much happens when I close my eyes)

I went and watched the 2002 opening first. Shiori what are you doing don't drink the fountain water you're terminally ill

One of my big weakness is tiled backgrounds.

(As of the time of writing, I realize that the prototype for this site has a checkerboard background.)

Also I considered playing the PC release of Kanon instead for like, authenticity or something? I owned the Memorial Box and everything! But in the end PS2 is more convenient, even though the part of my brain that thinks 'you should make Dreamcast homebrew' really was considering instead...

The game also asks 'do you wanna just call yourself Yuuichi' and yeah in this case? No question

While preparing to start playing Kanon I was thinking 'you know, there's no way Clannad was really 300 hours like people in English communities said'. Like that has to be some weird exaggeration right

Upon searching rough Japanese playtimes, users quote about 25 hours for Kanon (5 hours a route) and three times that for Clannad. Maybe low triple digits would be reasonable for me playing Clannad... but I'm glad I'm here instead. I still wanna bash through White Album in 2025.

Also it would probably take me 300 hours just because I'm posting too much. Get off the damn computer

Anyway what I actually opened Notepad to say is 'they hit me with the music box version of Last Regrets and my first thought was 'wait where's Ayu saying 'I'm in a dream'''

The main thing that stopped me from livetweeting every second (aside from a story starting) is me running into a wall of snow-related terms I needed to translate. I sense this might be harder than To Heart in every instance except when Nayuki is talking

Nayuki's voice is even cuter than I remember, but there's something about seeing Yuuichi say 'What, a reunion after 7 years is worth 1 can of coffee?' that immediately colors him with a mid-2000s Tomokazu Sugitaness.

Oh! They full voice your name if you're Yuuichi

Technically I should be less amazed by this because I am supposed to play Tokimemo 2 in all its PS1 name-reading-technology glory, but also it's only appropriate for Nayuki to say 'Yuuichi' in that Nayuki way

Let's go visual novel UI let's go

I suddenly worried about whether Kanon was one of those VNs where the actions you take don't obviously correlate with the ending you're aiming for and that I'll end up in a bad end

I then worried about whether I was about to lock in on Nayuki's route (not that bad, all things said!) just because she was the first character I met and I felt like being Default Nice... then I remembered that the nice option here I think results in you ditching her for Ayu while going around town

After a night of playing Mario Kart with coworkers I came back home to continue to Kanon and immediately pondered 'do you ever think how Nayuki lives with Yuuichi yet fumbles the bag in 80% of the game's routes'

What do you think it's like being the circle that's been making Akiko doujins for literally half the time I've been on this earth? I hope they still love doing what they do. I don't think you could be in it for any reason other than the love of the game

There's a little bit in the back of my head that's like 'hasn't the 30-part series evolved like some sort of unique plot development by now involving timelines or clones or something' but I don't know how that got there and I couldn't immediately verify it

Also it's on Goodreads for some reason.

No, Yuuichi, that's not right, you need to extend the uguu out a little longer.

Anyway this happens right after he pigs out on Minase family cooking because he's the kind of person who pours sauce on the instant yakisoba before remembering to drain the water. Yuuichi I had faith in you to not be a failure cook of a protagonist

Here lies Nayuki: climbed on Yuuichi to wake him up because he turned into a lump on the bed after pigging out despite promising to go out on the town with her, didn't even get a CG for it

I was tricked by the script cutting from 'Nayuki and Yuuichi go out for a walk' to 'Yuuichi proclaiming Walk Done', because I thought they were just going to cut past it, but actually he just hates how dang cold it is in this town

I really wanted to type 'I will not be keeping an uguu count at this time'

but also what if no one has posted an uguu count from their playthrough of the VN

there are 86 uguus on that one bonus CD that came with the anime I think? it used to always leap out of nowhere when I randomized my entire music library in college. my roommates would comment on it

Ayu spinning trying to see her wings is one of those GIFs that you forget about for 15 years but remember as soon as Yuuichi's like 'why you got those things on your back'

17 uguus and 0 accepted taiyakis later Yuuichi escapes his first encounter with Ayu. I will not be keeping an usotsuki counter at this time.

Later she kind of deflects Yuuichi's apology for wandering off with 'I was late yesterday, so we're even'. Being even sucks! I hate that Yuuichi has pushed Nayuki into a corner where she's trying to rationalize by keeping score.

(Also as Kanonheads may remember, realizing how behind he is in the score is the last thing Yuuichi should want to do.)

Posting sleepwalking-at-10-PM Nayuki for good luck and safe travels.

I'm a little disappointed that they foreshadow in advance Nayuki having like 10000 alarm clocks. IMO, it'd be way funnier to have Yuuichi just be like 'dang I hope I can get up fine in the morning without one' and then get blasted by the full battery across the hall the next morning

Speaking of, I forgot Nayuki gives Yuuichi an alarm clock with her voice embedded in it. Big power move.

I was pretty neutral on Nayuki during the anime but... how do the kids say it, her stocks greatly outvalue Ayu right now in the VN. I'm just saying, 'In the morning, you say good morning' and 'In the evening, you say good night' would lend itself to some cute romantic talk once you're on an affection-swapping basis.

(Canon, please type 'on an I love you basis' like a normal person.)

I've never gotten one of those anime sleepyhead dreams where they go like 'I'm so full~'. It's always just like I'm late for a flight or forgot my luggage or I'm sliding around the highway on a car I can barely see over the dashboard of and my feet don't move right to hit the pedals

No fair.

Also what Yuuichi just gives up on waking up Nayuki on the first day and she gets up on her own?? This is such a downgrade from

Everyone knows at least one person who's like 'it's nice and warm today' while you are bundled up in like four times the layers they are

Since I am from California, 90% of the earth's population is that people to me.

One of the things I've noticed so far with the VN compared to 2006 is that Yuuichi is kind of just more of a dick in the VN

On day 1, he bums around on the couch watching TV, pigs out on lunch, then sleeps through a planned outing with Nayuki (that he asked for!) - compare to him spending the same morning shoveling snow with Akiko in 2006.

Anyway after responding 'no I'm so happy I could do a jig' to Nayuki's 'you don't seem happy we're in the same class', Yuuichi parries Kaori's 'you two get along well' with 'nah whenever I see Nayuki's face it reopens wounds in me' and like

Yuuichi saying things that you would specifically only say if you were trying to terribly foreshadow things without knowing it. Come on man

Nayuki's like 'yeah I don't mind putting a lot into club because I don't have a lot going for me'

If Yuuichi says 'yeah you do' Nayuki replies 'like what' and he completely blanks in embarassing fashion

If Yuuichi says 'that's right' (?) Nayuki replies 'that's mean' and Yuuichi commits the incredible unforced error of 'look you can't get to know all about someone in such a short time knowing them', to which Nayuki whispers 'it's not a short time...'

Yuuichi is going to fumble so badly that I'm going to end up kicking him off a route just because *he* doesn't deserve it

'Jump towards your chopsticks hand' is another gag that immediately rises to the front of my brain when seeing it, but also I'd like to call out this scene for having Ayu rattle off four uguus in a row without any interrupting dialog

it's also worth noting that instead of Ayu having plausible deniability (i.e. 'a cat spooked me') she straight up just snatches and dashes ('i forgot my wallet') in the VN

I forgot the first time you meet Shiori in Kanon is because Yuuichi mixes up Ayu so hard that she eats a tree and it sends snow falling onto the hapless girl nearby

Does this count as an uguu?

(EDITOR: actually she continues to cry-uguu like 5 more times)

Referencing 2006, by this point the anime has already started to drive into Makoto's route in episode 3 (before I've even seen her once in the game!) - in the game, Yuuichi is instead stealing Nayuki's breakfast (mean!) and then razzing her about having enough time to walk to school (mean!).

Nayuki, imperviously, repays this by gently and continually nudging Yuuichi to maybe, just possibly a little, remember the littlest thing about the town he lived in for at least 5 years.

Her 'if at least one person thinks you should you remember, then it'd be good to remember' line is brought forward into episode 2 of 2006 in a different setting; here, she follows it up with a scathingly self-depreciating 'lmao what am i saying though, i must be saying weird stuff when i'm hungry (yuuichi mean!!)'

The uguu count is at 38.

Nayuki's 'if at least one person thinks you should you remember, then it'd be good to remember' line is brought forward into episode 2 of 2006 in a different setting; here, she follows it up with a scathingly self-depreciating 'lmao what am i saying though, i must be saying weird stuff when i'm hungry (yuuichi mean!!)'

The uguu count is at 38.

Yuuichi's stocks are so low right now that when chatting with Kaori and Nayuki before class on day 2, Kaori looks over her shoulder and says 'oh, Ishibashi is coming!', to which he asks 'who's that'

Context clues my man!!! Who do you think would come to class right before it starts, an alien

I think I got so used to Nayuki and Ayu talking that everyone else talking feels like lightning fast

Kitagawa actually sits in the same spot as in the anime but is totally ignored by Yuuichi's narration on his first day of school

Although my original favorite in 2006 was Mai, I went through a big phase in college where I incessantly bothered everyone I knew and many people I didn't to vote for Shiori in Saimoe (ISML, natch).

it's less a question of 'was Shiori important' and more 'was I deeply affected by Shiori or did I just force myself into championing a character beyond my true affection as a form of personality'? it's best not to think about that too hard.

Looking back now, I also need to remember to refuse the question 'did Shiori shape my tastes or reflect them'. I've always had a thing for the kind of character who dances around the truth with sweet words, to speak nothing of dark bob cuts.

Oh you actually bring Makoto (idiot face) home to recuperate in the trunk of the story. I wonder how that will play out later when you zone into like Nayuki and everyone else disappears

'Not like I can go to the arcade while holding two bags of rice'? That's quitter talk, Yuuichi.

In this scene, Akiko is mildly perplexed by the existence of a 'Ayu Tsukimiya' wandering the streets, but eventually pushes down her doubt and treats her as she would anyone else.

Technically this is supposed to be a 'nah she's not who I'm thinking of' moment, but also given how Akiko has treated a complete rando amnesiac (Makoto) who passed out in her house, I think it's more appopriate to imagine Akiko as the kind of kind person who extends hospitality to everyone, no matter their personal circumstances.

The Minase household is all about making sure that everyone (even plants) is fed (even when Nayuki is already at 'we might make it to school on time if we run' tier lateness). A noble cause.

I found out by accident that Kanon PS2 lets you not only fast-forward lines but also fast-rewind them also! I found out by trying to fast-forward to a choice I messed up, only to find Yuuichi's day playing in reverse at top speed

You can even rewind through choices! Very friendly.

VN Yuuichi just has this uncurious energy. he doesn't pay attention in class, resolves to borrow Nayuki's notes, spends all day lying around thinking about nothing, then when Nayuki comes by he's like 'hey my after-dinner massage is here' (he forgot he borrowed her notes)

It's slowly creeping up on me how The Yuuichi And Nayuki Banter mostly revolves around Yuuichi continually leaving Nayuki in the dust - a program that's been long running for many years now...

The more I see it, the more I think she really doesn't deserve it! The world is always just going by Nayuki. Yuuichi never waits for her, hurrying her when she's going at a different pace and never really seeing things from her sleepy eyes.

Her world is small and slow, but she holds tight to what's precious to her, despite, as she claims, having no redeeming traits. There are neurodivergent characters everywhere for those with scrambled minds to see.

What surprises me is that I am about 5 days into the game and yet The Jam has not made an appearance

Did KyoAni bring it forward into the second episode of 2006 knowing it was easy visual comedy? Is it actually a secret only awaiting those on Nayuki's route? Is it going to show up randomly on one of these fluff days with no particular rhyme or reason?

(narrator: the jam showed up the next day)

Yuuichi and Nayuki reach school 10 minutes early, and Yuuichi proclaims 'it's a miracle!', to which Kaori flatly replies 'Miracles don't come so easily'.

Ah! The Wink of Irony

It's a fun exercise to look at 2006 and see what Yuuichi Ribbing was left in verbatim and what was edited or scrapped. Here I'm making a note for when Yuuichi says to the girl who doesn't remember her sleepyhead actions 'hey do you remember getting totally smashed last night and dancing naked?'

Kanon definitely drives home the point that Akiko is the stablizing force and peacemaker of the Minase household, though.

Nayuki has a conversation with Yuuichi that's like 'What are you gonna do during tomorrow's holiday?'

'Space out'

'That's a waste!'

'Says the person who spends half their day off sleeping'

'Sleeping is way better than spacing out'

Gotta say, she's got him dead to rights there

What do you think Nayuki likes to eat on the other six days of the week? Or is it just Ichigo Monday, Ichigo Tuesda(I am immediately pulled off the stage by a giant candy cane)

As I shuffle through lazy school life with Nayuki, wondering if Yuuichi has accidentally bumped onto the Makoto route like a train changing rails, I think about how Nayuki and Yuuichi talked about him maybe joining a club once and then it was totally dropped

(I'd also like to look for the Shiori route, but I haven't even seen her in days...)

GET EQUIPPED
WITH
CAT

I spent a little bit searching 'when did that Michael Jackson baby-dangling incident happen' before realizing that this CG and conversation is meant to be a lead-in for Makoto's backstory

also the default town BGM is sure not a fit for Yuuichi yelling at Makoto and causing her to run off

Akiko once again levels with Yuuichi with the 'even if you think you're right, you might be hitting an open wound'. Never doubt Akiko

Anyway Yuuichi is unceremoniously booted off Makoto's route after she runs away after a fight and he just kind of sees her in public later and decides not to say hi to her, thinking 'she's probably doing good now'. I thought this was kind of weird but actually think back to the last breakup you had

Anyway we now shift to Nayuki Daily Life mode and Yuuichi immediately tries to trick Nayuki out of her three sizes

Ughhhhhh eroge logic everything hurts, Yuuichi pushes Nayuki again during breakfast on her three sizes, to which she replies with 'as a girl it's embarassing', causing him to back out with 'im joking lmao'

before thinking to himself 'interesting [tm]! nayuki sees me as a man' like yeah sure there's no other reason to be embarassed about sharing personal information with a sibling uggg ghg hg ghgh

We're basically in Nayuki's route now, so surely even though every time Yuuichi's been told to stay in one place, he immediately gets caught up in something, that probably won't happen this tim-

Yuuichi has now suggested that two different girls get a part-time job

I'm trying to casually forget some facts about the Nayuki route but every time Nayuki drops like a comically obvious hint like 'I'd be embarassed wearing my pajamas around other guys, but you...' Yuuichi immediately thinks 'damn it's crazy we're blood related'

Also Nayuki's been wearing her pajamas around Yuuichi all game, are you just asking her about it now because she sleptwalk into your bed dude come on

I'm thinking how Yuuichi and Nayuki held hands for an entire afternoon out shopping and Yuuichi pays it zero consideration, which is 100% less consideration of Nayuki As Girl than he paid her after she refused to tell him her three sizes

(the next day, Yuuichi is walking to school with Nayuki and Ayu and, unprompted, he can blurt out 'Nayuki is a weird name')

I went from slouching in my chair to sitting straight up upon realizing the kind of aura Nayuki gives off when saying 'that's probably because...' seeing Yuuichi instinctively interact with Ayu in a chum-bully-sorta-way. Yuuichi might have spent a while unpacking his boxes at the start of the game but Nayuki's definitely got baggage

You gotta lock in, Nayuki!!!

Yuuichi asking 'Don't you have any guys you like' to Nayuki and her answering 'I had one... in elementary school' is a masterclass move I didn't expect her to have the presence to execute.

In particular, the intentional use of 'elementary school' instead of '7 years ago' is a strong parry.

it's interesting watching this conversation get adjusted in 2006 to fit it being Not Nayuki Route

watching Nayuki in ep 19 stretch the 'describe the person you like to their face and they don't notice' moment even further, right down to the 'he liked someone else then, and he does now' and...

one of the big effects yorukura has had on me is that whenever I see a line anywhere near 'I never changed' my brain immediately screams in kiui's voice. it's as powerful as nina girlsbandcry's 'I wasn't wrong'

(nayuki spots a snowbunny a scene later) ohhh WAIT is that why she wanted red marbles

cute artstyle shift for this CG!

No time better to realize you like a girl than in the middle of studying for exams

(one day passes and Yuuichi remembers everything about Nayuki) No better time to confess to a girl than one day before exams

(brains do work like this! they wanna run from the tests!)

I really liked Nayuki's confession... I feel like her running away so that she could collect her thoughts, moving at her own pace, and then answering in a way that is unmistakably Nayuki, a little embarrassed but also allowing herself to be selfish... it's cute!

Also exam day is still tomorrow y'all

Nayuki's pillow talk is really funny to me. 'Is it alright if I fall asleep here like this?' Girl, you fall asleep standing up walking to school, do whatever

UPDATE: Yuuichi is woken up the next day by a live performance of Nayuki Alarm Clock, which is actually genius

Nayuki lost her nametag in the UI because Yuuichi has never seen her in her club outfit before, Yuuichi are you /srs rn

Nayuki's route ends very nicely, the mirroring between her and Yuuichi's original situation is sweet (although one person of these two did not lash out terribly hmMMMM) and Yuuichi's alarm clock recording is fantastic work.

What a confession, I hope Nayuki embarasses him with it for years to come

Also I came across the omake UI after finishing Nayuki's route, and oh this really slapped-together art-centric UI is so charming!!! I love it

Lap 2! Here's a picture of the controls

I just realized now, but Shiori can be considered 'Near Side Kanon', while everyone else is 'Far Side Kanon'. Please do with this knowledge what you will.

Nayuki, as a major character in the beginning of the game, also gets the torture of being the most ignored and fast-forwarded character

If Yuuichi doesn't wake up Nayuki on the first day when her alarm clock symphony goes off, Akiko goes in your stead after he inquires. One can only imagine her disappointed at Yuuichi tripping on the first hurdle.

Remember when there was an uproar for some reason about a T-shirt that said 'Boys are stupid, throw rocks at them!'?

That's what I end up thinking about while watching Shiori asks if she can put rocks in the snowballs she's about to pelt Yuuichi with

The most relatable thing Yuuichi has done so far is think 'I should ask Kaori about her sister' and then just forget to do it for a week while Makoto Prank Week happens

Oh it's probably because I ended up on the 'you did nothing you dumbass' ending route

Well that's better than accidentally ending up on Nayuki route. I would feel bad if she still hadn't given up on Yuuichi after how much he mistreats her

...Oh I think it's because I hit Shiori with a paper airplane telling her to go away, and then she promptly stuck out her tongue and obeyed. I guess not all attention is good attention.

I swear that was in the anime though...?

I greatly appreciate the Shiori sweatdrop face - as well as how much she can keep Yuuichi on his back foot with her wit.

So true!!!

(Shiori also later says that eating ice cream in winter is nice because it won't melt as quickly. This is also true)

I think this is the first time Shiori says 'see you tomorrow'. I'm the kind of person who always tries to say this when I can.

On day 12, Shiori asks for one ice cream. On day 13, Shiori asks for two ice creams. Assuming this trend continue, how much ice cream manufacturing capacity does Yuuichi need to invest in to ensure ice cream solvency throughout January?

Shiori's tender 'if you say 'don't come tomorrow', then I won't; but if you say 'come visit tomorrow', I'll be there no matter what' is really heavy, given the context that Yuuichi has just been given the first glimpse of Kaori's denial of Shiori's existence

Especially when she looks genuinely surprised to hear the latter from Yuuichi...

Likewise with the followup, 'Shiori, you can wait until it stops snowing to go home', deflected with 'It's not guaranteed that the snow will stop'...

(She also jokes about having a whole-ass umbrella in her pocket, in a continuation of an earlier riff from this conversation. Don't worry, it's a folding one)

One can only imagine Nayuki staring out the window, attempting to figure out what Yuuichi is up to as he gets up and dashes to eat ice cream in the courtyard for the fourth day in a row.

stretch break! everyone go watch the shiori whack-a-mole scene from kanon 2006

(upon doing so I realized that Shiori got to wear a different casual outfit for the date in the anime!)

you have been visited by the rare sideways makoto sprite (yuuichi is coming home from a date where he talked way too much about whack-a-mole)

The hardest I've ever seen Akiko come down on Yuuichi is when he very obviously dodges out of Ayu asking him on a movie date. Does she know I'm well off the Nayuki route by now too

Incidentally, at school on the 18th, both Yuuichi and Kaori ditch Nayuki during lunch (for similar but different reasons). It's hard being Nayuki this month...

I'm trying to cut Yuuichi more slack in the Shiori route (where he's not the driving force of conversation so he doesn't say as much out-of-pocket stuff as with Nayuki) but then he forgets that he scheduled another date with Shiori even though that happened at the end of the previous date

(UPDATE: nevermind he was just pretending to forget. Okay yeah Yuuichi great sure)

Shiori showed up at 10:00 for a 13:00 date. Gold medal in the definitely avoiding being late olympics

Meanwhile Yuuichi is on the level of 'I don't think anyone likes to wait'. Enjoy your Wrong Award

Shiori pictured doing her favorite thing, telling 75% of the truth

VN Yuuichi is an exercise in the very specific form of comedy where he pretends to ignore what a girl is saying three times before returning to acting like a normal human

I had a note here about 'write about Shiori's dream that she wanted to achieve no matter what', but I don't immediately recall what I wanted to say about this scene, which gives the first peek of the curtain behind Shiori.

I think the correct thing to do is to link the Indie Tsushin interview with Taylor McCue again.

The projects are in here, and they need to be out there.

The part that's really wrenching me is the bits between the lines where Shiori sees her comedic lack of artistic ability and, without saying it, thinks 'it's too late for me to improve'.

It really scares me thinking that - despite the tweets saying that you can still start things at 30, 40, 50, so on - eventually that number has a limit.

I'm just not good at that kind of thought. It makes me an insomniac.

(EDIT: Yuuichi is a stupid idiot because he specifically confesses to Shiori about wanting to be by her side for years to come)

(EDIT 2:
Yuuichi gets rejected by Shiori for obvious reasons and immediately goes Sad Mode and Nayuki jumps in the next day to have his back, to the extent where if you check the branch where you choose to have lunch with Nayuki (instead of waiting for Shiori where she won't be) she reacts in a downcast way)

After Kaori breaks the news about Shiori to Yuuichi and he turns into a big lump in his room, in the VN Nayuki stays by his side to offer some comfort

In 2006, Ayu gets nearly the same lines (and the same snark from Yuuichi) verbatim

It makes sense but it makes my brain do all sorts of flips!

I want to post so many Shiori CGs.

Coming back to this from the end of her route, it really feels like she has more than Nayuki's (Shiori has *four* in her epilogue!), but the actual difference is not so large.

I think it's because Shiori's CGs have more emotional impact, whereas Nayuki's CGs mostly lie in common route. Jack of all trades sorta sleepy girl.

Yuuichi is attempting to stealthily determine what Shiori wants for her birthday, so he asks 'What would you do if you won a billion yen ($6.9 million USD)'

Shiori simply replies 'Be surprised!'.

Right after, Shiori stops and stares at a 8,000 yen plushie and is like 'Whooooaaa that's cute'. Later that day, Yuuichi thinks to himself 'The day ended without me figuring out what to get Shiori'.

Shiori's route has so many Vibe Check offramps where you can choose to answer in an unfitting way if you don't feel like getting a good end

even Ayu is getting in on the Complicated Expression showcase when Yuuichi says he's getting a gift for Shiori

with the amount of eggs Yuuichi has to break in the VN, it makes one yearn for the collaboration of Kanon 2006's heroines

This one sentiment hits me a lot. 'She's living to her fullest right now'. Being that kind of person is admirable...

Yuuichi lap-pillows on Shiori after eating her homemade lunch at his place, but there's no CG because the budget was blown a little bit before by him shoving her down on the bed

Yuuichi, Akiko told Shiori earlier 'if Yuuichi tries to do anything to you, yell and I'll be there' lol

I notice that on Shiori's last day (the 31st), they don't show the date UI in the top-left

(I discuss self-harm as a general subject in this section, feel free to skip if that's sensitive)

Hey you should never imagine yourself throwing hands at internet strangers who posted online a decade ago (save that for yourself, who also posted online a decade ago)

BUT when I found a thread of people who simply did not understand why Shiori would turn to self-harm in a moment of hopelessness and lack of control over her own life, set to expire in a few short weeks at a time not of her choosing... Well, anyway.

One thing that also stuck out to me is the 'miracle' here of Yuuichi and Ayu's dumbassery sticking in Shiori's head on what could have been her last day, forcing the tears that she couldn't otherwise cry out of her eyes...

I'm fortunate to have only the kind of brain chemicals that shove myself into playing free-to-play gachaware 10 hours a day on The Bad Days, so I can't say I have experience, but something about just needing the most arbitrary of coincidences, the littlest of moments that shoulder-bump you out of the darkest abysses... feels the most real thing in Kanon, perhaps even more than it intended.

Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh (sees another CG) AaaaahhhhhhhhhHH (sees another CG) AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH

The Shiori epilogue is fantastic in how much it pulls you along, drawing out the reveal you're waiting for, making you second-guess your choices and wonder if Shiori really earned her miracle after all.

Shiori finally cries also. Me too.

Thanks for reading!

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