First Impressions / Kanon

Summary:

Seven years ago, Ayu had told Yuuichi that her second wish was to go to school with him. She had wanted to make this tree area their school and thought about studying, eating, and going home together. Because he promised her that he’d grant any wish he could, Yuuichi declared that this place is a school from now on. It would be a school with no strict regulations, uniforms, homework, or tests – a school of freedom where Ayu could stay home whenever she wants. The two kids then promised to meet at this school again the next time Yuuichi came to the city. Back in the present, Yuuichi wakes up to his alarm clock the morning after Ayu disappeared. Nayuki and Akiko have noticed that Ayu is gone, though Nayuki thinks that she just went home. She wonders if Yuuichi has any contact information for Ayu, but he realizes that he only knew her name. Seeing that Yuuichi has lost his appetite, Nayuki quietly comments on how Yuuichi really liked Ayu, but then pretends it was nothing when Yuuichi asked what she said.

Yuuichi spends the rest of the afternoon searching for Ayu, but he doesn’t find her in any of the normal spots. He runs into Nayuki by the spot where he and Ayu always met and explains to her the significance of the bench. In Nayuki’s mind, however, that bench is significant because she remembers Yuuichi crying there seven years ago. The two then head to a cafe and Nayuki asks if Yuuichi knows what it was that Ayu lost. This question reminds Yuuichi that everything about this has been strange: that open space in the forest, Ayu’s missing thing, and why he doesn’t remember seven years ago. Still, Nayuki feels that it’ll all be ok because Yuuichi still has Ayu’s backpack, so she will surely come back to get it. Nayuki then orders two strawberry sundaes, one for herself and one for Yuuichi to cheer him up. Yet, upon returning home, the first thing Yuuichi asks Akiko is if Ayu has called. After Yuuichi goes upstairs, Akiko tells Nayuki that they should encourage and support Yuuichi because they’re a family.

Taking her mother’s words to heart, Nayuki heads to Yuuichi’s room and suggests that they work on their homework together. Nevertheless, Nayuki is the one who almost drifts to sleep while they’re working. After Yuuichi wakes her, she remembers how they used to work on their winter break homework like this, though he has no recollection of it. Nayuki ends up falling asleep again, and this time Yuuichi doesn’t wake her since he’s finished the homework. Instead, he covers her with a blanket and thanks her for cheering him up. That night, Yuuichi dreams about how, seven years ago, he and Ayu had been trying to leave the forest during the night and had come across an empty jar lying in the snow. She had gotten the idea for a time capsule and had placed the angel doll inside the jar so that they could bury it. Ayu had felt that two wishes was enough for her, so she wanted to give the remaining one to her future self or someone else. Yuuichi had been worried about being able to locate the buried jar again, but Ayu had been confident that if there’s a person who needs the doll, it will definitely be found. As they had parted ways on that night, the two had promised to meet the next day at their school in the forest.

On the way to school the next morning, Yuuichi asks Nayuki if he can change the recording on his alarm clock. She doesn’t want him to because she had a hard time recording it since she’s no good with machines. In fact, she even had to get her mother to help her. Nayuki agrees with Yuuichi’s assessment that Akiko had a hard time too with all of her daughter’s troubles, and Nayuki says that she loves her mother. She also claims that she wasn’t sad at all even though it had been just the two of them for a long time. When the two arrive at school, Nayuki notices a crushed snow bunny in the courtyard. Nayuki has memories of her own snow bunny getting thrown onto the ground, and so she pities this one. Yuuichi helps her remake it, but the problem is that it is still missing an eye. Nayuki decides to use the red marble Yuuichi gave her even though it’s much bigger than the snow bunny’s current other eye. She then asks if it reminds Yuuichi of anything, but he can only remember Mai’s story about her hospitalized mother. When Yuuichi asks her if it reminded her of anything, Nayuki claims that it didn’t really.

Later that afternoon, Yuuichi and Nayuki enlist Kitagawa’s help in trying to dig up Ayu’s lost item. Having had no luck after numerous holes, Kitagawa starts to think that someone may have already dug it up. By chance though, Kitagawa hits something the very next time he puts his shovel into the ground. His discovery turns out to be exactly what Ayu and Yuuichi buried seven years ago: the jar with the angel doll inside. Nayuki helps Yuuichi clean it off at home and then asks him if it’s a clue to finding Ayu. Yuuichi doesn’t answer, and the two eventually go out to the balcony. After staring at her for a little bit, Yuuichi suddenly asks Nayuki if she changed her hairstyle. Although Nayuki claims she’s always been like how she currently is, Yuuichi actually remember her having braided hair in elementary school. Nayuki admits that she did indeed, but she says that it was only for a year. When he asks her why she gave up on that style, she doesn’t give him a straight answer.

Yuuichi wakes up the next morning to the sound of Nayuki’s voice, though it’s actually Nayuki herself rather than the alarm clock. It seems that she occasionally wants to be the one waking him up, and Akiko comments on how it would be nice for this to happen every day. Nayuki notes to Yuuichi that her mother likes it when things are busy such as when Ayu and Makoto were around. When she asks, Yuuichi reassure Nayuki that he’s not going to disappear because this is the only house he can come back to. After briefly staring at her mother, Nayuki then asks about dinner and says that she wants strawberry cake, so Akiko agrees to go out to buy some. At school, Nayuki finds the snow bunny still intact, but this time it’s Yuuichi whose memories get triggered by the sight of it. Seven years ago, he had been crying on that bench when Nayuki brought him a snow bunny that she made. Knowing that he was leaving the next day, she had wanted him to accept it and felt that they would see each other again. Nayuki had then gathered all her courage to confess her feelings of love for Yuuichi, but he had responded shortly thereafter by knocking the snow bunny out of her hands.

Although Yuuichi now realizes the horrible thing that he did seven years ago, he isn’t able to say anything to Nayuki because their classroom door opens and a teacher calls both of them out into the hallway. He has bad news for them: Akiko has been involved in a traffic accident and was taken to the hospital. At the scene of the accident, a piece of ruined strawberry cake lies on the ground.

Preview:

Although they ended on a cliffhanger with Akiko getting hit by a car, I think it’s safe to say that she survived, at least for now. They wouldn’t save a surprise like a death unless it was further down the road. Watching her get hit by a car though, it’s hard not to see her heavily injured with the way the car nailed her. Actually, I thought the accident could have been a bit more dramatic with the perspective that was used – maybe a view from the oncoming car would have been better. I also expected to see some blood, but perhaps the strawberry cake got the more important point across. From the preview, it seems clear that Nayuki is going to blame herself for what happened since she was the one who wanted that cake in the first place.
Of course, Akiko’s accident wasn’t the only thing that happened this episode. We found out that Ayu’s lost item was the jar with the angel doll, and it seems likely that the final wish will come into play in the near future. Also interesting was the reason why Yuuichi was crying when Nayuki brought him the snow bunny. It must have been something really bad for him to react like that, and I suspect it has to do with Ayu. I’m looking forward to seeing what happened to her back then and why Yuuichi lost his memory.

57 Comments

  3. well they stick to the original in this part too but i wonder how they want to fill the last 5 episodes with the remainin one or two eps of the original this could get quite funny maybe we’ll get a canvas2 ending xD

    Levantine
    Reply

  6. Pertaining to what you said Levantine… I would downright throw a party if we got a Canvas 2 ending here. Then i could laugh at all my friends who mock me for naming my car Nayuki 😉

    Shiro
    Reply

  10. well a lot can happen in 5 episodes maybe there’ll appear someone similiar haruhi and starts callin yuuichi kyon or ayu becomes like mikuru well the loli-factor is allready there so it lacks just one thing hehe i could even imagine makoto to come back an then yuuichi gets to marry her XD well that’s enough nonesense for this episode i’ll come up with new ideas next week
    look foreward to those

    Levantine
    Reply

  11. oh what i forgot to say that if my english sound bit strange that’s coz i’ll write a france ex tomorrow and i just concentrated on this language so my english speakin part turned off about 6 hours ago ^^

    Levantine
    Reply

  12. Ahh, I was wondering when they were finally going to lay the smackdown on Akiko. I’m hoping they work on Nayuki’s arc for the most part next episode. It’s one of my favorites from the game (especially for what Yuuichi does at the end). Hopefully they’ll end the interaction between the two that way before they finish the series with Ayu.

    Likkun
    Reply

  13. “well they stick to the original in this part too but i wonder how they want to fill the last 5 episodes with the remainin one or two eps of the original this could get quite funny maybe we’ll get a canvas2 ending xD”

    Quite easily, actually. Nayuki’s story could fill another three episodes without difficulty (indeed, anything less would be selling her short somewhat); then, you’d have one episode to conclude Shiori and Mai’s stories, before the finale. Comparing the KyoAni version to Toei at this point is a waste of time; Toei heavily improvised on Key’s original script towards the end, and KyoAni have been faithful from the first episode until the current one.

    We’re not going to have a surprise ending – not of the Canvas2 variety or of any other kind.

    Tim
    Reply

  18. I laughed at the car wreck.
    The episode built up suspense really well, then Slam, Bam, cue cheesy animation. No blood stain on the ground, heck, no body, even. I had to watch it again to confirm how ridiculously silly it seemed.
    Now, if they had done the cliche black screen before impact, or swung the camera away if they didn’t want to animate blood/gore/violence, at least it wouldn’t have seemed funny. Just seeing somebody disappear without a trace in the middle of a dramatic moment seriously breaks the mood.

    Sahakiel
    Reply

  19. @Sahakiel
    To tell u the truth, it makes perfect sense that we dont see any blood or even the sign of her body because that impact was so strong that the car basically send Akiko-san flying along with it and squashed right on her as she lands. And no, compare to the cliche black screen, I think the way KA showed it is hell alot more shocking, leading to two extremes for the audiences: hilarious responses like urs, or merely stunned, jaws dropped responses like mine. If it were just the cliche black screen, I’m pretty sure the best we can make of is, “ouch…” rather than a few second pause coming with a scream of “holy shit!!!”

    Nightingale
    Reply

  20. Akiko-saaaaaan! 🙁

    I thought that was a nice foreshadowing they did by shifting scenes between principal speaking out the bad news and the actual crash. The way they did the crash scene was just unbelievably shocking.

    Rasmiel
    Reply

  21. I hope this isn’t a spoiler, but besides the crushed snow bunny and Akiko’s car accident, there doesn’t seem to be much of Nayuki’s storyline. Now that Ayu has ‘disappeared’, Nayuki returns to her sleepy mode.

    Show Spoiler ▼

    Yyi
    Reply

  23. That WAS painful to watch.

    … “Strawberry cake…”

    Nayuki said to ask for strawberry cake to make Akiko-san feel happy that morning… Akiko died bringing the cake home. WHY!? WHY?

    (For that matter, why in the world are there people out on the streets with unmaintained cars, broken breaks, and non-snow tires in the middle of winter? So sad…)

    Now, I think Nayuki and Yuuichi are probably “killing themselves” (figuratively, not literally) over the deaths/disappearances of their loved ones.

    The “gasp moment” for me was that right after the moment Yuuichi remembered (2nd time — detailed) how he smashed the snow-bunny out of Nayuki’s hands during her confession, the door opens (all dramatic like) when he’s about to say something to Nayuki.

    It’s like this episode was a REALLY BAD wakeup call… it felt like a dream up to now. Too good to be true, perhaps? But then again, maybe it makes sense — all the people around them were having sad things happen (Makoto lost human/life functions, then there is the Shiori thing…) so this probably was the natural next step. One could also argue that the act of “killing off characters” keeps the story interesting — although I find that used in excess this can be really upsetting.

    Still… you really do have to think we are heading for a Nayuki ending… it’s downright scary.

    (Maybe the odds now for the endings are 1:1? If not 2:1 Nayuki…)

    cbhl
    Reply

  24. I have a funny feeling that we’re gonna get a “Shuffle ending” in term of who wins, yet everyone’s still in the runnings. And man, this episode seems like more “sad” stuff is bound to happen and make me cry. 🙁

    Kageho
    Reply

  26. @Nightingale
    Now, if they had shown the body flying, that would have been shocking. However, Akiko simply disappears as if Kyoto was using old animation cels and simply removed the frame with Akiko without bothering to insert transitions. She literally stands still and blinks out a moment before the car covers where she would be standing. Plus, the car flipped over, and there is no blood anywhere, so the viewer is suddenly struck with the thought “where did Akiko go?”.
    Like I said, there are better ways to avoid animating violence that don’t suddenly break the viewers suspense. Inserting something that so stupid at the end of a dramatic sequence naturally evokes laughter. The viewer accepts the big eyes and flat noses as part of the animation style. The fantasy stories are just that, stories, and though entertaining, still follow their own set of rules. However, the scene with Akiko is clearly meant follow the rules of everyday life (except for wondering what her job is), and suddenly throwing in what clearly looks like a teleportation very much out of the ordinary. When it’s done in the middle of a dramatic sequence, the result is comedy.
    Look at the gif kaha linked. The entire sequence is noticeably reminiscent of one of those badly cg’d video clips where you see random people run over by Speed Racer, commercial jetliners, Godzilla, and other improbable vehicles. That’s why the last scene is so funny.

    Sahakiel
    Reply

  28. Reminds me of the “car accident” in the beginning of the movie Meet Joe Black… so abrupt and unexpected, it was almost funny. It was funny at first sight, but that doesn’t diminish its dramatic significance, nevertheless – the movie didn’t turn into a comedy after it happened. Same thing goes for Kanon… might be funny at first viewing, but remembering it afterwards doesn’t make it funnier 😉

    – T

    Tolitz
    Reply

  32. @Sahakiel
    The thing is, the body doesn’t have to go flying across the street, not even in real life accidents. Physically it wont work anyway. When a larger mass with high velocity collides with a stationary (zero velocity), small mass, the small mass will stick and travel along with the larger mass according to Law of Momentum Conservation.
    If u really want me to compare, and if u think being squashed under a flipping car like that is funny, then showing a body flying across the street wouldn’t make a difference. And besides, a human body isn’t a balloon filled with blood, blood wont spill in large scale the instant u get hit unless u get torn apart, it comes out afterwards. And apparently this scene looks way more serious compared to having Akiko-san’s body visible near the spot she got hit, in fact in this case we get the impression that she got pushed over, scraped and dragged across the floor by the flipping car’s pressure and momentum and gets slammed right under as the car stops, which is also a reason why we cant see her at the shot’s angle: shes under the car the whole time. Simply the impression is gruesome, it wont be appropiate if they showed the whole scene from the opposite direction. Being said, being squashed the way i just explained, and being sent flying across the street, which is more shocking aka horrific? I’d say the former.
    I dont care if those videos u mentioned are fake or not, things like that aren’t even suppose to be considered funny. I’ve personally witness a motorcycler being crushed and scraped across the cement floor by a van, and the sight of what the man had become is unpleasantly gory. Believe it or not, for those who find those videos (whether they are fake or not) funny, things like that DO happen in REAL LIFE and they do not even worth half the laugh.

    Nightingale
    Reply

  35. first impression – holy ****, she got ****!
    second impression – omg she really did get owned
    third impression – i think she go hit a LOT harder than she did in the original
    final impression – umm well umm …

    either way i think that it is still following the original perfectly. the only thing that it is doing differently is adding to everyones story.

    and yes i did pause and play it over several times lol

    Genesis
    Reply

  38. However “cheesy” the accident is, I’m still shocked due to the IMPACT of the crash and how it played out. I’ve been spoiled silly by BMW jokes, too.

    Anyways, this is one of the best episodes of Kanon. The lead-up to the cliffhanger is amazing with all the flashbacks and Nayuki moe mode.

    Pakxenon
    Reply

  39. Gary obviously lacks reading comprehension, seemingly picking a few words and extrapolating from there.

    @Nightingale
    Somehow, you have imagined me to be one who seemingly enjoys random acts of Hollywood violence. I laughed not because someone died, but because the animation was such an abrupt change. Again, rewatch the scene from whatever clip you downloaded and watch Akiko literally blink out of existence. You can literally see Akiko disappear “on screen.” One moment you see the top half of the head, the next moment, it’s gone (before the car passes over). Afterwards, there is no trace of a person having been hit by a car. No body, no stain on the ground.
    I seem to have evoked your evangelist side, which was never my intention. I am truly regretful for having done so. I find myself settling into debate mode over the question of “Where did Akiko go?”.
    I could point out flaws in your scenario and construct my own, but that is beside the point. The point is the sequence is highly reminiscent of Saturday morning Wile E. Coyote-type antics, hence the initial laugh-out-loud moment. Like Harouki posted, “that was cheesy.” It’s so jarring that it breaks the mood. That has always been my point all along. Whether or not you keep laughing is something else entirely and seems to be a rather persistent fantasy of more than one poster.
    The linked clip of an intersection cam catching a very similar scenario does nothing to provoke a similar reaction even considering the significantly different camera angle, tumble behavior, and noticeably slower speed. The pedestrian does not simply blink out of existence. In fact, you can actually see him start to run instead of standing there shocked (unfortunately, not fast enough). You can even point out where he ends up.

    Sahakiel
    Reply

  40. The original game text merely revealed Akiko got hit by a car, but the way the car crash was depicted here still got me on my seat and yelled, “Holy shit!” Kyo-Ani has got the intended effect it wants on the audience.

    Kinny Riddle
    Reply

  41. I’d like it if they stop giving us enough string to hang ourselves with on the Nayuki ending. I think at this point, it’s obvious that it’s an Ayu ending, but they’re teasing us a bit by showing us a bit of hope that there may still exists a chance for Nayuki to shine. It’s just frustrating to see that. But all and all, I love this car accident scene better than the original Kanon.

    Remy
    Reply

  43. The linked clip of an intersection cam catching a very similar scenario does nothing to provoke a similar reaction even considering the significantly different camera angle, tumble behavior, and noticeably slower speed. The pedestrian does not simply blink out of existence. In fact, you can actually see him start to run instead of standing there shocked (unfortunately, not fast enough). You can even point out where he ends up.

    If anything, Akiko’s reaction is way more realistic. I was hit by a speeding taxi when I was 11 years old (though I didn’t actually get squashed), and I can tell you from experience that my mind literally blanked out just before getting hit. That guy in the video must have some kind of animal reflexes to be able to get himself to run like that, because it happens much, much faster than it seems.

    I don’t think the car crash scene was neither ‘funny’ or ‘cheesy’. I can’t see how anyone can get a laugh out of it. Even if Akiko’s body isn’t rolling along with the car and her guts aren’t getting squashed out, her getting hit and mashed up strawberry shortcake don’t add up to a comedical material.

    Rasmiel
    Reply

  45. @Rasmiel
    I think you’re making the same misunderstanding as Nightingale. I have never once asserted that getting run over is funny. I have always asserted that the way it was portrayed follows the lines of classic comedic cartoons. If you are going to show a particularly graphic scene, you run the risk of ruining any drama you’ve built up if it’s not done correctly.
    Imagine you’re watching an animated boxing match that’s actually pretty detailed. Both contestants are getting beat up, faces swollen, some bleeding here and there. They’re fairly evenly matched, so a minute in, they’re both still standing, but swaying now and then. The crowd is on its feet, cheering.
    Now, one guy throws a desperate right, pouring the last of his strength into one swing.
    Imagine the other guy’s head pops off and flies in the air.
    The viewer will usually have one of two responses: sitting silent shocked going “what just happened?” or laughing/chuckling going “they did not just do that.” Some people have the first reaction. I tend to have the second. Why? Well, I take note of oddities and absurdities mixed in with dramatic sequences immediately reverses the built-up suspense. Depending on the degree of reversal, the viewer is left with either a deflated sense or a comedic response.

    I’m not exactly sure how people can so easily accept the portrayal as realistic. While the car does move at highway speeds then stops within 20 feet, one can say the scene has shifted to slow motion. However, attempts to rationalize the missing body should note the point of impact and subsequent movement of the black hatchback. There is no way a moving body larger than 3 feet in any dimension could be hidden unless you break the conservation of energy and have it move towards the passenger compartment. The linear movement of the hatchback and the fact it doesn’t touch the cars in the other lane is a somewhat decent extrapolation. The angular momentum is provided by the white car, even though the impact point of that first car-to-car collision is incorrect. However, it happens fast enough that I only caught it after the third or fourth viewing.
    However, before trying to rationalize the aftermath, realize that Akiko literally blinking out of existence is very much out of place, and, thus, is the key to evoking a comedic response. I get the feeling few people caught that the first time they saw the scene. They were too caught up in the moment, or just happened to miss it. I saw it the first time I watched, which is why I laughed, because it was so uncharacteristic and reeked of cheap Saturday morning spoof. I had to go back and watch it again just to make sure.

    @Gary
    Your last comment is so ironic I’m having trouble discerning whether you’re intentionally trying to be funny. Unfortunately, I can only work with the text you post, so a definitive answer is difficult.

    Sahakiel
    Reply

  49. They say that shock and laughter stem from similar stimuli… while others would simply be shocked to silence, those who can’t handle that similar shock seek a release, which in this case is laughter. Laughing at something because it’s abrupt and unexpected isn’t anywhere near laughing because it’s funny.

    So Sahakiel’s response could only be treated as “natural” … but of course, it isn’t a “typical” response, so I guess the suspension of disbelief missed a beat when it came to Sahakiel’s viewing. But I am sure that I speak for everyone when I say that Sahakiel’s response is not shared by the majority, who were shocked more than “amused” by the particular scene 🙂

    – T

    Tolitz
    Reply

  51. It seems they copied the scene from the “Red Light Runner” video that someone posted earlier. In which case, what happened in the Kanon episode IS possible, and is far more realistic than a severed arm flying into the sky and 3 pints of blood shooting in a jet all over the floor instantly on impact. Kudos to the animators for going for accuracy over impact. They really are spectacular artists.

    Mr Common Sense
    Reply

  53. I’m not exactly sure how people can so easily accept the portrayal as realistic. While the car does move at highway speeds then stops within 20 feet, one can say the scene has shifted to slow motion. However, attempts to rationalize the missing body should note the point of impact and subsequent movement of the black hatchback. There is no way a moving body larger than 3 feet in any dimension could be hidden unless you break the conservation of energy and have it move towards the passenger compartment. The linear movement of the hatchback and the fact it doesn’t touch the cars in the other lane is a somewhat decent extrapolation. The angular momentum is provided by the white car, even though the impact point of that first car-to-car collision is incorrect. However, it happens fast enough that I only caught it after the third or fourth viewing.

    The part I found realistic was Akiko’s reaction, not the crash itself.
    Also, I didn’t imply that you find getting run over to be funny. I simply don’t think the equation Akiko getting squashed (fact, regardless of the animation) + mashed up strawberry lying there on the ground (also fact) = comedic response works out. But I do think what you are saying does make sense. I do laugh when Coyote gets run over by an ACME truck, but that’s because The RoadRunner Show is intended to be funny. Can you watch the show with all seriousness if they started introducing a drama between Road Runner and Coyote? It’s like that. Kanon just doesn’t work with comedy because it’s a rather serious show, and the disappearing body doesn’t do much to deny that.

    Rasmiel
    Reply

  54. After reading all the comments and stuff,
    I’m not exactly sure how people can so easily decide the portrayal as unrealistic, upon viewing that scene, shock aside… well not exactly THAT shocked considering that I already expected something nasty after what KyoAni had done to Sayuri back then, but the scene cut in pretty naturally. Disappearing body? I still don’t understand how people come with that idea, my first impression was Akiko got sweeped away behind/beneath that car, if not squashed like a bug. I’m not exactly sure about that physics theory of Nighitngale, but considering the car was already tilting before the impact, it would make more sense IMHO that the car’s roof smacked on Akiko like a domino (ouch) and hid her from the camera’s viewing point rather than knocking her off a couple feet.
    Aside form that though, I agree with Sahakiel and Rathmiel, people have different taste so we can’t really help that heheh. On a side note, I personally found the crash was pretty serious here, it looks pretty painful too….
    But but but…. do we REALLY need to dwell on this car crash issue??? Replaying that scene in my head kinda chills my spine…. OTZ

    Nime.ObZs.AziN
    Reply

  56. After i saw the youtube thing of that crash i stopped thinking that the crash was cheesy and decided that it was realistic.

    Also

    ONE MORE DAY TIL WE FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!!

    Both for Kanon and Code Geass, which also has a cliffhanger

    Harouki
    Reply

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