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ローゼンメイデン 
I can never understand why some people want to use Pachebel's Kanon as theme song to their wedding. I always think the song is a bit depressing and sad even though it's also very classy and sounds very good. This image gets reinforced even more after I started watching anime, especially Neon Genesis Evangelion. Watching Shinji, Asuka, and Touji falling into their depression while the song was playing felt like I got dragged into their depression as well. The same thing can be said here with its use as a background for Sayuri's past. Although one can say that the song celebrates life, I feel that the song also symbolises death. As much as I love the song, I feel that I need to hear something a little bit more upbeat after hearing this piece or else I'd be feeling down the whole day.
The episode begins with Yuuichi wondering what Mai meant when she said that the monsters are after him. His thought is interrupted when Ayu is impressed upon seeing Akiko's hand-made jam. Akiko is especially proud of her special jam. Nayuki and Yuuichi immediately excuse themselves, after muttering inaudible goodbye and apology to Ayu. As the two left the dining room, Akiko can be seen spreading a generous amont of the jam on the bread. If this had been Tales from the Crypt, the Crypt keeper would have been chuckling as "Delicious concoction" appears as the title of the episode. Outside the house, Yuuichi accuses Nayuki as a heartless person. Nayuki immediately points out that Mr.Pot has no right to call Ms.Kettle "black" especially since the brave one was running away as well. Nayuki then produces a headband with rabbit ear on it. Upon seeing the headband, Yuuichi suddenly remembers a girl in the meadow wearing it.
During lunchtime, Yuuichi finds out that only Mai has arrived at the usual lunch spot. While waiting for Sayuri, Yuuichi decides to ask Mai why the monsters are after him but Mai doesn't understand it either except for the fact that the monsters started to stir after his arrival. A few minutes later, Yuuichi gets bored so he suggests that the two of them plays Shiritori. This is basically a game where a player must use the last set of kana mentioned in his/her oppenent's word. Unfortunately Mai tends to attach 'san' suffix to animal names so confuses Yuuichi in the process. When Sayuri eventually joins them, she laughs upon finding out that they were playing Shiritori because she knows Mai's tendency to add 'san' suffix to every animal's name. Apparently she often plays the game with Mai whenever Mai comes to her house, which apparently is big. Upon finding out about this Yuuichi thinks that Sayuri is an Ojou-sama kind of girl but Sayuri denies this.
After the school is over, Nayuki saunters over to Yuuichi wondering what he'd do after this. Much to her disappointment, Yuuichi tells her that he has a club to attend to: Monster/ghost extermination club. Hey, I've always wanted to join that club. Anyway, this simply involves Yuuichi going to the rooftop of the school and practicing with his wooden sword. To add the slice of irony, he tells Mai not to say unnecessary thing to him. In retaliation, Mai whips out her own wooden sword and proceeds to spank the living hell out of Yuuichi to show that he's a noob when it comes to fighting. That nasty slapping sound makes it seem as if Yuuichi gets a good spanking from Mai. After another beating, Mai tells Yuuichi that he doesn't understand how weak he really is. Yuuichi, however, refuses to give up and insist on one more beating....I mean one more chance. This time he doesn't hold back and manages to hit Mai's leg with his sword.
Their mock battle is interrupted when Sayuri comes to the rooftop and insists on giving it a try as well. Unfortunately for Sayuri, Mai and Yuuichi tell her that this is not a game. Sayuri tries to prove that she's serious about this but only ends up falling flat on her face. Despite this, Sayuri refuses to give up and tries to attack with the sword. Mai easily knocks said sword with her own. Sayuri, who realises the futility of her effort, wonders if she's in Mai's way. Much to Yuuichi's surprise, Mai confirms this. Sayuri, however, simply apologises to Mai and Yuuichi before running away from the two of them. After Sayuri left, Mai tells Yuuichi that she loves Sayuri and this is why she said what she said. Later on that day, Yuuichi finds Sayuri waiting for him in the city. When the two sit in a cafe, Yuuichi asks Sayuri why she cares a lot about Mai as if she's Mai's older sister. After all, Sayuri has always saved Mai.
Sayuri tells Yuuichi that the one who's been saved is Sayuri and the truth is, she once was an older sister to a younger brother called Kazuya. Back then Sayuri was acting strict towards her brother, she refused to hold hand with her brother when he started going to kindergarten. Because Kazuya's body was weak, he always ended up alone when he was in kindergarten. Despite this, Sayuri believes that she had to be strict to Kazuya so he'd turn out to be a better person. At one point Kazuya wanted a water gun but Sayuri refused to buy one for him. Eventually, Kazuya fell ill and in her regret, Sayuri decided to buy everything that Kazuya wanted. In the middle of the night, Sayuri sneaked into the hospital room and gave Kazuya water gun, cookies, candies, etc. It was then that Sayuri start using the water gun at her brother, telling him that the truth is she has good reflexes, knows how to have fun, and loves her brother.
Unfortunately, Kazuya passed away not long after this. Even though her father convinced her that Kazuya was happy, Sayuri lost sight of herself. Sayuri couldn't laugh anymore believing her brother wouldn't be able to do so anymore. A quick shot of her left hand reveals a cut near the arteries, suggesting that Sayuri might have tried to kill herself. However, she managed to laugh again when Mai came to her life. Because of this, Sayuri always believes that Mai was the one who saved her. Sayuri then asks Yuuichi if he knows the name of the music that is currently playing in the cafe. She informs him it's Pachebel's Kanon. When the same melody plays repeatedly, little by little it'd turn into a rich and beautiful music. Just like this, even if a person lives a seemingly unchanging life, little by little things will change. Sayuri believes that one day, her memory of Kazuya won't remain sad. Cut to a shot of Sayuri and Kazuya walking together holding hands.
Sayuri and Yuuichi part ways after he asks her to give him a call once she completes preparation for Mai's birthday. When Yuuichi returns home, he asks Ayu what she thinks about Akiko's jam. Ayu tries to be polite by saying that's not a normal food so Yuuichi smiles and tells her that as he thought she'd say something like that. Ayu is pissed off upon hearing this because this means Yuuichi knew but he didn't warn her about the jam. That night, Yuuichi still hasn't received phone call from Sayuri and becomes restless. When Nayuki tells him that dinner is served, he apologises to her and claims that he has to go to a birthday party. After Yuuichi left, Sayuri makes a phone call to the Minase's home and finds out that the guy has left to a friend's birthday party. Meanwhile, baka Yuuichi finally realises that Sayuri would likely follow him to school if she can't reach him through the phone. True enough Akiko informs him that Sayuri has left on her own.
Meanwhile, Sayuri has reached the school and notices that the water tap in the toilet is running so she goes to turn it off. When she does this, however, she's confronted by one of the apparitions. Meanwhile, Yuuichi regrets his decision to rush off from his home and when he reaches the front of the toilet, he finds Mai looking shocked before falling down onto the floor. Inside the toilet, Yuuichi sees a body laying on top of a pool of blood. The body belongs to Sayuri. Thankfully the doctor informs them that although Sayuri suffers from massive injury, it's not fatal. Nevertheless, Mai is angry about this latest development and unleashes her anger on poor inanimate objects like the wall or someone's bike. Mai feels that it's her mistake and tries to kill herself but Yuuichi manages to knock the sword out of her hands and persuades her to hunt the monsters/spirits with him. The episode ends with the two of them being cornered by two monsters/spirits.
Impression:
The Sayuri part of the story really caught me unaware. I guess this is the advantage of not seeing the show beforehand. I've always wonder why the series is called Kanon and I guess I have the answer now. It's strange that the reference to the series is given to a supporting character like Sayuri but since she's one of my favourite characters in the series, I am more than happy about it. I am actually surprised to see how in the space of one short episode, the writers managed to develop Sayuri's backstory/personality faster than they can do to Mai. Her speech about Kanon being a repeated melody which eventually becomes wonderful music and its comparison to life was a bit too close to home. It's also a testament to the power of the song itself. I've heard several variations of the song and I think the one that is played in this episode is a lot more hopeful in tone than the one that was used in Evangelion: Death and Rebirth.
Preview
Despite this, I find it hard to shake the impression that there is this solemn, almost melancholy nature to the song. I am also surprised that there's an underlying darkness to Sayuri's story (cold relationship to her younger brother, attempted suicide) but I really welcome this development as it makes her character a lot more fleshed out than the rest of the girls. Another interesting mystery here is the the long-haired girl wearing the rabbit headband. Unfortunately this one is a bit more difficult to distinguish. I think it could be either Nayuki or Mai but I can't be sure if it's not one of the other girls either. Speaking of Mai, I think she really has a lot more to do with the monsters/ghosts than Yuuichi. The monsters still appear regardless whether or not Yuuichi is around so that suggests that she has more to do with it than Yuuichi. If Yuuichi turns out to be related to Mai, then I think his arrival simply awakens something related to Mai.
On next week's episode: Yuuichi the action hero.
Who's the crybaby? Is it Yuuichi?
Who's the crybaby? Is it Yuuichi?
It's not Yuuichi. It's Sayuri's little brother.
Okay, that does it! What is actually the content of Akiko's jam? Why do people always look like they are dizzy after eating it? Is there illegal substance on it?
It's yellow...Let your mind run wild with that.
After watching this episode, it does bring up couple of things I would like to mention. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to wait until Garten finishes putting up the post since I don't want my comments to be considered as a spoiler. However, I do want to comment on the use of Pachebel's Kanon. As a music lover, this song has mixed feelings of both happy and sad. It actually suits very well to Sayuri's past.
Garten, think of it this way....
The song fits to Sayuri's past because she explains both the bad and good times she had with her little brother. I don't believe the song sides with one more than the other. The reason why it's used on weddings is because it has lots of variety. It indicates a journey they are stepping into. In marriage, there is going to be saddness...but not always. There are also happy times. Pachebel's Kanon has the perfect balance, which is why it is used frequently. The song also gives you an understanding to never forget those memories...as Sayuri continues to keep all the memories with her...both sad and happy times.
Will continue when Garten finishes his post....
I think Kanon in D-major is a song about life and death. In Sayuri's story the song plays as she illustrates her 'death' (after her brother's literal death) and 'rebirth' (when Mai entered her life). I don't think I can say anything more while still making any sense since the song is currently playing on my iTunes and my brain can't function properly while this happens. The song always opens up a lot of emotions/memories (unfortunately most of the time it's always sad memories).
Some game details got left out( a lot actually), but the main points have delivered across in this episode, and I applaud KyoAni for handling the pacing in this episode better than usual.
It almost felt as though I was watching a much longer OVA, and I was surprised when the intermission came. Really attention-gripping when it comes to this episode.
One of the few Kanon episodes where it did not feel disjointed, for lack of a better word. :) I was wondering how they would handle the Sayuri scenes after seeing the preview in the previous episode, and I must say, I am not disappointed. :)
Thumbs up to KyoAni, thus far.
Cheers.
Garten - just to let you know, the canon is in D Major not D minor :D
Sayuri's past doesn't make sense at all.
Where the hell is her mother?
It should be Sayuri's mother take care of her young borther, not Sayuri herself.
I don't actually think its blood...Blood should look abit deep red. I believe the liquid is actually soy sauce or something similar from the food Sayuri prepared for Mai's birthday. Any opinions?
It's actually blood. It's kinda like a censor(the color of the blood). Like Tsukiyomi ~moon phase~ they changed the color of blood from red to black(TV version, It's red on dvd version).
"violated from the inside?" oddly appropriate yet totally wtf.
I remembered D.Gray-man's censorship about Road's face LoL
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Bunneh Yuuichi XD. Kinda reminded me of the girl from the OP >_>
Since you are talking about Pachabel's Canon, I thought I might share with you a version I found that you might like: http://rapidshare.com/files/10382165/robincanon.asf.html
hm...so that song is Canon? lol, I've never know any of the titles of classicals I've heard XD. And maybe because my first impression of the song was a grandeur and hopeful view, I could never see the song as sad, and the tone just makes me feel ..... happy, while it builds up =).
Wow, it seems Sayuri gets a bigger role in this version. I never played the game but in the Toei version, Sayuri's role is so miniscule in comparison to this.
Shadow wrote: I don't actually think its blood...Blood should look abit deep red. I believe the liquid is actually soy sauce or something similar from the food Sayuri prepared for Mai's birthday. Any opinions?
Actually if you have seen the blood in Inuyasha and stuff the blood is like the same color. Sort of a blackish darker color.
Hmm speaking of songs; the song "Shoujo no ori",
the one that plays after Yuuichi sees Sayuri,
sounds so much better than the original.
I hope they make a new OST!
And so Akiko's jam claims another victims. How many more people would have to be sacrificed before someone stops this woman? Hmm, now I wonder if she has shared her jam to her neighbours. I pity those who live nearby. Akiko's genocide!
Actually, Pachebel's Canon is paired with a Gigue in same key. The gigue is a light uplifting piece, and it works to dispel any melancholic mood the canon has created. Do try to listen to both of them in order ( Canon first, then the gigue ). You might find both works more enjoyable.
From Wikipedia
Pachelbel's Canon in D major is the only exception. A piece of chamber music scored for three violins and basso continuo (and originally paired with a gigue in the same key), it experienced a tremendous surge in popularity during the 1970s, which made the Canon in D a universally recognized cultural item, one of the most famous classical compositions ever.
In this episode, Key just killed another one of their characters...
Key is a bloody murderer
Garten, have you ever heard the Evangelion concert rap version of Canon? It's some good stuff.
On another note, I didn't find how they explained the title of the series strange at all. It just feels right with Sayuri explaining it. I really can't see Ayu or Naiyuki doing it. It's a lot better, than let's say how Higurashi did it, with K1 randomly yelling it out.
I managed to upload a mp3 version encoded from the FLAC file.
http://rapidshare.com/files/10553450/204_Canon___Gigue__Pachebel__rap_version.mp3
ah... it is Yuuichi's fault after all...
Where does Yuuichi come from? Where are his parents?
There's no chance a human can have "nonfatal damages" after that much blood loss, especially in the head area (or did they exaggerate the animation to make it more appealing?).
Beowulf Lee, thanks for the song. It was interesting but feels jarring to me. I think adding a vocal mix to the song dillutes the song considerably.
There's no chance a human can have "nonfatal damages" after that much blood loss, especially in the head area (or did they exaggerate the animation to make it more appealing?).
As bad as that might seem, what the doctor said seems quite reasonable. And as you said, this is an anime so some liberal choices in regards to the blood and Sayuri's chance of survival was taken.
ehhh??? i think so too Garten. hard to not like any of the characters, but i think Sayuri's 1 of my fav char of this series. shame she only takes a minor part of the story. also, i always hated the part where she goes to school and ends up getting hurt.... gotta feel sorry for her since she went there with good intentions.
"Another interesting mystery here is the the long-haired girl wearing the rabbit headband."
Analysis: The preview shows a little girl who appeared upset, Yuuichi has a flashback of this girl wearing bunny ears, and in the opening there's a scene of bunny-ear girl playing with a boy directly after showing Mai. Furthermore, Mai talks about someone leaving her long ago--so, considering this seems to be Mai's story arc, it's quite probable that this girl is Mai. We've seen Past-Nayuki, and she had quite a different hairstyle.
The girl COULD be Past-Shiori, or Different-Hair-Past Nayuki, but I doubt it.
Still wondering what's up with Kaori-Shiori, the demons, and Mai 'not being able to wait' while Ayu is 'still waiting' though.... They're probably all 'simple' answers (the way Makoto was 'just a fox girl'), but I need Kyo-Ani to drop a few more hints first.
Resuming from my previous note...
Besides the music, Kanon, there is one scene you see/hear from numerous animes. The scene I am referring to is Mai's reaction to Sayuri's injuries
It is one of the classic reaction you see when the heroine/hero fails to protect someone he/she deeply care for. In Kanon, I find it a bit unrealistic that Mai calmed down so quickly and resumed to fight the demons with Yuuichi. However, the feeling of being weak is something not to underestimate because that feeling can consume you. I just felt that it was rushed a bit too quickly.
Another point I would like to mention is that acting cold isn't always the best way to show love or compassion. Sayuri's past and Mai's mock battle against her best friend proved this. Some people aren't strong enough to accept the harsh criticism or the cold shoulders they receive from the person they admire. Unfortunately, there are baby boomers who believes that showing care and love can result to being spoiled. It is really sad when emotions can not be expressed when it's needed the most. Acting cold does not always produce self-discpline, no matter how cold you act towards someone you love.
about the bunny ear-ed girl in the field
remember 1st ep when yuiichi said the school area was supposed to be a field?
alphapples...
Yuuichi's parents are out of the country on business (South America, I think) so he came to live with his aunt. Apperently, he lacks language skills.
I love that Sayuri's getting the attention she deserves in this. Though I also want to know where her mother was.
I think the reason Mai was willing to go fight again so soon was because she feels so pissed that the monsters hurt Sayuri.
(I also think the attack on Sayuri was much creepier in this version, being lured into the brightly lit bathroom).
Kudos to Mai's VA for this episode.
Has anyone else noticed that the monsters get more visible as we go on? Are they getting stronger, or are we just going deeper into Mai's world?
Sayuri's past made a tear fall off from my eye, it caught me unaware as well. I thought she was just Mai's friend, but she does have an interesting past. I couldn't notice that cut in the hand a.k.a the suicide attempt. Must re-watch that part.
I thought the same thing when she was telling Yuuichi about Kanon. For her being not as important as the other girls it was a pretty outsanding thing for her to say.
Sorry if it's been posted before, but I uploaded the Piano de Kanon album for friends of mine and here's the link if anyone's interested in it:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=96791TZH
I heard it was out-of-print or something...it's basically most, if not all, of the Kanon game OST, played on the piano. The songs are very soothing. =)
Anyway, yeah, sorry it's it's been posted before, but if someone wants it on rapidshare, I can upload it there too.
After a bit of looking, I found sheet music for several versions of Pachelbel's canon here: http://icking-music-archive.org/ByComposer/Pachelbel.php
The first version even has Kanon spelled with a K: (http://icking-music-archive.org/scores/pachelbel/kanon.pdf)
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