Kanon ep.15

January 12, 2007 | 26 Comments

What an impressive episode. I think the ending for Mai's arc feels very satisfying in different kind of ways from the ending for Makoto's arc. I think the most pleasant part of this episode was when I found out the revelation behind the ghost/apparition. At a time like this I'm glad that I haven't seen the series before because I don't think I'd be as surprised if I had seen the series beforehand. The only annoying thing about the episode is that the ending feels abrupt. I think the writers should have shown what happened to Sayuri but I suspect this will continue right through next week's episode. This means, however, that there are only 11 episodes left. I wonder how many episodes the writer will use to cover Shiori's arc. Would there be enough episode for both Nayuki and Ayu once her arc is over?

Continuing from the previous episode, Mai and Yuuichi face off against the ghosts as usual. However, after they defeated the creatures, Yuuichi realises that there are black marks on Mai's bodies and wonders if these are curses. Mai explains that it's been happening for quite a while but it has never become this bad. Yuuichi insists on taking Mai to the hospital but Mai wants to fight some more. She, however, also asks him to save her. Yuuichi decides to take her to the place where they usually have lunch with Sayuri but when Yuuichi asks her what else he can do for her, she tells him that she just wants him to be by her side. The reason is so he can become her decoy. Despite his annoyance upon hearing this, Yuuichi agrees to do just this. In response, Mai rests her head against Yuuichi's shoulder. As they sit quietly, Yuuichi points out that this feels like hide and seek. Mai comments that she's done this as a child.

Yuuichi asks her if it's with Sayuri but Mai tells him it's with another person. But that child ran away from her. All of a sudden, Mai stands up again, sensing the presence of the ghost/monster. Despite Yuuichi protest, Mai decides to fight the ghost. Because she's injured, however, Mai falls down the stairs. In order to protect Mai, Yuuichi decides to distract the creature away from Mai. When he reaches the hallway, Yuuichi realises that all the destruction will lead to something bigger than his expulsion but his thought is interrupted when the ghost destroys the floor in the hallway, dropping him into a class below. Yuuichi wonders if there is something that the ghost/monster wants but when he realises that this is the case, the ghost already knocks him out of the window. Thankfully, despite falling from great height, Yuuichi lands on a snow and mostly unharmed. The monster, however, continues to chase him outside the school.

Yuuichi is quickly overwhelmed by the creature and got knocked aside despite his best attempt to field it with his wooden sword. Thankfully just as the creature jumps on top of him, Mai appears out of the school and slices the creature. After the fight, Mai tells Yuuichi that she wants to eat Gyuudon. because of this, Yuuichi decides to take her back to the class and goes out of the school to buy some gyuudon for her. When he returns to the class, however, he can't find Mai anywhere. While trying to find her whereabouts, Yuuichi feels a powerful force holding him back. As the creature is closing in on him, Yuuichi realises that the creature is none other than Mai in her child form. All of a sudden Yuuichi finds himself transported to a large open field. He then hears chibi Mai asking her mother about 'Zoo'. As it turns out, when she was a kid, Mai's mother was very sick so she never had the chance to take her daughter to the zoo.

Back then Mai's mother promises to take her daughter to the zoo once she gets well. A few days later, Mai took a gobful of snow and brings it back to her mother's room in the hospital. Her mother then uses some leaves and small cherries to make a rabbit out of the snow. One day, Mai's mother told her daughter that they should go to the zoo that day since she feels better. Mai was reluctant at first but eventually believed that her mother didn't lie to her. As they walk out of the hospital, Mai asked her mother how long it would take for them to get to the hospital and her mother informed her that it'd probably take an hour. Before they can get far, however, Mai's mother feels some kind of pain in her chest. Because of this they decide to rest in the chair outside the hospital. After a while, however, Mai's mother fell asleep. When she woke up, she found out that Mai has build tens of rabbit snow and claims that they are now in the zoo.

Unfortunately, Mai's mother continued to suffer from her disease and one night, it looked as if she's about to die. Back then Mai asked her mother to get well and the next day, her mother miraculously got well. As it turns out, Mai has the power to do anything that she wants, including resurrect a dying creature. At one point, she demonstrated her power in front of television by resurrecting a dying bird. However, her power caused people to fear her because of this Mai and her mother moves to the town where they currently are living. On one sunny day, Mai heard from someone that a person who will accept her power will soon come. The voice assured her that the kid is strong and therefore won't fear her power. That kid turned out to be none other than Yuuichi. Ever since then, Yuuichi and Mai were often seen playing together in the field. The two often played hide and seek but because Mai was small, Yuuichi found it hard to see her location.

In order to get rid of this disadvantage, Yuuichi gave Mai a rabbit ear. Mai then showed Yuuichi her power and true enough, unlike other people, Yuuichi is not afraid of her. He even reminded her that it's because of her power that she could heal her mother. He also believed that one day this power would allow Mai to do whatever she wants to do. One night, Yuuichi received a phone call from Mai, asking for his help because a goblin/ghost was coming to the field where they usually play. Back then Mai asked Yuuichi to protect the area together. Yuuichi, however, thought that Mai just wanted to play again but as it turns out Mai's 'goblin' was a representation for the boulders which came to build a school in that empty field. Mai then watched helplessly as the school was built on top of her favourite playing field. In the present time, Yuuichi tells Mai that there's nothing to protect. If anything, she was the one who bring forth the goblins with her power.

He explains that when she was a kid, Mai created a lie about goblins which she eventually believed. The friend that Mai knew back then was Yuuichi. Upon hearing this, Mai tells Yuuichi that the boy she knew back then ran away from her in fear just like everyone else. Yuuichi denies this, telling her that summer was over so he couldn't stay behind. In order to jog her memory, Yuuichi produces the bunny ear that he once gave to her. Upon realising this, Mai tells Yuuichi that all of these times she's been causing problems for Yuuichi and Sayuri and in her regret, she decides to impale herself with her sword. Yuuichi panics upon seeing this but he is transported once again to the field and sees chibi Mai in the field. Yuuichi apologises for coming late but chibi Mai doesn't mind. Yuuichi then realises that Mai is completely healed. After explaining that she's the manifestation of Mai's power, Chibi Mai lefts Yuuichi and Mai.

Impression:

I feel validated. Mai really was the one who created the creature. And I think the best part about this is how the writers connect the explanation for this to the school and Yuuichi. First thing first though, I thought that Mai's mother was going to die when I first saw her. I thought maybe that's the reason why Mai got her power. As it turns out, her power actually allows her to wish for anything. As a result, her almost dying mother becomes healthy once again. Unfortunately the power caused her to be feared by other kids and Yuuichi was the only one who wasn't afraid of her. But Yuuichi being Yuuichi meant that he left her and the town when summer ended. What he didn't know was that the field where they used to play has been demolished and a school was built on top of it. I am impressed with the way the writers use 'goblins' as an analogy for the buldozers which came to demolished the field. To Mai, the buldozers are the demons.

However, because she was only a kid when this happened, she grew up thinking that there really are demons in the area, thus her relentless pursuit of them at school. However, when she attacks the demons, she essentially attacked herself, causing bruises all over her body. I think Yuuichi's return to the town proves once and for all that there is a person who is not afraid of her power. This explains why the 'goblins' were fixated on him. If he's not afraid despite the menacing-like quality of the 'goblins', then it's likely that he won't be afraid of Mai in general. I'm sure there are more allegory including in this episode but I can't think any more at this point in time. Overall, this is another impressive arc which started out slow but ends in satisfying manner. It looks like the next arc will deal with Shiori although I wonder if it'd deal with Nayuki as well since Ayu was seen yelling that something is wrong with Akiko.

Preview

On next week's episode: Yuuichi moves his target to young Shiori. What a cad.

© memento 2003