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ファイト／ステイナイト 
I'm slightly disappointed with the pacing of this final episode. I just think it's a little bit abrupt. It feels as if they didn't bother to explain how the situations goes from seemingly bad in last week's episode to really good, which is this episode. Oh well, apart from that, this is actually a good episode. I think whether or not one likes the final pairing, the series did a good job in conveying the devastation that a person might feel when he/she is on the verge of losing a loved one. It's unfortunate that Yuuichi doesn't have much chemistry with Ayu although Ayu did look a lot better with a longer hair. Overall, this is actually a much better series than some people are willing to give credit for. I think the trick is to get pass the first 6 episodes because the real meat of the story doesn't begin until around that episode.
As the season reaches Spring, Yuuichi wakes up and turns off all of the alarm in Nayuki's room. When the two go down to the dining room, Akiko is miraculously healed and ready to serve them breakfast. It's like she was never in the hospital! After breakfast, Nayuki and Yuuichi run together to school so they can make it in time. At school, Yuuichi suggests that next time Nayuki eats Akiko's special Jam. Nayuki tries to weasel out of it by persuading Yuuichi to eat it but Yuuichi claims that he's alergic to Jam. Nayuki doesn't seem to believe this and tells her cousin that this is the first time she heard about it. Their conversation then comes to a halt when Kitagawa and Kaori come to the class. Kaori is shocked upon hearing about Akiko's special jam, which she apparently ate when she was playing at Nayuki's house. Kitagawa is curious about this so Yuuichi describe it as a Jam which contains substance which he can't identified. XD
Kaori has also come with a good news so Yuuichi goes out of his class and into the school ground to see...Shiori, who's suddenly healthy again and is about to re-commence her study. Yuuichi thinks Shiori should rest a little bit since she's going to repeat first year again anyway. In response, Shiori tells him that she hates someone who talks like that. Shiori then starts crying and tells Yuuichi that the truth is she doesn't want to die. In response, Yuuichi assures her that it's okay to cry since she's been holding herself together all of these times. During lunchtime, Yuuichi gets lucky again because apparently Mai and Sayuri have also regained their health. This means he gets to eat Sayuri's bentou, although it seems this will be the last time he'll get it since the two are on their way to graduation. Hahaha. Yuuichi thinks the two must be relieved that they'll be in time for graduation. Sayuri thinks the reason they get healthy so soon is because of miracle.
Unfortunately, the two were late to take university entrance examination. As a result, the two of them are now Ronin (students who can't enter university). When Yuuichi asks Mai if she's going to university as well, Mai puts on her best Nagato Yuki impersonation and when Yuuichi tells her that she's not that good at study, she hits him with her book. Sayuri simply laughs about this and informs Yuuichi that Mai's grades are not that bad. She then changes the conversation and asks Yuuichi if he's found the friend he's looking for. Yuuichi, however, quickly tells them that the friend already told him that they can't meet again so maybe she has moved elsewhere. That day while walking in the city, Yuuichi thought he heard Ayu calling him until he realises that it's actually Akiko. Feeling sorry for the kid, Akiko takes him to a cafe where tells him that she feels her sudden health is like Miracle. In exchange, Yuuichi tells him that he remembers how his friend fell from a tree.
Yuuichi know understands what Akiko mentioned not too long ago about an accident that happened 7 years ago. And the name of the kid that fell from the tree was Tsukimiya Ayu. One thing that Yuuichi gets wrong is that he thought Ayu is dead. Akiko, however, informs him that this is not true. The truth is, the kid who fell from the tree didn't die. Fast forward that evening, Yuuichi arrives at the same hospital where Akiko was hospitalised. He's promptly taken to a room where...Ayu lies comatose. She's clearly still alive because Yuuichi can hear consistent breathing coming from her body. In her hand, she holds the angelic ufo catcher that Yuuichi gave her. Upon seeing her, Yuuichi simply kneels down next to the bed and cries on the bed. Fast forward Spring, Yuuichi attends a graduation to congratulate Sayuri and gives her a bouquet. A jealous Mai whack his head a bit but Yuuichi assures her that he hasn't forgotten about her and gives her a bouquet as well.
When Sayuri invites Yuuichi to come to the graduation function, Yuuichi refuses because he has other appointment. He actually suggests that they invite Kitagawa instead. Mai immediately guesses that Yuuichi is going to Ayu's place while Sayuri teases him by saying that he's been going there everyday. As for Ayu's parents, they're supposed to meet on the weekend. He thinks it'll be nice if Ayu would open her eyes. After Yuuichi left, Sayuri suggests to Mai that they pay a visit to Ayu later on. At the hospital, Yuuichi tells Ayu about Mai's graduation, asking the coma girl if she still remembers Mai. While he does this, Ayu narrates again, saying that she saw a dream where the person that she loves stay by her side. She talked to that person about many things. These things are the cousin that he met after 7 years, a fox who turns into human, a girl who visits the school's backyard everyday, a girl who fights monster, and a childhood friend that he met again.
While the scene shows Yuuichi and his harem treating Ayu like first class patient at a private hospital, Ayu continues her blather about dream. Of course, she sees a dream, one where her loved one stay by her side. On these repeating days, fragments of dream comes repeatedly and fills up her heart little by little. The fragments of snow which falls from the sky dyed the city white. A few days later while being sketched by Shiori, Shiori asks Yuuichi if he's ever give thought about being in someone else's dream. Yuuichi is confused about this so Shiori tells him that it's just a 'What if' question. She believes that person who sees the dream can only fulfill one wish. When that person lives in a dream for the first time, she could only cry. However, that person can't leave the dream either because she wishes to give a present to someone who's been waiting for a long, long time. That's why no matter what the wish is, it'll be granted.
Whether it is healing someone who is sick, saving someone who got involved in an accident, helping a friend treating her wound. Yuuichi points out that there was only one wish. Shiori admits that she doesn't know what that person wished but she believes that person would like her loved one to always smile. If the person made such a wish, Shiori believes that it'll affect everyone involves. When Yuuichi asks Shiori why she feels this way, she tells him that she just feels this way after she recovers from her illness. Later on, Yuuichi returns to hospital and watches Nayuki combing Ayu's hair. He thanks her for doing this but Nayuki points out that it's not just for him. It's also for Ayu's sake. Before Nayuki left the room, she turns around and tells Yuuichi that she believes now that there is miracle. After Nayuki left, he tells Ayu that Nayuki gets strong recommendation to go to university while Kaori will probably go to the school that she chooses.
Yuuichi, however, lost it when Ayu doesn't seem to respond to anything he says. Before he can cry a lot, however, he hears a knock on the door. The person turns out to be Mai, who has come on her own without Sayuri. Mai suddenly tells the guy that Ayu is still waiting for him now. She believes Ayu wants Yuuichi to pick her up when her time comes. Mai also tells him that this is something that only he can do. Because only a man who has made a promise can fulfill the promise. Upon hearing this, Yuuichi wonders where Ayu can possibly wait for him. He then remembers how Ayu once told him that in Winter, she loves going to the snowy city, leaving her footprints as she runs through the shopping district. In Spring, she loves to dip her hand in the small snow that remains on tree trunk. In Summer, she loves looking at rows of houses from the crevice of her umbrella. In Autumn, she loves responding to the small white crystal which dances and falls from the clouds.
And then the season is back to winter, where the city is covered in white. Ayu narrates that she likes the flowing sceneries but her time has stopped like the frozen puddle. She feels that she's always alone inside a square room, inside a time without seasons. Meanwhile, Yuuichi has gone back to the tree stump and finds the white pouch containing the hairband he wanted to give Ayu. He realises that although all of these times Ayu were talking about how he gave her the hairband, the truth is she never got it. He admits that he had chosen an illusion over painful reality in his heart. Yuuichi then sees himself as a young kid again, apologising to Ayu who's been waiting for him in front of the station. He then gives Ayu the hairband and offers her to walk with him. Spring time, Yuuichi is meeting with a healthy Ayu and asks her to remove her hat. Although he promises not to laugh, he ended up doing so after seeing Ayu's new haircut. The episode then ends with Yuuichi assuring Ayu that she will surely able to run again someday.
Impression:
It was kind of hard writing summary while trying to stiffle tears. The thing is, I'm actually not that invested in Ayu and Yuuichi's romance. I was just impressed with the dialogues that manage to make it into the series. I think the painful thing about this story is that you know very well that this kind of happy ending usually don't happen. However, Yuuichi somehow managed to obtain it towards the end of the series. As far as I'm concerned, the execution was haphazard. I was shocked when Akiko was suddenly shown in the kitchen and even more so when Shiori just appeared out of nowhere at school. The only explanation for their recovery was that miracle happened. This reinforces my belief that Ayu's wish was either for a miracle to happen or for Yuuichi to be happy. I think the later would have been more likely because asking for miracle to happen is hard to quantify. On the other hand, Yuuichi's happiness is hand in hand with the survival of his harem.
Overall, I really enjoy this series. Whether or not I like the characters, there are parts of their personality, story, or wish that I can identify. As a result, it's not difficult to emphatise or sympathise with them. Story-wise, I think I enjoyed Mai and Shiori's version the most. Of course this is mostly because Sayuri and Shiori are two of my favourite characters. I can't decide if I like Ayu/Nayuki storyline while Makoto's storyline got a bit too dramatic towards the end. The most memorable dramatic moment from the series for me was Sayuri talking to Yuuichi in the coffee shop while Kanon D-dur plays in the background. Comedy-wise, I like the humourous segment during Shiori's birthday party. The strength of this series, however, comes from the main lead character, Yuuichi. Without him, I don't think the series would be as enjoyable. His sarcastic tone and humourous line delivery makes the series a lot more enjoyable.
i too thought the last ep was rushed, but it was still a good one. Garten, will you be watching Clannad when it starts?
i loled when i saw the screen caps, so Ayu becomes loli again just by cutting her hair? WTF? she looked so mature asleep.
Hm....kinda like Haruhi...but i probably shouldn't bring them up.
*claps for kyoAni*
Grr! How dare she try to pull off Yuki's look!
Can’t say im not disappointed, but my expectations are too high anyway. I agree the first half went really... wierd. But i still like the whole scene about Ayu's four season monoluge, and U1 finding the hairband to his fulfilling of the “promise”, the key to wake up Ayu. That really brought out the feel i wanted, the key of resolution, promise and the final miracle, the whole theme of this anime, a very nice way to end everything. And at the end they still leave enough development space for the future, as of when would Ayu walk again, giving it a slight bittersweet yete happy, hopfeful epilogue. That alone covers up all the major (and terrible) complains i had for the first half of the episodes. I must say im quite delighted the fact they didn’t make Ayu look half bad in that last outfit (which looked kinda eh… for me ever since the game.)
Garten, will you be watching Clannad when it starts?
Is it any good? The only reason I followed Kanon was due to its reputation.
Ah, Ayu... Ama Shigure called, and she wants her hat back. You know, that cat-ear hat that she uses to hide her ears? Then again, with that hairdo, I guess they had to do SOMETHING to remind us that Ayu's really a girl...
As far as Clannad goes - some people really liked the story, but the fact it wasn't eroge kept a lot of people away.
Aw the end... of Kanon, was a great series :D can't wait to see this subbed. awww ayu cut her hair in the end XD i agree she looked better with her hair long :x
with Clannad, i only saw like the 30sec trailer, looked interesting, and since it's like directed by the same person who did kanon and haruhi suzimiya, i'm willing to give it a shot :D
i'll miss looking forward to kanon every week T__T love the mai-yuki look-a-like thing hahaha
Oh, yes sorry, forgot to mention the great cast! :O cast are:
Nakahara Mai as Nagisa Furukawa
Hirohashi Ryou as Fujibayashi Kyou
Kanda Akemi as Fujibayashi Ryou
Kuwashima Houko as Sakagami Tomoyo
Nonaka Ai as Ikubi Fuuk
Noto Mamiko as Ichinose Kotomi.
"Kitagawa is curious about this so Yuuichi describe it as a Jam which contains substance which he can't identified. XD"
He should have busted out with a wink and a "Kinsoku jikou desu~~"
It ends. I thought I'll be a lot sadder about it but I'm glad it ends happily unlike Air.
Ummm, Garten:
While the scene shows Yuuichi and her harem treating Ayu like first class patient at a private hospital, Ayu continues her blather about dream.
Do you know something we don't?
Didn't you know? Yuuichi is actually a girl in disguise. It was at the end credit (j/k, it's just a typo).
First off: I love Mai in this episode. I don't care that she wasn't the focus of it, she still played a critical part :D
Like everybody else thinks, the pacing of it was really, really fast. I sort of wish that they spent 2 episodes wrapping things up, but I realize that such a resolution would then be too slow. But it was jarring to see Akiko up and about again, esp. since the episode before this there was a flashback moment for U1 that began almost the same way...but I'd say the end sequences more than made up for it.
@Haesslich:
I totally felt the same way. Saw Ayu in a hat, and I immediately flashed back to Shufle!. Although it probably didn't help that ASuki right now has a bunch of crossover images in the Kanon forum that are just...whacky (box-cutter Nayuki, anybody? :3).
Garten: As a personal opinion, I liked Kanon more than Clannad (as games), but why not give it a shot? It seems like we can't really go wrong with Key-based anime :P
There has been speculation that Mai was the reason why Sayuri, Akiko, and Shiori recovered so quickly. Mai however, decided not to heal Ayu because she wanted Yuuichi to be the one to "rescue" Ayu. This lends more weight to her conversation with Yuuichi in Ayu's hospital room.
Cheers.
Ayu's monologue towards the end was some seriously good writing.
Other than that, I'm still wondering why there are jellyfish inside of a snow globe.
Having played all key games, Clannad is by far my favorite.
The one thing that is very different from Air or Kanon are the females characters themselves, they are more "normal".
The relationship between Tomoya, the main character, and the other character is also very different from yuuichi and yukito relationship with the females characters from their series.
Tomoya actually act like someone his age rather than a big brother or father figure.
Clannad! x 100
OMG! x 100
Meg Mel! x 100
___________________________________________
Awww~ Kanon so sad T.T
Not gonna post more cause I might cry again...
Ayu looks cute at the end BTW
@Haesselich
LMAO. While they may have similar use of 'boku' ichininshou and nekohat, Ama > Ayu.
I personally feel that Nayuki got sidelined in this ending. I remember in the original version, Nayuki ask Yuuichi to kiss her before he went off to see Ayu.
:( I was sad when Ayu cut her hair. It really looked as if Ayu didn't grow at all for 7 years...
She looked so much better with long hair.
Nice series!
I liked it a lot, but I still thinks that Air is a tinny bit better.
In the end Ayu was kind of "projecting" herself from the hospital into the outside world.
Man... These guys of Key kind of like this theme: Miracles
[]'s
Xellos: The Nayuki kiss and, indeed, everything Nayuki did during the ending sequence in the original Kanon, were Toei additions and had no place in the original game. KyoAni was obviously following Key's script and not Toei's, and hence those events didn't occur here.
>>>Ayu's monologue towards the end was some seriously good writing.
Really? Because I thought it was more like my conclusion in the essay that I wrote today: general, ambiguous, and space filler-ish. Or maybe it's just Eclipse's fansub?
As for Clannad, Kyo Ani is animating it. So far, they have made tremendous leaps in creating anime personas: I actually don't want to cut the characters in half and bathe in their blood. I have great faith that Kyo Ani will be able to make Clannad good.
Totally agree with the "rushed"-ness of it. First Mai and Sayuri graduate, then all of a sudden it's winter again and Nayuki's getting college recs?
But what can I say, great series overall so can't complain ^_^.
So did no one notice the fox at the very end of this episode? I also thought it was funny that Yuuichi was wearing a "Lost" T-shirt. (look at 13:50)
Wow everyone is healthy. I have a feeling it's Mai's work. I wonder why she didn't just heal Ayu though. Or maybe she can't because in Ayu's case, she's bounded by a promise?
So the thing that has been bugging me is... is the end a dream or is it a reality? I'm confused. Looks like it's real but her monologue is a piece of work. If it's Ayu projecting herself again, wow... that's just really sad. Can someone enlighten me please? (>__<)
You should not only check out Clannd but AIR TV as well which was also highly recived and has a reputation.
Clannad and AIR have much more complex stories than Kanon.
milkberry: Rest assured that it's real. Here's what I believe happened:
After Yuuichi finds the headband in the forest, he gives it to Ayu to fulfill his promise to her, and she wakes up soon after. In the 2002 version, this was just show pretty much matter-of-factly. However, in 2006 they did it differently, and I actually am really pleased with how they did it. While Yuuichi does give Ayu the headband in real life and then Ayu wakes up, the 2006 version instead shows a metaphor for it. Little Yuuichi meets little Ayu at the bench again (notice Yuuichi is wearing his older self's coat). Ayu scolds him, saying that she's been waiting a really long time (years and years). Yuuichi apologizes, and Ayu says its OK because she had faith that he'll fulfill his promise. Yuuichi then gives Ayu the headband. Then he holds out his hand and tells her to come with him. This would be the awakening scene in real life. A nice, original way of presenting this sceen, IMHO.
But yeah, Ayu really does wake up from the coma at the end of the game too, and I doubt they'd change such an important piece of the plot.
"I wonder why she didn't just heal Ayu though." This story has many flaws and illogical reasonings, but then again, it's Kyoto animation. What can we say?
I still don't understand what the main theme of the story is. In this episode, Yuuichi explains that he chose an illusion over reality. Well, you can't really choose memories, can you? He must also be a little mentally retarded, not remembering something so important at the beginning of the story. I remember important events that have changed my life even a decade ago.
I believe Mai chose not to heal Ayu even though she may have had the power because of what she said to Yuuichi about how only the person who made the promise can fulfill it. Her healing Ayu would not have been meaningful at all; only Yuuichi awakening her would have mattered.
And also, it's not too unreasonable for a person to unconsciously block out or rewrite their own memories to protect them from trauma. Yuuichi didn't consciously choose to have false memories; his mind did so merely to protect him from the pain of losing Ayu, by constructing a fake memory where she never died and he was able to give the hairband to her. When he finally finds the hairband that he never gave her all along, he comes to grips with reality, and it is only by him admitting this that Ayu is able to awaken.
The wheel chair.
why was the wheel chair necessary
Mirrinus: Thanks for the explanation! I never saw the 2002 version so your explanation helps a lot. I guess when KyoAni changed it like that it just makes the story more on a melancholic note. Anyways, kudos to another great series by KyoAni! Now for Clannad hehe.
yea felt a lil rushed but it was a good ending overall
...Goshinga...
...it's called muscle atrophy...it tends to happen when you don't move for long periods of time...such as when you are unconscious and bedridden...a few month and anyone would have real difficulty moving right...Ayu-Ayu was in a coma for 7 years...she probably couldn't do much of anything when she first woke up and had to undergo really difficult rehabilitation...
Ahh... now that was a good series to watch from beginning til end.
if im not mistaken, they did change it from the older version, where , as soonas yuuichi went to the hostipal...... they skipped directly to the scene where ayu sit son the bench...
kanon was one of the few that was worth watching for me :>
was a bit surprising when i saw clannad preview at the end oO.... was not expecting that
do japanese high school students usually wear traditional clothing in their graduations? that's nice...
also, in relation to this episode, what's the significance of Ayu's wish in last ep. where she told Yuuichi to forget everything about her?
chotto matte...
If Ayu did die when she fell off a tree [(which caused Yuuichi to form another memory to protect himself (okay...you do that)], why was she around the whole series? She looked well (and real) when she stole all of those taiyaki(s), and when she cooked + burned the food... to sum it up: whenever she had her brown coat and winged backpack on, she was happy and alive.) So... she died when she was around eight, and then came back alive seven years later, and then died again, and then woke up from a coma? Is this going to be a never-ending cycle?
Oh, and does Makoto stay as a fox or does she stay as an adult? I am so very confuzzled.
There are three Ayus.
1) The comatose Ayu, CAyu
2) The spirit loli-Ayu, LAyu
3) The hairband Ayu, HAyu
Ayu fell off the tree seven years and went into a coma. Yuuichi didn't know this and thought she had actually died.
LAyu is a dream manifestation of CAyu and wanders the streets unnoticed by anybody.
HAyu is an illusion made real, in part due to Yuuichi's denial of what the actual reality was. Hence his comment about choosing an illusion over reality.
As for Makoto. Argh, are you paying attention to the dialogue? Adult Makoto is not Kitsune Makoto. They are two entirely different entities.
Cheers.
I was very impresed with this ending.
This whole series mainly confused me and I really didn't know what the main story was about for the longest time. I'm very pleased with how they ended everything though I wish there was more transition between certain events instead of now everything is ok with all the characters. Though it makes sense that people didn't die since my theory is that Ayu's wish was for Yuuichi to always smile or be happy and for that to happen the people around him would have to be. (basicly what Shiori said XD) But im glad that they didn't create any more plot holes with all the flash backs which was nice.
Ayu's manifestation comes from Yuuichi and not Ayu, right?
If it came from Ayu, how could she have known about the headband?
Very late response to this but anyway:
On a subconscious level, Ayu and Yuuichi were able to connect with each other. Hence, a fairly good portion of the Kanon story could be considered as Ayu's world where she is the sleeping god responding to Yuuichi's latent emotions. Before anyone gets off on complaining that Kanon's themes are a rip-off of Suzumiya Haruhi's themes, I'd like to remind people that Kanon was first released back in 1999. If they don't like that, tough. Kanon IS a Key/VisualArts product and as such it is entirely up to the creators to decide on how they wish the various stories to be presented. I wouldn't be surprised if the author of Suzumiya Haruhi had actually played Kanon and took the inspiration to another level considering the access that native Japanese residents have to information that many of us would love to have regarding our favorite Key/VisualArts games.
The reason why Mai did not (or most likely could not) heal Ayu was because Mai's powers were limited. Ayu has been comatose for 7 years and Mai did not learn of Ayu's existence until Yuuichi introduced Ayu to Mai (this is canon Kanon as in from the original game and subsequent re-releases). On one side, Mai's powers were not strong enough to forcefully recall Ayu's spirit back into Ayu's comatose body. On another side, it IS pointless for Mai to attempt it considering that the person Ayu most wanted to see is not Mai but Yuuichi.
The addition of the wheelchair at the end was a good reinforcement of the idea that Ayu and Yuuichi were now together in the real world and not in any illusory world. The hat that Ayu wore most likely inspired the designers of the Shuffle! team, again, given that Kanon's release predated even the conception and development periods of Shuffle!.
Adult Sawatari Makoto and the fox-Makoto were a surprise to me. The similarities between the real-Makoto and the fox-Makoto are possible given Japanese mythology on fox-spirits' expertise in disguising themselves as their human counterparts. In a sense fox-Makoto truly assumed the role of real-Makoto given the complete memory blackout of Yuuichi's past.
wow this comment is much later than any of the other responses but still felt like I should comment
Garten, awesome job covering this series, lurved the screencaps, and the in depth summaries helped me distinguish all the eps
overall, amazing series loved it, but I'm even happier that for me, the ending was quite open and Yuuichi doesnt end up with any one for certain ^^ NayukixYuuichi was still given hope lol
so Ayu and Yuuichi end up together right not his
cousin nayuki right ohh im so confused ohh i like Ayu the most because shes really
funny i never did lay the game yet but yeah they do right?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
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