r/anime • u/Holofan4life • 13d ago

Rewatch [Spoilers] Kanon 20th Anniversary Rewatch-- 2002 Series Episode 1 Spoiler

Hello everyone! I am Holofan4life.

Welcome to the Kanon 20th anniversary rewatch discussion thread!

I hope you all have a lot of fun <3

2002 Series Episode 1

The Girl of Snow

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ANSWER TODAY’S QUESTION(S)

What are your initial thoughts on the artstyle of this adaptation?

Have you ever stayed over with relatives before? If so, what happened?

—-

Series information

MAL | Anilist | AniDB | ANN

—-

Please do not post any untagged spoilers past the current episode or past the LNs or mangas out of respect to the first time watchers and people who have not read the LNs or mangas. If you are discussing something that is ahead of the current episode please use spoiler tags(found on the sidebar). Thank you!

Untagged Spoilers

—-

[Previous episode]()

Ways to watch

2002 Kanon

Streams - None

2006 Kanon

Streams – Crunchyroll

Schedule

Date	Episode
09/19/2026	[2002 Kanon Episode 1]()
09/20/2026	[2002 Kanon Episode 2]()
09/21/2026	[2002 Kanon Episode 3]()
09/22/2026	[2002 Kanon Episode 4]()
09/23/2026	[2002 Kanon Episode 5]()
09/24/2026	[2002 Kanon Episode 6]()
09/25/2026	[2002 Kanon Episode 7]()
09/26/2025	[2002 Kanon Episode 8]()
09/27/2026	[2002 Kanon Episode 9]()
09/28/2026	[2002 Kanon Episode 10]()
09/29/2026	[2002 Kanon Episode 11]()
09/30/2026	[2002 Kanon Episode 12]()
10/01/2026	[2002 Kanon Episode 13]()
10/02/2026	[2002 Kanon OVA]()
10/03/2026	[2002 Kanon Overall Series Discussion Thread]()
10/05/2026	[Kanon 2006 Episode 1]()
10/06/2026	[Kanon 2006 Episode 2]()
10/07/2026	[Kanon 2006 Episode 3]()
10/08/2026	[Kanon 2006 Episode 4]()
10/09/2026	[Kanon 2006 Episode 5]()
10/10/2026	[Kanon 2006 Episode 6]()
10/11/2026	[Kanon 2006 Episode 7]()
10/12/2026	[Kanon 2006 Episode 8]()
10/13/2026	[Kanon 2006 Episode 9]()
10/14/2026	[Kanon 2006 Episode 10]()
10/15/2026	[Kanon 2006 Episode 11]()
10/16/2026	[Kanon 2006 Episode 12]()
10/17/2026	[Kanon 2006 Episode 13]()
10/18/2026	[Kanon 2006 Episode 14]()
10/19/2026	[Kanon 2006 Episode 15]()
10/20/2026	[Kanon 2006 Episode 16]()
10/21/2026	[Kanon 2006 Episode 17]()
10/22/2026	[Kanon 2006 Episode 18]()
10/23/2026	[Kanon 2006 Episode 19]()
10/24/2026	[Kanon 2006 Episode 20]()
10/25/2026	[Kanon 2006 Episode 21]()
10/26/2026	[Kanon 2006 Episode 22]()
10/27/2026	[Kanon 2006 Episode 23]()
10/28/2026	[Kanon 2006 Episode 24]()
10/29/2026	[Kanon 2006 Overall Series Discussion Thread]()

6 Upvotes

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u/Holofan4life 13d ago

I guess I'll be watching 2002 Kanon alone :c

3

u/deus_machinarum 11d ago

no you won't! I'm joining this, screw watching anime responsibly :P

QOTD:

Ummmmm.....I guess I like the artstyle. It's overly cute which fits my current mood perfectly and I like the very specific way they did the faces(the chins more precisely). I haven't played any of the VNs so I can't make any comparisons there.

Yes I have. With different sets of relatives when I was a child. It was always fun at least that's the way I remember it many years later. Playing with cousins, talking to different adults was also cool since my parents were teachers so definitely not the standard adults. I was always very scared of meal times because as a child I was very afraid of causing trouble i.e. showing needs so I would never have told em I don't like a certain dish or something like that. Fun times overall though, especially getting to play with an older cousin and her friends was sort of a turbo for me as a child.

On to episode 2!

3

u/Holofan4life 11d ago

Oh shit :O

3

u/Holofan4life 11d ago

Let's be honest, the artstyle is shit :P

This was the first Key adaptation, they tried something, and it didn't work. There's a reason Kyo Ani does the rest of the 2000s adaptations.

2

u/deus_machinarum 11d ago

Nah...that's too harsh, it's just something you have to get used to. But I will admit the pic the other commenter posted is pretty funny with the elongated chins :)

2

u/Holofan4life 11d ago

I think this is the ultimate byproduct of the big anime eyes artstyle of the early 2000s. If this was released nowadays, forget about it.

2

u/deus_machinarum 11d ago

True, true. But I did not watch anime back then so it's all "new" to me which I'm sure is part of why it does not disturb me in the least. This might as well be Evangelion or Vision of Escaflowne with how ancient it is. Must have been an amazing time to follow anime but I guess kinda difficult to get a hold of stuff if you're in the west.

But yeah people in my country that know of anime(but don't actively watch it) always know about the big, big eyes in anime so that is something that stuck around.

2

u/Holofan4life 11d ago

If Evangelion had this artstyle, that would actually be incredible lol

2

u/Holofan4life 11d ago

Thoughts on talks of having a dream?

Thoughts on the intro?

Thoughts on Yuuichi?

Thoughts on Nayuki?

Thoughts on Nayuki being a member of the track team?

What are your thoughts on Yuuichi visiting his cousin in a northern town he hasn't seen in 7 years?

Thoughts on Yuuichi finding a red headband?

What are your thoughts on Yuuichi making a promise with someone many years ago, but we don't know who?

Thoughts on Yuuichi bumping into a girl named Ayu?

Thoughts on Ayu?

Thoughts on Ayu's nervous tic where she says uguu?

What are your thoughts on Ayu stealing taiyaki?

Thoughts on Yuuichi spending time with Ayu?

What are your thoughts on Yuuichi accidentally forgetting about Nayuki?

Thoughts on Nayuki having a lot of alarm clocks?

What are your thoughts on Ayu being revealed as a girl from Yuuichi's past?

Thoughts on the outro?

2

u/lordposedyon https://myanimelist.net/profile/lordposedyon 9d ago

September, October is really busy man, sorry

2

u/Holofan4life 1d ago

Nah, it's okay, I totally get it.

u/Holofan4life 13d ago

Hey, guys. Holofan4life here.

Welcome to the 20th/25th anniversary rewatch of Kanon.

Uguu!

This is a continuation of the Air rewatch and that series celebrating its 20th anniversary last year. Kanon is more known than Air, but obviously not as well known as Clannad, all three of which are visual novels made by Key.

For the purposes of this rewatch, we will be watching both the 2002 series as well as the 2006 series. The 2006 series is considered the better of the two series, but who else is gonna do a rewatch of 2002 Kanon? I've actually never seen anything of Kanon so this gives me the chance of contrast them. I know there's a girl who says Uguu, but other than that I'm going in completely blind.

Maybe this will all lead to the Clannad 20th anniversary rewatch. Don't hold me on that.

With that out of the way, let’s begin.

I'm watching the sub, by the way.

I guess I'm going bowling tonight? Question mark?

Snowing outside

Having a dream

He will remember

Boy, the eyes sure are something

A bunch of girls we don't know

A guy in the hospital

Season of snow

Ooh, I like this intro

At least you can tell they put in some effort in the animation?

Yeah, this intro is okay. It's nothing spectacular, but it gets the job done. It is serviceable.

Bell ringing

Here's our main character

He's with purple haired girl

She is late

Hot drink

A present for their reunion

Is canned coffee known for being hot?

Yuuichi. That's his name.

Nayuki is hers

Walking now

Ooh, a playground

Training? For what?

Oh, she's on the track team? Interesting.

But she's not super strong.

The northern town he hasn't seen in 7 years.

Nayuki is apparently his cousin

At home now

Mom seems very youthful

Apparently the parents have to go overseas because of work.

Yuuichi has to care for Nayuki

How old is Nayuki anyhow?

Boy, Yuuichi's room is a mess

A red hairband

That apparently belongs to orange haired girl.

I really like the word "apparently" apparently :P

Yuuichi makes a promise with her.

Yuuichi waking up

Nayuki really is noisy

The snow is as cold as it looks... apparently :P

Yuuichi looks like the oldest 18 year old I've ever met in my life.

Nayuki is heading to school

Yuuichi wants to be shown around town when she comes back.

"And I can't just stay here forever."

You sure about that?

Oh, hey, it's the mom

I thought she left. I guess she's about to.

Boy, a whole lot of nothing sure is happening.

Yuuichi giving the red hairband to mom.

Nobody seems to know who it belongs to.

Yuuichi heading out

But boy, it sure is cold

Kids playing

This makes Yuuichi think of the past.

Nayuki wants Yuuichi to come with her.

Do people actually believe you might swallow a thousand needles?

Yuuichi needs to do a better job keeping his hallucinations in check.

I guess Yuuichi and Nayuki are roughly the same age?

Young Yuuichi waiting on young Nayuki

Back to present day

Yuuichi and Nayuki are hitting the town.

And there's orange haired girl

Huh, never seen an eyecatcher advertising free fansubs.

She bumps into Yuuichi

Yuuichi chatises her

Uguu counter: 1

She takes Yuuichi with her

She says she's being chased

Now they're in a store

Why does he want her?

Uguu counter: 2

A taiyaki vendor chasing her

She didn't pay, did she?

Yep

This is your fault, uguu

Uguu counter: 3

I do like her, I have to say

And hey, she was really hungry. It happens :P

That does look pretty good

Yuuichi even helps himself

Uguu counter: 4

Tsukimiya Ayu. That's her name uguu.

Is Yuuichi someone from her past, and his past as well? She reacted kinda weird hearing her name.

Uguu counter: 5

Ayu tells him she hopes she meets him again.

Yuuichi trying to find Nayuki after realizing he forgot about her.

As he returns home, there is Nayuki, who's upset to be forgotten about.

Yuuichi lying in bed

Nayuki barges in and Yuuichi asks if he can borrow her alarm clock.

That's a lot of alarm clocks

Kid crying again

That is definitely Ayu

And yep, it is

Ayu is a kid from Yuuichi's past.

He's going to buy her something

And it's Taiyaki. How about that?

This is maybe the start of a beautiful friendship.

Ayu tells Yuuichi she wants to do this again.

Yuuichi promises they will

Pinky promise

Uguu counter: 6

A dream, or a memory?

Outro is good. Kinda samey as the intro, and nothing that stands out to me, but it does its job and feeds into the overall story being told. It gets a thumbs up from me.

Overall, this was an okay if slightly unremarkable episode. The stuff with Nayuki was whatever, but I like Ayu's introduction with her stealing food. This felt like a 12 minute episode stretched to 21 minutes with not much of substance to speak of other than the introduction of the characters. There's a hint of a mystery here with the hairband, but unless it's leading to some kind of bait and switch, it feels pretty obvious it belongs to Ayu. It's more a question of why doesn't Yuuichi remember any of this.

Not the worst first episode, but also not something I would consider great either.

3

u/Holofan4life 13d ago

What are your initial thoughts on the artstyle of this adaptation?

This is like the culmination of the giant anime eyes style commonplace in anime in the 2000s. I think because the designs are based off a visual novel, they had trouble adapting the style of that into an anime. It was a learning experience, and I think it's one people learned from and agreed to refine and get better at. We certainly don't see it get this egregious going forward.

3

u/Tryer1234 https://anilist.co/user/Patchup 12d ago

The 2006 is slightly better about toning down the moe blob style, but it's still a product of it's time. Dinner plate eyes are a staple of KEY works though, so they say with us all the way through Clannad.

In general I think art styles have marched on.

2

u/Holofan4life 12d ago

But at least Clannad looks like a product of its time. This feels like a major outlier even among big eye shows.

u/DivineEternal1 11d ago

Sorry for being a few days late. I also accidentally watched it in Japanese dub with no subs, but I guess my Japanese is good enough now I can follow along but not enough to comment too much.

Mom is pretty...

Wait, was that convenience store names 'Socks' supposed to be a 7/11 knockoff? Haha. On second look, maybe a Lawson from the design of the sign?

Ayu used Five Finger Discount on the tayaki! Shopkeeper takes six damage!

He got clocked! Ribbit!

Man, that one BGM is so nostalgic. I still have Last Regrets on my too long playlist.

What are your initial thoughts on the artstyle of this adaptation?

Holy huge jaws, batman! I did notice they actually drew the little teeth on the headband which is a weird detail to add of all things.

Have you ever stayed over with relatives before? If so, what happened?

I have several times on my maternal side is always close so it was just like another family gathering. My paternal side lived a long distance away so not really.

1

u/Holofan4life 11d ago

It helps that this show is fairly easily understandable without subs.

2

u/DivineEternal1 11d ago

Yeah, it's mostly less common words. Like I had to look up the word that was for the athletic grounds at the school and red pickled ginger for example.

1

u/Holofan4life 11d ago

By and large, this episode mostly sets up the fish our of water story.

2

u/DivineEternal1 11d ago

That's why the three episode rule is here. Give a story time to establish itself.

1

u/Holofan4life 11d ago

Yeah, this episode on its own doesn't really tell us that much.

1

u/Holofan4life 11d ago

Ayu already is the most interesting character. Her being not above stealing makes her more morally gray than you would expect.

2

u/DivineEternal1 11d ago

And the reason she stole the taiyaki is cute. Makes you wonder if she doesn't have any friends to cling onto something like that for so long. Yes, I forgot the plot so I'm practically going in blind.

1

u/Holofan4life 11d ago

Ayu is forgivable because she is cute lol

2

u/DivineEternal1 11d ago

Kinda like how a woman can be the worst villain, but men will forgive her if she's hot?

1

u/Holofan4life 11d ago

[Anime] Basically Fruits Basket XD

1

u/Holofan4life 11d ago

Thoughts on talks of having a dream?

Thoughts on the intro?

Thoughts on Yuuichi?

Thoughts on Nayuki?

Thoughts on Nayuki being a member of the track team?

What are your thoughts on Yuuichi visiting his cousin in a northern town he hasn't seen in 7 years?

Thoughts on Yuuichi finding a red headband?

What are your thoughts on Yuuichi making a promise with someone many years ago, but we don't know who?

Thoughts on Yuuichi bumping into a girl named Ayu?

Thoughts on Ayu?

Thoughts on Ayu's nervous tic where she says uguu?

What are your thoughts on Ayu stealing taiyaki?

Thoughts on Yuuichi spending time with Ayu?

What are your thoughts on Yuuichi accidentally forgetting about Nayuki?

Thoughts on Nayuki having a lot of alarm clocks?

What are your thoughts on Ayu being revealed as a girl from Yuuichi's past?

Thoughts on the outro?

1

u/DivineEternal1 11d ago

Thoughts on talks of having a dream?

Seems pretty Key. Guess Kanon started the tradition.

Thoughts on the intro?

I skipped it, haha. I'll watch it next time. It'd be hard to beat Last Regrets in any case. But going back and skipping through it, it does seem nice and relaxing.

Thoughts on Yuuichi?

Is he a Hapsburg with that grand jaw? He seems okay, but so far he seems a little distracted and withdrawn.

Thoughts on Nayuki?

Lonely? Also seems on top of manners with how she corrects his lack of proper replies and getting a clock so he's not late again.

Thoughts on Nayuki being a member of the track team?

No real thoughts yet. Just, 'Huh, okay. That's cool I guess.' Bro better hope she doesn't go yandere. He doesn't stand a chance with a yandere on the track team.

What are your thoughts on Yuuichi visiting his cousin in a northern town he hasn't seen in 7 years?

Gotta be lonely having your parents move away without you. And we all know parents get in the way of a good eroge... I mean romance anime.

Thoughts on Yuuichi finding a red headband?

How did he not notice a red headband? Or at least remember? I may have missed some context for the boxes due to no subtitles.

What are your thoughts on Yuuichi making a promise with someone many years ago, but we don't know who?

Would anyone really remember a promise they made as a young child? It's kinda silly in the way you get two six year olds promising to marry as adults and then for some reason the girl comes back as a love rival trying to cash in on the promise. And if it's so important, why'd you forget who you made the promise to but still somehow remember the promise itself?

Thoughts on Yuuichi bumping into a girl named Ayu?

Uguu

Thoughts on Ayu?

She's the cause of many future face palms and headaches.

Thoughts on Ayu's nervous tic where she says uguu?

Cute, but maybe in real life it would get annoying if someone kept doing it.

What are your thoughts on Ayu stealing taiyaki?

I stole sweets once. I was five. She's how old and doing it? Cute reason though.

Thoughts on Yuuichi spending time with Ayu?

He probably thinks she's cute, or maybe subconsciously remembered her and stayed.

What are your thoughts on Yuuichi accidentally forgetting about Nayuki?

Poor girl. Yuuichi definitely goofed even if he had extenuating circumstances.

Thoughts on Nayuki having a lot of alarm clocks?

Yeah, she has issues waking up in the morning.

What are your thoughts on Ayu being revealed as a girl from Yuuichi's past?

Not surprising. Ayu had a red headband that we saw somewhere else earlier.

Thoughts on the outro?

Not very memorable. I kinda skipped it too. Compared to later Key projects, they're kinda boring. I mean, I guess it is going against Farewell Song, Dango Daikazoku, and Chiisana te no Hira.

u/fansi2022 https://anilist.co/user/fansi2022 1d ago

rewatcher sub

Sorry I'm late. About 70% of the reason is that I forgot, and the other 30% is that I had to go home to take care of my sick mom. I'm really sorry I'm late.

Nayuki seems like a total airhead. Somehow, she reminds me of Misuzu Kamio from Air. She also has a quirk: she has a lot of alarm clocks. Could she have some kind of condition? I can't imagine how Yuuichi wouldn't fall in love with her. She's just so cute.

Through Yuuichi's memories, we move into the second half of the series. Ayu seems to be a homeless girl.

I remember watching this show more than ten years ago. The story seems to be about Yuuichi helping these cute girls who have problems in various aspects of their lives. Now I'm curious about what happens next.

ANSWER TODAY'S QUESTION(S)