Canon (computer game)

The game has a linear course in which the player can choose from various displayed options at fixed times. It is designed in such a way that the player should get involved in the complex story and the charms of the five main female characters. It uses tragic plot elements and a distinct form of the child schema . In contrast to many previous games in the genre, Kanon almost completely dispenses with erotic elements. In doing so, it helped in the evolution of the eroge genre, which evolved from a simple rape act to a romantic, visually supported narrative with a complex plot.

Due to the great success of the game, which is primarily aimed at a relationship with the characters, versions for all ages for Windows , Dreamcast , PlayStation 2 , PlayStation Portable and mobile phones ( FOMA ) were also released after the PC Eroge version .

Based on the storyline of the adventure, numerous adaptations were made in the form of literary works, radio plays, animations and franchises. This is how the anime television series Kanon , produced by Tōei Animation , came about in 2002 and was remade in 2006 by Kyōto Animation . Both film adaptations succeeded in convincing critics of such an implementation, since the plot is much more balanced and entertaining in contrast to previous implementations of Eroges.

action

prehistory

As a young boy, Yūichi Aizawa visits his aunt Akiko Minase, where he spends the summer holidays with his cousin Nayuki Minase. There he meets the lonely Mai Kawasumi, who has been abandoned by her friends, with whom he develops a friendship that is very important to her. At this point, Mai has no friends, as they are afraid of their special healing powers. It is so difficult for her to say goodbye that she claims to him that demons would haunt the field if he left. Still he leaves.

A year later he is again a guest at the Minases. While looking for the untraceable Mai, he notices a small, wounded fox on Monomi Hill , which he takes home to nurse him back to health. This time, too, the holidays end, and so Yūichi has to release the fox on the hill. The abandoned and lonely fox ( kitsune ), however, worked a miracle and reappears nine years later in the form of Makoto Sawatari.

Two more years later, Yūichi meets the weeping Ayu Tsukimiya. She recently lost her mother and is now sitting at a loss on a bench. To cheer her up, Yūichi bought her a taiyaki , which from then on became her favorite food. When the two meet several times, he promises her that he will grant her three wishes. He can fulfill two of these wishes before Ayu falls from a tree on the last day and loses consciousness. However, Yūichi assumes that she has died and runs back into town. There he meets his cousin Nayuki, who just wants to say goodbye to him and show him her affection. However, he is so shocked that he smashes her gift and runs away. This situation is the reason why Yūichi loses his memories of that time and does not return to the city for a long time.

Main storyline

After seven years, Yūichi went back to town for reasons not mentioned. He can almost only remember the names of Nayuki and Akiko and moves into the Minases' apartment shortly before the start of the new school year. Accompanied by Nayuki, he meets the "angel" Ayu, who is indistinguishable from a normal person. Distracted by this, but not remembering the Ayu from his childhood, he forgets the Nayuki waiting for him, who is therefore in a bad mood. This happens to him quite often in the course of the plot, and Nayuki seems to get used to it at some point.

On his first day of school he gets to know all the characters relevant to the plot. These include the proud Kaori Misaka, who denies the existence of her sister, and her “bearer” Jun Kitagawa, who both attend the same class with him and Nayuki. Nayuki unintentionally bumps into Mai Kawasumi and her friend Sayuri Kurata while on a foray into the school. Yūichi noticed above all the indifferent and concise remarks by Mai and made a lasting impression on him. After school is over, he meets Ayu again, who guides him on the way home. His clumsy companion runs into a tree in such a way that the falling snow buries Shiori Misaka under itself. Yūichi gets to know Kaori's sick sister, who deliberately hides her family connection to her. After saying goodbye to Ayu, he is attacked by the hungry Makoto on his way through the city. Her blows are so powerless that Yūichi can take them with a smile before Makoto collapses in front of his eyes. He carries her back to his guest apartment, where she comes to and is looked after by Nayumi and Akiko. She suffers from amnesia related to her transformation from a fox to a human and can only remember being angry with Yūichi. Some time later she at least remembers her borrowed name. Meanwhile, Akiko tried in vain to find out from the police whether she was missing anywhere. So the head of the family decides to take Makoto into the house until further notice.

From this point onwards, five almost independent storylines develop in the game, each of which deals with a leading actress. In the anime adaptations, these stories run in parallel, but their highlights are staggered in time. Yūichi can remember more and more parts of his past, but only manages to completely remember his past in the last section, where he solves the riddle behind the "angel" Ayu.

characters

The majority of the characters appearing are female. The protagonist , however, is the youthful Yūichi Aizawa, who cannot remember his past and is mainly involved with the five female heroines Ayu Tsukimiya, Nayuki Minase, Makoto Sawatari, Shiori Misaka and Mai Kawasumi. He loves to treat the heroines with sarcastic , almost cynical , remarks and enjoys their different reactions.

The female characters were designed with very different character traits to appeal to a wide audience. Mai is characterized by a certain pride, which she retains despite her indifference and meager choice of words. Nayuki fluctuates between a neat, committed nature and a recurring tiredness. Ayu and Makoto are both very cranky and energetic, with Ayu being very easy to intimidate. Both also have the habit of constantly making a sound with a different emphasis to express feelings.

There are also other figures from the school and the surrounding area. However, these play a subordinate role, but always provide valuable information to clear up the past. They do not build a deeper relationship with Yūichi and mainly serve as a link between the individual characters.

Game mechanics

Typical appearance of Japanese adventure games

Kanon contains the typical elements of a Ren'ai adventure and requires only a very limited interaction from the player. Most of the time the player is busy following the graphically displayed texts. In this way, dialogues between the individual characters and the inner thoughts of the protagonist are presented, while atmospheric backgrounds and the facial expressions of the characters shown support the situations. In later re-releases of the game, these dialogues were also spoken. At certain points in the action, the player is given a choice from given options. Depending on the selection, it is thus possible for the player to direct the action in a certain direction, although the effects are not always aware of or cannot be predicted. The time intervals between such queries vary from a few seconds to several minutes.

There are a total of five different storylines that the player can take. Each of them deals more intensively with one of the main female characters. In order to play through each of these strands, it is necessary to play the game at least five times and to steer the game in the appropriate direction by selecting certain options. However, the original version of the game also has features of an eroge . So it is possible for the player to unlock hentai scenes through certain combinations of answers , in which Yūichi is involved with one of the actresses. Yūichi Suzumoto , who only started working for Key after Kanon was finished, noted that the sexual scenes in Kanon are not a relevant part of the plot and therefore they could be easily removed.

development

Emergence

After the completion of Moon. and One - Kagayaku Kisetsu e in 1998, the game developer Tactics , a branch of the publisher Nexton , was left by the core of its workforce. At the end of the same year, she founded her own company, Key . The young formation under the publisher Visual Art’s began with the development of his first project - Canon .

From One - Kagayaku Kisetsu e while that of was Jun Maeda designed, however, to To Heart based, basic concept of a tearful and touching action taken. Naoki Hisaya took over the planning of the project and worked out the plot of the game together with Jun Maeda. Hisaya wrote the scenarios for the characters Ayu, Nayuki and Shiori, while Maeda wrote those for Mai, Makoto and the secondary character Sayuri. Itaru Hinoue , a well-known draftswoman, took over the artistic direction and the character design . The computer graphics were created by Din, Miracle Mikipon and Shinory, while Torino drew the background scenes. Pieces composed by OdiakeS and Shinji Orito were mainly used for the background music. For the opening and closing credits, the tracks Last regrets and Kaze no Tadoritsuku Basho were recorded, which were released on the album Anemoscope . After the game was completed, both Naoki Hisaya and OdiakeS left the company to participate in other productions.

The AVG32 game engine , which Visual Art's developed itself and made available to its game developers, was used as the technical framework .

Scenery and thematic design

In Kanon, the entire scenery is presented in a wintry landscape and sporadic falling snow is used as a design tool. An exception is the evergreen, spring-like Monomi hill, which is important for the Makoto storyline . The scenes are based on photographs of the cities of Moriguchi , Yokohama , Tokyo and Sapporo , which were put together to form an area. For example, the North Tama Prefectural College of Nursing ( 東京都立北多摩看護専門学校 ) was used as a high school. In subsequent works, Key repeatedly used real locations as templates for the game environment. However, the names of the places are rarely mentioned in the works. The accompanying music is based on the harmony sequence canon and gigue in D major , the most popular work by the Nuremberg baroque composer Johann Pachelbel . This melody was also used in most of the adaptations.

The plot is deliberately designed in such a way that many points of the past are based on promises that Yūichi usually cannot keep because he lost his memory, and so many of the characters are waiting for these promises to be fulfilled. But they are so considerate towards him that they do not tell him about it until he can get the memories back and apologize for them or fulfill them.

Publications

Kanon was first published in Japan on June 4, 1999 on CD-ROM and required a PC with Windows 95 as the operating system, but could not be played on Windows 2000, which was released a short time later . On January 7, 2000, a version of the game released for all age groups was released, in which pornographic scenes were removed or replaced. Both versions published by Visual Art’s did not yet contain voice output of the characters, which was only added with the adaptations for game consoles.

For the Sega Dreamcast , a first port of the game to a game console was released on September 14, 2000, which, like all subsequent console versions, was based on the censored version. The characters were set to music in all console ports, with the exception of the protagonist Yūichi. A version ported to the PlayStation 2 , in which the design of the cover was changed for the first time, was released on February 28, 2002. After the game sold very well for the game console, the “Best Version ", which was sold at half the price of the original. Both the Dreamcast and Playstation variants were relocated by NEC Interchannel .

On November 26th, 2004 the new edition of Visual Art's was offered as Kanon Standard Edition on DVD , which could also run on the newer Windows versions 2000 and XP. Like the first published version, it again contained pornographic material and was supplemented by a censored version on January 28, 2005. Prototype's first release of the game for PlayStation Portable under the Visual Art's motto was released on February 15, 2007 and was sold as an extra along with an additional DVD. This included comments from the five female speakers and a revised opening credits from Canon. The game itself also featured voice acting by Yūichi, voiced by Tomokazu Sugita .

Prototype also created an implementation without voice output for mobile phones from FOMA and the mobile phone provider SoftBank Mobile .

The game has only been released within Japan so far and there are no plans to translate the game into any other language. However, a partial translation was done by fans.

Adaptations

Light novel cycle

Almost half a year after the game was published, Paradigm published a five-issue light novel cycle from December 1999 to August 2000 . The books were written by Mariko Shimizu and illustrated by Itaru Hinoue , who was already the artistic director of the game's development. She drew the illustrations of the books and designed the covers. Each of these books focused on one of the five main female characters and followed the same storyline as the game.

Yuki no Shōjo ( 雪の少女 , German "snow girl"), early December 1999, Nayuki

Egao no Mukōgawa ni ( 笑顔の向こう側に , Eng . "The other side of the smile"), late December 1999, Shiori

Shōjo no Ori ( 少女の檻 , Eng. "Girl's cage"), April 2000, May

The fox and the grapes (Eng. "The fox and the grapes"), June 2000, Makoto

Hidamari no Machi ( 日溜まりの街 , Eng . "Sunny City"), August 2000, Ayu

Radio play series

Movic has released three complete radio play series, each comprising five CDs and released over a period of three years from September 29, 2000 to April 26, 2003. The two first published editions Kanon and Kanon anthology dealt with one of the main characters on each CD, with the corresponding character printed on the cover. The third series was an anthology in which the character Akiko Minase was used as a cover image in various variations.

Manga

The first adaptation in the form of a manga was published beginning on October 21, 2000 within the Japanese manga magazine Comic Dengeki Daiō and ran there until May 21, 2002. Draftsman Petit Morishima took over the plot of the Ren'ai adventure and divided it into six chapters. The first gives an introduction to the plot of Canon, which is brought to a conclusion in the last. The four chapters in between deal with one of the heroines in the following order: Shiori Misaka, Makoto Sawatari, Mai Kawasumi and Ayu Tsukimiya. No separate chapter was drawn for Nayuki Minase, but she appears in almost all scenes with Yūichi. Since the manga placed a lot more emphasis on the story of Ayu, the actions of the other characters were stopped prematurely compared to the original. Following the publication within the magazine, the manga was combined in the form of two Tankōbon issues and republished by the Media Works publisher under its own Dengeki Comics label.

A second manga canon: Honto no Omoi wa Egao no Mukōgawa ni (canon ホントの想いは笑顔の向こう側に , dt. "Canon: The true thoughts of the other side of the smile") with the subtitle each regret of Kanon was published from 29 Published June 2006 to October 20, 2007 in the Japanese manga magazine Dragon Age Pure , which is published by the publisher Fujimi Shobo . This manga drawn by Kensha Shimotsuki is also based on the plot of the game and was published in the form of two tankōbon. The first five-chapter edition was published on April 1, 2007 and focused on the story of Nayuki. On December 8, 2007, the remaining four chapters, which deal mainly with the other main characters, were published. Both editions were also published by Fujimi Shobo.

Anthologies

In addition to these two publications, many different anthologies have been published, which were created by a variety of artists. The first edition of such an anthology series was published by the publisher Ichijinsha under the title Kanon Comic Anthology and was sold from November 25, 2000 under the in-house label DNA Manga Comics . Up to December 26, 2002, 14 issues of the series were offered. A 15th edition was released prior to the release of the second anime television series on February 24, 2006. Ichijinsha also released two other editions, which were released on April 25, 2001 and June 25, 2001 in the form of a Yonkoma entitled Kanon 4-koma Kings were.

Another anthology was published by Softgarage . The single edition known as Kanon Anthology Comic was published on December 20, 2002 in Japan. Haru Urara: Kanon & Air ( 春うらら〜Kanon & AIR〜傑作選 ), a compilation of individual manga on Kanon and Air , was sold by Ohzora on April 17, 2004. In the period from April 17, 2004 to August 18, 2004, five more individual works were created by various artists, which were also published by Ohzora. Two years later, on December 26, 2006 and January 31, 2007, the publisher re-published the manga in the form of two anthologies entitled Canon アンソロジーコミックスベストセレクション . In addition, Ohzora published 13 further editions of an anthology entitled Kanon and his own label Twin Heart Comics . Each of these anthology series was edited by an average of 20 artists and writers.

The now defunct publisher Raporto also published 16 anthologies under the title Canon . The last known publication was the anthology Magi-Cu 4-koma Kanon in the style of a Yonkoma published by Enterbrain on January 29, 2007 .

Anime

Kanon was in the form of two Anime - television series adapted. The first film adaptation was a 2002 produced by Tōei Animation series with the same title Canon . It had a volume of 13 episodes and was first broadcast from January 31, 2002 to March 28, 2002 shortly after midnight on the Japanese channel Fuji TV. Despite only moderate success, an additional episode appeared on May 3, 2003 as OVA . The DVD was titled Kanon: Kazahana ( カノン風花 , Kazahana (literally: "wind flower") means dancing snowflakes under a clear sky) and was also produced by Toei Animation.

A complete remake with a length of 24 episodes was released in 2006 also under the name Kanon . The series animated by Kyōto Animation ran from October 5, 2006 to March 15, 2007 for the first time on the Japanese television station BS-i and was later offered on DVD in Japan and dubbed in the United States .

music

Productions based on the game

Based on the game's music, several albums and a single were created , most of which were created by the same artists who wrote the game's music. The two titles Last regrets and Kaze no Tadoritsuku Basho appear as a constantly recurring element in almost all of these productions. The former, which was also used in the opening credits of the game, was penned by Jun Maeda and sung by the singer Ayana . The closing credits melody was composed by Shinji Orito . The arrangement of the two pieces was done by Kazuya Takase from I've Sound, who was listed as I've in the credits of the CDs.

Anemoscope: The first music album Anemoscope was sold on June 4, 1999 together with the first version of the game. It is a twelve-track and 54-minute long compilation of the background music from the adventure game and the two original versions of Last regrets and Kaze no Tadoritsuku Basho . The other ten pieces were arranged by Shinji Orito, Magome Togoshi and OdiakeS . In the booklet of the CD there were poems by Jun Maeda that described winter landscapes. But the music should also express the feeling of a winter landscape and the expectation of an upcoming spring.

Last regrets / Place of wind which arrives: This limited edition single, released on November 23, 1999 , featured seven tracks, including the instrumental versions of Last regrets and Kaze no Tadoritsuku Basho . There were also three previously unpublished melodies from the game. The same team worked on the single that had previously created Anemoscope . Although the CD was only released in a limited edition, it was also offered on Comiket 57 on December 24, 1999. It contained another hidden eighth track: a version of Last regrets sung in a male voice by Kazuya Takase, which followed after the last track on the CD after a long pause.

Recollections: The 13-track album essentially consists of a compilation of the two previously released CDs, seven of which were taken from Anemoscope and three from Last regrets / Place of wind which arrives . There were also three other tracks, two of which were taken from the background music of the game and one is a remix of the opening credits theme Last regrets , which was sung by the Japanese singer Lia . The arrangement of the piece was done by Ryō Okabe . The album was first released on December 29, 2001 on Comiket 61. As the second album by the Key Sounds label , it was offered on a large scale from November 29, 2002.

Kanon Original SoundTrack: After the success of the first anime television series Kanon , another album was put together under the title Kanon Original SoundTrack , which takes up many of the titles from previous releases. The album, comprising 24 tracks on one CD, was released on October 25, 2002 under the label Key Sounds Label and contained a hidden title like Last regrets / Place of wind which arrives - Yuki no Shōjo from the album Anemoscope . With a length of more than 73 minutes, it was the most extensive album ever to be released for the game, and with a first sale price of 2,310 yen, it was also the most expensive.

Re-feel : The album Re-feel is a mixture of the tracks from Kanon and its successor Air , which were recorded in a piano version. It was first offered on December 28, 2003 on Comiket 65 and contains a total of ten titles, which are divided equally between both games. With the exception of the titles Shōjo no Ori ( 少女の檻 ) and Yume no Ato ( 夢の跡 ), which Riya edited by eufonius , all titles were arranged by Ryō Mizutsuki. He was featured as Kiyo in the credits of the album released under the Key Sounds Label label .

Ma-Na: This album is a compilation of rearranged pieces of background music from the Key-produced games Kanon , Air , Planetarian: Chiisana Hoshi no Yume and Clannad . The four longer pieces on the CD were produced by Jun Maeda, Shinji Orito and Magome Togoshi. The album was first offered on August 12, 2005 on Comiket 68 and has since been offered under the Key Sounds Label .

Building on the first television series

Analogous to the game, two titles for the opening and closing credits were also created for the series. These were Florescence and Flower , both written by Naomi Kosaka , interpreted by singer Miho Fujiwara , and arranged by Hiroyuki Kōzu . Florescence was composed by Kōji Ueno and "Flower" by Masato Kamato . They were included on almost all of the albums published for the anime in their original or remixed version. All music productions related to the first anime were published by the music publisher Movic .

TV Animation-ban Canon Sound Track vol. 1 (TV アニメーション版 Kanon Sound Track vol. 1) : The first original soundtrack for the anime television series broadcast in 2002 was released within Japan on May 5, 2002. The 31 titles were composed by Shinji Orito, Kōji Ueno and Hiroyuki Kōzu. Some of the titles are taken from the game but have been rearranged. The original version of the CD was offered in a keep case typical of DVDs .

Florescence / Flower: The single released by Movic on June 7, 2002 in Japan was released in a regular and a limited edition. In addition to the different versions of the two tracks Florescence and Flower , the latter includes two additional instrumental pieces. The backing vocals for the instrumental version of Flower were sung by Miho Fujiwara. The second extra was a melody from the character Akiko Minase that was not used in the television series.

TV Animation-ban Canon Sound Track vol. 2 (TV アニメーション版 Kanon Sound Track vol. 2) : The second original soundtrack for the series was offered from July 5, 2002. There are 55 tracks on the two CDs that were composed by Shinji Orito, Kōji Ueno and Hiroyuki Kōzu. Several variants have been created for many titles; some are based on the music of the Ren'ai adventure .

Orgel de kiku Sakuhin-shū ( オルゴールで聴く作品集 , Orugōru de kiku Sakuhin-shū ) : The album, released on July 25, 2003, contained 15 tracks, which were taken from the background melody of the anime. The titles composed by Kōji Ueno, Hiroyuki Kōzu and Masato Kamato and arranged by Minami Nozaki concentrated particularly on individual instruments. These include music boxes (Japanese organ , from Dutch), pianos , harps , flutes , acoustic guitars and string instruments .

Building on the remake of the television series

Last regrets / Kaze no Tadoritsuku Basho (Last regrets / 風の辿り着く場所 ) : The opening and closing music of the series produced by Kyōto Animation was based on the original version of Last regrets and Kaze no Tadoritsuku Basho . Both titles were published in the original, in a new arrangement for the television series and in a "memorial mix" called variation created by Manack on the six-track single Last regrets / Kaze no Tadoritsuku Basho . It was released on December 28, 2006 under the label Key Sounds Label and was the only music production that was created for the second anime version, as well as the last music production published so far for Kanon .

Franchises

Due to the great popularity of Kanon and especially the second anime adaptation in 2006, numerous products with imprints of the game characters appeared. This included, for example, coffee cups, trading cards and posters, but also resin figures and art books.

Resine figures

In 2007 at least five resin figures appeared showing the character Ayu in different representations. This includes a Chibi version in Christmas clothing that was offered by Movic on January 29, 2007 . Other figures come from Russian Blue, Kotobukiya and Max Factory. Such figures also appeared for the other characters with various manufacturers, whereby the sex appeal was not the focus.

Artbooks

A first art book was published by Enterbrain in November 2000 . The book Kanon: Kōshiki Genga Settei Shiryōshū - The Ultimate Art Collection of “Kanon” (Kanon: 公式原画・設定資料集 - The Ultimate Art Collection of “Kanon”, German “Kanon: Official collection of original images and design material - The ultimate art collection from 'Kanon' ”, ISBN 4-7577-0244-2 ) contained numerous illustrations and concept sketches on 239 pages that were linked to various comments on scenes or plot.

For the first filming, an art book with the title Kanon the animation - Dream Days ISBN 4-04-853522-6 was published by Kadokawa Shoten on June 20, 2002 . It provided an introduction to the characters, illustrations and interviews with those involved in the production.

Ichijinsha published on July 25, 2007 Kanon Visual memories ISBN 4-7580-1079-X also a 127-page art book. The focus of this book was the remake from 2006 and its content is comparable to the publication by Kadokawa Shoten. An audio CD was included as an encore, which contained 86 variations of Ayus Laut ugū , which were spoken by Yui Horie . The exclamations are only about two seconds long, so there are always silent pauses between the ugū s.

Voice actor

role	Japanese speaker ( seiyū )
Yūichi Aizawa	Atsushi Kisaichi (PSP game)
Ayu Tsukimiya	Yui Horie
Nayuki Minase	Mariko Koda
Makoto Sawatari	Mayumi Iizuka
Mai Kawasumi	Yukari Tamura
Shiori Misaka	Hiroko Konishi (DC and PS2 game), Akemi Satō (PSP game)
Sayuri Kurata	Tomoko Kawakami
Akiko Minase	Yūko Minaguchi
Kaori Misaka	Ayako Kawasumi
Mishio Amano	Maaya Sakamoto
Jun Kitagawa	Tomokazu Seki
Kuze	Hiroshi Kamiya

reception

Reviews of the game

The plot of Kanon has been described as normal to uncommon, which taken together makes a story that captivates the player. In this way a constant tension builds up which, together with the dramatic staging, was able to bring tears to the eyes, which, however, were soon forgotten because of the good endings. Due to their different behavior, the characters would also invite you to dare multiple attempts to try out each of the storylines.

“From the amazingly beautiful opening of the game, through the long storyline for each character, to the wonderfully upbeat ending, this game is a marvel. It surprises you at every step and keeps the tension up right until the end. "

“From the amazingly beautiful opening credits, to the long storyline of each character, to the wonderfully happy ending, this game is a marvel. It surprises you with every step and keeps the tension going until the end. "

- PonyDash : Canon Review

Although the graphics at the time of Western reviews, which are not available in large numbers due to the purely Japanese localization, can no longer withstand compared to newer games such as DC II - Da Capo II , the critics praised the detailed implementation. The only downer is the lack of voice output in the first PC versions, as constant reading can be quite exhausting. All in all, however, it was probably the best game in the genre that was produced in 1999.

distribution

In the weekly national sales charts of the Bishōjo games , the first publication of Kanon rose directly with the 2nd place. With a total of 39,683 games sold, Kanon was the seventh best-selling Bishōjo game of 1999. Three years later, in June 2002, the game was again at number 45 in the course of the ongoing anime television series, where it remained at number 46 in the following weeks . In July it even rose again to number 41 and was by far the oldest game on the charts.

"Kanon was considered by many as the best PC bishoujo game for 1999, having apparently reduced many gamers to tears."

"Kanon was considered by many to be the best PC Bishōjo game released in 1999, which apparently moved many players to tears."

- Yukino Yoshi : Girl games come of age

Kanon Standard Edition , published in 2004, dipped into Peaks Inc.'s sales charts at number 16 in the first week of sales and stayed within the top 50 positions for a period of two months. The version released for all age groups entered the ranking with 42nd place, but was able to climb to 35th place in the next month. Then it was no longer to be found among the best-selling games.

In the first week, 42,379 copies of the port to the Dreamcast were sold. It was the fourth best-selling console game that week; With a total of 49,047 sales (86.40% were sold within the first week), the game ranks 57th in the list of top-selling games for the Dreamcast.

Five days before the release of the game for the Playstation 2, a printer for the console was sold with the MPR-505 , which allowed scenes from the games to be printed out. The first three games supported included Kanon , America Ōden Ultra Quiz, and Marle de Jigsaw .

In total, Kanon sold more than 300,000 copies (excluding sales for the Playstation Portable).

Cultural influence

When developing Kanon , Key employees adopted the basic concept of a tearful and touching act from their previous work One - Kagayaku Kisetsu e , which in turn goes back to Leafs To Heart . The success of One - Kagayaku Kisetsu e and Kanon ensured that this basic concept is also the one on which all subsequent games from Key are based, but has also been adopted by other software companies, such as DO with Kana - Imōto , KID with Memories Off , Circus with DC - Da Capo , Studio Mebius with Snow and minori with Wind - a breath of heart . It helped this genre, known as nakigē , to break through and “cemented” it as a new trend within eroge that focuses more on action than sex.

The characters from Kanon were adopted from several dōjin games . Most of the characters in the fighting game Eternal Fighter Zero created by Twilight Frontier come from Kanon and the previously published One - Kagayaku Kisetsu e . In Glove on Fight , also a fighting game, Ayu Tsukimiya and Akiko Minase appeared along with various other characters taken from other media. Ayu Tsukimiya is one of the most famous characters in the scene and is considered by some to be the most popular Gal Game character.

In August 2007 Dengeki G's Magazine conducted a poll and asked readers about the fifty best Gal Games . From a total of 249 titles, Kanon came fifth with 71 votes. Kanon had to admit defeat to the in-house clannad (114 votes). However, even the second-placed Fate / stay night received only 78 votes and was thus just ahead of the more than seven-year-old title.

Influence on the company

Jun Maeda made the statement in March 2001 that it was Kanon's success that prompted Key to continue playing games that followed a fairly calm plot. He also added that it was not only he who had this thought. So similarly conceived successors appeared with Air and Clannad . The game, published in 1999, made such a convincing impression on the novelist Yūichi Suzumoto that he joined Visual Art’s and worked there as a screenwriter for their brands from February 2000. He announced in an interview held in March 2001 that he would sum up the plot of Kanon as a happy ending for the prince and princess, which does not reveal what could happen afterwards.

The two characters Yūichi Aizawa and Jun Kitagawa were taken up again in a slightly different way in Clannad as Tomoya Okazaki and Yōhei Sunohara .

literature

Canon the animation - Dream Days . Kadokawa Shoten , 2002, ISBN 4-04-853522-6 .
Canon Visual memories . Ichijinsha, 2007, ISBN 978-4-7580-1079-5 .

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c Key シナリオスタッフングインタビュー . (No longer available online.) In: カラフル・ピュアガール . March 2001, archived from the original on August 27, 2009 ; Retrieved February 16, 2015 (Japanese, interview with Jun Maeda and Yūichi Suzumoto from Key about the successor Air .).

↑ Canon. (No longer available online.) In: ErogameScape. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013 ; Retrieved October 5, 2014 (Japanese).

^ Canon in Moriguchi Osaka ( Memento from April 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

↑ Canon 聖地巡礼 . February 18, 2007, pp. 1-10 , accessed on August 16, 2008 (Japanese, comparison of the scenes from the anime with locations from Yokohama , Tokyo , Sapporo and Moriguchi .).

↑ Kanon Key Official Homepage ( Yes ) Key . Retrieved March 16, 2013.

↑ Kanon Key Official Homepage ( yes ) Key . Retrieved March 16, 2013.

↑ Canon ( yes ) Amazon.co.jp . Retrieved March 16, 2013.

↑ canon. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on July 16, 2011 ; Retrieved August 14, 2008 (Japanese).

↑ Canon Standard Edition ( yes ) Visual Art’s . Retrieved August 27, 2015.

↑ Canon. Key , accessed August 14, 2008 (Japanese).

↑ Canon ( yes ) Prototype . Retrieved March 16, 2013.

↑ Canon. Prototype, accessed August 14, 2008 (Japanese).

↑ ^a ^b canon. Sega , accessed August 14, 2008 (Japanese).

↑ シリーズ一覧 1 . Paradigm , accessed August 14, 2008 (Japanese).

↑ Canon. Neowing, accessed August 14, 2008 (Japanese).

↑ Dengeki.com: Canon ( Memento from May 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive )

↑ FujimiShobo.co.jp: 大人気ゲーム｢Ｋａｎｏｎ｣をコミカライズ !! ( Memento from February 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive )

↑ Canon ホントの想いは笑顔の向こう側に 1 . Kadokawa, accessed August 14, 2008 (Japanese).

↑ Canon ホントの想いは笑顔の向こう側に 2 . Kadokawa, accessed August 14, 2008 (Japanese).

↑ ^a ^b 春うらら〜Kanon & AIR〜傑作選 . Ohzora, accessed August 15, 2008 (Japanese).

↑ Canon アンソロジーコミックスベストセレクション 1 . Ohzora , accessed August 15, 2008 (Japanese).

↑ Canon アンソロジーコミックスベストセレクション 2 . Ohzora, accessed August 15, 2008 (Japanese).

↑ ^a ^b アンソロジーコミックのコーナー . Retrieved August 15, 2008 (Japanese).

↑ ^a ^b Kanon original arrange album "anemoscope" ( Memento from August 3, 2008 in the Internet Archive )

^ Canon (Anemoscope). (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on June 7, 2007 ; Retrieved November 5, 2008 (Japanese). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Discography. (No longer available online.) VisualArt's / Key Sounds label, archived from the original on February 5, 2009 ; Retrieved August 21, 2008 (Japanese).

↑ Canon • AIR Piano Arrange Album "Re-feel". VGMdb.net, accessed August 21, 2008 .

↑ 「CANNON」月宮あゆ (マスコットＢ付き). Movic , accessed September 8, 2008 (Japanese). - 月宮あゆ 1/8 フィギュア. (No longer available online.) Russian Blue, archived from the original on November 24, 2006 ; Retrieved September 8, 2008 (Japanese). - 月宮あゆ ( Memento from July 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

↑ Canon 公式原画・設定資料集. Enterbrain, accessed September 10, 2008 (Japanese).

^ Canon the animation. Kadokawa Shoten, accessed August 28, 2008 (Japanese).

↑ TV アニメーション Canon Visual memories. Tokyo Broadcasting System , accessed September 8, 2008 (Japanese).

↑ ^a ^b ^c Girl games come of age. (No longer available online.) Freetype.net, archived from the original on January 11, 2008 ; accessed on August 19, 2008 .

↑ ^a ^b ^c Canon Review. Visual-Novels.Net, October 21, 2006, accessed on August 20, 2008 (English).

↑ 美少女ゲーム年間販売本数ベスト 10. Retrieved August 25, 2008 .

↑ 全国美少女ソフト売り上げランキング TOP50 PC NEWS No.102. (No longer available online.) PEAKS Inc., archived from the original on December 27, 2005 ; Retrieved August 21, 2008 (Japanese).

↑ 全国美少女ソフト売り上げランキング TOP50 PC NEWS No.103. (No longer available online.) PEAKS Inc., archived from the original on March 7, 2006 ; Retrieved August 21, 2008 (Japanese).

↑ 全国美少女ソフト売り上げランキング TOP50 PC NEWS No.160,161. (No longer available online.) PEAKS Inc., archived from the original on June 17, 2007 ; Retrieved August 25, 2008 (Japanese).

↑ 全国美少女ソフト売り上げランキング TOP50 PC NEWS No.163. (No longer available online.) PEAKS Inc., archived from the original on December 27, 2005 ; Retrieved August 25, 2008 (Japanese).

↑ 全国美少女ソフト売り上げランキング TOP50 PC NEWS No.165. (No longer available online.) PEAKS Inc., archived from the original on December 27, 2005 ; Retrieved August 25, 2008 (Japanese).

↑ Now Playing In Japan. (No longer available online.) In: IGN Entertainment . Ziff Davis , September 29, 2000; archived from the original on March 7, 2012 ; accessed on August 25, 2008 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.

↑ Sega Dreamcast japanese ranking. (No longer available online.) February 1, 2006, archived from the original on December 11, 2006 ; accessed on August 25, 2008 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.

↑ A Playstation 2 Printer. (No longer available online.) AllRPG.com, Jan. 18, 2002, archived from the original on Jan. 11, 2008 ; accessed on August 26, 2008 .

↑ Satoshi Todome: 初心者のための現代ギャルゲー・エロゲー講座: 第 3 集それは “えいえんのせかい” から始まった . In: kyo-kan.net. Retrieved August 21, 2008 (Japanese). Excerpts translation: A History of Eroge: Chapter Three - “Crying games” hit the standard. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on July 27, 2007 ; accessed on April 18, 2017 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
@1@ 2
↑ ETERNAL FIGHTER ZERO. In: Favorite どうじんゲー . Retrieved August 25, 2008 (Japanese).
↑ GLOVE ON FIGHT. In: Favorite どうじんゲー . Retrieved August 25, 2008 (Japanese).
^ Canon: Information and Synopsis. hentai.co.uk, February 18, 2006, accessed August 25, 2008 : “The character has had cameos as playable character in many dojin games and has had more appearances outside of the original Kanon than any other anime or h-game character ever. "
↑ 読者が選ぶ MY BEST ギャルゲーランキング . (No longer available online.) In: Dengeki G's Magazine . ASCII Media Works , August 2007, archived from the original on July 2, 2009 ; Retrieved August 20, 2008 (Japanese).
↑ モの付く自由業＆泥縄お仕事募集＆サンプル小説公開のお知らせ . In: スズモトジェイピー . January 2006, accessed August 20, 2008 (Japanese).

Web links

Official website for the game (Japanese)
Official website for the television series by Tōei Animation (Japanese)
Official website ( Memento of February 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) for the television series by Kyōto Animation (Japanese)

This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on November 2, 2008 .

[interview-2001-1] Key シナリオスタッフングインタビュー . (No longer available online.) In: カラフル・ピュアガール . March 2001, archived from the original on August 27, 2009 ; Retrieved February 16, 2015 (Japanese, interview with Jun Maeda and Yūichi Suzumoto from Key about the successor Air .).

[erogamescape-2] Canon. (No longer available online.) In: ErogameScape. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013 ; Retrieved October 5, 2014 (Japanese).

[3] Canon in Moriguchi Osaka ( Memento from April 12, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

[4] Canon 聖地巡礼 . February 18, 2007, pp. 1-10 , accessed on August 16, 2008 (Japanese, comparison of the scenes from the anime with locations from Yokohama , Tokyo , Sapporo and Moriguchi .).

[5] Kanon Key Official Homepage ( Yes ) Key . Retrieved March 16, 2013.

[6] Kanon Key Official Homepage ( yes ) Key . Retrieved March 16, 2013.

[7] Canon ( yes ) Amazon.co.jp . Retrieved March 16, 2013.

[8] Canon ( yes ) Amazon.co.jp . Retrieved March 16, 2013.

[bestversion-9] canon. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on July 16, 2011 ; Retrieved August 14, 2008 (Japanese).

[10] Canon Standard Edition ( yes ) Visual Art’s . Retrieved August 27, 2015.

[key-11] Canon. Key , accessed August 14, 2008 (Japanese).

[12] Canon ( yes ) Prototype . Retrieved March 16, 2013.

[13] Canon. Prototype, accessed August 14, 2008 (Japanese).

[sega-psp-14] canon. Sega , accessed August 14, 2008 (Japanese).

[15] シリーズ一覧 1 . Paradigm , accessed August 14, 2008 (Japanese).

[16] Canon. Neowing, accessed August 14, 2008 (Japanese).

[17] Dengeki.com: Canon ( Memento from May 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive )

[18] FujimiShobo.co.jp: 大人気ゲーム｢Ｋａｎｏｎ｣をコミカライズ !! ( Memento from February 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive )

[19] Canon ホントの想いは笑顔の向こう側に 1 . Kadokawa, accessed August 14, 2008 (Japanese).

[20] Canon ホントの想いは笑顔の向こう側に 2 . Kadokawa, accessed August 14, 2008 (Japanese).

[kanon-air-21] 春うらら〜Kanon & AIR〜傑作選 . Ohzora, accessed August 15, 2008 (Japanese).

[22] Canon アンソロジーコミックスベストセレクション 1 . Ohzora , accessed August 15, 2008 (Japanese).

[23] Canon アンソロジーコミックスベストセレクション 2 . Ohzora, accessed August 15, 2008 (Japanese).

[age-24] アンソロジーコミックのコーナー . Retrieved August 15, 2008 (Japanese).

[res-mae-25] Kanon original arrange album "anemoscope" ( Memento from August 3, 2008 in the Internet Archive )

[26] Canon (Anemoscope). (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on June 7, 2007 ; Retrieved November 5, 2008 (Japanese). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2

[key-sound-27] Discography. (No longer available online.) VisualArt's / Key Sounds label, archived from the original on February 5, 2009 ; Retrieved August 21, 2008 (Japanese).

[28] Canon • AIR Piano Arrange Album "Re-feel". VGMdb.net, accessed August 21, 2008 .

[29] 「CANNON」月宮あゆ (マスコットＢ付き). Movic , accessed September 8, 2008 (Japanese). - 月宮あゆ 1/8 フィギュア. (No longer available online.) Russian Blue, archived from the original on November 24, 2006 ; Retrieved September 8, 2008 (Japanese). - 月宮あゆ ( Memento from July 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive )

[30] Canon 公式原画・設定資料集. Enterbrain, accessed September 10, 2008 (Japanese).

[31] Canon the animation. Kadokawa Shoten, accessed August 28, 2008 (Japanese).

[32] TV アニメーション Canon Visual memories. Tokyo Broadcasting System , accessed September 8, 2008 (Japanese).

[freetype-33] Girl games come of age. (No longer available online.) Freetype.net, archived from the original on January 11, 2008 ; accessed on August 19, 2008 .

[visual-novels.net-34] Canon Review. Visual-Novels.Net, October 21, 2006, accessed on August 20, 2008 (English).

[35] 美少女ゲーム年間販売本数ベスト 10. Retrieved August 25, 2008 .

[36] 全国美少女ソフト売り上げランキング TOP50 PC NEWS No.102. (No longer available online.) PEAKS Inc., archived from the original on December 27, 2005 ; Retrieved August 21, 2008 (Japanese).

[37] 全国美少女ソフト売り上げランキング TOP50 PC NEWS No.103. (No longer available online.) PEAKS Inc., archived from the original on March 7, 2006 ; Retrieved August 21, 2008 (Japanese).

[38] 全国美少女ソフト売り上げランキング TOP50 PC NEWS No.160,161. (No longer available online.) PEAKS Inc., archived from the original on June 17, 2007 ; Retrieved August 25, 2008 (Japanese).

[39] 全国美少女ソフト売り上げランキング TOP50 PC NEWS No.163. (No longer available online.) PEAKS Inc., archived from the original on December 27, 2005 ; Retrieved August 25, 2008 (Japanese).

[40] 全国美少女ソフト売り上げランキング TOP50 PC NEWS No.165. (No longer available online.) PEAKS Inc., archived from the original on December 27, 2005 ; Retrieved August 25, 2008 (Japanese).

[41] Now Playing In Japan. (No longer available online.) In: IGN Entertainment . Ziff Davis , September 29, 2000; archived from the original on March 7, 2012 ; accessed on August 25, 2008 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2

[42] Sega Dreamcast japanese ranking. (No longer available online.) February 1, 2006, archived from the original on December 11, 2006 ; accessed on August 25, 2008 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2

[43] A Playstation 2 Printer. (No longer available online.) AllRPG.com, Jan. 18, 2002, archived from the original on Jan. 11, 2008 ; accessed on August 26, 2008 .