Don't let its appearance fool you: Kanon is actually an emotional tour de force that'll leave you beaten and battered when you come out. Though not quite as intense as some other animes like Saikano and Grave of the Fireflies, it'll still wreak havoc on those who are unprepared. In that respect, it is similar to Saikano. After seeing the super-cute characters present in Kanon, you wouldn't expect it to turn out like it did... but then it just hits you.

Kanon is based off of a bishoujo game of the same name, similar to how Mizuiro and Pia Carrot 2 DX were based off of bishoujo games of the same names. However, it is by no means a hentai of some sort. The only thing in Kanon is just the story, and what a story it is! For much of the second half of the series, I couldn't take my eyes away from the screen for an instant. I was pulled further into the story with each episode, and I couldn't stop watching until the magnificent ending. Not only is the ending a good way to finish off the story, but there's also an EPILOGUE! That word seems to be the magic word for me. It just has a certain ring to it that I like.

You'll notice that I keep on saying that "the second half was so great" and "I couldn't stop watching the second half". Well, that's because the first half really brings the series down. It's pretty much your standard dating sim fare: one male surrounded by legions of young-looking females that all seem to like him. Some of the female leads also seem to be pretty much useless in the long run, and only seem to exist in the story as a way to appease fans of the game. One character in particular, Mai, is one of the more useless female leads. Though I really liked her a lot, she drops out of the picture in the seventh episode or so and doesn't come back until the very last episode, and she's more of a cameo appearance at that point.

The music in Kanon is superb. I liked everything from the opening song Florescence to the ending song Flower, even though most of the songs played as background music were really just instrumental versions of the two songs (something quite common in anime). I wasn't particularly fond of the art style, which, as I've said before, is really just too cutesy to fit such a serious story as this.