I can’t explain to any of you how very much I loved the original twelve episodes of Kanokon. I was introduced to it by two of my close friends early last fall, because they knew of my love for kitsunes in general. They forced me to sign a sacred contract that if I ever told anyone else about this, their gem, their pride and joy of discovered anime, that they would gain property rights to my soul for the next six years. Driven forth by my love for fox girls, I quickly signed, and we marathon’d the series in one night; from midnight to six in the morning. About halfway through, I was DUCT TAPED to an ARMCHAIR, (This part, I’m not making up.) because it had been foreseen that I would transform into some sort of unholy beast when I saw the way Chizuru was treated during the next episode. I can’t really tell you if the prophecy came true or not; I blacked out with rage halfway through the episode. When I was woken by the sound of the ending theme song, however, I do vaguely remember the smell of brimstone pervading the room…
Anyway, with a reaction like that, I’m sure you can probably tell just how much I was looking forward to this OAV. I originally put it off, in hopes of watching it with the people who had originally introduced me to Kanokon, but after several months of waiting, I finally said ‘fuck them’ and watched both parts back-to-back earlier this afternoon.
I don’t think I’ve ever been so disappointed in my entire life.
The OAV takes place at the very beginning of summer break, and we’re treated to just a MASSIVE surprise: Chizuru is in Kouta’s apartment. AGAIN. Who would’ve seen it coming? Anyway, almost all of the rest of the first episode cuts back and forth between five things:
1. Tayura trying to work up the courage to ask Asahina on a date.
2. Yuki and Kiriko spend the entire day doing random shit together.
3. Ai and Ren attempting to catch something, ANYTHING, to eat.
4. Nozomu walking around town without any clothes on.
5. Chizura doing sexercises and other provocative things while Kouta attempts to do his homework.
That’s it. Really. Ai and Ren are still adorable and a little depressing to watch, and all the guys watching the show can’t help but cry a few man tears in response to Tayura’s situation and cheer him on. Towards the end of the episode, things actually begin to happen; Chizuru’s mother and Yukihana show up in Kouta’s apartment, and the usual chaotic scene wherein Tamamo attempts to woo Kouta away from her daughter ensues. Throughout the whole episode, the only thing that moves the plot is talk of a fireworks show the next evening, and Tamamo’s gift of kimonos to Chizuru and Kouta for them to wear.
The second episode gets a little more interesting; be forewarned though, when I say ‘a little’, I mean ‘a little.’ All of the character’s struggles from the previous day (or whatever you feel like calling what Nozomu was up to the whole time.) continue throughout the first half of the episode. Chizuru and Kouta spend the day off on their own until they’re caught inside a small shrine by a sudden rainstorm. They both remove their kimonos, and Chizuru spends the next 3 minutes chasing this retarded little fucker around until she finally pins him, and…the fucking rain stops. FML.
So, the episode culminates with the fireworks show, and almost the entire cast of characters (excluding Kiriyama and Mio, who, for some FUCKING REASON, got 20 seconds of screen time in the entire fucking OAV. Oh, and Minori and acquaintances, of course.) are in attendance atop the school roof. Ai and Ren are stuffing themselves full of food, which in itself is adorable. The biggest surprise is that it looks like Tayura finally managed to get Asahina to go out on a date with him; once again, pretty much every guy watching this pumped their fist in the air when they saw the two together. But what happens between Chizuru and Kouta? I mean, they are the MAIN FUCKING CHARACTERS of one of my FAVORITE ANIME.
Nothing happens, really. She smothers him in her bosom, and Nozomu, of course, comes over and begins to cling to his arm. We get to watch them talk about what’s probably something we want to hear; but, we don’t hear them say it. Fucking hell. That’s the end of the OAV; unless you count the last ten seconds where we get to see Chizuru waking Kouta up the next morning, wearing yet another exposing dress. I suppose that’s something, at least; just to remind us that the ‘happily-ever-after’ they earned at the end of the anime hasn’t disappeared over night or anything.
So, what has this hour long OAV (that I waited several tedious months for, mind you.) really given us? For the most part, we got to watch all the characters doing the same things they did during the anime, whenever and wherever they could fit screen time into this OAV. It’s hard to complain about that; I enjoyed watching them, because they’ve always been entertaining characters. But you’d think they could’ve gone SOMEWHERE with this.
Okay, wait. I suppose they did go somewhere with the OAV. The only things they really accomplished, though, were finally getting Tayura and Asahina together, and, well, fitting in even more Chizuru fanservice. This, that, the fanservice, I mean…it pissed me off, to be honest. I enjoyed Chizuru’s personality during the series; all she did in this, however, was show off her tits the entire time. She’s my favorite anime character ever, but it’s really not because of those; I’m not even a fan of big boobs, to be honest. I like things that aren’t always right in your face; literally, in Kouta’s case.
This anime more or less belonged to Tayura; and were it not for the fact that it meant less screen time for Chizuru, I wouldn’t have anything to complain about. Watching him be the sad, shy sap that he is brought back memories of his ’shining moment’ during the series, where he sets sail to distant corners of the world in search of a way to make Chizuru’s boobs epic (in terms of size, not in terms of win.) again. But overall, I could’ve put up with Tayura getting the spotlight most of the time were it not for the fact that Kouta has apparently reverted to being the stupid fucker he was in the early episodes of the anime.
The little bastard spends almost the entire OAV trying to avoid Chizuru; I mean really, who needs oxygen that badly? Really though; there isn’t one scene in this entire god damned OAV where he shows affection for her at all. The closest we get is during the second episode where he willingly allows her to embrace him, becoming her ’spoiled child’ once again; he doesn’t even seem happy about it though, merely some form of content.
What did I expect from this OAV? I wanted to see all of the characters doing the things they normally do, because again, that’s part of the reason I enjoyed the anime; the cut-and-paste way they accomplished this, however, is less than appeasing. In the end, none of the characters got enough screen time to really matter. I wanted to see Chizuru and Kouta grow even closer together, and expected Nozomu to cling to him the entire time as well. But I didn’t see any of this; Nozomu didn’t even spend more than a few minutes with him the entire time.
But more than anything, what I wanted was a beautiful addition to this anime series than I loved so much. I wanted to laugh at all the crazy and adorable things the characters did, and wanted to walk away with a heavy heart when all was said and done. I expected so much greater out of this OAV, and the only thing it really delivered was MORE. FUCKING. FANSERVICE. I wanted to see Chizuru’s fucking PERSONALITY again, not MORE OF HER TITS AND PANTIES. Well…not this much, at least.
I can even picture a perfect way for them to have made this OAV: they should’ve had the entire cast of characters away on some trip or what not. That way, more than one or two characters could’ve shared the screen most of the time, and they could’ve interacted with each other more. Chizuru and Kouta could’ve shared a lot more moments together, and Nozomu would’ve always been close at hand to shatter them. It would’ve made it a lot easier for them to end the OAV with all of the characters sharing a moment together, and guess what? THEY STILL COULD’VE HAD PLENTY OF FANSERVICE.
Through and through, this OAV was definitely a letdown. Absolutely nothing happened between the main characters, there were no memorable moments, and almost all the characters spent the whole time dicking around and accomplishing nothing. The only one who did something with himself was Tayura, and it was more than probably the best part of the entire OAV. And, of course, (Insert heavy sigh *here*) more fanservice…
Oh, and I almost forgotten to mention: You know Chizuru’s adorable golden-haired fox form? Yeah. THERE ISN’T ONE APPEARANCE OF IT IN THIS ENTIRE FUCKING OAV. She doesn’t possess Koata. They don’t kiss. There’s not one ‘I love you’ or anything of the sort. Chizuru is so fucking adorable when she’s in her kitsune form, and we don’t get to see it once.
My prized possession when it comes to anime pictures. ^_^ >.> FUCKING OAV.
This is not the Kanokon I know and love. Kanokon was twelve episodes with just the right mixture of fanservice, hilarious moments, and off-beat romance and harem. Those six hours watching Kanokon for the first time are six hours of my life I don’t think I’ll ever forget, and Chizuru is still my favorite anime character of all time. But this OAV, this stupid fucking OAV…it’s nothing but fanservice, fanservice, and MORE FUCKING FANSERVICE! Kanokon was a lot of fucking fanservice, but it did it with…well, okay, maybe it wasn’t that classy. BUT IT WAS WELL DONE. After watching Kanokon: Manatsu no Daishanikusai, all I can do is hope and pray more than ever that they make a second season to renew my faith in this anime; but good god, what if they screw that up too!? I suppose we’ll just have to see; for now, though, you’ll have to excuse me–I’ve a bridge to go jump off of. See you again soon; my next post will more than likely be on the new anime ‘Qwaser of Stigmata’ when it releases in a few days.
Also: Fanservice, because I don’t think I’ve used that word enough yet to explain just how much FUCKING MUCH OF IT there was in this OAV.
And just an extra little note: Of COURSE the song that I listen to right before I post this is the ending to the anime. FML.
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