Canaan

This review will contain spoilers. I didn't expect much from this show when I first decided to watch it. I was planning on watching this between shows to fill the gap - turned out it was a good call. Story: The setting struck my immediately from the first seconds of the first episode. I remember thinking to myself "I think I've stumbled across a hidden gem again". For anyone whose a fan of Darker than Black or Speed Grapher, this will be up your street. I found the story to be unique, particularly the focus on a main character who uses a real life condition (Synesthesia) as a combat ability. The way the virus introduced through the strange masked folks at the carnival who die when exposed to sunlight sets up a great deal of mystery in a really nice way. The show grips you, and it doesn't pull its punches either - I love a show that isn't afraid to get gruesome and/or kill a few main characters off (or at least put them in extreme danger). The only let downs for me is that the series felt a little too short, or at least that it had been set up well for a sequel. There were also a few things I didn't fully get, like the masochistic relationship between Liang Qi and Cummings. Overall though, I was impressed with Canaan's story. Art: The art is really nice. The character designs are interesting and colorful enough to be interesting and aesthetic, but not too extravagent as to seem out of touch with the rest of the setting. The setting itself - the urban complex of Shanghai (and the desert of Central Asia for a while) really set the stage nicely for a gritty plot. The action was high tempo and well animated in my opinion, without going overboard. Sound: This really was a high point for this show. The high-stakes intro and melancholic credit tracks are a nice contrast to each other and reflect the different sides of the characters - the blood thirsty assassin (Canaan) and her caring, gentle friend (Maria). The music throughout the episodes was great and did a particularly good job of conveying the gritty setting and the suspense of the story. Characters: There really weren't many characters in this show that I didn't like. Canaan, Hakkoh, Alphard, Maria and Santana all had really cool designs and had interesting backstories that kept me wondering. I was quite invested in Canaan and Maria's friendship, and I wonder if perhaps this show could be considered on the periphery of the Yuri genre, as their relationship seemed to be to be slightly more than just good friends. Minoru's character let me down a little as he seemed to be a little bland in terms of development and design compared to the others. Li Qiang's character confused me a lot, as did her relationship with Cummings as mentioned previously. I'm not exactly sure what the message of that relation was meant to be, or what they were supposed to represent. I suppose you could consider them good characters if you like to be kept wondering long after the series has finished. Enjoyment: The few flaws only became apparent a while after I'd finished the show. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of watching this anime and was always eager to start the next episode. I would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of action-packed, gritty shows. Overall: This is a really good show, with a great atmosphere, aesthetic and interesting characters and an intriguing plot. 9/10.

Watching "Canaan" as a fan of its game prequel, 428 Shibuya Scramble, was a lovely experience. Getting introduced to an anime form of my favourite protagonists and their entourage was absolutely ~wholesome~ and "Canaan"'s story follows up on Shibuya Scramble's very well. My personal opinion is that for a viewer to enjoy "Canaan" to its fullest, they would need to have played Shibuya Scramble, as it gives a lot of weight to Maria Oosawa's backstory and relationships, but also because it includes a Bonus chapter exploring one of Canaan's most formative experiences, which is only partly shown in the anime. I think, however, that a viewer who hasn't played 428 Shibuya Scramble could still enjoy "Canaan". It touches upon tragic topics that aren't typically explored in anime - if you're looking for a sad story set in a world torn by terrorism rather than an otherwise peaceful world, "Canaan" would be a very good pick. It's a rather short story, and many seem to bring up that it isn't "particularly deep" (which you may notice other reviewers don't consider such a bad thing), but I think it *is* deep in its own way. Rather than introduce a grandiose, never-before-seen story, "Canaan" focuses on exploring its characters' feelings and their confusion when faced with tragedy. I personally appreciated that their reactions and actions were relatable - while most anime actively attempt to be unpredictable, "Canaan"'s events and its characters' emotions are realistic *enough* and make every choice interesting without being frustrating. If you're looking for action, there are some fighting and escape scenes in "Canaan", but they aren't typically the focus. I would say that what makes these scenes especially important is the way the characters' feelings towards them are portrayed, rather than the actual adrenaline the viewer may or may not feel watching them. While I wish 428 Shibuya Scramble's Bonus chapter with Canaan, Siam and Alphard were also present in "Canaan", I think the anime did a good job portraying its main bad guy for this reason: I know a bad guy's really good when I know they’re dangerous and despicable, and yet I pray that they survive. In any case, my personal recommendation would be to get your hands on 428 Shibuya Scramble, and then watch "Canaan": that makes, in my opinion, this anime a guaranteed nice experience.

Canaan, this is a very under-rated anime series. I really enjoyed this series as a whole. The idea to take a synesthete and give them super powers from it. The idea is interesting as synesthesia is a real disorder and Canaan is a cool protagonist. I also like girls with guns and Canaan gets it done. It's a lively series with the message, Trust your heart and never hate. The story, art, and characters are very good. Because of these three reasons the Enjoyment is great, plus what I mentioned above. The beginning and ending are very exciting and wraps up the series well. In conclusion, this is a series that more people should watch. The promised land was named Canaan, before it was named Israel. It's a classic in my mind and begs the question, Is the glass half full or half empty.

Starting out, this anime was quite confusing. There was never any real set plot in which the viewer could clearly discern what it means to be the "bad" guy in the show or even what it means to be a "good" guy. You also never really get a clear understanding of what exactly it is that the "bad guys" want other than to just cause some sort of chaos. In the end none of that really matters; it is really more about the story of a journalist, whose tag along co-worker who just so happens to be tied in with one of the action prone protagonists, on his plight to make a good story that could help further his career. In the end, deep seeded relationships are made and the final episode makes the whole ride worth while. Really though, the ending made me smile big time!!!!

Animation and sound are both amazing and go together so well. This anime has some of the most suspenseful moments I've ever seen. The title sequence is also my favorite out of any anime. How ever the story is not perfect, There are several holes in the plot and it is hard to follow at times. It is a great concept overall though and I was hooked from the first time I read the description. there are only a few main characters and they all play a big role at some point. There all awesome and exciting characters that you just want to know more about.. but you don't. This is the disappointing part, many of the characters, ALL the characters actually are very mysterious and you don't learn a whole lot about them. It is a short anime and it wraps up the plot nicely, but it could have just gone a little more in depth.

Canaan is an action thriller where three main characters converge in China as their previous baggage with each other become intertwined with an overarching terrorist plot. What grabbed me immediately were the visuals and the unique setting of China, which is rarely seen in anime. The action is spectacularly animated creating white knuckle tension, a sense of stakes, and a feeling of brutality. While their are fantastical elements involved, the action still plays out similar to what you would see in a Jason Bourne or James Bond movie. The character animation is colorful, crisp, and full of complexion. What is interesting is that the audience has to piece together the history the three characters have with each other as the show goes along. This story is a quasi sequel to events taken place in a visual novel to my understanding. Therefore, the show immediately launches into the plot assuming you know the characters already. Thankfully the show provides enough tidbits of information of the characters' past that I could follow along with the story even though I had not seen the visual novel. It was refreshing to see a show with next to no exposition dead-weight at the beginning and gets straight into the action. It makes you pay close attention so you don't miss crucial information. While this show does not reach top tier in any of its elements, this is still a solid action anime that I believe is an underrated gem. I'm glad I stumbled onto this one by chance.

No idea how it feels for the anime-only people as usual but it absolutely spoils the origin story of Canaan and Alphard from the visual novel and distorts your perception of better-written characters badly repurposed here, and just the former alone makes me glad I could properly experience it without ruining it with this anime. It didn't add anything worthwhile to the novel, oversimplified and one could say ruined the characters. What else? The pacing is feeling way too rushed and the story really wants you to either remind you of some of the events of the novel or is really just made for those who never read the novel in the first place because the amount of exposition was boring me out of my mind (it is obviously both but it just feels so off). The new characters were entirely uninteresting and the whole premise feels forced just to have a sequel for the novel as promotional material. The ending to Canaan's and Alphard's story was done perfectly in the novel, I'd say, and it's just wasting it all on this thing. I know the Canaan manga or the novel may feel vastly different despite coming out later or even being written at the same time as the production of this anime was underway (like in the case of Evangelion manga), but honestly, Idk if I'd even like it if I read those first but it's my miss, I suppose. Kind of a shame that I can unironically say the best thing about this anime was the opening, but it is what it is. Search 428: Shibuya Scramble on Steam or something and read the novel instead of watching this. The translation isn't exactly what I would call particularly good, but It's still better than nothing and certainly better than this thing.

TLDR; if you like action movies and can live with characters going from great to gross and weird, Canaan is well worth the watch. There are SPOILERS ahead. The greatest strength of Canaan is the direction of the action sequences, the incredible sounds that went with them, and the gritty background art. There are flashes of brilliance in animation and character art as well (the femme fatale scene in the bathroom comes to mind). There is an absolute buffet of gnarly, very pretty action sequences like the taxi chase, the helicopter rescue, the stealth bomber, the secret service, all reflecting good taste and talent for animating action movie cliches with an original flare. Terrorist organization Snake causing a ruckus on trains planes and automobiles in too many excellent scenes to name sets Canaan apart as a great Anime action series. That is the best reason I can think of to recommend this show. It has serious problems with story, is unable to deliver on our initial fascination with the the nutty use of Synesthesia as a super power, who the hell is this Canaan, and what the hell Snake is up to. Odd deaths and firefights going down in the streets of Shanghai were a great hook, especially from the perspective of the hapless reporter/photographer duo there on the most mundane business imaginable, but it peaks too soon and then meanders around for ages in the final episodes. Chonky back and forth dialogues are assigned to the voice actors that are so random and faux deep that despite their impeccable skills there was nothing they could do to salvage it for the sake of their characters. They were set up to sound stupid, after they had done such a good job leading up to the final arc. Right up until they all pile into the Jeep and head to the ghost village, Canaan was consistently impressive. By the time they get out and pile into the testing facility, it kinda starts to suck. I'm reminded of Zankyou no Terror, where there were so many excellent big city shots and action scenes with truly tense terrorists vs. anti-terrorist, will-the-bomb-go-off moments towards the beginning. Frankly, Canaan stepped up well beyond the scope of Zankyou no Terror to cover an international G8 event with White House Down style POTUS hunting and a B52 bomber being sent in by the vice president from Guam on the basis of doctored footage (fooled again!) - possibly kicking off WWIII with China so that Snake could profit from WWIII as hired guns... I mean holy shit. It's well within the bread and butter zone but definitely on the buttered side as far as action movie premises go. There is a femme fatale scene in a bathroom that was drawn incredibly well and made Canaan with her bell bottoms and "Scar from FMA but a girl" stylization look lame by comparison - and I like that look a lot! Unforunately, exactly like Zankyou no Terror, Canaan loses its way and gets hyperfocused on the philosophical and actual relationships between the generally awesome characters and seems to misunderstand what made them awesome in the first place. I do say awesome a lot, don't I? Haha. To be fair, Canaan made it deeper into the runtime and got through a larger number of impactful scenes and good moments before taking its turndown than Zankyou no Terror. In terms of characters the story sets up well in the beginning with a plethora of genuinely fascinating people. They dance around each other and start to link up and butt heads. It's well done and the eclectic range is appreciated, even refreshing. Even throw-away, low-level lackeys have some meat to them in Canaan - their deaths make an impact. Similar for side characters like the taxi driver and the idol girl, you can appreciate them for what they are. It feels like someone cared about whether they were "good" in the context of the show, and that feels good because so often it feels like no one cares whether the plot devices make any damn sense or have anything worthwhile to show us. The main characters are all over the place in a good way - some looking for the scoop of a lifetime, some are working against or with the terrorists for various reasons, some get caught up or dragged into the conflict after years of trying to stay away or skirting around the perimeter. We've got a melodramatic mute by choice who turns out to be gullable beyond belief and down with necrophelia. Tragic anti-heroes running tragic maid cafes who meet an even more tragic end. Bubbly synesthetes who don't know a damn thing about how to glow and skip off into the sunset saying awesome a little less. Washed up reporters who never do get that big scoop, double agents, terrorists, masochists, harley quinn with a big sister thing, and a relatively good take on geopolitical conflict and portrayals of world leaders that even has the stones to poke fun at the Trumpishness of the president before Trump was a thing. It's frankly amazing, and I think in the end they just didn't know how to deal with the rich mixture. I'd be interested to see the source material for this to try and "get it" as to where exactly things went sour, which says a lot about how good things were in my view before they did get sour. It's really the last act that causes all the major problems. I would say this had a lot of potential to end well, and managed to go in a philosophical direction that just threw out so much of what it was doing up until that point without any payoff. We went from a feeling of epic scale and importance to the middle of nowhere and meaninglessness as everyone faces their demons at the test site in the middle of the desert, and we find out that the demons are mostly boring. All the Shanghai scenes were reminiscent of a Jackie Chan movie, great sets and chase sequences, cool stunts - bonus, we also got great cliffhangers, and Tarantino-esque batshit crazies who make little sense but do a lot to keep us guessing. To be fair some of the best scenes with the batshit crazy one did happen in the last arc and they were great - but they didn't have a "real world" backdrop to accentuate them anymore. The thing that stuck in my craw most were the conversations between Canaan and Alfard that just didn't hit the mark for me. Both characters were endearing, interesting, mysterious, questionable but committed... all the things you want. I didn't get it, even the stuff with Maria and the romantic undertones there started to feel out of place for the first time - the characters lost their edge and it's mostly because they just kept talking and talking over lame plots to maybe, sorta, kinda kill each other or something? None of it made any fucking sense at all as far as I could tell. Before the last act, the "doesn't make sense" feel was the one you get in a Tarantino or a Bond movie and that made it okay, because it was cool, but then we did a total 180 from the hardened, grounded, determined and resolute souls that were so compelling for most of the show and shat our god damn pants. I am Canaan! No I am Canaan! Are you hanted? I am not haunted! Don't see through me! You are always a different color! Because you are dead, you mostly died that day! I am not dead! It is the choice of the living, and I will not let you die more than you have! ... what are they on because I think I want some haha. Unfortunately, the dialogue between characters and the smaller scale of the final episodes depleted most of the intrigue that the show had built up by that point. Especially after a passable but also problematic journey through the testing facility where they leaned heavy into a horror aesthetic rather than sticking to their bread and butter action flick stuff, which was still well done just not nearly as well. For me, this made the symmetry with the opening scenes that they were clearly trying for in the final episodes - the train scene, balloon bb-shooter scene, dive bar scene, the airplane flying away versus arriving, and so on - kind of lame. And I think it was the right idea, if they had managed the climax…

tl;dr: An anime that starts off with some good build up but has essentially no solid payoff to anything which is especially disappointing considering how 428 left off. This anime is a sequel to the visual novel 428: Shibuya Scramble, primarily drawing from the bonus Canaan scenario that was handled by Type-Moon. It isn’t strictly required to have played 428 before watching this from a plot point of view, though I still would heavily recommend doing so as it’s a pretty great VN and this anime spoils essentially all of it pretty much immediately. As such, this review is assuming that the reader has already played 428. Considering how high of a note 428 ended on I went into this with pretty high hopes, but ultimately I was pretty disappointed. The overarching story and world building, what with the Ua virus, Snake, various political factions, etc. I found to be really interesting. I also found the cast of characters conceptually quite interesting. However, ultimately I feel all of this was grossly mishandled and the writing overall was pretty awful. The anime starts off pretty great, featuring Minorikawa and Maria, who is now a photographer, going to Shanghai in search of a major story to report on, at which point they encounter Canaan who is on the trail of Alphard and her terrorist organization Snake. Various other interesting characters are also introduced as well as a number of strange elements that seem to be building up to something involving the Ua virus. At this stage, everything is left pretty mysterious, wherein who most characters are or what they’re trying to do is left ambiguous, but that works pretty well and overall it felt like a pretty gripping atmosphere was created that pulled me into wanting to find out what was really going on and what everything meant. And as the story goes on things very much do get explained, and as they do things just go further and further downhill. The script was building up a really strong sense of mystery and suspense, but the payoffs to that were pretty much universally completely unsatisfying. The core of that lies in the flow of the narrative and on the completely inability to flesh out the cast. The plot moves forward with various major events occurring and the background that led to everything becoming clear. And I think that from a broad view there was a pretty great plot buried in there. Unfortunately, it felt like the plot was continuously out of focus due to a larger emphasis being placed on focusing on characters with most of the major events that occur just kind of being glossed over and things overall moving way too fast and relying way too much on just straight infodumping or things just happening in the background. There’s a lot of elements that it felt like there was a lot more to and that would have been really interesting to explore, but they just kind of get shown for a scene or two and then just disappear without ever really mattering. That would always be disappointing due to how it feels like a waste of potential, but it wouldn’t be a deal breaker if the focus on characters bore fruit, but the anime failed in that regard too. Character’s in general are incredibly inconsistent as even when their motivations are revealed their actions still don’t make much sense. It felt like the anime was pushing character arcs for a lot of the main characters, but I don’t think a single one of them was done properly. The ending was full of a lot of monologuing and heavy handed metaphors that pretty much explicitly explained what the character arcs were supposed to be, but even with that, in the context of everything else, the character arcs still don’t make sense or really feel all that worthwhile. Ultimately I have no clue what the anime was trying to convey with any of the cast and though the script was trying to hit some really strong emotional beats, almost none of them landed. In fact, none at all would have landed if I wasn’t already heavily invested in Maria, Canaan, and Alphard due to 428. With Minorikawa it was kind of the opposite, wherein I don’t think he’s a bad character in this anime, but he’s so different from the Minorikawa in 428 that it feels really off to the point it’s kind of hard to get invested in him and I feel it would have been better to just have had a different character in the role. Anyway, as a result of all this, the ending felt immensely unsatisfying and the anime overall felt pretty pointless. I would like to note that the comedy in this is surprisingly good when it tries, though as the anime progresses it feels like it’s trying less and less, and due to tonal dissonance even when it’s trying the comedy is landing less and less. I would also like to note that I appreciated the random throwbacks to 428 stuff, wherein the stories of each have surprisingly little to do with each other, it seems to try to throw in cameos of stuff whenever it can, such as with Tama making a grand reappearance and a lot of the cast from Maria and Minorikawa’s stories in 428 having at least some presence, even if it’s just cameos. The art and animation are pretty great, especially during action scenes. The character designs are pretty great too and it makes pretty good use of them. The soundtrack was also pretty good though none of the tracks were particularly memorable. The OP was pretty great in terms of the song and visuals, though the ED I found only decent in terms of both aspects.

I'm generally the type of person to give shows I've seen scores of 9 or 10, but I also usually only watch highly acclaimed or recommended shows. I broke out of that habit for this show because I happen to have a psychological condition/disorder that some of the characters in the show also have, synesthesia. I would give this show a 7 or solid 7.5, which remember is NOT BAD. Using words instead of numbers I would say the show is 'pretty good'. Funnily enough, the fact that I have synesthesia myself sort of lowers my rating, because the supernatural abilities synesthesia gives the characters broke my suspension of disbelief quite a lot. That being said, it shouldn't be a problem for the average viewer. In fact, in my experience the way people without synesthesia view having synesthesia is more akin to the supernatural abilities depicted in the show than to what it's actually like. Without giving a synopsis, from a quality perspective the story is interesting enough to keep you engaged, but not so good that you'll spend any time thinking about it when you aren't watching the show. In my opinion the whole "special forces background, emotional scarring, old vendetta with ex-squad member" is a bit of a cliche, but the high screentime given to non-military characters helps to offset that problem. Not a lot to say about the art, just that it is pretty damn good for its time, is by no means bad but also not OPM season 1 levels of good either. The sound is about the same as the art, I do think the OP is pretty good. Other reviews I've read mention that they thought Canaan (the character) was boring, but I actually really liked her. Maria is also great, which is a big plus for the show seeing as those two are the main heroines. Overall it's a very enjoyable and I'll say even underrated show. Definitely worth the time spent watching it at only 13 episodes, managing to tell a complete and well-paced story within that timeframe which is something I think other single cour anime often struggle to do.

Oh boy, where do I start? Canaan is simply a mess. How messy it is? I'll try to lay it out as brief as possible. Story: 4 This is my biggest gripe. It's not unfair to say Canaan is half-baked and most likely badly adapted from the source material. The whole premise of the show seem destined to fall apart as the story progressed. If you're looking for plot holes, you don't have to. They'll come to you. The plot doesn't pick up at least until episode 6. I found it really difficult to get excited to continue the series due to how convoluted and messy the beginning of the story is. You'll have to wait until episode 6 to at least get a better glimpse of what Canaan is supposed to be. Does it get better afterwards? Yes, but not by much that you'll wonder why you decided to spend your precious time on this series. The final two episodes I would say are the most important of all and does give you a bit of satisfaction. If you're a patient viewer who wants to watch this series, get ready to go through the grueling effort of binging first 6 eps. The action sequences are pretty okay for me. If you're in solely or mainly for the action, I guess you wouldn't be disappointed. Art: 7 The art style is quite good for a 2009 anime. Not much to say here. Action scenes are animated properly. Sound: 8 I will say, the OP song is pretty rad. Once you get used to it, watching the subsequent episodes makes you feel more energetic and empowered, probably a good way to counteract the mediocre story. Character: 4 As with the story, I found myself unable to relate to any of the characters. Some of them are so badly written that removing them from the story altogether wouldn't alter the story by much. The two main characters, the titular Canaan and Alphard, at least deserves some credit. The final battle between the two during the final 2 episodes was the only part of the story that I liked. The other characters were bland, boring, had unclear motives, or were simply uninteresting. Enjoyment: 5 And yet, I still somewhat enjoyed at least the final two episodes where Canaan wraps itself up. Not a bad way to end the series. Overall: 4 I honestly wouldn't recommend this unless you've ran out of animes to watch. If you can get past the first 6 eps, then I'd say the biggest obstacle has already been cleared. It should be smooth sailing going forward.