Thank you Visual Arts for sending us this visual novel to review!

Key was founded in 1998, and their very first visual novel release ever was Kanon, in 1999. For its 25th anniversary in Japan, Kanon has been released with HD visuals and in English for the first time. It's interesting because it was largely written by an author who left Key after Kanon's release, Naoki Hisaya, and the art is directed by influential artist Itaru Hinoue, who's unique style has made a major impact on Key's works, and defined their early art style. As someone who has read and reviewed all but one of Key's releases that have been released in English (I really should just get through that last one!), it's been interesting going back to their roots and read the classic that started it all. While it doesn't hit quite as hard as later entries like CLANNAD, it's certainly worth reading for fans of visual novels or even those new to them, with a few caveats.

Kanon starts with seventeen-year-old Yuichi Aizawa waiting outside of a train station where his cousin Nayuki eventually arrives to bring him home. His parents moved overseas for work, and so Yuichi moves in with his aunt Akiko and cousin, where he also spent a lot of time as a young lad. He ends up going to their second year of high school, and as luck would have it ends up in Nayuki's class. He is quickly integrated in with her friends and makes several of his own very quickly. Over time, he digs up old memories of his past when he lived there seven years ago. Kanon tells the story of what happens now that Yuichi has returned to the town he lived in and loved as a child, though his memories of much of that time are fuzzy.

Like many visual novels, the story is told through words, pictures, and music. Much of the beginning and end of the story is fully voice acted, but sometimes Yuichi is silent. Most of the other characters are fully voiced, though. Only spoken lines have voice, and are in Japanese, but they are very well done and does a great job lending emotional impact to what's happening on screen. Key is well known for gorgeous soundtracks that lend emotional impact to the scenes they are in, and Kanon is no exception.

Also like many visual novels, there are countless choices that you can read through and explore, with some making only minor changes to the flow of the story, like which anecdote you see, while others are major that change significant aspects of the route or ending. It's recommended to take advantage of the hundreds of save slots, especially saving at each choice, as you can then easily go back and make a different choice later. For a first playthrough, you probably want to go in blind, with one caveat: I recommend not reading through Ayu's route first, the girl on the game's logo, because doing so spoils a major plot twist. I recommend saving Ayu for last, as the payoff is worth it.

Speaking of routes, there are five main routes, with another mini-route that branches off of one of the others. The five main heroines are Nayuki Minase, Ayu Tsukimiya, Makoto Sawatari, Shiori Misaka, and Mai Kawasumi. Sayuri has a mini-route you can access after completing Mai's. Each one touches upon some aspect of their past or present, as they wrestle with some difficulty they have or are experiencing. As the game takes place in January, themes of winter and the cold also play a big part.

I found out after I read the novel fully that some routes were written by different authors, and this made a lot of sense in retrospect. I enjoyed all of them for the most part, but some were a step above the rest, and one in particular is just much worse than the others. Nayuki, Shiori, and Ayu's routes are all excellent, and Ayu's really surprised me since I didn't like the character all that much at first. Shiori's is a close second, and I like both of their routes a whole lot. Mai's route was not bad, though a bit uneven. Makoto's route had the protagonist acting quite out of character for him compared to other routes; while he would generally avert his eyes and treat the girls with respect (with a notable exception), in Makoto's route he barged in on her while bathing, more than once. Very strange, and feels off-putting compared to his behavior otherwise. On the other hand, some of the comedic antics in Makoto's route were very good, and reminds me of future Key works where comedy plays a larger role.

Like other Key works, there are emotional moments, especially deep into each of the character's routes. Plenty of time is spent building the world and each character, and you really come to enjoy them all. As a high-school student, the school days each provide an anchor and means to see many of the girls, with some routes focusing more on school than the others. I always find it interesting in stories like this how the direction of our lives can change dramatically just based on who one's romantic partner is.

Morally, Kanon is relatively clean most of the time as far as visual novels go, with some major exceptions that unfortunately tarnishes the whole. Language is not bad when it comes to curse words, and I didn't notice anything stronger than 'h*ll'. Violence and blood is described but never shown. There is one character who tends to 'borrow' from a food stand while promising to pay them back, eventually. (They do.) One character has magical powers and there is a spirit present in one route.

Sexually, it might be helpful to know that the original Kanon from 1999 had erotic scenes in it, but they were removed for later console releases. Key has since moved away from erotic content entirely, and later releases of all of their games that had it at one point have since removed it. So, that is likely why some of the sexual content, though removed, left small traces. For example, in one route, you have a fade to black that suggests that they sleep together. It's also worth noting that first cousin relationships are legal but rare in Japan, and one of the routes is one of those. In another route, you have adult magazines used as a joke, and the aforementioned bath scenes where Yuichi feels like he needs to join Makoto in the bath. There are also jokes about panties and such. So while a majority of the story is fairly clean, at least two routes feature sexual content in some form.

Despite some flaws, Kanon is a very sweet story about love and dealing with deep trauma and adversity. Each of the stories is touching in some way, and at least one route did bring with it some manly tears, though perhaps not as much as later works. It overall was a great first effort, and I'm really glad that I got to read this work, available for the first time in English. The writing and localization is excellent as well, as there were times it felt like a well-written novel (which I suppose it is). If you are curious about visual novels, this is a decent starting point, as it's good enough to keep your attention while not being so good that you will never read something better. Recommended for visual novel fans and the visual novel curious, assuming the mentioned moral issues don't bother you.