Canaan Impressions

So another series that I have been watching this summer season goes by the name of “Canaan.”  The plot of Canaan isn’t the most original, but it’s a pretty good “girls with guns” take.  There’s action and some kind of plot (which I haven’t quite figure out yet, but I’m working on it).  The first episode of Canaan just kind of throws you into the action without any backdrop of the story at first, so you might be turned off from the lack of understanding.  But after giving it a few more episodes (or maybe 3-4), you start to gain some insight onto what’s going on.

So, the main heroine, who also happens to share the same name of this anime, is Canaan.  She is the closer girl you see in the previous screen.  Canaan is a teenage girl with superior assassination skills and a special ability that allows her to see different colors that represent emotions.  From what I’ve seen so far though, Canaan seems to work for some sort of government agency that assigns her missions and the whatnot.

The organization that Canaan works for, seems to be in direct conflict with a terrorist organization called the “Snakes.”  The apparent leader of this terrorist group goes by the name of “Alphard” (you can see her above).  Anyway, without going too deep into things to spoil it, the basic sum up is that this terrorist group is infecting people with the “Ua Virus” which is a deadly disease with a mortality rate of 100%.  Obviously there is a lot more connection between each of the characters and the virus, but you can watch the series to find out what.

I can see that the ice cream is..uh…amazingly large *cough*.  Anyway – the second main heroine of this series is Maria Oosawa.  She actually lost her memories, but has a strong connection with the Ua Virus as she actually survived from it without any effects.  Somehow she befriended Canaan before the anime even takes place, so there will probably be more on it later (I don’t even know how yet).  Canaan is always saving Maria from various predicaments.  Maria and Canaan seem to be more than just friends <3.

I could go on and on about the characters and plot right now, but since I want to keep this to a minimal, I’ll get on with the more technical aspects of the anime (There are a bunch of more characters, some more important than others, but yeah).  The animation is pretty decent, but what is to be expected from a series from 2009; you get your fair share of fanservice (cat girls!..but not really), and the sound is alright.  The OP and ED are nothing worth noting, so I’ll probably end up skipping out on getting the singles.  The plot as a whole has finally got me interested – it took a while, but I feel I’ve reached the point of finishing it (already halfway through anyway, so why not).  I feel that some people may feel that the story may be a little convoluted, with which I can agree with, but I am hoping for some sort of episode that will just explain things more and give me a better perspective.  Maybe I’m just dumb and can’t read between the lines, but the connections between Maria, Canaan, Alphard, the Ua Virus, Maria’s father (Kenji Oosawa), the Snakes, Canaan’s and Alphard’s trainer, some sort of war, and a bunch of other things all have their ties, but fail to bring me up to the present that is the anime.  I can sort of see where they’re going, but not entirely yet – need more flashbacks!

When did the US ever have a recent blonde haired president – there must have been at least one, right?  As Canaan goes on, more and more of the story gets revealed, especially about some of characters’ pasts; but it has been pretty slow going for the most part.  Also, it kind of seems like some of the characters are spread pretty thin – at least the supporting ones.  The action, when it happens, isn’t bad – but seems short-lived at times (don’t get me wrong though, it’s decent; the taxi-driver is awesome).  If you’re just looking for an anime where it’s action all the time, this may not be for you, but if you like a lot of plot without any sort of indication that they’ll answer  your questions, go for it!  I know this doesn’t really help to make you want to watch this series, but seriously – it’s not too bad for something to watch.  Give it a try at least, and if you don’t like it then stop watching.

Who knows though – this could turn out to be something very original and awesome.