Canaan

[Kraco]

http://forums.gotwoot.net/gallery/files/9/7/6/2/canaan_shot.jpg

"The modern-day story centers on a present-day story about a detective, a young man, a virus researcher, a, and a cat mascot character who are brought together in the Tokyo neighborhood of Shibuya by bizarre events with worldwide implications." -ANN

Based on a visual novel 428 Fuusa Sareta Shibuya de.

Episodes: 13
Genre: Action, (mystery)

Links:
Episode 1 - gg (http://xabin.mine.nu/gg-tracker/torrents/%5Bgg%5D_CANAAN_-_01_%5B02107C47%5D.mkv.torrent)

AniDB (http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=6275)
ANN (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10270)
Official (http://www.canaan.jp/)



- - - - - - - - -



The first episode was quite interesting and action wise very good, well justifying my initial interest in this anime. There were quite a few characters, though, and little indication of who they were, who they fight for or what they want, but I have a feeling it will be made clearer well before the end. Although since it was apparently a mystery game, I'd imagine not everything is made too clear. Nevertheless, this seemed about as far away from ordinary shounen as Eden of the last season, so it should be a good watch.

The characters also seemed to have plenty of attitude, which is always a good thing. I'll definitely keep watching.

[Board of Command]

Lots of big names on that voice cast.

But c'mon, 400+ MB file? gg is following in the footsteps of Umai.

[Kraco]

Lots of big names on that voice cast.

Not just the voice cast. There are Type-Moon people behind the original story and art. Although I don't know if everybody consider them big, but for me they are big.

There was a lot going on in this first episode justifying a bigger file size, but it's still a good question whether they really needed to go well above 400. All in all it seems to be a growing trend these days. Although if you intended to burn all 13 eps on a single DVDR, it would already mean a lot smaller episodes, so maybe they thought that if it's going to be 2 anyway, no need to hold back.

[Board of Command]

Isn't Type-Moon just two guys? Their stuff, especially Kara no Kyoukai, have been superb though.

I'm re-encoding this to 1280x720 @ 300 MB and 1024x576 @ 250 MB to see how much quality I lose. Results will be posted in a few hours.

[Archangel]

Awesome opening anyone?

[Board of Command]

As promised, here are some frame comparisons of two separate encodes I did. There is very minimal loss of detail, probably negligible, in my 1280x720 re-encode that's 300 MB. The 1024x576 re-encode was pretty much identical as the original aside from the resolution, and it's 250 MB. Both of these had no significant quality degradation even in dark scenes, where H264 has problems with.

Original gg encode:
http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/7356/1orig.th.png (http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/7356/1orig.png)http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/3413/2orig.th.png (http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/3413/2orig.png)http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/3703/3orig.th.png (http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/3703/3orig.png)

1280x720 re-encode:
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/5572/1720p.th.png (http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/5572/1720p.png)http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/6076/2720p.th.png (http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/6076/2720p.png)http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/8863/3720p.th.png (http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/8863/3720p.png)

1024x576 re-encode:
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/7359/1576p.th.png (http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/7359/1576p.png)http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/5276/2576p.th.png (http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/5276/2576p.png)http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/7089/3576p.th.png (http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/7089/3576p.png)

[Everon]

There seems to be an awful lot of dramatic irony going on when people are getting killed in horrific ways. Normally when people grab thier eyes and start screaming I don't start thinking, "Oh hey, there's that new age dance that everyone's going on about. What's it called again?"

Dying. Its called dying.

[shinta|hikari]

I think it describes the kind of world Canaan lives in, where people manage to avert their eyes even to the most obvious things if it aids them in living a carefree life. This is of course, condensed and taken to the extreme in this case, but it rounds up the camera girl's comments in the episode.

[Pandadice]

i'll be waiting for a smaller size to come out :\ but I do plan to check this series out

[Buffalobiian]

I bitched alot about large files when I had crap internet. I've upgraded now, and quota really isn't a problem anymore, but it's still annoying when I try to make the most out of my DVD archives by figuring out which series are better burnt together so save disks.

I miss the days when 24 episodes fit onto 1 DVD nicely.

As for the episode, visually impressive, and the story is fittingly chaotic, much like the setting.

I've got a feeling those guys with the teddy-bear-heads (for lack of a better term) are failed, or experimental synesthesias. I'm guessing those helmets (screw writing 3 words) block all visuals. Them being synesthesias though, can still navigate around with their other senses. When they take off the helmet, being failed subjects they can't handle the influx of info from all 5 senses and die.

/speculation.

I'm liking this quite a lot. The visual quality and airing run reminds me of Eden, but more engaging. Let's hope we don't have to wait 12 months for an ending.

[Kraco]

That seems to be the case with those animal head helmet dudes. Maybe everybody's so interested in Canaan, because she's the real thing. The secretary was quite awesome, and since this isn't any nosebleed love-comedy, the man's reactions were far funnier.

[TheBladeChild]

Yes, I have been waiting for this since it was announced! Cant wait to watch it.

On a side note, this was up on gg's irc and it has to be the funniest shit iv seen in a while:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oidZ3gwD6wU

[Narasho]

This series looks very promising. I was entertained throughout the 1st episode, and it opened with a lot of questions, and few answers. The only sad thing is if this series is only 13 episodes, seems too short.

[Board of Command]

I did another encode of this last night that took nearly 6 hours (!!) for the whole episode. I'd say I'm pretty disappointed at the result given how long it took. There's some sharpening, smoothing and color enhancement using supersampling. Overall though, I don't think it's a big enough improvement to justify spending 6 hours on.

Original / New
http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/7356/1orig.th.png (http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/7356/1orig.png)http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/1383/1ss.th.png (http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/1383/1ss.png)

[Buffalobiian]

Any results/file size that you like better than the original?

[Board of Command]

Both of my 720p encodes were 300 MB (including audio), so that's already over 100 MB smaller than the original gg release. Quality on my second (the 6 hour one) encode is subjectively better than the original, but the difference is relatively small and, for the most part, negligible.

From now on I'm just going to re-encode everything like my first 720p one. It takes about 70 minutes to encode and quality isn't too much worse. There's a slight loss of detail, especially on edges, but it's negligible.

[Nadouku]

Heh, people die and they act like it's part of the festival. They sure do live a carefree life. Even the gunfires didn't startle much and aroused more attention in the festival itself.

[masamuneehs]

think this one has potential, but they're juggling some knives that i hope they handle well. the 'upbeat, optimistic pseudo-sister' used to contrast with a 'cold, realistic badass' character is always old mill, but sometimes it works...

the scene where the people are cheering the gunfire and the reporter remarks about them rubbed me the wrong way. i'm interested in this for the gore

[12:12] <masamune> this canaan show feels alright so far...
[12:14] <Yukimura-San> ah i finally remember what else it reminded me of
[12:15] * Quits: ero-jiji (Read error: Connection reset by peer)
[12:15] <Yukimura-San> Blood+ also had that vibe of experimenting on people to create copies of the main chars abilites
[12:18] * Joins: bomchi
[12:18] <Urashima|bot> Hello, bomchi
[12:18] <bomchi> hi
[12:19] <Yukimura-San> masa did you watch the first ep of the when the seagull's cry or whatever it's called?
[12:20] * Joins: heklin
[12:25] <masamune> nope
[12:26] <masamune> you're right. Canaan feels like Blood+ meets Black Lagoon somewhere between Noir-esque and fan-service friendly action jane
[12:27] <masamune> but vampires are sorta played out
[12:27] <Yukimura-San> indeed
[12:27] <masamune> i like to see some play off of modern stuff. even Lagoon dated itself
[12:28] <masamune> and it's fast and when it's not trying to be all emotional, it does some grittiness right. like you can see the RPG (or whatever it was, it was fast) before the Jeep gets hit towards the end of the episode
[12:28] <masamune> plus, gore is just fun
[12:28] <Yukimura-San> lol
[12:29] <Yukimura-San> quite so
[12:29] <masamune> i am STILL having trouble playing mkvs on my crappy lappy
[12:30] <Yukimura-San> it's interesting you brought up vampires, as I was watching it I started to notice assassins have been steadily replacing the role vampires usedto fill in the eye of my inner fan

[Pandadice]

hey, here's a 280mb file size version of episode 1

[Shameless-Moon] CANAAN - 01 (D-TVS 1280x720 DivX685).mkv (http://www.nyaatorrents.org/?page=download&tid=73874)

i just downloaded this one, and I'll be watching it later.

[Board of Command]

DivX? wtf...people these days

Not that it's bad, it just seems so obscure these days.

[Pandadice]

okay, so about those subs i posted.. they're not the best. in any sense. the grammar in it is just awful, seriously needs someone to fix the grammar. some times it was almost incomprehensible.. But I really liked the liberties the dude took with it. like, when it shows the red stuff on her hand he has a TL note and he's like "lol it kinda looks like cum". and it's just like "dude? did you just put that in your fansub?" thats awesome.. and when the little girl comes, the dudes like "lolicon alert!".

but as for the episode..

well, I definitely enjoyed it. it's always disappointing when you get interested in a series about gangs, but then you watch it and it's got all this "hyper-sense" stuff, and it's like they don't think modern-day gangs in china are an interesting enough story. they've gotta add in all this paranormal stuff.. I say that, but it wasn't all that bad, it was a good ep. just.. a little disappointing i guess.

[Buffalobiian]

I have no doubt the studio could have made something about modern chinese gangs. It's just that that's not all this show's about. The initial setting has a gang fight (if you want to call them gangs), but that's not to say it's the focus of the show.

If anything, it looks more like a terrorist organisation is involved rather than a gang, as well as an organisation researching artificially enhanced humans.

[Ryllharu]

[one more step in Ryllharu catching up]

but then you watch it and it's got all this "hyper-sense" stuff, and it's like they don't think modern-day gangs in china are an interesting enough story. they've gotta add in all this paranormal stuff.. I say that, but it wasn't all that bad, it was a good ep. just.. a little disappointing i guess.
I thought the synesthesia was a good way of adding a little realism to the world that Type-Moon typically operates in. Canaan has Mystic Eyes just like so many of the other Type-Moon characters do ([Rider], Shiki, Shiki/SHIKI). There is just finally a reason for her to have them that roots itself in reality.

I'm a little bit more curious why a seemingly innocent camera-girl (who doesn't actually take photos for her reporter) is involved so deeply with someone so hated by the Chinese underground.

I also smirked at how he was using a "Ganon" camera body despite the main character having a homophone of the actually brand for a name .

[RyougaZell]

[gg]​_CANAAN​_-​_02​_[9D948DC4].mkv (http://t.bt.is-ingenio.us/t/%5Bgg%5D_CANAAN_-_02_%5B9D948DC4%5D.mkv.torrent)

If there is one thing I truly hate from GG is their damn tendency to leave commercials.

A great episode nevertheless.

[Oniken]

Heh what's up with that crazy taxi driver just getting himself involved for no reason, funny stuff :D

[Buffalobiian]

Heh what's up with that crazy taxi driver just getting himself involved for no reason, funny stuff :D

Totally. I came to the conclusion that taxi drivers in Shanghai must be paid a fortune for their runs.

Can one really get precognition from using multiple senses at the same time? Ah well, the action was swish, so I'll overlook that.

I thought the whole meat bun thing was brilliant.

[Kraco]

With a voice actor (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=1030) like that, the taxi driver had no choice but to be a crazy asskicker...

The precognition was a bit out there for sure, but no more so than the old geezer's unlimited ammo.

This surely continues to be a fast-paced series. Fortunately the factions are getting just a little bit clearer, even if their aims don't yet.

[Ryllharu]

I didn't take it as precognition so much as excellent reflexes (which we've seen from her acrobatics) combined with her synesthesia. She was dodging most of the bullets, but she was mostly smacking aside the ones that would have hit her, while narrowly avoiding the rest. I would not be surprised if Canaan's synesthesia let her see the brush of the air and the sound of the ones that might hit her. It is more of an extreme situational awareness than precognition. She saw the wires, turned off her mystic eyes, and that was the end of it.

Personally, I found Maria to be more remarkable than Canaan in her own way. Maria remembered the idol's song word for word after only hearing it once. The girl wasn't a major idol that would be on most radio stations either. The taxi driver mentioned she was only starting out but had a lot of potential. She's bold enough to jump out in the street, she's survived a life threatening disease, makes friends with anyone instantly, and she "repairs" stuffed toys by putting red yarn in the holes.

Alphard (Maaya Sakamoto!) was a pleasant surprise too. While the Rie Tanaka 'sister' was bloodthirsty for revenge, Alphard calmly ignored the Canaan situation and made sure that she got her house back into order. I'm sure she'll go after her when the time is right, but it proved she's smart enough to hold back her rage until the time is right, or the opportunity is too good to pass up.

[Nadouku]

Haha, I liked the beginning, meat bun, and taxi scenes. They were very well done. Looks like different factions are shown, but most of them are under the same roof it seems.

[Pandadice]

I watched [Shameless-subs] again. mm have to say i didn't enjoy this second episode as much as the first one. maybe that'd attributed to the subs.. I'll definitely be getting gg next episode.

this show is reminding me a lot of Viper's Creed. just when i was watching this second episode, i kept being reminded of vipers creed.

[Pandadice]

subs for ep 3 are out

[gg]​_CANAAN​_-​_03​_[46F2C606].​mkv (http://t.bt.is-ingenio.us/t/%5Bgg%5D_CANAAN_-_03_%5B46F2C606%5D.mkv.torrent)

[Kraco]

A friendship untested by hardship cannot be an amazing friendship, can it? Somehow I saw this coming from miles away, but then again considering the level of violence in the city and Canaan's profession, only a blind man wouldn't have foreseen it.

Other than that I'd like to visit that nightclub. I'm sure I wouldn't even be thrown out.

[Nadouku]

Yea, I would like to visit that club, too. :D

So, the boy wanted to prove to Maria that Canaan would kill him regardless of what Maria said to stop her? I wonder if there's another catch that I'm missing.

[Ryllharu]

The boy wanted to hurt Canaan in a way that even blowing Maria to tiny bits wouldn't accomplish, and he won. All revenge for his brother. Nothing would hurt her more than making her one and only, first ever friend be afraid of her. Maria wasn't afraid of Canaan and all her guns when they first met, but she is afraid of her now. Maybe Maria doesn't totally mean it, but subconsciously, there's no way she can't be disgusted with Canaan right now.

Speaking of the boy and his brother, I wasn't paying attention and suddenly this series turned into Speed Grapher?

I loved the scene with Canaan at the window, just like a cat. (Or rather so much like KnK's Shiki.)


So...Mamiko Noto (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=3166) is paid just to make mouth opening noises, licking finger noises, and breathing noises? And here I thought she had it easy by always getting to play the same emotionless characters, now she's got it made.

[RyougaZell]

GG re-encodes without the annoying commercials GG usually leaves in.

I hope they make episode 1 too...

[DmonHiro] CANAAN 02 (720p).​mkv (http://www.nyaatorrents.org/?page=torrentinfo&tid=74899)
[DmonHiro] CANAAN 03 (720p).​mkv (http://www.nyaatorrents.org/?page=torrentinfo&tid=75795)

[Nadouku]

The boy wanted to hurt Canaan in a way that even blowing Maria to tiny bits wouldn't accomplish, and he won. All revenge for his brother. Nothing would hurt her more than making her one and only, first ever friend be afraid of her. Maria wasn't afraid of Canaan and all her guns when they first met, but she is afraid of her now. Maybe Maria doesn't totally mean it, but subconsciously, there's no way she can't be disgusted with Canaan right now.

I see, so psychologically damaging Maria would hurt Canaan's friendship with her, and in a way that Canaan would be deeply affected (probably with her performance). I wonder if there are more people affected by the virus's mutation and working under the same organization?

[Buffalobiian]

It still didn't make sense why Canaan couldn't sense flexi-boy. Does that guy not breath, produce body heat or odour?

[Nadouku]

I think it's the pill that he swallowed around 8:50 that might have something to do with masking his whereabouts. Other than that, I can't think of anything else but the part where he said "Correct, we're already broken".

[Buffalobiian]

[Nipponsei] Canaan OP Single - mind as Judgment [Faylan].zip (http://tracker.minglong.org/torrents/%5BNipponsei%5D%20Canaan%20OP%20Single%20-%20mind%20as%20Judgment%20%5BFaylan%5D.zip.torrent )

This has got to be one of my my favourite OP/ED this season, and a good one overall too. I'm really like Abingdon Boys School's stuff in general, but their OP for Tokyo Mag 8's just isn't as upbeat as this one.

[Kraco]

It might also have something to do with the fact Canaan didn't really know the guy. He never left the car, for example, during the chase. So, Canaan couldn't discern his smell (and whatever other things she sees).

[Pandadice]

Canaan gets 3 movies starting in October (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-07-26/canaan-gets-3-movies-starting-this-october)

says that they're just gonna be the show, only put into 3 movies :\..

[Pandadice]

episode 4 is out

[gg]​_CANAAN​_-​_04​_[D293F6E3].mkv (http://t.bt.is-ingenio.us/t/%5Bgg%5D_CANAAN_-_04_%5BD293F6E3%5D.mkv.torrent)

[Ryllharu]

Alphard is so sexy. I thought Canaan was impressive in the way she fights, but Alphard (at least the way they each are now) completely blows her away. I suppose we could say that Canaan is at her lowest right now, thinking she's lost Maria, and remembering how Alphard stole Siam too. Hatred has literally blinded Canaan. Alphard on the other hand, is recently freed and seeing whatever plan she has develop quite nicely is probably close to her peak. She even gets Canaan dogedly persuing her for entertainment.

Maria continues to be impressive in her own way, relentlessly persuing new friendships. I am a bit surprised she got over her massive shock so quickly, but as she said, it isn't like she didn't see who Canaan really was, she just chose to see what she wanted to. I thought she'd take at least one more episode. Maria has seen just a much death around her from whatever virus is returning here in Shanghai that she is the only survivior from. While she really shouldn't have viewed Canaan in the way she did, it's perfectly understandable.

I love Liang Qi's disturbing admiration of Alphard. She's toeing the line of creepiness. Her cutesy dress just reinforced that feeling even more.

While I still kind of hate characters like her, Hakkoo's reaction to the little magic show was really cute.

[Nadouku]

Yea, her performance went downhill against Alphard after that incident with Maria. At least Maria wants to see and talk to her again, probably to give Canaan a piece of her mind. I wonder what this new chick can do, since she has been stalking Mino and Maria.

[shinta|hikari]

I'm surprised her sensing ability directly deteriorates when her presence of mind wavers. You can actually see the red in her eyes flashing instead of simply turning on, like an old faulty light bulb.

[Buffalobiian]

It kind of makes sense when you think about it. After all, synesthesia is where you can use multiple senses with each other. Heightened senses might be one side effect, but the main deal is the integration of signals, which is controlled by the brain.

If she's mentally unstable from all the hatred, her dulling abilities are believable, if not expected.

What all that reveals too, is how much she relies on her natural talent, while Alphard's a soldier trained the good old way. It's actually a good thing for Canaan, since it means she can potentially reach an even greater height.

[Buffalobiian]

gg- Episode 5 (http://t.bt.is-ingenio.us/t/%5Bgg%5D_CANAAN_-_05_%5BDCFD03D9%5D.mkv.torrent)


As some of you may know by now, BayTSP has been sending out letters to the ISP’s of people who downloaded Canaan. This also happened last summer with Kara no Kyoukai 1-3. The only way for us to really prevent this would be to quit releasing Canaan on torrent entirely. If you’ve gotten in trouble with your ISP and wish to avoid getting in trouble again, we suggest you try using XDCC transfers on IRC or try using DDL sites (ie: lolipower, animetake, kuroba) instead of torrenting.

[Ryllharu]

I'm still convinced that Maria is more of a key to everything than anyone on either side realizes. Yun Yun may die without medication, but if they're infected with some variation of the Ua virus, wouldn't Maria's body be filled with all manner of antibodies that can kill the virus, being a survivor herself?

From what we've seen so far, all Liang Qi and Alphard see Maria as is bait for Canaan. Alphard might see her as more than that, but she keeps very quiet on what she knows, and it's obvious now that a lot of Borners know Liang Qi and no one higher up the organization. Liang Qi sees them as disposable tools anyway.

I do wonder how Hakko survives. She doesn't seem to be under the thumb of Liang Qi, or anyone else involved with Alphard for that matter. Still, they surprised us with Yun Yun being a Borner, so who can truly say how involved she is?

Maria's pacifism is annoying, but it's hard to deny that most people cannot endure under her onslaught of goodwill. I still can't believe she's sleeping with a bloodsoaked stuffed animal...


More smexy Alphard next week, and Maria and she finally meet.

[Nadouku]

Nice episode. I enjoyed how Mino and the dude were just throwing insults at each other. :D

[Kraco]

Wasn't Alphard just rescued from CIA's clutches? How can she walk around at an anti-terrorism summit like that? You'd think CIA would snatch her away again in no time, especially considering how much attention she gathers. Doesn't compute, or am I missing something here? Is she even the same person that was being transported somewhere as a prisoner in the beginning of the show?

I guess Canaan now understands better what manner of a person Maria is. Just like Maria now understands better Canaan. The misunderstanding between them went both ways, after all. It wasn't only Maria's fault.

[Buffalobiian]

Wasn't Alphard just rescued from CIA's clutches? How can she walk around at an anti-terrorism summit like that? You'd think CIA would snatch her away again in no time, especially considering how much attention she gathers. Doesn't compute, or am I missing something here? Is she even the same person that was being transported somewhere as a prisoner in the beginning of the show?

They were definitely the same person, so the only conclusion I can come up with is that the CIA doesn't actually know what Alphard looks like. Back in that episode, the men were surprised that the head of Snake was actually a girl.

If they weren't returning from the capture, but were transporting her from one facility to another, then it doesn't make sense.

I was initially surprised to see Maria hugging that bloodstained toy like that, but it does well in symbolising she's embraced the other side of Canaan.

[Pandadice]

ep 6 is out

[FMS] CANAAN - 06 [FB59A75F] (MX 1280x720 x264).​mkv (http://www.anirena.com/viewtracker.php?action=download&id=26403)

[SeishSubs] CANAAN - 06 [7A31FECF] (MX 1280x720 x264 AAC).​mkv (http://www.nyaatorrents.org/?page=torrentinfo&tid=79272)

[Kraco]

I didn't like this episode at all. The building was taken over far too easily. If CIA still doesn't take a clue in the next episodes, this series will turn really miserable. After all, both the terrorist women should have now their faces very well known indeed. I was also wondering why there aren't 10000 Chinese soldiers storming the place already, but I suppose the terrorists had told the officials beforehand they have already released the virus into the building, thus keeping everybody away.

But considering it is China, there should still be 1000 properly equipped troops already on their way. And they shouldn't be asking as many questions as those blistering fools who were already slaughtered by the terrorists.

[Yukimura]

Canaan - 06 - [gg] (http://t.bt.is-ingenio.us/t/%5Bgg%5D_CANAAN_-_06_%5B0B559A66%5D.mkv.torrent)

For the gg fans among us. Not much to say about this ep except that Canaan apparently stole Alphards name.

[Ryllharu]

Shamelessly copied from RandomC:

Alphard was the “land of hope” to terrorists. Siam was training her to work for terrorists. Her families remaining assets were going to help fund the group while she becomes their leader. Canaan is the “land of hope” to everything else. Remember that before Siam was killed, Canaan worked as an assassin too. We already knew they both had the name of Canaan from an earlier episode with Canaan’s Siam flashbacks. Alphard introduced herself to Canaan as “Canaan.”
Disregarding the blatant stupidity of the security forces, and the over the top American President (which made me smile), I liked this episode. This sort of huge blunder had to be done in order to get the plot moving. Should it have been done with more finesse? Sure.

Only Alphard's face should be known, and I have to question that. She's more well known as a prominently wealthy woman of middle-eastern royalty and the head of the Daedala Corporation than as a terrorist. Back in the first episode, the guy driving the truck said that, "You couldn't see the truth 'cause your expectations were too high." No one expects that the leader of the Snakes is a woman, much less one so young and attractive. They expect some bearded, Ali Al-Sarches type leader who looks like he really has years of experience. No one would believe Alphard would have started out as young as she actually did.

As for Liang Qi, she is publicly known as the glasses-masochist's secretary. Of course she is the real leader of that local syndicate, but when she's always introduced as his secretary and only seen lazing about because he would never actually ask his boss to do anything for him, they don't think anything of her either.

Watching Maria abused was kind of tough. She is a genuinely nice person, and watching Liang Qi beat the shit out of her just because she knows it will make Canaan angry was mildly disturbing. In the end, that scene strangely made me respect Alphard all the more. She wasn't too pleased with it either, and seeing her as a terrorist denounce violence for violence's sake was strange. She certainly deserves all the respect she has, though Liang Qi might betray her in some sick twisted love sort of way, given how she clenched her fists. Alphard is just fighting against the belief that she is inferior to Canaan because she never does anything for her own sake, she's just following some plan that some group laid out for her.

I think Hakkoo came out the most interesting however. She doesn't seem nearly as tied to the organization as even Yun Yun was, she may even have escaped their influence completely. She also appears to have one of the strongest Borner powers we've seen yet. With only a few words, she probably came pretty close to killing Minoru. She certainly disabled him for a considerably length of time.

[Kraco]

Only Alphard's face should be known, and I have to question that. She's more well known as a prominently wealthy woman of middle-eastern royalty and the head of the Daedala Corporation than as a terrorist.

As for Liang Qi, she is publicly known as the glasses-masochist's secretary.

I think you are disregarding three things here. The top world leaders were attending the conference and it happened in China. And the company responsible for the security was represented by Alphard and also by Liang Qi (and the glasses guy, but who gives a shit about him). Under such conditions they can't just waltz around with highest access codes without everybody having documented excessively well who they are. And since this is China where the owner of a company producing a bad product may get executed, you can bet those two women have no way out with clean papers.

If they do, well, like I said, it will be pitiful. I hope they will need to accept the responsibility and become completely underground terrorists. I'm sure they have an escape plan.

[Ryllharu]

As much as I agree with you having valid points, this is a series that has had a boy squeeze into a 3 inch (7 cm) hole and shoot a gun out of it.

Realism is not really a factor here.

Alphard's men (or herself directly) shot everyone that saw her walking to the control room. Everyone else only saw the chibi-Liang simulation. As far as this anime is concerned, no one (alive) knows Alphard's face as the leader of the Snakes. And in the words of another anime star, "Screw the rules, I have money." Alphard and her corporation had enough money to host and provide security. They are a well respected company for some reason, and in a city that is apparently as corrupt as Canaan's Shanghai, that seems to be all that matters.

If it was meant to make sense as you say, the MP should never have gotten infected in the first place. While you are not wrong, I think you will be disappointed because the circumstances never took realism into account in the first place.

[Nadouku]

The sight of seeing Maria get beaten around was not a pleasant one. I felt like destroying Liang Qi just for doing that, but luckily, Alphard stopped that little charade from continuing. It was also interesting that Siam trained Alphard and named her Canaan too before finding another person to take on that role. Lets see what Canaan (and Mino) can do when they arrive.

[Killa-Eyez]

Doesn't the name Maria Oosawa ring ANY bells?? :o
And Alphard.... Man... She's hot..

[Pandadice]

And Alphard.... Man... She's hot..

actually i really like that green haired chick, who doesn't talk. shes banging hot D:

[Buffalobiian]

actually i really like that green haired chick, who doesn't talk. shes banging hot D:

+1.

I like Alphard too, but only in her terrorist outfits. For some reason I never liked her dress look.

Where is Yun Yun? From the previous episode, she was ready to die since there was no one who cared about her anyway. Then came Maria and Canaan, and she kind of just packed up.

[Board of Command]

ANBU-Menclave should be ashamed of their video quality. I'm still archiving their stuff though, but I have to re-encode each episode to fix their shit.

[Kraco]

Only in her terrorist outfits:

Episode 7 - gg (http://t.bt.is-ingenio.us/t/%5Bgg%5D_CANAAN_-_07_%5B5A036D47%5D.mkv.torrent)


- - - - - - - - -





Edit: Funny how those terrorists just walked out of the conference center without anyone objecting. Surely they didn't dig and build the tunnel just for this operation. The officials should have known such a route existed and placed a sufficient number of soldiers to guard it. Liang Qi must have simply teleported out of there.

Well, I didn't consider this episode anymore as annoying as the previous one, and my faith in this series was somewhat replenished. Maybe because Maria was so glad to meet Canaan and didn't hesitate to show it (sugoi, sugoi, sugoi).

[oyabun]

Liang Qi is damn hot. She doesn't deserve the treatment she's receiving from Alphard...

[Ryllharu]

Well, I didn't consider this episode anymore as annoying as the previous one, and my faith in this series was somewhat replenished. Maybe because Maria was so glad to meet Canaan and didn't hesitate to show it (sugoi, sugoi, sugoi).
I thought that a number of your prior complaints were addressed over the course of this episode. The US planned a counter-attack (goaded into it by Alphard though), Shanghai had the entire area cordoned off for quarantine, and no one really saw Alphard or Liang Qi's faces because of the pile of dead bodies.

The reason Alphard got away was because of the "missle" strike (it was obviously a bomb, and it didn't really look like it had the hardware for guidance). The US told China last minute that they were going to bomb the shit out of the place, so everyone moved as far away as possible. Alphard got away then, and Liang Qi did indeed seem to teleport.

Liang Qi is like a spoiled child, I can't say I'm surprised that smexy Alphard abandoned her. Her reasoning was perfectly sound, an out of control subordinate who cannot exercise proper emotional judgment is a liability.

I definitely loved Minoru's antics, as well as all of Maria's rubbing, wiggling, and sugoi sugoi sugoi.

I wonder if Canaan's handler is performing this atonement because she is the one who poisoned either Shibuya (where Maria got infected) or the village where all the Borners are from.

It was also very enlightening to read the description of the Ua Virus on the US screens. It looks like they used Google Translate to get them into English, but you could get most of hte gory details. Aside from all the regular hemmoraging, the eyes sink into the face, paralyzed, and the face itself separates from the skull and then goes rigid, forming a "Noh Mask" on the victim's face.

[Kraco]

My guess is Alphard and Liang Qi's faces are now known, but there just wasn't anybody to stop them, sufficiently, when everybody was fleeing from the bombing. Their security company is now recognized as a terrorist cover operation, after all, so there's no doubt they dug up the faces of the representatives of that company. Considering how openly Alphard walked around in the auditorium, she certainly wasn't trying to keep herself hidden. And no doubt it was also carefully recorded who had the access to the control room, so Liang Qi and whatever-was-his-name-masochist are also being hunted now.

Although somehow I doubt CIA will find them before Canaan...

[Buffalobiian]

Although somehow I doubt CIA will find them before Canaan...

Strangely, I always thought Canaan worked for the CIA all along.

I thought this episode was pretty good. They showed things on a much bigger scale with the US and military etc, making it seem like a real terrorist setup rather than just Canaan infiltrating a base and beating everyone up on the way.

Liang Qi may be a spoiled child, but she's plenty fun to watch all the same. Every terrorist group needs at least one crazy one to spice things up. Liang Qi seems especially good at that.

That fake-CEO and Liang Qi will probably get their faces into the hit-list, but I've only ever heard of Alphard being referred to as some Middle Eastern royalty. Is she publicly affiliated with the PMC at all?

[Kraco]

but I've only ever heard of Alphard being referred to as some Middle Eastern royalty. Is she publicly affiliated with the PMC at all?

Hmm... Well, I suppose there is such a slim way out for her, assuming nobody saw her face after it all began and lived to tell about it. However, even Maria now knows who she is, and - voila! - Maria is a journalist. Quite an exclusive scoop for her if nobody else knows so far. Unless Canaan tells her to keep her mouth shut (for whatever reason, but I doubt that will happen), it would be extremely strange if Alphard is not revealed.

[Ryllharu]

That fake-CEO and Liang Qi will probably get their faces into the hit-list, but I've only ever heard of Alphard being referred to as some Middle Eastern royalty. Is she publicly affiliated with the PMC at all?
Alphard is publically known as the laregest shareholder of the Daedala Corp., which is now publically known to be a front for the Snakes (ref eps 4, 13:06). While there exists the possibility that she could weasel away as an utterly swindled and ignorant heiress who spent all of her money buying into a terrorist organization, it's more likely people don't view her as that stupid.

[Nadouku]

When Maria's dad was shown, I always thought of Maria being parentless before this, and that was just a feeling, too. When he "died," I thought they loved to throw away characters like that, but I guess not when he lives and it was all a trick. Nice episode, though.

[Buffalobiian]

When Maria's dad was shown, I always thought of Maria being parentless before this, and that was just a feeling, too. When he "died," I thought they loved to throw away characters like that, but I guess not when he lives and it was all a trick. Nice episode, though.

It's a pity they probably won't be going back to how exactly Alphard fudged those images. The CIA/FBI signal was hacked, but when the guys looked outside, there was definitely smoke at the site.

[Lucifus]

Didn't the bird explode?

[Buffalobiian]

Didn't the bird explode?

That's not how I saw it.

The bird was flying in real life. The point where it disappeared was when the video was jammed and fed with a premade version.

According to the slowed playback, it disappeared, but I didn't see it explode. (episode 7, 16:59)

[oyabun]

I'm pretty sure that the bird didn't explode. Otherwise they won't be so surprised when they saw the video.

[shinta|hikari]

I would actually be more surprised if I saw the bird explode.

Getting caught up in the explosion is possible though.

[Kraco]

Bird exploding. That was a funny theory. Lucifus has nice ideas!

But yeah, it was pretty nice idea from the terrorists. Not only would it make it look like the Americans considered no other options than bombing and killing them all but they would also have killed the only man who could solve it without all the killing.

The effect of the bomb aside from the mushroom cloud looked a bit measly, though, but I suppose that was just an animation budget issue...

[Buffalobiian]

Real Colours:

gg - episode 8 (http://t.bt.is-ingenio.us/t/%5Bgg%5D_CANAAN_-_08_%5B2AE20E20%5D.mkv.torrent)

[Kraco]

Yun Yun found a most promising place for her business.

I hope Canaan gets her colours back. She's not extraordinary enough without them.

Other than that, it seems we are slowly starting to find out what exactly happened around the Ua virus and the disappeared village in the past and who were involved.

[Buffalobiian]

They say there's always too sides to a coin. It definitely applies to Hakko.

That scowl she wore for the majority of the episode was very convincing of someone who had a grudge against her child's murder.

The singing scene was interesting too. I can't tell whether she just mesmerised in singing, or whether at that point she just wanted to sing to her heart's content and not give a shit about anybody else.

[KitKat]

That scowl she wore for the majority of the episode was very convincing of someone who had a grudge against her child's murder.


Her child's murder? Where did they mention that? I think she feels guilty over unintentionally killing the little boy, but I don't recall them saying anything about her own family.

I like how Canaan went all Matrix-like in the last episode when she looked into the code. I'm bummed that she lost her colours though. She's still a formidible opponent, but as Kraco said, not extraordinary enough.

I can't stand Liang Qi and I was hoping that she'd have been caught in the missile blast. Maybe her sister will have to kill her personally in order to get her out of the way. Or else she needs to be confined to an assylum for a while. That girl has serious issues.

And YAY for Yun Yun being back! She's so hilarious. I hope she still has a significant role to play in this story. I'd like to see her get some resolution on her past and have the ability to move forward with her life outside of the control of the Snakes. There has to be a way since Hakko isn't grovelling to them for drugs.

[Buffalobiian]

Her child's murder? Where did they mention that? I think she feels guilty over unintentionally killing the little boy, but I don't recall them saying anything about her own family.

Whoops. Looks like sometime between watching the episode and making that post my memory of her voice killing the child transformed into the virus killing her child. (that's been happening a lot lately).

Don't worry, you're not confused. I was :o

[Kraco]

And YAY for Yun Yun being back! She's so hilarious. I hope she still has a significant role to play in this story. I'd like to see her get some resolution on her past and have the ability to move forward with her life outside of the control of the Snakes. There has to be a way since Hakko isn't grovelling to them for drugs.

Maria's old man could probably handle Yun Yun's Snake medicine dependency. It's a different matter whether he will. I wouldn't be surprised if he was somehow mixed into the whole mess, because Alphard seemed to accuse Maria herself for something. Maybe Maria's dad was there when it all took place and Maria was with him. Then an accident happened.

[Buffalobiian]

[Nipponsei] Canaan ED Single - My heaven [Annabel].zip (http://tracker.minglong.org/torrents/%5BNipponsei%5D%20Canaan%20ED%20Single%20-%20My%20heaven%20%5BAnnabel%5D.zip.torrent)

[Nadouku]

Like many of the other episodes, I enjoyed this one. It's scary that Hakko unintentionally killed a child with her powers and she didn't even realize until it was too late, which I understand why she has a lack of speech. Well, looks like Yun Yun made an appearance. :p

[Pandadice]

alright! an episode with character development on the green haired chick :D.

she's definitely my favorite character in this show...

[Xelbair]

I skipped this show for no apparent reason, but today i read about it on Wikipedia and saw 2 names Kinoko Nasu and Takashi Takeuchi, 2 seconds later i had all of released episodes put to dl.

So far so good, epic and well made fight scenes, interesting plot, cast of different characters(but Yun Yun annoys me), great voice acting(but why the taxi driver sounds like Kotomine?! his voice is reserved for villains in any of Nasu works not some taxi driver!), interesting back-story, and thank god no code-geass like cliffhangers, but plot is so good that i can't wait for next ep.

I'm the only one that thinks that Nasu has obsession with eyes? Mystic eyes of death perception in Tsukihime and Kara no Kyoukai, Ilya eyes in Fate, and here Canaan eyes change colour when she is using her abilities.

[Ryllharu]

Don't post Fate/Stay Night game content in this thread please, mild as the spoilers may be.

[Buffalobiian]

I just watched Rush Hour 3 recently, and that also featured a crazy taxi driver. That guy must just enjoy the thrills

[Kraco]

Flower Garden:

Episode 9 - gg (http://t.bt.is-ingenio.us/t/%5Bgg%5D_CANAAN_-_09_%5B0769B1D6%5D.mkv.torrent)

[Nadouku]

That surely was pretty weird at first: a guy comes out with a mask, shooting at them, and they say "Don't kill him!" I don't know if its even possible not to fire back at a guy who shoots at you, but oh well. I'm also getting this weird Mino and Hakko vibe. :p

[shinta|hikari]

Of course it is possible, just stupid.

[Kraco]

It was a crazed man, so chances are his shooting would never have got any better than that anyway. Eventually he would have run out of bullets and then Canaan could have kicked his ass nonlethally.

What made me wonder in this episode is the timeline flaw when Canaan's building got blown up. At that point Alphard was still aboard her own helicopter somewhere in the sky whereas the others were a block away from Canaan. So how on Earth did the others arrive so late to the scene? Didn't they care? Surely they did care, so it was a glaring error.

[shinta|hikari]

Canaan with her mystic eyes could have done that easily, but the risk is too great without them. Her hair got shot, so even with piss poor shooting she almost died.

Maybe they evacuated because of the explosion, then came back a good while later after they thought it was safe to do so.

[Pandadice]

so this was definitely the most interesting episode so far, imo. or well, it seemed like i got the most into this one.

i love the animation of this episode. the backgrounds, and when the car was traveling. it looked so good.

[Buffalobiian]

Maybe they evacuated because of the explosion, then came back a good while later after they thought it was safe to do so.

That's the logical thing to do. With one chopper firing at the ground and another firing at the other, you wouldn't what would've hit you if you stayed: a rogue missle or the burning fuselage of whichever aircraft got unlucky.

I suppose Kraco's point does have a bit of validity though. Alphard's gunfire stopped for long enough to make even the most chicken of people take a peek.

I initially thought Canaan was just good without her powers, but not excellent. Seems like she completely sucks without it though. Her skills would remain, but she has been so reliant on her synesthesia that she can't use her normal senses normally.

She didn't even notice the danger until the bullet whizzed past her hair. If it had been 10cm closer, she'd have been hit without knowing what happened.

I don't know what the heck's going on with Alphard. One minute she's bad, the other, not so bad.

Regarding Alphard's previous words to Maria, that it's all her fault, her Dad's pharmaceutical company was probably in charge of the Ua virus production as well as the anti-virus.

[shinta|hikari]

I doubt it is something as indirect as that. It definitely has something to do with her lost memories.

Alphard is bad. Stepping on and insulting Canaan is enough reason for me to think so.

[Kraco]

Maybe the past is gnawing Alphard just as much as Canaan. It seems to me, at least at this point, Alphard has more interest in making Canaan feel helpless and powerless than killing her. Despite having abandoned the name Canaan, Alphard is surely trying to prove she's more worth it than the new Canaan.

[Buffalobiian]

What makes it even harder to tell Alphard's motives is how Canaan described the colours to Maria last episode.

She explained "blue" was for killing intent, and the flashback showed Alphard in that colour. Assuming colours don't lie, it meant Alphard really did want Canaan dead until recently.


I doubt it is something as indirect as that. It definitely has something to do with her lost memories.

I hope so. It will make things much more interesting.

[Pandadice]

episode 10 is out

[gg]​_CANAAN​_-​_10​_[A47FF488].mkv (http://t.bt.is-ingenio.us/t/%5Bgg%5D_CANAAN_-_10_%5BA47FF488%5D.mkv.torrent)

[Buffalobiian]

I must say that's the best Canaan episode to date. The mood, especially the second half, was just one roller coaster after another. I particularly liked how they preserved the silence in that whole sequence, but showed Hakko and Mino's respective emotional changes as he got through to her, from green (being afraid of her) to maroon, then finally the light-brown that's mysteriously characteristic of Siam and Alphard.

Between all that and the final cliffhanger, they put in Yun-Yun and Maria doing the classic tumble-into-depths-of-enemy-base which really lighted up the mood between the two climaxes, working out much better than having a single, tense mood for half an episode.

I'm not so sure about how Hakko's sound attack works. From Liang Qi's explanation it sounded like a physical attack where the air vibrations damage the brain, as if her voice hits the brain's resonance frequency. If that was the case though, her anti-sound trick would be useless, leaving the only way to hurt Canaan is if the perceived noise damages the brain upon interpretation, rather than physical contact.

It's kind of half-assed science anyway, since I don't think Synesthesia would ever work like it's being portrayed to, but enjoyment didn't suffer much because of it.

Liang Qui is one ruthless, cunning bitch. So ruthless and cunning that I'm starting to like her.

[Nadouku]

Ouch, what a way to die. :(

Was that another person with Synesthesia in the ice? Her eyes were similar to Canaans.

[shinta|hikari]

I'm not so sure about how Hakko's sound attack works. From Liang Qi's explanation it sounded like a physical attack where the air vibrations damage the brain, as if her voice hits the brain's resonance frequency. If that was the case though, her anti-sound trick would be useless, leaving the only way to hurt Canaan is if the perceived noise damages the brain upon interpretation, rather than physical contact.

It's kind of half-assed science anyway, since I don't think Synesthesia would ever work like it's being portrayed to, but enjoyment didn't suffer much because of it.


Physically damaging the brain from sound waves that are not extremely loud in volume is very implausible. I think it is the way that the brain perceives the sound waves that causes the damage. Liang Qi did say that the vibrations damage the brain, but it can also mean that the way the brain (or the ear drum) receives the vibrations causes the damage. If it affects Canaan, I am inclined to believe the latter possibility.

[Ryllharu]

I must say that's the best Canaan episode to date. The mood, especially the second half, was just one roller coaster after another. I particularly liked how they preserved the silence in that whole sequence, but showed Hakko and Mino's respective emotional changes as he got through to her, from green (being afraid of her) to maroon, then finally the light-brown that's mysteriously characteristic of Siam and Alphard.

Liang Qui is one ruthless, cunning bitch. So ruthless and cunning that I'm starting to like her.
Hakko and Mino both ended yellow-orange when Canaan passed out, not brown. What that means, I'm not sure (it's very similar to Maria), but they were not the brown that Alphard and Siam shared. If I had to guess, it was love (or close to it), because that is the same emotion Maria has for Canaan.

Liang Qi has started to grate on me. Smaller amounts of Tanaka Rie uber-crazy are fine, but when she gets like this her voices goes shrill and is incredibly irritating.

Aside from Maria, Hakko is probably my favorite character in the show. This episode just proved why.

[Kraco]

Liang Qui is one ruthless, cunning bitch.

True enough, but it's getting easy to see why Alphard wanted to get rid of her. She clearly can't separate her own needs from those of the mission, and thus will use any resource available purely for her own purposes. I have a feeling her downfall will be the fact she doesn't know when to stop.

[oyabun]

I wonder why Canaan didn't turn off her synesthesia... If she did, maybe she won't be affected by hakko's sound attack during that situation.

[Kraco]

I don't think she can turn it off. We have seen her with the red eyes, but I'm inclined to think it's only a degree of concentration or something. Back when she lost the synesthesia she was all out of it, because she suddenly didn't know how people are feeling (and it was certainly made to look that was totally new to her), Maria included. That strongly indicates the condition is on all the time, red eyes or not.

[Ryllharu]

Liang Qi noted that the purpose of the Flower Garden was to recreate the Ua Virus' effect on Canaan's synesthesia. She always had synesthesia, but the Ua Virus hit her too, and that is what propelled it to the level where she can interact with machines, track Maria by aura, and utilize the effect to empower her reflexes (prediction or something) and grant her the supremacy she has in combat.

The red eyes effect is her synesthesia just ascending to the higher plateau granted by the virus...the same way any Borner does, just without the drugs.

[Pandadice]

whoa, definitely the best episode of the series.

man, when hakko walked in and started talking, i knew that the evil chick wasn't gonna be in there, but i didn't see that dude being in there at all! and then they actually killed him off D:!!

daaang this episode was good.

[Buffalobiian]

man, when hakko walked in and started talking, i knew that the evil chick wasn't gonna be in there, but i didn't see that dude being in there at all! and then they actually killed him off D:!!

When Hakko walked in and was met with no response from the conveniently turned-around chair, I was something like 95% sure her man would be there.

So the entire time she was talking, I was thinking "Oh shit, no, stop talking...just stop talking.", and when he was finally revealed: "Oh f*ck, it is him...:( )

The feeling of impending doom was just as good to watch as a complete-smack-in-the-face shock, if not better.

All the more powerful how he died halfway through her confession.

[shinta|hikari]

I realized it was him around the same time as you did Buff, only I didn't care much for the guy, so rather than impending doom, I didn't feel much of anything except maybe a little excitement.

The death scene on the other hand, was powerful. The fact that he wanted to torture himself just to hear those words actually made me like the guy in the last few seconds of his life. Hakko dragging the body around was fantastic too.

I wonder how the reporter guy can save Hakko from her despair.

[Kraco]

My main feeling when watching the scene was to wonder how stupid Hakko can be. But then again, I don't think she was ever pictured that sagacious. She would have probably made an excellent wife, mother, and a worker in social or humanistic field of the service sector but anything action related is vastly foreign to her nature.

Still, the series is doing remarkable work in building extreme anticipation for Liang Qi's death scene.

[David75]

I also thought that Hakko was extremely dumb.
Why would Lian Qi expose herself so easily to her when she clearly stated she knows her power and was cautious enough to not even have microphones in order to no hear her through her monitors?

Hakko's power is so strong, long range and multidirectionnal, that she just need to wait for the chair to turn to her. Should it be a very dumb Lian Qi sitting there even with weapons, she'd just have to shout so loudly that she'd be killed in a second.
The other dumb one is that guy no mumbling/moaning the best he can, after all we're in a chapel it seems, so Hakko should have been able to get that sound.

So to me that scene had to many shortcomings, even if it ended quite well and I also love how she just dragged him by the arm too. All of that with eyes far from sanity and a gun pointed at anyone near her, friendly or not.


Side not: Lian Qi's comments about sounds during sexual entertainment were mean too (was it last ep?)

[Ryllharu]

I don't think deception even really enters Hakko's mind. From what we've seen of her interacting with Mino, and even the flashback where she killed the child, she is usually concerned for others.

She has never viewed her powers as anything but a curse until now. Since her plan to use them offensively has backfired this poorly, I don't believe she will even consider it anything else ever again.

[RyougaZell]

Canaan 11 (http://t.bt.is-ingenio.us/t/%5Bgg%5D_CANAAN_-_11_%5B25D5E7BE%5D.mkv.torrent)

[Buffalobiian]

I believe that was a hint that the Ua virus came from a mummy. Canaan was exposed to it and gained heightened powers that way, opening the way to more research.

I also thought it was weird that the Japanese name for episode 12 isn't Seasonal Train.

[Pandadice]

it seemed like everyone was going crazy this episode.. first that one crazy evil chick dies and then hakko is making love to the dead guy.. definitely had an end-of-the-series look to it

[Kraco]

Finally Lian Qi died. She had been cracking so fast that it was about the time. Quite a suitable death scene as well. Canaan's employer woman (whatever was her name) being so wicked was a little surprise to me even if I did have some suspicion she must have ulterior motives.

[David75]

This is a show where people do not come back from death, it seems.
I would not like to see Lian coming back thanks to the UA virus giving her super regenerative abilities for example.

[Kraco]

I don't believe the drug she ate was the Ua virus. It was a beta stage drug meant to force synesthesia regardless of the genetic background. The virus, however, causes mutations that could potentially provide the genetic basis for a fully functional synesthesia. So, a person is subjected to the virus and if suitable mutations occur, the drug is given to create a Canaan like entity.

Though no doubt they might have aimed to have the drug create some degree of usable synesthesia in normal persons as well.

[Nadouku]

Hmm... making love to a dead guy... what a sight.

[Buffalobiian]

gg - Episode 12 (http://t.bt.is-ingenio.us/t/%5Bgg%5D_CANAAN_-_12_%5B1B79E90F%5D.mkv.torrent)

[Ryllharu]

This episode was pretty confusing with the scenes where her memories were integrating/overriding with her synesthesia, but once Maria described Canaan as a baby, it started to make a lot more sense. She relies too much on her senses, and too much on others (even as she saves them from danger or works for them).

Alphard is even hotter with her coat off.

[Kraco]

I have very hard time understanding the relationship between Canaan and Maria. I'm far from sure they understand it even themselves. If Canaan indeed just needs to have a light, a person to love, then why was she being so gloomy with Maria right there? And what exactly is Maria's problem? That I understand even less. What exactly does she believe getting blown up will achieve for either of them?

Very confusing.

[Buffalobiian]

Confusing as hell, but the fights were pretty good.


What exactly does she believe getting blown up will achieve for either of them? From what I gathered, she believes by doing that she'll unlock Canaan's synesthesia. By doing so, she'll become "helpful" to somebody, which is something she never thought she could accomplish.

The most memorable scene that episode was the nail breaking. Jamming the trigger with a thumb, which subsequently got crushed showed just how tense that fight was. I think I would have enjoyed it (the fight) a bit more had I not been trying to figure out everyone's motives at the same time.

[Nadouku]

Alphard is such a good fighter... makes me wonder where else she got her abilities from.

[Pandadice]

episode was kinda good. i'm wondering how they're gonna draw it to a close

[Buffalobiian]

In the end, Alphard's objective is to overcome her (and Siam's) despair by defeating the synesthesia soldier Canaan. Is that the conclusion everyone else came to?

[Kraco]

I don't know about that. Alphard's objective is a vague one because she could have killed Canaan already a number of times but felt she wasn't good enough yet to be taken seriously. Maybe it indeed is to defeat an übermensch, but I think more concretically it could be to witness such a thing even exists in the first place - or doesn't exist proving Siam wrong (and making Alphard already the best there can be).

[shinta|hikari]

Alphard wants to kill the complete version of Canaan. Right now, Canaan is supposedly incomplete, and the despair she will feel after Maria dies will allow her to reach her maximum state, like Alphard has already reached hers. That is the same reason why Alphard killed Siam.

Alphard probably believes it is meaningless to defeat Canaan before she reaches her peak, since that would not release her (Alphard) from her despair. Part of her despair is in knowing that she has reached her limit, and that there is someone who can supposedly overcome that given time and the right catalyst.

[Ryllharu]

From what I got out of the conversation, people like Canaan cause despair. They cause it on the battlefield because while plenty of other soldiers and mercenaries are strong, experienced, and skilled in battle, people like Canaan with her amplified synesthesia are not so much opponents and rivals but more like gods or forces of nature.

Alphard wants to prove Siam wrong by beating Canaan at her peak because it would mean that Siam was wrong about that, and with hard work, people like Alphard can beat that 'unstoppable' force of nature.

It's not the despair of losing Maria that will drive Canaan to her peak, that would break and weaken her like Siam's actual death caused before. The threat of losing Maria will make Canaan desperate, and if she's pushed far enough, she will overcome the anger-blinded failure she was in the bathroom, and achieve that peak. A Zen sort of concentration.

Alphard just wants to prove that she can beat a near-supernatural force, prove Siam's statement about how the two of them can never be the best false, and feel satisfied that all the time she has spent becoming who she is the past decade or so isn't a waste.

[shinta|hikari]

From the end of the last episode, it seems as if Canaan will be made to believe that Maria has actually died with the train car exploding. While I am not sure if she actually does die (or if the train car even explodes), if it does happen, it won't be the threat of Maria dying pushing Canaan anymore, but the shock of her actual death and the desire for revenge that arises from it.

[Kraco]

Hmm... We haven't actually seen Canaan to be excessively revenge driven (like so many shounen characters). She hasn't been going out of her way to kill Alphard (though she hates her surely) but has prioritised being with Maria in my opinion. In that sense I tend to think a threat of Maria dying might indeed be more powerful than her actually dying. It's a good theory the train car might not explode at all. Although an empty threat wouldn't really be conducive in the long run.

[shinta|hikari]

I find it absurd that Canaan can dodge bullets but gets hit by Alphard's attacks. It just doesn't make any sense. Can anyone give a good explanation for this?

I understand that predicting the opponents moves goes a long way in battle, and in that respect Alphard is definitely better than Canaan. But Canaan can sense bullets, and react to them. There is no way a human's punch can exceed that speed. Add to that the fact that bullets are minuscule and cannot be blocked, it just defies logic how Canaan gets beaten up like she has been.

I always thought that Alphard had some special power as well allowing her to be on par with Canaan, but the last episode seems to confirm that she is indeed only human.

[Buffalobiian]

gg - episode 13 (http://t.bt.is-ingenio.us/t/%5Bgg%5D_CANAAN_-_13_%5B78986F1E%5D.mkv.torrent)

-----------
Canaan's a strange show. It's amazing in some aspects, but for some reason still doesn't hit the sweet spot that makes you nod in approval.

Fight scenes are fluid and well-choreographed, the plot's never slowed down and the characters have been entertaining.

Still, after that finale, something still doesn't quite feel right. I would have said that it doesn't feel like they finished what they started, but that's not entirely true since the entire Ua virus conspiracy is all but explained.

The very last episodes took off on a tangent of character relationship developments that were more cryptic than clear. It's seemingly put together so well that you'd want to describe it as "genius", but when you still can't make coherent sense out of it, one questions if it should rather be described as badly written.

If there's one thing that's clear, it's that Canaan's been fun to watch.

[shinta|hikari]

I think the sweet spot you are referring to may be because of the main characters in the show. They are likable, and go through a lot of character development, but I personally don't love any of them. Generally, for me to like an anime a lot, it has to have at least one fantastic character, and while most of the characters in Canaan are great, they fall short by just a bit.

I actually really like the relationship between the two Canaans in this show. That is the highlight for me.

I also like the ending. It feels... fresh.

[Nadouku]

This is probably the first time I've seen Alphard become uneasy when fighting Canaan, having the reverse effect that she'd hoped Canaan would succumb to when Maria's train exploded. Overall, the series was quite entertaining to watch, and I'd check it out if you forumers haven't.

[Ryllharu]

It was interesting to see her aura shift from brown to green (fear). Alphard expected Canaan to break down a little when Maria supposedly exploded. Unfortunately for her, Canaan had already grown up mentally a bit since then. After that, Alphard was forced to realize that Siam had been right about what Canaan is all along.

[Kraco]

Since Alphard is loniless, it makes sense she can't predict how Canaan might behave in relation to her friends. Doubly so because it was something Canaan herself only then understood and reached.

I do know what Bill is talking about considering the show. It was quite hard to really love any of the characters. The ending was a fitting one for the series also because of that. While there was lots of fantasy elements involved, there was still an underlying realism running alongside it and I reckon it was that realism that made the character relationships and also this ending the way they were. Just like the reporter dude said: Maria and Canaan's worlds where worlds apart. Unlike in some Hollywood style ending they did what you would think people from different surroundings would do: Go their separate ways. Kind of a gray ending not raising huge emotions.

A pretty nice photo exhibition, though: A very good close-up of an Interpol wanted terrorist... If only some visitor actually recognized her.

[Pandadice]

well, that was definitely a good ending.

i feel so mixed about this show, cause like the first episode caught my interest, but then episodes like 2-8 were so bad i almost stopped watching, and really kinda just stopped taking it seriously. but then these last 4 episodes have been so good. but of course when it was over and i was like "this series was awesome!" all the early episodes came rushing back to me and i was like "oh yeah.. this series is the same thing as that series..."

around episode 9 it just got such a different tone to it. which made me really get into it.

i hated the post-credits sequel setup >.<

[Munsu]

Had forgotten to finish up this series, had a couple of episodes to go. In all, an enjoyable series, with kickass action. A bit confusing and ambiguous at times, but it told a cool self-contained story.

Felt like a Bee Train series, and I've been a bit of fan of them (though haven't cared much for some of their latest), and curiously the founder of the animating company also founded Bee Train.