Kanon
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Kanon_nayuki_screenshot.jpg
Kanon is a popular Japanese ren'ai game published by Key in 1999. The original version was an adult-only H game for the PC. Later, versions for all ages were released for the PC as well as the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2. It is not celebrated for its gameplay, which (like most games in its genre) is highly linear, but rather for its intense atmosphere, relatively intricate plot, and cute characters; the most famous feature of the game is the heroine Ayu's catchphrase, "うぐぅ～" (uguu).
Its name, like other games released by Key, is derived from a musical term. Kanon is canon in German.
As with many popular games, Kanon has made the transition to other media, including anime (as a 13-episode TV series plus an OAV, Kazahana), manga, drama CDs, and novels. It has also inspired a vast corpus of dojin works, including unofficial music CDs, manga, and dojin games such as Kanon RPG and the parody Kanoso. Characters from Kanon appear in many works not directly based on the game, such as the fighting games Eternal Fighter ZERO and Glove on Fight.
The work's relative popularity in Japan has led to a considerable amount of interest from Japanophile communities in other countries. Unofficial fan translations of the game have been released in Chinese and Korean, and an English version is currently a work in progress.
External links
- Key Official HP (Japanese) (http://key.visualarts.gr.jp)
- Kanonsense, a Kanon fansite (Japanese) (http://www.ringo.sakura.ne.jp/~oomichi/kanon)
- "Kanon: a translation" (unofficial English translation for PC) (http://www.haeleth.net/kanon.html)
- CKanon, fans website for the Chinese Kanon Project (Traditional Chinese) (http://ckanon.24cc.com/)
- key fans club, fans website for main land china (simplify chinese) (http://www.keyfc.net/bbs/)
- Team Gears, an unofficial korean translation for PC (All age version) (http://www.bluep.net/gears/)
- Team B&S, an unofficial korean translation for PC (Adult version) (http://www.teamblast.net/)ko:카논 (게임)