Canaan 8 – Now With More Lesbian! (A Studious Observation!)

Okay! This is my first Canaan post, and I’m trying to blog it episodically from now on! So far, yuri anime Canaan is by far my favorite show of 2009 (though admittedly, it’s the only one I’ve seen more than 6 episodes of!) Every episode is a total blast, and it’s definitely the best action show I’ve seen since Baccano! So today, it’s episode 8 time, and I’ve brought back regular co-host No Name to help me through it! GET SOME!

First things first, this episode has more lesbian than ever before! Canaan and Maria are under-toning harder than a horny Marimite character. There’s hand-holding, long gazes into each-other’s eyes, and some completely inappropriate blushing. I fucking love it! No Name?

I’ll be looking forward to the doujins!

As will I! I think this is one of the better yuri relationships, or even relationships in general I’ve seen in anime lately, if just because the friendship of the girls is so unconditional and undramatic and just fun, like friendship should be.

Changing the subject, what I’ve noticed is, before, they explained that Maria had been kidnapped and experimented on with the Ua virus, and her father had developed the antivirus so he could save her. This was the antivirus that was supposed to be used on the world leaders after episode seven. However, when Minoru mentions the survivors of the virus to Maria’s father and the special powers they should gain from the mutation, Maria’s father explains that before the transfiguration, the infected person will die. Minoru asks if ‘they could manage to survive’, and Maria’s father says ‘that’s impossible, if they did, they’d be a ghost caused by the Ua virus.’

Now, if he’s saying that no one can survive it, even though obviously he gave them the antivirus, then Maria shouldn’t be ale to survive it – and if this so-called death predates the gaining of special powers, then Maria may yet undergo this process. In the opening theme, we see Maria glowing golden as if she were using some kind of power, and her dialog to Canaan about wishing to shine as she does could be somewhat foreshadowing a literal ‘shining’ on her part, which may reflect the fact that Canaan’s ‘shining’ is likely related to her own powers. So, I’m looking forward to a super-powered Maria in the future!

JOUJI!!!!!!!

So, Canaan has lost her powers, essentially. She is seeing the world in a whole new way, loosing her ‘colors’ that helped her understand things. I think it is evident that it’s really hard for her to interpret the world without colors, and it scares her mostly because she is worried that she can’t protect Maria anymore.

Canaan’s facial expressions throughout the episode really accentuated her confusion and swirling emotions towards this new, more complex world. This was especially true when she didn’t really know what to think after having been strangled by Hakko, and wasn’t really sure if she was being attacked or something else. I also want to add in, it was really touching when Canaan thought that even without being able to see her color, she could still feel the kindness of Maria’s heart. That’s fuckin’ love, baby!

dawwwww

I also really like how the producers are smart enough to put money in the right places. This being a dialog-heavy expository episode, it had less of the over-the-top animation of the earlier episodes, and presumably the money saved here will go towards an assuredly epic final battle. Well played!

The phrase "What the fuck you crazy bitch?!" comes to mind.

Having seen this episode, especially because of it’s ending having lead the team of protagonists towards the village where ‘everything began’, I think we will have a major expository episode coming up next, and then launch into the last few episodes of epic climax. It’s sure to be fucking incredible.

w00t, Yun Yun~!