Anime Review: Canaan

English Title: Canaan

Japanese Title: CANAAN

Director(s): Ando Masahiro

Screenwriter(s): Okada Mari

Studio: P.A. Works

Released: 2009

Runtime: 13 episodes, ~24m each.

Starring: Sawashiro Miyuki, Sakamoto Maaya, Nanjo Yoshino, Hamada Kenji, Tanaka Rie

Canaan is a sequel to 428: Shibuya Scramble, a highly acclaimed visual novel game created by Type-Moon that was first published in 2008.

428: Shibuya Scramble involves the kidnapping of Osawa Maria and the Ua Virus which her father had been working on its antiviral drug. Japanese law enforcement and the CIA are on the case. The game follows five main characters as they have merely 10 hours to solve the mystery and prevent disaster.

Canaan is set about two years after the events of 428: Shibuya Scramble. I have not played the game so the review is of the anime only. Whilst the game seems highly intriguing, this anime mostly falls flat.

The opening episode has Osawa Maria sent to Shanghai to cover an upcoming anti-terrorism conference. Of course, she gets into trouble with assassins and the titular character enters to save her.

Canaan is a teenage girl/young woman and a highly trained operative of Middle-Eastern descent. In addition to her hand-to-hand combat and weapons handling skills, she also has synesthesia.

She is after her arch-nemesis, Alphard, who is also highly skilled. Alphard is older, more experienced, very confident in her abilities, and one knows she must be dangerous because she’s a bit ripped.

One learns their history soon enough, that both were trained by Siam. In other words, this is “two assassin chicks with a shared past now going at each other with pistols”. It may be derivative but it’s a good enough setup for a decent espionage action-thriller. And if the creators want more of a mystery-thriller because someone has big plans, then that can work too.

Unfortunately, the series does not have much of either. The Ua Virus is involved but nothing particularly intriguing.

On a related note, there is the fundamental question of whether the anime intends to rely on knowledge of the game. It does not come across that way. Whilst it avoids chunky background expositions, it merely alludes to the events of the game, which is arguably not enough for those who do not know the game intimately and if the plot does involve the Ua Virus. The anime seems to be in this awkward position of catering to an audience that may not have played the game but not managing it well either.

Some may also argue that there is not enough depth in the characters. In my opinion, the characters are fine in themselves but their relationships come across as superficial. This would be fine too if there is more action; that is, with more of a focus on making it an espionage action-thriller. Although there are some cool action sequences, there are not enough.

Visually, it is not bad. The animation is slick enough and there are a few action sequences that are cool. Canaan seeing non-visual stimuli in different colors is also a nice feature. The veteran cast, as expected, gives solid performances. The sound and sound editing are crisp, which is essential if the protagonist and antagonist have pistols as their signature weapon.

On balance, whilst the production is good, the plot is not sufficiently intriguing and the pacing is somewhat pedestrian, making the work not particularly memorable.

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