Canaan

Alternate Titles: 428 the animation

Original Japanese Release Date: July 4th, 2009

Episode Length/Run-time: 13 Episodes

Summary:

In a near present time, Shibuya Tokyo was assaulted by a bioterrorism attack using the deadly Ua virus.  Maria Osawa should have been killed by the first but she learns that she survived because her father immunized her from the virus prior to the attack.  Later, Maria meets up with an old friend, Canaan, who is a given assassin on a special mission.

Review:

The first thing you’ll notice about this anime is that it has a badass opening theme.  The song “Mind as Judgement” by faylan is very good.  Also, the show kicks off with a bang.  What is more exciting than a bio-terrorism attack in a crowded city area?  The attacks follow with an exciting action sequence that really shows you what the show is made of.  Canaan flipping over rooftops, dodging bullets, scaling buildings, shooting guns, etc…It feels like the video game Mirror’s Edge a little bit.  This all sounds great but unfortunately, what it does is set the bar incredibly high for itself.  A bar that for most viewers, the anime will never live up to.

The story has pretty decent pacing.  It doesn’t give away all the plot points all at once and will help the viewer along with good action scenes while the story slowly reveals itself.  The bad thing about the plotline is that as I already previously mentioned about Mirror’s Edge, this anime doesn’t feel very original.  The assassins and the high pace action makes the anime feel like you’re watching a high budget Noir blended with free running.

In the end this is a show you will love or hate.  It’s got great action and the plotline is just good enough to not be a failure but the anime doesn’t feel like it is it’s own unique creation.  It will feel lie you’ve seen it before. So give it a try but just try not to be fooled by the high starting expectations.

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