The Land of Canaan Is a Promised Movie
You know, there is something missing in Canaan. Possibly the same thing that kept some away from the classic cinema-influenced anime Cowboy Bebop. And it’s not the non-serialized narrative.
The problem with Canaan, in short, is that it is scripted and paced like a film. When you dice a film into 22-minute segments, you’ll have a tough time to keep the audience hooked without wrangling the pacing out of whack. On the other hand, all the twists and turns are rather spot-on if you were to marathon the series without breaks, kind of like a modern Hollywood, action thriller. If you plot out the plot to Canaan right now, that’s exactly what it is–a modern action thriller.
Perhaps the best comparison to Canaan’s pacing is Eden of the East, just from a couple months ago. However there is a simple, overarching plot climax which builds on successive episodes after about the half-way point for Eden where as the mystery keeping viewers interested also bogs down that hook and line pulling my attention span longer. So it’s not longer.
The drawn out presentation of Canaan also gives more pause to some of the points of distraction–like Rie Tanaka’s over-the-top, silly girl Liang Qi. Or just how many “sugoi” can KokoMaria say if Maria could say “sugoi.” Or delicious Yunyun buns. Or all those taxi driver guy cameos. On the plus side, they could really pass Hakkoo off as a mute!
And I still persist that it’s Shem! Not Siam or Sham or whatever. It’s also a long shot, but Arpachshad would make sense of Alphard. As a side note, Abraham would make an awesome name for a final boss mecha.
It also makes me wonder how much of a role films like Munich played in the scripting for Canaan, as a part of the overall concept. Someone ask her for us?
But at least the Canaan movie series this fall, at least I hope, will do Canaan the justice it deserves. Comparing it to Noir is just plain misinformation that should be corrected.
In the newest episode there was a flashback of Siam giving Alphard the name Canaan. So maybe it’s more like a title than an actual name. I like Tanaka Rie’s crazy bitch routine. I don’t like her masochistic lapdog though.
SIAMSIAMSIAMSIAMSIAMSIAMSIAMSIAMSIAMSIAMSIAMSIAMSIAMSIAMSIAMSIAM
Every time I read it, I think of Siam Shade.
Yun Yun does a good job of keeping me entertained
SUGOI!
SUGOI SUGOI