Canaan 09 – What is love? Baby don’t hurt me…no more.

Minds unsettled.

Past revealed.

Ideals VS reality.

Crazy longings and dreams.

It’s the kind of episode that keeps one on the edge of his seat. It’s also the kind of episode that makes others begging the pain to stop.

To me, Canaan seems to have the formula done right: action, plot, intrigue, villainy and concept-heavy. There are still many questions to be answered at this stage but a lot is clear now. We know that the so-called Virus is not developed by the Snake, but by the fictional version of CIA, which acts not too much unlike the military in Vietnam and recent Iraq War. The recent US military in memory has demanded its soldiers to torture, destroy and commit atrocities that average US citizens would be appalled to look at.

Who wouldn’t? Yet that has been the reality. This show’s plot depicts something to what could happen (or what already happened – think Anthrax) in a world where the politicians say one thing, but the agencies that perform underground work do something else. US agencies have known to make deals with the so-called enemies. Hell, if Michael Moore can be believed with all the references to news reports he cited, then the previous US government protected the so-called head of the terrorist organization’s family and worked with his extended family in United Emirates for the sake of various personal interests.

Here, the supporting characters shines. Yun-Yun is desperate. There is no hope, right? It’s probably better if she died. But no, that’s only an excuse of the one who doesn’t fight. She utters the most important line in the entire show: “Life is precious!”

Who the hell are we humans to temper with life? Many nations tried their hands at making new viruses  (Japan, Russia, US, and possibly others) to create something new.

Who gave anyone the right to do so? Who said people can temper with uranium and even hydrogen? Who said people can be used as experimental lab rats?

The bitter and painful truth hits and innocent people are used and kept as lab animals, unable to die, unable to really live and unable to do anything other then what their handlers commend because they are corrupted flowers that never bloomed.

What is the ultimate purpose of the garden? To create a new human race with powers to reach God? To create a new eden? To give people a new hope? This garden drives Liang Qi insane; it drives Cummings to follow Liang like another fervent believer of a cult, and it causes death of children and a loyal agent from CIA desolate in spirit.

Sham tries to find hope and Alphard is just not the hope he wants. They’re too alike. Canaan’s eyes of resonance confirms that. Perhaps that’s the reason Sham discards Alphard precisely because he and she are too similar in spirit and method. Sham wants someone who’s different, who moves on and has the power to live on once he goes away.

That seems to intrigue Alphard a great deal. She demands Canaan to stay alive and fight with her full powers. Alphard is so hardened that she cannot understand hope and survival. But she leaves us with a mysterious prediction. “When she [Canaan] wakes up, tell her this: that her name is really despair.”

What is within Canaan’s heart and mind that makes her not the hope but rather despair?

Additional notes: Cummings really touches me with his loyalty, even if it’s unfounded. I remember one story in Doraemn where there is a man who’s cruel to his dog, even though he does feed the poor thing but he takes all his anger out on his dog. Nobita and Doraemon get angry at the man and uses something to unite the street dogs to attack the man, but his dog bravely stands in front of his terrible master to defend him. That was somehow so touching that as a child, I shed tears. Perhaps it’s love in a way. It understands and even accepts, knowing there is still good left and refuses to betray or let go. As much as Liang treats Cummings like a punching bag, something so desperate and frail inside Liang triggers Cummings’ love and he refuses to just let Liang die. He even tries to shoot the almighty Alphard. His undying loyalty makes even the already well-hardened and well-seasoned Alphard change her mind. After all, it is quite intriguing to see a loyalty that cannot be swayed even in the face of death.

It must be hard to be a journalist. Osawa learns to hard lesson here from Minoru – taking that cursed photo with the intention to show it to the world. The truth must be told no matter how hard it is.

Hakkoo already knows that life is precious and she wishes to save anyone she can from her village. Osawa beats up Yun-Yun for the same reason. It’s sad when someone dies. Someone said that “when one man (of course woman, too, even more so imho) dies, all loses something.”

Natsume and the NGO is just as shady as anyone else. It’s profit they’re after. The Snake seemingly has a noble purpose and the “CIA” also has a “noble” goal, in comparison, the NGO only seeks to blackmail, which oddly makes it the worse group in the show.

Rierie must be hooked on being Sayara/Suiginto like characters, I mean I could hear her enjoyment being them. If I were Cummings I’d let her shoot me with BB’s and hopefully, she’d let me kiss her feet. But in any case, she’s really enjoying it. So far, her crazed voice just takes the spotlight every time she’s on.

Oh and, GODDAMN THAT EPISODE WAS INTENSE!

Author: Ray

I'm a hardcore Anime Fan and I'm proud of it. I know so many things and I've acquired so much knowledge you wouldn't believe. But my love is anime. I've been drifting in this world for so long that I don't even know what an anchor means. I've seen so many shows that I've lost count. The only thing I'm sure of myself is that I care for the lowly and disenfranchised. I hate the rich and powerful and I love what I do, or what I can do. I like anime and I don't mind watching different types of shows. I have experience in different types of Japanese animation. I would be called an "expert" in a bizzaro world. One day, I'd like to start a revolution. I love the US, pizza, beer, sashimi, Chinese food, and steak. But I love freshly baked bread more than a well-aged steak. In reality, if I were born Japanese I'd be a real, hardcore Otaku. I love to love and I can hate strongly. I'm passionate in nature and I don't mind shedding tears. I can be reached at rayyhum777 at animediet. My Twitter is rayyhum777 at twitter.

3 thoughts on “Canaan 09 – What is love? Baby don’t hurt me…no more.

  1. You’ve certainly got some stirring words here, and I’m actually a little disappointed in myself as a fan. I watched the episode twice and while I had fun with the very scenes you mentioned, I was so disappointed with the way the episode was executed that I was almost blind to looking at it more heartfully. I tip my hat to you!

    1. @ digitalboy – I think a lot of what I wrote reflect some of my experiences and views on the world and US. I do agree with you that there were some misses in the episode – Alphard’s refusal to really kill both Liang and Cummings is a little surprising and feel like a forced character change. I guess I simply saw it from another angle. Overall though, even if some of the expressions and appearances of characters do seem forced, in the end they served to make me think.

      Anyway, different people have different views.

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