I wonder why I didn’t watch this a long time ago, seeing as I love school romance anime. I’ve seen the characters around the net, I’ve read part of it’s Wikipedia entry, I’ve even seen it mentioned many times {in message boards, forums, etc}, and I’ve even seen the first Canvas {which is NOT FAMILY SAFE!! >_<}…but yet, I didn’t immediately ran to watch this series…I find that odd, REALLY REALLY ODD!! >_< But as you can see, I FINALLY decided to watch it!! ^_^
Right from the first episode, I got a bit discouraged. This was yet another “I live with my Onii-chan and I’m in love with him…good thing we’re not blood related” kinda deal…I got enough of that, if not TOO much, from DaCapo… -_- But, like I said before, this is {one of} my preferred genre, so without really questioning the first episode, I moved along!! ^_^
For the most part, Canvas 2 was a very good anime with a lot of characters with everyone getting a proper amount of screen time…which I thought was good. Aside from a lolicious single fanged sempai {Hagino} and an “Ave Maria” singing character voiced by Hirano Aya {Sumire}, Canvas 2 had other, more meaningful, things going on with it. Things like mental trauma and a ‘to live or die’ decision. Though, I kinda wished they emphasized or focused more on those two themes a bit more rather than on Elis trying to get her “onii-chan’s” attention.
I especially wanted to see more from tsundere trouble child Tomoko {voiced by Takahashi “Hamster” Mikako} who had to think about whether to grab life or let it go…Maybe because she thought that way, she had a better grasp at what was going on between Elis, Kiri, and Hiroki…You can probably guess she’s my favorite character! ^_^’ I found myself really enjoying the episode where she made an appearance! ^_^ But like I said, I wished she had a bit more screen time to flesh out her story…if you pay good enough attention, you would realize that Hiroki was the guy who showed her drawings while she was at the hospital. It wasn’t really said in the anime, you had to find the clues yourself.
The only gripe I had with Canvas 2 was the ending.
I usually don’t passionately disapprove of the male lead’s choice at the end…{other than DaCapo that is ^_^’}…but because of it, the high praises I had during the run went down a bit. It’s not rare to rate the overall anime by how it ends…and to me, Canvas 2 ended sourly… -_- Prepare yourself for my passionate spoiler filled disapproval rant:
[RANT]
During the last two episodes I was convinced that Hiroki would make the right choice and stick with Kiri, but during episode 23, 5 simple words were repeatedly running through my mind and I hoped they would reach Hiroki. “Don’t end up with Elis!” “Don’t end up with Elis!” “Don’t end up with Elis!” I mean, they spent most of the anime trying to get Hiroki and Kiri together. And it has been shown many times that Hiroki still likes her. He even became her boyfriend!!!! >_< But yet, he chose the red fearing and annoying Elis {yeah…I really wasn’t a fan of Elis}!! Throughout the anime, Hiroki treated Elis like a little sister and a little sister only! Never once was it shown that he had an interest in Elis! But yet, with a single painting, he fell in love with her!!! >_< What about the great and awesome Kiri!?! You liked her since High School and you get along great!! But a blond girl paints you something and you decide to like her instead!?! What happened to seeing her as your little sister!?
*BLECH* BOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! >_<
You know what? You don’t deserve an awesome girl like Kiri!! Stick with your annoying immature and childish little girl!! >:(
[/RANT]
*Sigh* Now that that’s out of the way, let me emphasize that Canvas 2 was a good and enjoyable anime and definitely worth anyone’s time! ^_^ Don’t let that rant scare you, it’s just my own opinion! ^_^
Open Your Mind 
anime seems to evolve at an alarming rate, and the shows we watch now are just different in subtle ways, even though the situations might be similar, from shows like suzuka and canvas2, which were two of the better shows of their era. maybe you have already, but i wholly recommend taking a stroll through the animesuki forums for both shows. especially canvas2. i could have and probably made that same rant after watching canvas2. read through the forums, though, for some more excellent points of view. the further reading is really worth it and fun.
I really enjoyed Canvas 2 because I was pleasantly surprised by it. On the surface it looks like just another harem show, but it turns out the majority of the show focuses on a love triangle, which is great. Even though the secondary female characters didn’t get a whole lot of airtime, I still liked how they all had meaningful contributions to the overall story on some level.
As for the ending, I too was rooting for Kiri. Despite this, I saw a lot of signs and hints pointing to an Elis ending, and when it actually happened, I wasn’t too surprised. BUT what was completely unecessary IMO, was that “naked under the sheets kiss” thing at the very end. I SO DID NOT WANT TO SEE THAT.
Yeah, I saw the signs too with the other girls giving him some ‘advice’, but what I didn’t see was any interest from Hiroki’s part. That blushing part in the hospital doesn’t count ’cause, well, ANYONE blushes if they lie down with a girl! ^_^
If he had shown some interest along the way, I probably might have been fine with his choice…but like I said, throughout the anime, he just treated Elis like a little sister.
And I just have to love Kiri for still wanting to hang around him despite the fact he stood her up on CHRISTMAS EVE! It’s sad, she has waited for something like that since high school…
I agree with what marclemagne said, and would included Shuffle in that bunch. I was sour on canvas 2 for a bit because of the ending, but retrospectively, it was definitely an enjoyable show, and one that I might considering a bit more enjoyable than a lot of the stuff airing more recently. Glad you enjoyed it though!
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Yea I had the exact same reaction as you towards the end. I was thinking like this-
“Please dont end up with Elis”, “Please dont end up with Elis”……………….
“Ah, piss of and fuck this bullshit”, “Hiroki, from now on I will hold an eternal grudge against you for choosing Elis even if you are an anime character”. And to think they added in a little scene of them getting laid in the end to make it that much worse. Anyway, you get my point.
i dont like the ending..im realy disapointed..this suck
Glad to see people rooting for Kiri. If I were Hiroki, I would definitely choose Kiri. What can you expect more out of such a great girl like Kiri? Elis is just immature and annoying, and full of jealousy. Girls who easily get jealous are really annoying. I’d tell Elis “falling in love with your own cousin is just wrong. We can’t stay together forever. You’ll have to marry some other guy.” But choosing Elis over Kiri is just stupid!!!
What’s so great or awesome about Kiri anyway? She may be a good cook and athletic but she didn’t grow at all throughout the anime. All she ever did is chasing hiroki around and didn’t do anything to help him to paint again. And despite being older than eris, kiri can’t get over her fear of scary stuffs. Getting scared over a witch cosplay is way too IMMATURE. Did you hear the way she cried when she saw hagino at that time? Ugh, how childish.
Let’s just face it, guys. Kiri had FAILED to make Hiroki a man. He was just running away from his problem & decided to become a teacher because he couldn’t draw anymore. What a sissy! And KIri is helping him to become a wimp by supporting his teaching career.
Kiri never bother to improve herself & I got bored with her character as the story went on. She gives me that ‘as long as hiroki is mine, nothing else is matter and to hell with his dream’ vibe. Well, she get what she deserved. Got rejected for the second time and got dumped during christmas is the best present for her, lmao.
And as for the jealousy part, Kiri is no exception. Watch the series and you’ll see that everytime she got jealous, she’ll STEAL Hiroki’s food. What a pig! Not only that , she’s also greedy. Spending Christmas time with Hiroki is not good enough for her. She wanted a much more romantic atmosphere. As a girl myself, I understand that but Kiri should be thankful and grateful that she will be spending time with hiroki. But no. She wanted MORE. How selfish of her. The important thing is to have fun but she said it’s boring even before she tries it. Jeez. You people must be kidding when you said that Hiroki doesn’t deserve Kiri. She’s not even worthed to be with in the first place. Hiroki dumping her is the right thing to do.
Oh btw, if you boys would choose a girl like kiri, then go ahead. Hopefully you’ll not regret it afterwards. If I were you, I would rather choose someone who would appreciate me more & can guide me the right way.
And lastly, Takeuchi (the art club president) is way much greater than Kiri is, imo and she’s definitely my favourite character. Hagino is my second favourite and others are just so-so. Eris annoyed me at the beginning but she did turn out okay for me during the second half of the series. If only kiri put a much more effort in straighten hiroki out instead of focusing too much in getting him, then i would consider my opinion of her. But for a character with lack of backbones, Kiri is way too overrated & doesn’t deserve the word awesome or great.
I think that was a phobia. No matter how old you are or how ‘mature’ you are, one will still act “childish” and “immature” when confronted with their phobia…
Hiroki DOES NOT deserve Kiri. He’s such a coward for running away from his problem [some one steals his art and he decides to quit…wow what a great way to face up to it]. He’s not a full adult, so he deserves some immature brat like Ellis who is a lot more greedy than Kiri is.
Kiri may be supporting his career choice, but that’s because she believes Hiroki should make his own decisions rather than have someone hold his hand and guide him to where he needs to be…like the immature adult he is. He needs to find the answer himself.
Her greatness and awesomeness comes from the fact that although she has been dumped once in High School, she still gets the courage to confess to Hiroki once again…and get rejected again…but that didn’t stop her from meeting Hiroki again. She has taken two hard blows to her heart, despite that she still loves him and can handle being around him.
But my hate for Ellis mostly comes from the ending of the anime. Like I said, they spent most of the anime trying to get Hiroki and Kiri together, they both showed interest in each other. As for Ellis, Hiroki treated her only as a little sister and nothing else…, but once she showed him a painting…his feelings turn a 180 degree turn and towards Ellis.
It was a sudden “let just make him end up with Ellis despite the development he had with Kiri” ending. Well, what can ya do, Harem lead are always stupid and [tend to] end up with the first girl seen on screen…or the supposed “lead girl/fan favorite”… >_>
I saw this anime a long time ago so some details are scarce…