Canvas 2: Nijiiro no Sketch

Kamikura Hiroki is an art student at the local school Nadesico Academy (High School and college level) whom intends to be an art teacher in the future. He is also the advisor to the high school arts society where his cousin, Housen Elis, attends. While Elis is a painter like Hiroki, Hiroki seems to have given up on his dreams and no longer paints. There appears to be some mysterious trauma in the both of their pasts which may have changed them. Meanwhile, the high school hires a new PE teacher, Kikyo Kiri. On the first day, she bumps into Hiroki and is stunned. Here is the boy she confessed to and he refused her...

(Source: ANN)

Housen, Elis Main

Nazuka, Kaori Japanese

Kamikura, Hiroki Main

Sakurai, Takahiro Japanese

Kikyou, Kiri Main

Nabatame, Hitomi Japanese

Fujinami, Tomoko Supporting

Takahashi, Mikako Japanese

Hagino, Kana Supporting

Tokunaga, Ai Japanese

Takeuchi, Mami Supporting

Toyoguchi, Megumi Japanese

Misaki, Sumire Supporting

Hirano, Aya Japanese

Tamaru, Hikari Supporting

Itou, Shizuka Japanese

Shinichirou, Yanagi Supporting

Taniyama, Kishou Japanese

Mochizuki, Haruna Supporting

Kugimiya, Rie Japanese

Kawasaki, Tomoko Producer

Suzuki, Tomoko Producer

Kawasaki, Itsurou Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Iwanami, Yoshikazu Sound Director

Reviews

Apr 13, 2014

Hime-In-A-Box

Recommended

Canvas 2 was definitely an unexpected series. Despite what the other reviews say, this show doesn't feel like a harem whatsoever. In fact, it's more of a love triangle. Take note that just because a show involves a male character hanging out and talking with a fairly big group of girls, doesn't mean it's a harem.
I have literally one issue with this series. What's the issue, you ask? Well, I'll tell you; The ending. I'm a person who values the path along the way to the ending the most, but you can't disagree that an ending to a series can affect your view on ... the series as a whole, despite the ride along the way being unexpectedly enjoyable. I don't know if this spoils anything, but I'm just going to say that the path the main character was taking for the entire series was one I really agreed with, until the last episode he decides to change his mind and turn everything around.
Story: 9
The story is simple and sweet. Hiroki Kamikura is an artist... well, an ex-artist, who refuses to paint anything after a certain life event. (Which you learn about later on.) He lives with his little cousin; Elis, who lost her parents in a car crash when she was little. (Afterwards, Hiroki decided to take care of her.) Due to trauma, she refuses to use the color red in her paintings, or freaks out whenever she notices the color. (Again, you'll learn why, and it's a completely understandable reason as well, considering how trauma works and how old she was when said accident happens.)
There are past events and other events that are important to the story, but all you need to know is it's about an awesome art student/student-teacher/teacher (Yes, the main character is a teacher, not a student) who gets trapped in a love triangle between his cousin and a childhood friend who ended up becoming a teacher at the same school. (Yes, there is incest to a certain degree. If you don't enjoy this sort of thing... you may not like this show. It's really not emphasized whatsoever due to the fact that the main character doesn't share his cousin's feelings, and doesn't even consider her a romantic interest. It's there, though, and it grows near the end.)
Canvas 2 is a drama and a romance. The story is, as I said, simple and sweet. I myself enjoy drama, a lot, and found that the drama in this show is fairly deep and organized well. Some events and decisions are ridiculous, but nothing too severe. (Disregarding the ending...) Think of drama in shows like Golden Time, or Toradora... it's similar to that. If you like this sort of drama, you'll probably enjoy Canvas 2. If that's not enough, then I'll explain more of my feelings for this show continuing with...
Art: 7
I don't know if this rating is considered fair or not for a reason; The anime is from 2005, and, from what I can tell, the average cheaper visual novel adaptation. When it comes to animation, that is. Shows like Myself;Yourself or H2O: Footprints in the Sand are along the lines of what I mean. Though, at times, the animation is definitely great, though most of the time the animation is just plain old "good". Nothing more or nothing less. Though the kids in this show are great artists.
Sound: 7
Again, I don't know if this rating is fair due to it's age and budget. The soundtrack is simple, and below average. Despite this, there are a few soundtracks that really stood out to me, and it fit the feel of the show extremely well. It's not a soundtrack I would spend the time looking for, though, and it's definitely not "great" either. Again, the sound, just like the art, receives a plain old "good", as well as a "Meh."
Character: 10
This is where the show stands out, in my opinion. Aside the romance, my favorite thing about this series was the main character; Hiroki. I don't know how to describe him with certain adjectives, but what I can say is that one of the main reasons I really, really enjoyed this show is because of him. He has a certain feel to him that you just can't help but love him, or at least, like him. You can't dislike him. At least, I think so. He's never gotten stuck in a cliche moments, not once. He was called a pervert? Doesn't bother him. He takes it as a joke, doesn't try to pathetically and desperately defend himself, and walks away. Plus, throughout 23 of the 24 episodes, he made all the right decisions. (Again, I did not like what he did in the ending. Seriously. I'm so mad about his choice in the end.) But despite the ending, he's seriously a great and funny character.
Of course, the other characters are wonderful too. The only character I disliked to a certain extent is Elis, Hiroki's cousin. As much as I like yanderes, her obsession with him is more annoying than you'd expect. It just... is.
Hagino is also a character that really stood out for me. She's an author who goes to the school Hiroki works at. She's adorable and has a wonderful attitude that is actually fairly unique. There are other characters that aren't emphasized as much, but you can tell what kind of person they are after a few episodes. Character development is outstanding.
Enjoyment: 9
My explanation for this rating is simple; I would have given it a ten... if it wasn't for the damn ending! Arrrgh! Either way, this show was surprisingly entertaining and fun to watch. The romance had me cheering throughout 23 of the 24 episodes, and I had a good time watching it. I laughed at a certain character I actually hated (Who I didn't mention in the character section) whenever he became sad.
This series was definitely a fun ride, and sadly, I'm going to be feeling a bit down due to the path the ending took... but despite that, it's a great series nonetheless, definitely underrated and even fairly unpredictable. plus, it's got good comedy to fill in the spaces between the romance! Now to try to find another VN adaption that lives up to something as great as Canvas 2.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Oct 23, 2018

KoutafromFB

Mixed Feelings

So, I've read the Visual Novel before watching the anime and this review will be based on my knowledge of the game.

The soundtrack of the show is really bad at times, which is a shame because the VN has some good songs to it. While the art style is bad at times and could use a few more in between to check on it, it doesn't really take away the enjoyment.

If you haven't read the synopsis yet, I highly recommend that you do. The main character who lost his dream of becoming an artist is the main aspect of the show that I liked and ... can very much relate to. Hiroki the main character, is a pretty okay protagonist, not too clumsy and not too nice. I didn't like Elis in the novels but the anime developed her character a lot better and did justice to her character. Kiri started off similar to her visual novel counterpart, but as the story goes she gets surprisingly better than in the novels.

The show did a good job on telling the characters' motive and back story. The characters interact with each other well especially the side characters, who were given enough time to shine and development.

While the romance of the show is not the strongest part, the comedy is enjoyable, especially if you've read the novel. Unfortunately the writing of the show leaves much to be desired as the closer the story reaches to the end.

Overall it's not a completely bad experience. It wasn't anything amazing, but it's not far from the worst shows I've seen, at least it had a conclusion. If you think about picking up this series I highly recommend reading the visual novels first see what routes you like and then come back and have a good laugh as you can guess what might happens next.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Jun 12, 2009

Credulous

Not Recommended

In the year of 2005 the japanese animation production companies made quite a few animes, one of them is called Canvas 2. Why it is called Canvas 2 is probably because it's based on Canvas ~Motif Of Sepia~ (an OVA which I suppose was originally planned to be hentai, but they were feeling extra original and didn't make a hentai, instead they made the masterpiece that is known as Canvas ~Motif Of Sepia~, do not be fooled, I was being sarcastic), but it's not really a sequel. I guess they thought it was witty to add the 2 even though it's not an actual sequel. ... I can't begin to stress how original and inventive it is that they added a 2 to their title "Canvas". It blows my mind.

It's called Canvas with a 2 added because it's somehow about painters and a highschool that takes extra care of their art club... or something. There's this guy in this school who's something like a trainee teacher and takes care of the art club. For a school who specializes in art and suchlike they sure are lax with their art teacher. Ah well. Let me get to the point though, this anime is so bad I don't even know where to begin. BUT! It's actually so bad there's some qualities (bad ones of course) almost worth watching this anime for.

Let's start with the screenplay; it is an abomination, I mean, I swear to you right now and right here that I, the one sitting infront of my computer typing up this review, could have done a much better job. I'm not even joking. The thing is, the screenplay is overall of such poor quality that I can't really explain why it is bad, it's just that what the characters say, how they say it and why they say the things they say is just plain dumb. It's poorly timed, it's poorly written and for all I care they could just aswell have talked about planting sunflowers for the entirety of the series.

Let us continue with the story. If I must take the story seriously for the first time since I started watching the anime, I would say it's very fleeting. It's unevenly paced and mostly it's about nothing at all. Two episodes were dedicated to make an omelet with rice. Yea that's right, two episodes. I'm not joking. Canvas with a 2 added tries to be cute aswell, it tries to be moe, but the thing is, it fails at this in such epic proportions that it really becomes funny. But what I can say above all else is that this entire anime feels really, really ridiculous. The script, the story and every single character are ridiculous.

Foreseeable is a good word, it's a word that fits in with almost every single harem ever produced. Canvas with a 2 added is one of the most foreseeable animes I have ever watched though. I knew exactly how 75% of the scenes in Canvas with a 2 added had to offer were going to play out, and that is not exaggerating.

Now, in harem anime there's always several girls liking the same boy, since Canvas with a 2 added is a harem it is the same deal here. It's just that, you know, you usually expect to find out why people like other people, in Canvas with a 2 added it's a complete mystery and I mean that's cool... I suppose. But then you have the male lead who is one of the most stereotypical male leads in a harem or in any genre I've ever seen and you just think to yourself; why?

Now, let's end this on a high note. No, you know aswell as I do this is not going to end on a high note, the reason being; there are no high notes in this review nor are there any high notes in Canvas with a 2 added. The art and animation in Canvas with a 2 added is horrendous, really, reallly, really horrendous. That means it's bad. There are many stills in this anime, usually in anime you find that stills are fairly detailed with vivacious colours because stills (a non moving picture/frame) are cheap to make and doesn't even require animation if you really feel like saving some money, but in Canvas with a 2 added the stills are usually a school building, that I swear to Tom Cruise I could do better with some crayons on a white piece of paper, and then some green and blue for the grass and sky. You know, stuff you expect from 6 year old kids in first grade doodling during their first ever art class. (Did you catch the intentional dis I just dished out towards Canvas with a 2 added HAHA?) You might think I'm being too harsh or disrespecting the key animatiors and painters, but no, I seriously am not.

In conclusion; my review do this anime justice, Canvas with a 2 added truly is as bad as I'm describing it to be.

Reviewer’s Rating: 2

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	Poll: Canvas 2 Episode 24 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Zerachroma - Apr 19, 2008	72 replies	by oooo3333 »» Oct 9, 10:40 PM
	Poll: Canvas 2 Episode 2 Discussion patient_senses - Oct 25, 2008	6 replies	by AdityaRizkiS »» Nov 14, 2023 11:47 AM
	So who was surprised at the ending? (spoiler) burnttoast - Oct 12, 2007	43 replies	by snakezenn »» Jan 21, 2022 12:13 PM
	Poll: Canvas 2 Episode 10 Discussion Zerachroma - Apr 12, 2008	8 replies	by Noana »» May 19, 2020 4:20 PM
	Poll: Canvas 2 Episode 16 Discussion patient_senses - Oct 26, 2008	8 replies	by Noana »» May 19, 2020 12:24 PM