Kanon (manga)

Did You Know?

• The manga was re-released in three bunkoban volumes in 2003.
• The serial chapters were collected in six tankōbon volumes under the Flower Comics imprint.

Plot

A pregnant Japanese photographer travels to Mongolia and stays there. Eighteen years later, her daughter Kanon helps run a hotel and shows great talent with the violin. After an accident, the dying mother Yuko reveals that Kanon's father is alive and that she has inherited his musical gift. Hotel guest Tendo Kawahara aids Kanon, who moves into his apartment in Japan and attends classes he arranges.

Tendo decides that the most fitting guide for Kanon is Gen Mikami, an arrogant conductor who also heads a music school; Kanon is enrolled there. Yuko's sister tells Kanon about three men likely to be her father: violinist Koki Sawa, pianist Sachio Kajiwara, and conductor Kent Gregory. Kanon learns that Koki is dead and his wife was his only love; Sachio has no interest in women. Kent immediately tells Kanon she is his child, and a happy time follows.

Throughout the search, Kanon grows closer to Mikami. She confesses her love, but he lies, saying he is only interested in her talent. After Kanon meets Kent, Mikami sees a picture of Yuko and realizes she is the woman he fell in love with as a teenager; after their first night together, she disappeared. Kent hides that he is ill and has little time left.

After collapsing during a performance, he admits in a letter that Kanon is not his daughter. Having loved Yuko, he thought brightening each other's life would be good; he also writes that a pregnant Yuko told him the baby's father played a Guadagnini. Meanwhile, Kanon and Mikami have sex for the first time. Learning the truth leads Mikami to end their relationship, despite Kanon's wishes.

Deeply upset, she exchanges an expensive ring for an airplane ticket to Thailand. Tendo finds her, and they go to Mongolia, where she remembers her love for music.