55 Water Street

55 Water Street is a 687-foot-tall (209 m) skyscraper on the East River in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The 53-story, 3.5-million-square-foot (325,000 m2) structure was completed in 1972. Designed by Emery Roth and Sons, the building was developed by the Uris brothers. At the time of completion, it was the world's largest privately owned office building by floor area. 55 Water Street is built on a superblock bounded by Coenties Slip to the southwest, Water Street to the northwest, Old Slip to the northeast, and South Street and FDR Drive to the southeast. It is owned by the pension fund Retirement Systems of Alabama (RSA).

55 Water Street is composed of two sections: a 53-story tower to the south and a 15-story wing to the north. The building's facade is made of masonry and glass. The south building is rectangular, while the north building contains sloped walls and runs parallel to the northwestern boundary of the site. The foundations are made of reinforced concrete-slab walls and the superstructure is made of steel. The upper stories each contain 55,000 sq ft (5,100 m2) of space, while the lower stories are almost double that size. There is an elevated public plaza on the eastern part of the site, known as Elevated Acre. Another public space to the southwest, Jeannette Park (now Vietnam Veterans Plaza), was expanded when 55 Water Street was constructed.

The Uris Buildings Corporation proposed erecting a 53-story building on the site in October 1968, and work began the next year. The building was topped out with a ceremony on June 18, 1971, and tenants began moving into the structure at the beginning of 1972. Initially, several financial firms occupied space at 55 Water Street, including the Chemical Bank of New York, which leased roughly a third of the space and owned 15 percent of the building. National Kinney Corporation bought a majority stake in the Uris properties by late 1973, and it sold 55 Water Street to Olympia and York in 1976. RSA bought the building in 1993 after Olympia and York had difficulties paying off the mortgage. The building was renovated in the 1990s and again in the 2010s.

## Site

55 Water Street is in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The land lot covers an entire city block bounded by Coenties Slip to the southwest, Water Street to the northwest, Old Slip to the northeast, and South Street and the FDR Drive to the southeast. The site covers 160,692 sq ft (14,928.8 m2), with a frontage of 415 ft (126 m) on Water and South Streets and a depth of 355 ft (108 m). The Fraunces Tavern block is to the northwest; the New York City Police Museum and 32 Old Slip are directly to the northeast; and 25 Water Street and 2 New York Plaza are to the west. Two blocks west of the building is the South Ferry transportation hub, consisting of the New York City Subway's South Ferry/Whitehall Street station and the Staten Island Ferry's Whitehall Terminal. In addition, the building is directly across FDR Drive from the Downtown Manhattan Heliport. The building is assigned its own ZIP Code, 10041; it was one of 41 buildings in Manhattan that had their own ZIP Codes as of 2019.

55 Water Street occupies a superblock, which was created by combining four small city blocks. Prior to the construction of the current office building, the site had contained the headquarters of the Seamen's Church Institute of New York and New Jersey, designed by Warren and Wetmore. Cuylers Alley crossed the site from northwest to southeast, while Front Street bisected the site from southwest to northeast. Both streets were closed to make way for the building's construction. The entire site is reclaimed land; prior to the expansion of Lower Manhattan in the 18th and 19th centuries, the site was part of the East River.

## Architecture

The building was designed by the firm of Emery Roth & Sons for Uris Buildings Corporation. It is one of six buildings that Emery Roth and Sons designed in the immediate area. 55 Water Street is composed of two sections: a 53-story "south building" to the southwest (next to Jeannette Park) and a 15-story "north building" to the north (next to Water Street and Old Slip). There is an elevated plaza near the eastern section of the site, adjacent to Old Slip and South Street.

### Form and facade

The building's facade is made of masonry and glass. The south building is rectangular, with its longer axis running parallel to the southwestern boundary of the site. This was done to avoid obstructing views of the East River (next to 55 Water Street's southeastern boundary) from nearby buildings. The north building contains sloped walls and runs parallel to the northwestern boundary of the site. This gives the building an "L"-shape as seen from above. Between floors 2 and 14, the bronze glass windows are inset within the masonry curtain wall. The mullions of the windows are spaced 4 ft (1.2 m) apart.

The 53-story section is 687 ft (209 m) tall to its roof. Including rooftop dormers, the building measures 751 ft (229 m) tall to its pinnacle. The roof is made of a waterproof membrane finished with a layer of slag. Jaros, Baum & Bolles designed LED lighting for the parapet just below the building's roof.

### Interior

When 55 Water Street was completed, it was the largest building in New York City, with 3,200,000 sq ft (297,000 m2) of rentable space. Including non-rentable space, the structure had a total area of 3,500,000 sq ft (330,000 m2). At the time, this made 55 Water Street the world's largest privately owned office building. The Merchandise Mart and the Pentagon both had more office space, but they were owned by a governmental entity. The next largest buildings in New York City were the MetLife Building (originally the Pan Am Building), with 2,400,000 sq ft (220,000 m2); One New York Plaza, with 2,100,000 sq ft (200,000 m2); and the Empire State Building, with 1,800,000 sq ft (170,000 m2). The main tower and its shorter wing are connected at each of the lowest 15 stories. The upper stories each contain 55,000 sq ft (5,100 m2) of space, while the lower stories are almost double that size. 55 Water Street remained New York City's largest office building as of 2010.

In exchange for constructing public plazas next to the building, Uris was allowed to increase the maximum floor area that was allowed under zoning regulations by an additional 485,640 sq ft (45,117 m2). Uris built an underground concourse with provisions for a connection to an unbuilt New York City Subway station. The concourse was built as part of a master plan for transportation in New York City.

The main lobby was originally clad in travertine. In the 1990s, this was replaced with Italian and French marble, with stainless-steel decorative fixtures and aluminum-leaf ceilings. In addition, an onyx panel measuring 10 by 50 ft (3.0 by 15.2 m) was installed behind the reception counter. Following another renovation in 2018, The main lobby contains a video wall, which is composed of two LED displays with 42 tiles each. The displays collectively measure 8 ft (2.4 m) high by 42 ft (13 m) wide, with each display being 21 feet (6.4 m) wide. The lobby also contains a pair of reception desks, a shoeshine stand, coffee bar, and lounge. There are also turnstiles through which tenants and guests must pass .

#### Structural features

The foundations are made of reinforced concrete-slab walls. The foundation of the building includes a concrete cofferdam, which surrounds the site and descends to the underlying layer of bedrock. Workers first placed a retaining wall of corrugated sheet-metal panels, which were sunken 40 ft (12 m) below ground, then scooped out the entire site. The cofferdam was then poured behind the retaining wall, and a layer of earth was placed between the cofferdam and retaining wall. This contrasted with the foundations of other skyscrapers in Manhattan, which were typically sunken directly to the bedrock, but it provided space for underground offices, a parking lot, and a 25,000 sq ft (2,300 m2) bank vault for Chemical Bank.

The superstructure is made of steel, with "Q"-deck floor slabs. The office stories can carry live loads of 50 to 100 psf (2.4 to 4.8 kPa). The retail, plaza, basement, and mechanical spaces have higher live-load capacities, ranging up to 300 psf (14 kPa) for the plaza level. The building contains 3.5 million square feet (330,000 m2) of modular galvanized steel flooring. Generally, the office floors have a slab-to-slab height of 12.25 ft (3.73 m), although the height of the finished office space could be as small as 8.5 ft (2.6 m). The sub-levels, concourse, and plaza level have a slab-to-slab height of 13.5 ft (4.1 m) as measured between the floor and ceiling, while the retail and mechanical spaces have a slab-to-slab height of 30 ft (9.1 m).

#### Mechanical features

Jaros, Baum & Bolles was the mechanical, engineering, and plumbing engineer for the building. Floor 14 contains the building's primary mechanical rooms, ventilation units, and electrical equipment. There is additional mechanical equipment in the basement, on the roof, and on floors 2 and 52. Electricity from the New York City power supply system flows to distribution boards on the concourse, the first sub-level, and floor 14. There are also six electrical closets on each story. In the 1990s, eleven electrical generators were installed on the roof, each with a capacity of 1,750 kW (2,350 hp); these were powered by pumps in the basement levels. As of 2018, there are 14 electrical generators, and the emergency power system can run for up to three days.

There are 71 passenger elevators throughout the building. The 60 passenger elevators in the south building are divided into ten banks of six cars; each elevator bank connects the lobby with five to eight stories. The north building has nine passenger elevators, all connecting the subterranean levels to floors 1–13; five descend to the basement while the other four descend to the sub-basement. The interiors of the elevator cabs were originally decorated in brown burlap but, during a 1990s renovation, the elevator cabs were redecorated in stainless steel and green marble. 55 Water Street also has six freight elevators: four in the south building and two in the north building. Each freight elevator travels from the basement to the highest level in that section of the building, except for a single elevator in the south building, which travels only from the basement to floor 18. None of the elevators travels above floor 52 in the south building.

The building's heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system is divided into several zones, each serving a different group of floors. 55 Water Street's chiller system was replaced in the 2010s. The new system consists of three chillers, which collectively emit 32.5 million fewer pounds of per year compared to the old system. The chillers each weighed 53 short tons (48 t) and were so heavy that they had to be lifted into the building's facade at night, when there was less traffic in the area. There is also a thermal-energy storage plant with 134 ice tanks, which collectively can store 16,800 ton-hours of heat. The building has numerous water tanks and a surge tank. The tanks are fed by two water mains that connect to the New York City water supply system; the building's domestic water service is also fed by these mains. Two drainage pipes connect with the New York City sewer system.

### Plazas

#### Ground-level plazas

When 55 Water Street was built, Coenties Slip (which abutted the site to the southwest) was converted into a pedestrian plaza known as Jeannette Park. The space covers 33,307 sq ft (3,094.3 m2). The park had existed adjacent to Coenties Slip since 1884, when it was dedicated to the exploration vessel USS Jeannette, but Paul Friedberg expanded the park in 1971 as part of 55 Water Street's construction. Initially, 55 Water Street's owners were responsible for maintaining the park, which was paved in brick similar to the Elevated Acre plaza next to the building. Plans to redevelop the land into a memorial for Vietnam War veterans were announced in 1982, and it was rededicated as Vietnam Veterans Plaza in 1985. The plaza was renovated and redesigned by Lee S. Jablin of Harman Jablin Architects starting in 2000, and it was rededicated in 2001.

There is also an 10,254 sq ft (952.6 m2) pedestrian arcade adjacent to Water Street and Vietnam Veterans Plaza. It effectively functions as an extension of the adjacent sidewalk. A sloped canopy was added in the 1990s.

#### Elevated Acre

The elevated plaza is a privately owned public space (POPS) known as the Elevated Acre. It is about 30 ft (9.1 m) above street level and accessible via escalators and stairs from Water Street, between the building's two wings. The plaza covers approximately 40,000 sq ft (3,700 m2; 0.92 acres). The space is one of a few elevated POPS in New York City; similar plazas exist at One Bankers Trust Plaza, 300 East 59th Street, 622 Third Avenue, Murray Hill Mews, and Trump Tower. The creation of public space allowed the developers to increase the total square footage of 55 Water Street beyond what zoning regulations would otherwise have allowed on the site. Beneath the plaza is a parking garage.

The Elevated Acre was originally proposed as part of an unbuilt network of elevated walkways and plazas next to the East River. Lawrence Halprin had devised the original plans for the plaza, but M. Paul Friedberg & Associates carried out the final design. The Elevated Acre was originally paved in the same red brick tiles as Jeannette Park. The plaza had very little ornamentation except for a set of curved brick walls, as well as some benches and trees. There were also fountains and pools in the original design. During the 1980s, the Elevated Acre was often closed because, according to the building's owners at the time, the elevator and escalators were frequently being repaired. Furthermore, the plaza was isolated, making it unattractive to pedestrians.

In the 2000s, the Elevated Acre was renovated to designs by Rogers Marvel Architects and Ken Smith, reopening in 2005. The two escalators and elevator on Water Street were replaced with four shorter escalators and a set of stairs. The new design contains a variety of plantings, grasses, and dunes, as well as a multi-tiered terrace. Inside the plaza is a lantern known as the Beacon of Progress, a reference to the former Seamen's Institute building on the site. The Elevated Acre also includes an amphitheater with seven levels and a boardwalk made of Brazilian hardwood. There is a restaurant named Sky55 adjacent to the plaza. The original plans for the redesign had called for a 100-person capacity elevator and an ice rink, which were canceled for lack of funds. The Elevated Acre is available for rental as a venue for special events. Under an agreement with the New York City government, the Elevated Acre may be closed up to six times a year for community or non-profit events and six times a year for private events.

## History

### Development

The Uris Buildings Corporation proposed erecting a 53-story building between Coenties Slip, Water Street, Old Slip, and South Street in October 1968. It was the first project to be proposed as part of the Lower Manhattan Plan, a New York City governmental initiative to guide development along the Lower Manhattan waterfront. The New York Stock Exchange had considered leasing space at the building before it was officially announced, but the NYSE ultimately decided against doing so. In exchange for permission to close Cuylers Alley and Front Street for the construction of the new building, Uris proposed improving the adjacent Jeannette Park and erecting a raised public plaza within the new development. The proposal required that the New York City Planning Commission enact a zoning amendment in 1968, since elevated plazas could not rise more than 5 ft (1.5 m) above the curb. In January 1969, the Board of Estimate approved Uris's proposal to construct an elevated pedestrian plaza alongside its building.

When construction started in 1969, developers estimated that the building's annual rents would range from \$8 to \$10/sq ft (\$86 to \$108/m2). The Chemical Bank of New York agreed in principle to lease 1.1×10^6 sq ft (100,000 m2) in January 1969, in exchange for a 15 percent stake in the building. When the lease was finalized in late 1969 at a price of \$250 million, it was the largest commercial lease ever executed. Brokerage firm Dominick & Dominick leased 275,000 sq ft (25,500 m2) across five floors in March 1969, becoming the first tenant to finalize a lease at 55 Water Street. Two weeks later, Bear Stearns leased 200,000 sq ft (19,000 m2) on four floors. During the building's construction, the chief engineers met every Monday to discuss the engineering difficulties of the site. Goldman Sachs and Halle & Stieglitz collectively leased 165,000 sq ft (15,300 m2) in May 1970, and the Interstate United Corporation subsequently leased space for a restaurant at the base of the building.

Workers raised a 1,000 lb (450 kg) girder to the 53rd story of the tower section at a topping-out ceremony on June 18, 1971. The same day, Uris announced that Prudential Insurance had agreed to place a \$150 million loan on the building; it was the largest mortgage ever placed on a privately-developed structure. In exchange, Prudential would acquire a 25 percent stake in the building's equity. At the time, 70 percent of the office space had been leased. The Whitney Museum announced it would open a satellite location at 55 Water Street by the end of 1971. According to Uris Buildings chairman Percy Uris, the branch "would contribute nicely to the feel of the building and the amenities it offers to people who work there". A. G. Becker & Co. and NYSE subsidiary Stock Clearing Corporation leased additional space that November. Other early tenants included financial services firms White Weld & Co., which took two floors, and G. H. Walker & Co., which leased one floor and part of another. Prudential granted a \$130 million mortgage at the end of 1972.

### Opening and early years

55 Water Street was completed in 1972 with 3,268,000 sq ft (303,600 m2) of rentable space, and tenants began moving into the structure at the beginning of that year. 55 Water Street was the largest speculative office development in Lower Manhattan for a decade, until 52 Broadway was developed in the 1980s. The building's completion coincided with a decline in demand for office space in New York City. Meanwhile, after Percy Uris had died in 1971, his brother Harold began negotiating to sell off all his company's assets, including 55 Water Street. National Kinney Corporation had bought a majority stake in the Uris properties by late 1973, upon which a large portion of the office space was still vacant. National Kinney then sold a 25 percent stake in the building's ownership to the PIC Corporation; at the time, three-quarters of the building had been leased.

The Whitney Museum opened a branch museum on the third floor of the building in September 1973. The branch occupied 4,800 sq ft (450 m2) of sparsely designed gallery space. The Whitney paid \$1 a year; the operating cost was covered by 29 institutions or companies with offices in the Financial District. The building's owners continued to experience financial issues, and National Kinney placed 55 Water Street and ten other Uris properties for sale shortly after acquiring these buildings. The creditors and mortgagee agreed in 1975 to postpone the collection of their claims until the building had more tenants and its cash flow improved. Samuel J. LeFrak expressed interest in buying 55 Water Street and most of the other Uris structures in 1976, as the buildings collectively contained four percent of Manhattan's office space. Simultaneously, Manufacturers Hanover planned to lease two additional floors and a mezzanine, provided that the city government approve a tunnel between 55 Water Street and the company's operations headquarters at the neighboring 4 New York Plaza. LF Rothschild leased two floors in mid-1976.

### Olympia & York ownership

National Kinney decided to sell off 55 Water Street and eight other Uris buildings in November 1976; at the time, the firm owned 51 percent of the building. Olympia and York bought 55 Water Street in 1977 as part of a \$50 million transaction involving several Uris properties. The transactions made the firm one of the largest commercial landlords in Manhattan. Of the properties Olympia & York bought from National Kinney, only 55 Water Street still had a significant amount of vacant space, with 50,000 sq ft (4,600 m2) still available for lease. By the late 1970s, the vacancies at 55 Water Street and other nearby buildings in Lower Manhattan were being filled. During that time, the remaining space was leased by companies such as securities firm Lehman Brothers. By 1979, the building was fully leased; payment-services company American Express had leased the last large block of vacant space, covering 191,000 sq ft (17,700 m2) across four stories.

By 1980, the valuation of 55 Water Street had increased drastically. Consequently, Whitney Museum was forced to relocate from its space in the building that year, since the owners wanted to rent out the museum space. At the time, the building housed the headquarters or offices of several large financial companies, including Lehman Brothers, L. F. Rothschild, Goldman Sachs, and Bear Stearns; some of these firms had their own dining rooms. In addition, the third story contained a restaurant called the Harbor Club. During this decade, Olympia and York obtained a \$550 million mortgage loan in the form of a bond offering. Tenants such as L.F. Rothschild were subleasing their space by the late 1980s, although there were few potential lessees. The building had significant amounts of asbestos which, under an anti-asbestos regulation passed in 1985, had to be removed before the space in the building could be subleased. Other firms, such as Morgan Stanley, moved out of the building entirely. The building was refinanced with two bond issues in 1986, and pension fund Retirement Systems of Alabama (RSA) purchased 19.5 percent of the bonds for \$100 million. The financing included \$435 million in interest-paying bonds and \$113 million in zero-coupon bonds.

The 1990s recession affected Olympia and York's finances, causing vacancy rates to increase. The building was still the city's most valuable privately-owned office building, with an assessed valuation of about \$280 million in 1990. By the next year, the leases on two-fifths of the building's office space were scheduled to expire within two years. Credit rating agencies had downgraded their ratings of 55 Water Street's mortgage loan, which Olympia and York was having trouble paying off. Olympia and York met with its bondholders in May 1992 in an attempt to retain control of the building. Olympia and York indicated that it would not be able to pay for asbestos removal, which would cost at least \$20/sq ft (\$220/m2). The building already had 620,000 sq ft (58,000 m2) of vacant space at the time, but the vacancy rate was to reach 50 percent by the end of the year. One financial executive said the building rapidly "went from being a premier financial services tower to bankrupt".

### RSA ownership

#### 1990s

Olympia and York agreed in September 1992 to transfer ownership of the building to its bondholders in exchange for wiping out about \$548 million in debt. Each of the bondholders could swap their bonds for equity stakes in 55 Water Street or sell their bonds to RSA for cash. To ensure that the building would be free of debt, RSA and the other creditors consented to a consensual bankruptcy filing if creditors chose to keep their bonds. The proposed sale valued the building at only \$149 million, even though the city had appraised the building as being worth \$540 million. A subsidiary of Olympia and York filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May 1993, allowing the buyers to perform an equity swap. The purchase was finalized that October, essentially erasing all the building's debt. RSA bought out most of the other creditors for about \$120 million. Following this purchase, RSA owned an 88 percent stake in the building, and there was \$60 million on hand to pay for renovations. At the time, the building was 65 percent occupied.

RSA created a subsidiary, the New Water Street Corporation, to operate and manage the building. The new owners immediately appointed Jones Lang Wootton as the building's leasing agent. After acquiring the building, RSA planned to remove asbestos, upgrade the elevators, and add sprinklers to each floor. RSA hired Kohn Pedersen Fox to design cosmetic remodeling plans, and the pension fund spent over \$20 million to remove asbestos from the building and install a back-up electrical system. The cost of renovations had increased to \$125 million or \$140 million by the mid-1990s. The building still had large amounts of vacant office space at the time, despite offering relatively low rents of around \$20/sq ft (\$220/m2). During this time, major tenants at 55 Water Street included the Depository Trust Company and the Securities Industry Automation Corporation.

In the years after RSA acquired the building, annual income frequently increased by more than 10 percent from year to year. RSA upgraded 55 Water Street's communication and electrical systems to attract tenants, advertising the building as the "Tower of Power". Much of the office space had been filled by 1997, when Standard & Poor's leased 937,000 sq ft (87,100 m2). In addition, several other financial firms such as Royal Bank of Canada and Goldman Sachs had expressed interest leasing space in the building. The renovation of 55 Water Street was completed in 1999 at a cost of \$156 million. At that point, the building was 100 percent occupied. About a third of the space was still occupied by Chemical Bank successor Chase Bank, whose lease expired in 2003; the bank planned to move out after its lease expired. Additionally, the owners were planning a renovation for the building's elevated plaza, as well as the public space next to Vietnam Veterans Plaza, both of which were underused.

#### 2000s

In early 2001, Goldman Sachs considered constructing a 13-story, 240 ft (73 m) annex on the site of the Elevated Acre. The annex would have included seven large trading floors, each covering 56,000 sq ft (5,200 m2). In addition, the height of the north tower would have been increased by 35 ft (11 m). The entire project would have cost \$850 million and would have been completed in 2004. To compensate for the loss of public space, Goldman Sachs proposed paying for various improvements of public space nearby. The plans were dropped shortly after they were presented. Goldman Sachs cited economic conditions, but some neighborhood residents had expressed opposition to the plan. Following the cancellation of Goldman Sach's plans, RSA hired Mary Ann Tighe as the building's broker. RSA and the Municipal Art Society sponsored a design competition for a renovation of the elevated plaza. In September 2002, RSA hired a joint venture of Ken Smith and Rogers Marvel Architects to redesign the plaza.

Following the September 11 attacks in 2001, the building's managers implemented security checkpoints in the lobby, resulting in rent increases for all tenants. To fill the empty space, the owners offered two years of free rent to new tenants. HIP Health Plan of New York (later part of EmblemHealth) leased the entire north building and part of the south building in 2003. At the time, it was the largest corporate relocation to Lower Manhattan since the September 11 attacks. Simultaneously, the Teachers' Retirement System of New York City also rented 150,000 sq ft (14,000 m2) at the building. The Elevated Acre plaza was rededicated in 2005 following a renovation. The New York City Department of Transportation leased more than 400,000 sq ft (37,000 m2) in 2006, and publishing company Bowne & Co. also leased space.

#### 2010s to present

During the early 21st century, CBRE Group became the leasing agent. On October 29, 2012, the building sustained damage related to Hurricane Sandy when a 14-foot-high (4.3 m) storm surge flooded the area. The basement levels were severely damaged, and the emergency generators on the roof could not operate because they were powered by pumps in the basement. The building remained closed for several weeks due to flooding. While repairs were being conducted, a fire broke out on November 23, causing injuries to 27 people. To prepare for future storms, the building's owner planned to relocate electrical equipment from the basement to the third floor. In 2014, Plaza Construction installed a flood barrier system around the building; when activated, the flood walls could protect against an 8 ft (2.4 m) surge.

McGraw Hill Financial moved its headquarters to 55 Water Street in June 2015, and Hugo Boss moved its North American headquarters there the same year. By 2018, RSA earned \$155 million in rental income annually, and the building was worth an estimated \$1.5 billion. In 2019, software company Justworks announced it would be moving into 270,000 sq ft (25,000 m2) on four floors, and the Teachers' Retirement System of New York City subleased a portion of one floor. MJHS Health System leased 138,000 sq ft (12,800 m2) in March 2022, the largest lease to be finalized in lower Manhattan in 18 months.

## Impact

When the building was completed, architectural critic Ada Louise Huxtable called the building "a significant demonstration of how to stop worrying and love the boom" in office development. Huxtable also wrote that the building's elevated plaza was "a skillful job in urban design". By contrast, in 1981, Paul Goldberger described 55 Water Street, along with many skyscrapers on Sixth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, as having been "designed by commercial architectural firms which admitted to few interests beyond the quick and efficient creation of rentable space". According to Goldberger, these types of buildings used common materials such as concrete and glass, creating edifices that "added little either visually or socially to the life of the city". The AIA Guide to New York City described the north building as resembling "a complicated cell phone tower".

The building's construction was chronicled in 55 Water Street, a collection of short stories by Marjorie Iseman, which was published in 1982. The collection is divided into two parts, which Iseman said are respectively about "wreckers and wrecking" and "excavation". In addition, the New York-New York Hotel and Casino in Paradise, Nevada, contains a 36-story replica of 55 Water Street. This replica is placed next to copies of other large New York City buildings.

## See also

- List of tallest buildings in New York City

Office skyscraper in Manhattan, New York

Skyscraper office buildings in Manhattan


Who's That Girl (soundtrack)

Who's That Girl is the first soundtrack album by American singer and songwriter Madonna. It was released on July 21, 1987, by Sire Records to promote the film of the same name. It also contains songs by her label mates Scritti Politti, Duncan Faure, Club Nouveau, Coati Mundi and Michael Davidson. The soundtrack is credited as a Madonna album, despite her only performing four of the nine tracks on the album. After the commercial success of the film Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), in which she co-starred, Madonna wanted to act in another comedy film titled Slammer, about a woman named Nikki Finn who was falsely accused of homicide. However, due to the critical and commercial failure of her adventure film Shanghai Surprise (1986), Warner Bros. was initially reluctant to greenlight the project but later agreed.

Madonna began working on the soundtrack in December 1986, and contacted Patrick Leonard and Stephen Bray, who had worked as producers on her third studio album True Blue (1986). She felt that an uptempo song and a downtempo song were needed for the album. Leonard composed the music for the uptempo song, with Madonna providing the melody and lyrics. The singer named the track "Who's That Girl" and, believing this to be a better title than Slammer, changed the name of the film to the same. Together, Madonna and Leonard also developed the downtempo ballad "The Look of Love". Two more songs were composed for the film with Bray, the first being the dance track "Causing a Commotion", and the other being "Can't Stop", a track inspired by Sixties Motown and the group Martha and the Vandellas.

After its release, the Who's That Girl soundtrack received a mostly negative response from critics. Some reviews described the album as plain and incomplete, although the title track and "The Look of Love" were praised as its highlights. The soundtrack was a commercial success, reaching the top ten of the album charts of the United States, Austria, Canada, France, New Zealand, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, while topping the charts of Argentina, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, and the European Album chart. The album went on to sell 6 million copies worldwide.

Three of the Madonna tracks were released as singles. The title track became her sixth number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100, making her the first artist to accumulate six number one singles in the 1980s and the first female performer to get that many number ones as a solo act. "Causing a Commotion" was released as the second single and reached number two on the Hot 100. "The Look of Love" was a European market only release, reaching the top ten in the United Kingdom. Another track, "Turn It Up," was a promotional release in the United States, reaching number 15 on the dance charts. Who's That Girl received a further promotion from the successful Who's That Girl World Tour.

## Background

The 1985 comedy film Desperately Seeking Susan, in which Madonna co-starred, was a commercial success, prompting her to take further interest in acting. For her next screen project, she picked another comedy film initially titled Slammer, but later named Who's That Girl. Madonna played the character of Nikki Finn, a young woman accused of homicide who insisted that she was innocent. Released on parole, she was determined to clear her name. Along with a character named Loudon Trott (played by Griffin Dunne), she gets caught up in 36 hours of high adventure, culminating in a scene where Nikki interrupts a wedding to reveal the identity of the real murderer. Regarding the character Nikki, Madonna commented,

> "I had a lot in common with Nikki. She's courageous and sweet and funny and misjudged. But she clears her name in the end, and that's always good to do. I'm continuously doing that with the public. I liked Nikki's tough side and her sweet side. The toughness is only a mask for the vulnerability she feels."

However, in the light of the bad publicity surrounding Madonna and her then-husband Sean Penn, coupled with the fact that their comedy film Shanghai Surprise had failed commercially, she had to fight hard to persuade Warner Bros. to greenlight the project. She also wanted her close friend James Foley to direct the film, proclaiming him to be a "genius". Foley had previously directed the music videos of her songs "Live to Tell", "Papa Don't Preach" and "True Blue".

## Development

Having some specific ideas in her mind about the music of the film, Madonna contacted Patrick Leonard and Stephen Bray, who had helped to write and produce her third studio album True Blue in 1986. Madonna explained to them that she needed an uptempo song and a downtempo song. Madonna came to the recording studio one Thursday, and Leonard handed her a cassette of a recording of the chorus, which he had just finished working on. Madonna went to the backroom and completed the melody and the lyrics of the song, while Leonard worked on the other parts of it. After finishing the lyrics, Madonna decided to name the song "Who's That Girl", and changed the title of Slammer to the same, considering it to be a better name. In Fred Bronson's book The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits, Leonard explained that the song was recorded in one day with Madonna recording her vocals only once. Additional guitar and percussion tracks were added later.

The downtempo song was developed on the following day, with Madonna writing the lyrics and Leonard composing the melody. Named "The Look of Love", the song contains the line "Nowhere to run, no place to hide. From the look of love, from the eyes of pride". Madonna was inspired by the look that actor James Stewart gave actress Grace Kelly in the 1954 film Rear Window. Madonna said: "I can't describe it, but that is the way I want someone to look at me when he loves me. It's the purest look of love and adoration. Like surrender. It's devastating." After "The Look of Love", Madonna went on to develop two further songs with Bray as the producer. The first was called "Causing a Commotion", and was inspired by Penn and the couple's often tumultuous relationship. Madonna felt that her marriage to Penn was on the verge of breaking up, due to Penn's abusive and violent nature. In a Rolling Stone article dated September 10, 1987, Madonna spoke about Penn's impact on her life and the song: "I don't like violence. I never condone hitting anyone, and I never thought that any violence should have taken place. But on the other hand, I understood Sean's anger, and believe me, I have wanted to hit him many times. I never would you know, because I realize that it would just make things worse. [...] I felt like he was 'Causing a Commotion' to purposefully distract me. I wrote this song and vented my frustration in it."

## Composition

The title track is composed in Madonna's typical style—mixing a drum machine, bubbling bass synth line, and the sound of stringed instruments. According to Rikky Rooksby, author of The Complete Guide to the Music of Madonna, the three parts of the song, namely the bridge, where Madonna sings "what can help me now", the chorus and the verse flow together in a coherent manner, with the chorus incorporating a haunting effect. The song epitomized Madonna's interest in Hispanic culture that continued after the release of her 1987 single "La Isla Bonita". Leonard and Madonna had added Spanish phrases in the chorus, over the trumpets of the second verse, and also in the added instrumental break in the middle. "Who's That Girl" also makes use of the sonic effect brought about by the combination of multiple vocal lines, which had been previously used by groups like The Beach Boys in their singles "God Only Knows" (1966) and "I Get Around" (1964) as well as R.E.M.'s singles "Fall on Me" (1986) and "Near Wild Heaven" (1991). "Who's That Girl" employs this effect on the last chorus where three or four different vocal hooks are intertwined.

The second track "Causing a Commotion" has a danceable, up-tempo groove. The musical arrangement consists of a number of hooks interpolating with each other. It begins with the chorus, where Madonna sings the line "I've got the moves baby, You've got the motions, If we got together we be causing a commotion." The verses are accompanied by a four-note descending bassline and interjecting staccato chords. The lyrics make reference to Madonna's 1985 single "Into the Groove" and have three parts to the vocal harmony. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Walt Disney Music Company, the song is set in the time signature of common time with a tempo of 192 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of B major with Madonna's voice spanning from the high-note of C3 to B5. The song has a basic sequence of B–Fm7–B–F9–B6 as its chord progression.

"The Look of Love" starts off with a low bass synth line and a slow backing track. It is followed by the sound of percussion and a high register note, contrasting with the bassline. The song continues in this way until the last verse, which is backed by the sound of an acoustic guitar. A two-part vocal is found in the line "Nowhere to run, no place to hide". Rooksby felt that Madonna's voice sounded "expressive" when she sings the line "From the look of love" and utters the word "look" over the D minor chord present underneath. The word is sung in a higher note of the musical scale, thus giving an impression of the suspension like the quality of the minor ninth chord, dissociating it from the harmony of the other notes. The song is set in the time signature of common time, with a moderate tempo of 80 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of D minor, with Madonna's voice spanning the notes C5 to B3. "The Look of Love" has a basic sequence of C–Dm–Fm–B as its chord progression.

"Can't Stop" has a high pitched keyboard sound embedded in between the sound of a drum machine and clarinet. The lyrics essentially refer to the idea that "I want my man and I am going to get him whatever". Rooksby noticed that the instrumental break in the song repeats the chorus, with a synth line added on the top. He felt that "Can't Stop", at 4:45 length, was a good example of the division of Madonna's songs between dance music—where the length is important—and the requirement of classic pop songs, which can vary from two minutes to four minutes. J. Randy Taraborrelli, in his book Madonna: An Intimate Biography, described Faure's song "24 Hours" as a slow track that fails to build up momentum. Joe Brown from The Washington Post described Davidson's "Turn it Up" as consisting of a slow background synth, that transforms into a rapidly progressing beat, with Davidson's singing reminiscent of the Beastie Boys.

## Promotion

### Tour

Madonna performed "Who's That Girl", "Causing a Commotion," and "The Look of Love" on her 1987 Who's That Girl World Tour. It was her second concert tour, promoting True Blue and the soundtrack. Madonna trained herself physically with aerobics, jogging and weight-lifting, to cope with the choreography and the dance routines. For the costumes, she collaborated with designer Marlene Stewart, expanding on the idea of bringing her music video characters to life on stage. The stage was huge, with four video screens, multimedia projectors and a flight of stairs in the middle. Leonard became the music director and encouraged Madonna to go with the idea of rearranging her older songs and presenting them in a new format.

The show consisted of seven costume changes, with song-and-dance routines with an encore consisting of the title song "Who's That Girl" and "Holiday". The tour also addressed social causes like AIDS, during "Papa Don't Preach". Who's That Girl tour was critically appreciated and was a commercial success, grossing a total of US \$25 million, with Madonna playing in front of 1.5 million people over the course of the tour. According to Pollstar, it was the second top female concert tour of 1987, behind Tina Turner's Break Every Rule Tour.

### Singles

"Who's That Girl" was released as the lead single from the soundtrack, on June 30, 1987. A latin pop influenced song, it became Madonna's sixth single to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making her the first artist to accumulate six number-one singles in the 1980s, and the first female performer to get that many number-ones as a solo act. It also reached the top the charts in United Kingdom, Canada, Netherlands, Ireland and Belgium. In the music video Madonna did not portray her film character Nikki Finn, instead she continued with her Hispanic look from the "La Isla Bonita" music video. This time she appeared dressed boyishly in a wide-brimmed Spanish hat and bolero jacket—a combination which would later become a fashion trend. "Who's That Girl" was nominated for "Best Song From A Motion Picture" at the 1988 Grammy Awards and "Best Original Song" at the 1988 Golden Globe Awards.

The album's second single, "Causing a Commotion", was released on August 25, 1987. It was criticized by music reviewers for being a sub-standard Madonna single, but enjoyed commercial success, reaching the top ten in New Zealand, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In the United States, the single quickly climbed up the chart, ultimately peaking at number two in the week of October 24, 1987, the same week Michael Jackson's "Bad" advanced to the pole position. It remained in second position for three weeks, before descending from the chart. "Causing a Commotion" reached the top of the Hot Dance Club Play chart.

The third song released from the album was the European single, "The Look of Love". In the United Kingdom, "The Look of Love" was released on December 12, 1987, and entered the UK Singles Chart at number 15. The next week, it reached a peak of nine on the chart, her first single to miss the top five since "Lucky Star" (1984). "Turn It Up" was released as a single prior to its inclusion in the album in 1987. Described by Joe Brown of The Washington Post as "gratingly banal" and its singer as "one of Madonna's photogenic protegés", the song was a success on the Dance Club charts of Billboard, peaking at number 15.

## Critical reception

The soundtrack album was not well received by music critics, some of whom went on comment that the title track is the record's highlight. Jim Farber from Entertainment Weekly gave a negative review, though Noah Robischon from the same magazine complimented the title track, saying that Madonna had "pushed synergy over the borderline." Bill Lamb from About.com said that the songs were not among Madonna's best music. Taraborrelli commented that "the soundtrack was once again the reminder of Madonna's power and status as one of the most important singers of the 80s, because it was only her songs which gained prominence, albeit not being her best, though 'The Look of Love' is an exotic ballad." Author Mary Cross, in her biography Madonna: A Biography said that "the soundtrack slips up because of the film." Allen Metz and Carol Benson, authors of The Madonna Companion: Two Decades of Commentary, said that "Who's That Girl has done what it was released for, put money in Warner's pockets, but [adds] nothing in Madonna's catalogue". Stephen Thomas Erlewine noted in his review for Allmusic that "In the strictest sense [the record] isn't a Madonna album — it's a soundtrack album", adding that it features "competent but uninspiring dance-pop by [various artists]". David Denby from New York magazine commented that "there's nothing absolutely wrong with the soundtrack. But it's just that it has the misfortune of being associated with such an unfortunate movie, that the album actually does not hold up to you well." He added that "The Look of Love" was a hidden gem in Madonna's catalogue. Don Shewey from Rolling Stone commented that "although essentially a Madonna album, the soundtrack does not boast a truly memorable song, rather there is the inclusion of the failed Warner artist songs, like the Coati Mundi song 'El Coco Loco' and Duncan Faure's uncannily Beatles-esque '24 Hours'. For most buyers though this album is the new Madonna album."

Robert Christgau gave the album a (C–) and said "From Scritti Politti and Coati Mundi you expect trickier spin, but they're outsiders, and outsiders times soundtrack equals contract work. For her own movie, though, the decade's purest pop icon should do better than sloppy seconds. Or neat seconds—worse still." Ed Blank from Pittsburgh Press commented: "It feels like the sole purpose to create the soundtrack was to show it in the film." Jay Boyar from Orlando Sentinel praised the songs on the soundtrack, claiming that "Madonna brings forth a heart-breaking warmth in 'The Look of Love' and a club stomping feel with 'Causing a Commotion'. With the movie's fate being sealed, luckily for her Madonna can sing." Gyan Singh from The Miami Herald, while reviewing the film, said that the "Only solace of the movie is the soundtrack, the songs—especially those by Madonna—are actually good." Don McLeese from Chicago Sun-Times, while reviewing Madonna's Who's That Girl World Tour, said that "the soundtrack's songs sound good live". Larry Geller from The Advocate gave a positive review, saying that "Who's That Girl will be the soundtrack album of the summer." Stephen Holden from The New York Times gave an equally positive review, saying that the "soundtrack album is full of engaging pop fluff. One of the hottest singles of the year, Madonna's bilingual title song has the buoyant bounce of an acrobat doing somersaults on a trampoline. 'The Look of Love' is as memorable a ballad as [Madonna's 1986 single] 'Live to Tell', and '24 Hours', sung by Duncan Faure, skillfully fuses Beatles-styled vocals with 80's synthesizer-pop underpinnings." Daniel Brogan from Chicago Tribune said that "since this soundtrack isn't really a Madonna album, this is no surprise that it appears as incomplete."

## Commercial performance

After its release, the album debuted on the Billboard 200 at number forty-six on August 15, 1987, the same week that the title song "Who's That Girl" reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100. In the week ending September 12, 1987, the record reached its peak position at number seven. It remained on the chart for twenty-eight weeks, and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of one million copies across the United States. In Canada, the album debuted at eighty-five on the RPM Albums Chart, on August 1, 1987. After seven weeks, the soundtrack climbed to its peak of four on the chart. The soundtrack was placed at position thirty-seven, on the RPM Top 100 Albums for 1987 chart and was present on the chart for thirty weeks.

In the United Kingdom, the album debuted and peaked at number four on the UK Albums Chart on August 1, 1987, becoming the highest debut of the week. It fell out one place the next week, where it stayed for other three weeks. Who's That Girl was present on the chart for twenty-five weeks and ended as the most popular original soundtrack album of 1987 in the country. The soundtrack was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for shipments of 300,000 copies across the United Kingdom. The album was less successful in Australia, where it debuted and peaked at number twenty-four. It entered the New Zealand Album chart at twelve on September 6, 1987. After two weeks, the album reached its peak at number six. In Austria, Who's That Girl became the best selling debut of the week, charting at number seven, on August 15, 1987, ultimately reaching number five. By August 1, 1987 Who's That Girl sold 140,000 albums and 65,000 singles in Italy in few weeks. In Spain, the soundtrack was released in August and reached sales of 57,049 units by November of the same year. It was later certified with platinum from PROMUSICAE for shipments of 100,000 copies. In Germany, Who's That Girl debuted at the top of the charts, remaining there for two weeks and earning a gold certification from BVMI. The album also reached the top of the charts on the European Top 100 Albums chart. Who's That Girl also reached the top-ten of the charts in France, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

## Recognition

Cash Box editor Kerry Day ranked Who's That Girl as the second-best album of 1987. In the Encyclopedia of World Biography (1998), authors explained that in this era, unlike the movie, which was "largely ignored", both the soundtrack and tour enjoyed commercial success. Nigel Hunter from Billboard, in a report by the British Phonographic Industry, called it as an "easy winner as the most popular original soundtrack album in 1987" along with Dirty Dancing. Hunter lumped both records among the "new trend for soundtrack albums of mixing new, specially recorded material with older hits".

## Track listing

## Personnel

- Madonna – lyrics, vocals, producer, background vocals
- Duncan Faure – vocals
- Club Nouveau – vocals
- Michael Davidson – vocals
- Scritti Politti – vocals
- Coati Mundi – vocals
- Patrick Leonard – lyricist, producer
- Stephen Bray – lyricist, producer
- Michael Barbiero – additional production, audio mixing
- Steve Thompson – additional production, audio mixing
- Shep Pettibone – additional production, audio mixing
- Junior Vasquez – mixing engineer, audio editing
- Donna De Lory – background vocals
- Niki Haris – background vocals
- David Agent – producer, mixing
- Hubert Eaves III – producer, guitars
- Denzil Foster – lyricist
- David Gamson – sound trigger
- Green Gartside – vocals, lyricist
- Jay King – guitars
- Stock, Aitken & Waterman – lyrics, producer, background vocals
- Greg Ladanyi – inlay design, cover art, assistant engineer
- Michael Vail Blum – engineer

## Charts

### Weekly charts

### Monthly charts

### Year-end charts

## Certifications and sales

## See also

- List of European number-one hits of 1987
- List of number-one hits of 1987 (Germany)


Kanon (video game)

Kanon is a Japanese visual novel developed by Key, a brand of Visual Arts. It was released on June 4, 1999, for Windows as an adult game. Key later released versions of Kanon without the erotic content, and the game was ported to the Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Nintendo Switch. The story follows the life of Yuichi Aizawa, a high school student who returns to a city he last visited seven years prior, and he has little recollection of the events from back then. He meets several girls and slowly regains his lost memories. The gameplay in Kanon follows a branching plot line which offers pre-determined scenarios with courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the five female main characters by the player character. The game once ranked as the second best-selling PC game sold in Japan, and charted in the national top 50 several more times afterwards. Kanon has sold over 300,000 units across several platforms.

Following the game's release, Kanon made several transitions into other media. Two manga series were serialized in Dengeki Daioh and Dragon Age Pure. Comic anthologies, light novels and art books were also published, as were audio dramas and several music albums. Toei Animation produced a 13-episode anime television series in 2002 and an original video animation (OVA) episode in 2003. Kyoto Animation produced a 24-episode anime series in 2006. The 2006 anime was licensed and dubbed in English by ADV Films in 2008, but the license was given to Funimation after ADV's closure. The 2006 anime plays on the association between Kanon and the musical term canon by using Pachelbel's Kanon D-dur, or Canon in D major, as a background piece at certain instances throughout the series.

## Gameplay

Kanon is a romance visual novel in which the player assumes the role of Yuichi Aizawa. Much of its gameplay is spent on reading the story's narrative and dialogue. Kanon follows a branching plot line with multiple endings, and depending on the decisions that the player makes during the game, the plot will progress in a specific direction.

There are five main plot lines that the player will have the chance to experience, one for each of the heroines in the story. Throughout gameplay, the player is given multiple options to choose from, and text progression pauses at these points until a choice is made. To view all plot lines in their entirety, the player will have to replay the game multiple times and choose different choices to further the plot to an alternate direction. After Mai's scenario is completed, a replay of her route will offer an additional choice to play through Sayuri's back-story. Jun Maeda, who worked on the scenario for Kanon, commented in March 2001 that the Japanese public may have fallen under the impression that Key makes soothing games because of Kanons influence, but Maeda affirmed that there was not one person who worked on Kanon who thought that.

In the adult versions of the game, there are scenes with sexual CGs depicting Yuichi and a given heroine having sex. Later, Key released versions of Kanon without the erotic content. The versions that include the adult content have one explicit sex scene in each of the five main story routes, in addition to one fantasy scene. Outside of these, there are two scenes with nudity. Yūichi Suzumoto, a scenario writer who worked on later Key titles, commented that the sex scenes in Kanon are very self-contained, and can be easily removed without altering the story. Maeda remarked that the sex scenes were not written with reproduction in mind.

## Plot

### Setting and themes

There are several important locations featured in the Kanon story, though the location names are seldom mentioned explicitly in Key's works. The events of the story occur during winter, and since it often snows periodically over the course of the entire story, the city is always presented covered in a layer of snow. The shopping district is featured throughout the story when the characters go into town, and especially whenever Ayu appears in the early story. The high school where Yuichi and the other main characters attend, including the school grounds, is shown predominantly in Shiori's and Mai's stories, and is otherwise a general setting where Yuichi interacts with other characters.

There are recurring themes that appear throughout the story. A music theme is present, as the episode titles from the 2006–2007 anime have parts in their titles related to music, such as overture and introit. Miracles play a large part in the story; Kanon's plot line and characters are influenced by various instances where miracles occur. The act of promising and keeping promises is found throughout the story. Yuichi eventually makes important promises to the five main girls while at the same time fulfilling past promises he had made with four of them when he used to visit the city as a kid.

One of the motifs in the story is amnesia, or memory loss; three of the main characters—Yuichi, Ayu and Makoto—suffer from amnesia in varying degrees; this is used as a plot device to advance the story. Another motif deals with the favorite foods of the five main heroines. Newtype USA stated in an article on Kanon that "it's when the characters are eating something really tasty that they seem most beautiful and alive", despite the somber setting and overall tone of the series. These five foods of choice are: taiyaki (Ayu), strawberries (Nayuki), nikuman (Makoto), ice cream (Shiori), and gyudon (Mai).

### Principal characters

The player assumes the role of Yuichi Aizawa, the protagonist of Kanon. He is a cynical 17-year-old high school student, and is known to play jokes on the girls his age he knows and interacts with throughout the story. Despite this, Yuichi is very loyal and will go to great lengths to please others, even at the expense of his own time and money. He generally has a selfless personality and does not ask much from others in return for what he does for them. Ayu Tsukimiya, the main heroine of Kanon, is a short, strange, and mysterious girl immediately recognizable by her winged backpack, red hair band, and tendency to refer to herself with the masculine first-person pronoun boku (僕). She has a fondness for eating taiyaki, and is notorious for her catchphrase, "ugū" (うぐぅ), which she mutters as an expression of various negative emotions such as frustration, pain, and fear. Yuichi's first cousin Nayuki Minase, another of Kanons heroines, has been in love with him since childhood, and must learn how to deal with her feelings, especially with the threat that he may fall in love with one of the other girls. Nayuki talks noticeably slower than those around her, and has constant trouble waking up in the morning except on a few occasions when she is up before Yuichi, much to his surprise.

Yuichi is accosted a few days after arriving in the city by Kanon'''s third heroine Makoto Sawatari, a young girl who has lost her memories, but despite this she is sure that she holds a grudge against Yuichi from when he last visited the city. Makoto has a mischievous side and constantly plays pranks on Yuichi. She has an affinity towards the spring and once wished that it would stay spring forever. Yuichi coincidentally runs into Shiori Misaka, another heroine and first-year high school student suffering from an unexplained illness since birth. Her affliction has caused her to become very physically weak, and she is almost always absent from school because of it. She tries to be strong in the face of her condition, and gets along well with others, even though she does not know very many people her age due to her condition. The fifth and final heroine in Kanon is Mai Kawasumi, a third-year student of the same high school that Yuichi attends. She has a cold attitude towards almost everyone, but despite this, she is actually a very kind and caring person; she "punishes" someone who makes a playful joke about her by giving them a light karate chop to the head.

### Story

Kanon's story revolves around a group of five girls whose lives are connected to the same boy. Yuichi Aizawa is a second-year high school student who had visited the city where the story takes place seven years prior to Kanons beginning. The story opens on Wednesday January 6, 1999 when Yuichi arrives in the city and is very detached from it and its inhabitants. Prior to his return, it is decided that he is to stay with his first cousin, Nayuki Minase, and her mother, Akiko. After his long absence, Yuichi has forgotten almost everything except minor details of what happened seven years before and is in need of being reminded of what he left behind. Nayuki initially tries repeatedly to jog his memory, but is unsuccessful. Throughout the story, as he learns about the supernatural undertones of the city, Yuichi is reminded of the events of seven years ago.

On the day after Yuichi's return, he is out with Nayuki who is showing him around the city. Nayuki remembers that she has to buy things for dinner, but Yuichi is reluctant to go into the store with her. Moments after Nayuki leaves him waiting on the sidewalk, a strange girl named Ayu Tsukimiya collides with him with little warning. Upon recovering, she drags him away to a nearby café and confesses to inadvertently stealing a bag filled with taiyaki after being accidentally scared away by the salesman before she had a chance to pay. They decide to meet up again another day and Ayu scampers off. A few days after he has been in the city, Yuichi is accosted by a girl named Makoto Sawatari who has lost her memories, though still remembers that she has a grudge against him from when he last visited the city. After she collapses in the street, he takes her home and learns about her situation. Akiko gives her permission to live with them for the time being, which is against Yuichi's plan to hand her over to the police.

Another girl who is connected to Yuichi's past is Mai Kawasumi who attends his high school as a third-year. She takes it upon herself to fight and defeat demons at night while the school is deserted. Due to this, she is constantly blamed for accidents because she never denies them, being too sincere to say anything and knowing that no one will believe that there are demons in the school. Yuichi coincidentally meets a fifth girl named Shiori Misaka who he gets to know along with the other four heroines in the story. She has suffered from an unexplained affliction since birth which makes her weak to the point of missing school because of it. Yuichi starts to talk with her more after noticing her in the school courtyard one day. It turns out that Shiori stands outside on the school grounds nearly every day because she wants to meet someone dear to her.

## Development

Most of Kanon's development staff originally worked for the visual novel publisher Nexton under the brand Tactics. After the release of the brand's third game One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e, most of Tactics' staff left Nexton to pursue work in another publishing company where they could have the freedom to produce their next game. Itaru Hinoue, who had previously worked at Visual Arts once before, introduced Key's founding members to the president of Visual Arts, Takahiro Baba. Baba gave the developers the freedom they desired, and they officially transferred to Visual Arts where they formed Key on July 21, 1998, and started production on Kanon. The planning for the visual novel was headed by Naoki Hisaya who was also one of two scenario writers with Jun Maeda. Hisaya wrote the scenarios for Ayu, Nayuki and Shiori, while Maeda wrote the routes for Makoto and Mai. Art direction was headed by Key's artist Itaru Hinoue who worked on the character design and computer graphics. Further computer graphics were split between three people—Dinn, Miracle Mikipon, Shinory—and background art was provided by Torino. The music in the game was composed by OdiakeS, Shinji Orito and Jun Maeda. Kanon was the first and last visual novel developed by Key that two of the main staff—Naoki Hisaya, and OdiakeS—worked on before pursuing a similar line of work in other visual novel studios.

### Release history

Kanon was released as an adult game on June 4, 1999, in limited and regular editions, playable on a Windows PC as a CD-ROM. The limited edition came bundled with the remix album Anemoscope remixing background music tracks featured in the visual novel. Key released an all ages version on January 7, 2000, for Windows. An updated adult version called the Kanon Standard Edition was released on November 26, 2004, with added support for Windows 2000/XP as a DVD-ROM. The Standard Edition incorporates the extra graphics added to the earlier all ages version of the game, and other technical changes such as more save slots. An all ages version of the Standard Edition was released on January 28, 2005. An updated all ages version of Kanon compatible for Windows Vista PCs was released by Key on July 31, 2009, in a box set containing five other Key visual novels called Key 10th Memorial Box. Another all ages updated version compatible for Windows 7 PCs called Kanon Memorial Edition was released on April 30, 2010.

The first consumer console port of the game was released for the Dreamcast on September 14, 2000, by NEC Interchannel. A PlayStation 2 (PS2) version was released on February 28, 2002, also by NEC Interechannel. The PS2 version was re-released as a "Best" version on December 22, 2004. The PS2 version was bundled in a "Key 3-Part Work Premium Box" package together with the PS2 versions of Air and Clannad released on July 30, 2009. An adult version playable as a Blu-ray Disc was released on December 16, 2011, by Asoberu! BD-Game, a brand of Visual Arts.

Prototype through VisualArt's Motto released a version playable on SoftBank 3G mobile phones on October 27, 2006, and another version playable on FOMA mobile phones in December 2006. A PlayStation Portable (PSP) version of the game was released in Japan on February 15, 2007, by Prototype. The first release of the PSP version came with a special DVD featuring a message from five of the voice actors and a recompiled opening video from the video game version. The five voice actors on the DVD included: Mariko Kōda as Nayuki Minase, Akemi Satō as Shiori Misaka, Mayumi Iizuka as Makoto Sawatari, Yūko Minaguchi as Akiko Minase, and Tomokazu Sugita as Yuichi Aizawa. Yui Horie as Ayu Tsukimiya voiced the short introduction of the DVD, but was not featured in the contents of the DVD itself. A downloadable version of the PSP release via the PlayStation Store was released by Prototype on November 9, 2009. A version playable on Android devices was released on November 30, 2011. An adult version for Android devices was released in January 2013. A version playable on iOS devices was released on April 4, 2013. In the original release, there was no voice acting for the characters, but in the later versions produced for the Dreamcast and PS2, full voice acting was included. The only exception was Yuichi, who was not voiced in either version. However, the PSP release features voice acting for Yuichi, provided by Tomokazu Sugita. Prototype will release a Nintendo Switch version in Japan on April 20, 2023.

## Adaptations

### Light novels

Five adult light novels written by Mariko Shimizu and published by Paradigm were released in Japan between October 1999 and August 2000. The cover art and internal illustrations were drawn by Itaru Hinoue, the artist who drew the artwork in the visual novel. The basis for each novel was one of each of the five heroines and had titles that were taken from the musical themes pertaining to each character in the original game. The first two released were Yuki no Shōjo (雪の少女, Girl in the Snow, Nayuki) and Egao no Mukougawa ni (笑顔の向こう側に, Beyond the Smile, Shiori) in December 1999. The third was Shōjo no Ori (少女の檻, Girl's Prison, Mai) released in April 2000 and the fourth novel was titled The Fox and the Grapes (Makoto), released two months later. The final novel titled Hidamari no Machi (日溜りの街, A Sunny City, Ayu) was released in August 2000. Paradigm re-released the five novels in conjunction with Visual Arts under their VA Bunko imprint, which removed the erotic scenes, starting with Yuki no Shōjo on June 27, 2009, and ending with Hidamari no Machi on December 26, 2009. To make up for the missing erotic content, Shimizu wrote additional content for each volume. A sixth novel titled Kanojotachi no Kenkai (彼女たちの見解, The Girls' Opinions) for the supporting character Sayuri Kurata written by Shimizu and illustrated by Zen was released on March 31, 2011.

### Trading card game

Following the release of the original visual novel, Key collaborated with TI Tokyo to release the Kanon Trading Card Game. The game was showcased through Comiket, with the original beta cards and promotional materials appearing in winter 1999. This release would also be expanded to include the Air Trading Card Game, based on Key's followup visual novel, Air, alongside several expansions to the core game.

### Drama CDs and radio shows

A set of five drama CDs were released between September 29, 2000, and April 27, 2001, with each volume focusing on a different heroine. A set of five anthology drama CDs were released between December 22, 2001, and May 25, 2002, with each volume again focusing on a different heroine. A radio show to promote the Dreamcast port of Kanon titled Kanon: The Snow Talk Memories Yuki Furu Machi no Monogatari (Kanon -The snow talks memories- 雪降る街の物語) broadcast 13 episodes between October 6 and December 29, 2000. The show, produced by Movic, was hosted by Yukari Tamura and Tomoko Kawakami, the voices Mai Kawasumi and Sayuri Kurata, respectively. A radio drama titled Minase-sanchi (水瀬さんち) broadcast 53 episodes between October 6, 2001, and October 5, 2002. The show, which was broadcast on TBS Radio and Radio Kansai, was hosted by Yūko Minaguchi, the voice of Akiko Minase, and narrated by Atsushi Kisaichi. The voice actors from Kanon were also featured as guests. Five CD compilation volumes containing all of the show's broadcasts were released between August 30, 2002, and April 26, 2003.

### Manga

The first Kanon manga illustrated by Petit Morishima was serialized in MediaWorks' manga magazine Dengeki Daioh between the February 2000 and July 2002 issues. The individual chapters were later collected into two separate tankōbon volumes published by MediaWorks under their Dengeki Comics imprint released in September 2000 and on July 27, 2002. There are six chapters in total, three in each volume. Aside from the prologue in volume one and the epilogue in volume two, the other four chapters concern four of the main heroines. From chapters one through four, the main heroines presented are: Shiori Misaka, Makoto Sawatari, Mai Kawasumi and Ayu Tsukimiya. To make up for Nayuki not getting a chapter of her own, the story is altered in that Nayuki is in most of the scenes Yuichi is in. The first manga is different from the visual novel in that Shiori's, Makoto's, and Mai's stories are not told in their entirety. Near the end of each of these girls' stories were originally intended to give the viewer the remaining answers, but the manga version ends these girls' stories prematurely. This was due to the manga putting more focus on Ayu's story.

The second manga illustrated by Kinusa Shimotsuki, under the main title Kanon: Honto no Omoi wa Egao no Mukōgawa ni (Kanon ホントの想いは笑顔の向こう側に, Kanon: The Real Feelings of the Other Side of the Smiling Face) with the subtitle each regret of Kanon, was serialized between volumes two and seven of Fujimi Shobo's Dragon Age Pure magazine sold between June 29, 2006, and October 20, 2007, respectively. The first volume was released in Japan on April 1, 2007, and focused on Nayuki's story. The second volume was released on December 8, 2007, and focused on the other four heroines. There are nine chapters in total, five in volume one and four in volume two.

There have also been many releases of manga anthologies produced by different companies and drawn by a multitude of different artists. The first volume of the earliest anthology series, released by Ichijinsha under the title Kanon Comic Anthology, was released in November 2000 under their DNA Media Comics label. Volumes for this series continued to be released for another two years, ending in December 2002 with the 14th volume; an additional 15th volume was released later in February 2007. Ichijinsha also released two more volumes of anthology collections of four-panel comic strips titled Kanon 4-koma Kings in April and June 2001. Softgarage released an anthology in a single volume in December 2002 titled Kanon Anthology Comic. In April 2004, Ohzora released an anthology composed of works based on both Kanon and Air titled Haru Urara: Kanon & Air.

Between June and August 2004, Ohzora also released five separate volumes of manga based on Kanon drawn by five separate artists. Ohzora later collected some of the previously published manga anthologies into two volumes titled Kanon Anthology Comics Best Selection released in December 2006 and January 2007. Additionally, Ohzora released another 13 volumes of an anthology series titled Kanon under their Twin Heart Comics label. The now-bankrupt publisher Raporto also released 21 manga anthology volumes titled Kanon under their Raporto Comics label between November 2000 and October 2002. The last manga anthology, a collection of four-panel comic strips released in a single volume by Enterbrain titled Magi-Cu 4-koma Kanon, was released in January 2007 under their MC Comics label. Each of the anthology series are written and drawn by an average of 20 people per volume.

### Anime

The first Kanon anime was produced by the Japanese animation studio Toei Animation and directed by Naoyuki Itō. Thirteen episodes were produced and aired in Japan on Fuji TV between January 31 and March 28, 2002. The series also later aired on Kansai TV. Later, a single original video animation (OVA) episode titled "Kanon Kazahana" was released in March 2003. The anime series and OVA used the songs "Florescence" and "Flower" for the opening and ending themes, respectively. While it does not appear as the ending theme in the first 12 episodes or in the OVA, the game's ending theme "Where the Wind Reaches" is used as the ending theme for the series in episode 13. Additionally, the game's opening theme "Last regrets" is played near the end of episode 13 during the flashback scene.

Starting in 2006, Kyoto Animation, the animators of another Key game-turned-anime, Air, decided to animate a new adaptation of Kanon. This version, directed by Tatsuya Ishihara and written by Fumihiko Shimo, aired between October 5, 2006, and March 15, 2007, on BS-i, containing 24 episodes. The series was later rebroadcast on TBS. ADV Films announced on September 21, 2007, at the Anime Weekend Atlanta anime convention that they have officially licensed the second Kanon anime series. ADV had previously posted a trailer for the series in August 2007, but was soon taken offline once the news had been spread on the Internet. The first English-dubbed episode was made available via streaming online at Anime News Network between December 23 and December 30, 2007. In July 2008, the licensing rights of the second Kanon anime were transferred from ADV to Funimation Entertainment (now known as Crunchyroll as of 2023) who continued to produce the series in North America. MVM Entertainment released Kanon on DVD in the United Kingdom on April 14, 2022.

The second TV Kanon animation features updated animation quality, and uses the same voice acting cast as the first anime, with the exception of Yuichi and Kuze. Unlike the first anime, the actual theme songs from the Kanon game are used for the second anime's opening theme, ending theme and soundtrack. There is one song featured as an insert song in episode 16 that did not come from the visual novel titled "Last regrets (X'mas floor style)" by Eiko Shimamiya from I've Sound's first album Regret. Other songs are used from the arrange albums released over the years, which include Anemoscope, Recollections, Re-feel, and Ma-Na.

## Music

The visual novel has two main theme songs, the opening theme "Last regrets", and the ending theme "Kaze no Tadoritsuku Basho" (風の辿り着く場所, Where the Wind Reaches), both sung by Ayana. The lyrics for both songs were written by Jun Maeda, and arranged by Kazuya Takase of I've Sound. The five heroines have leitmotifs. Ayu's theme is "Hidamari no Machi" (日溜りの街, A Sunny City); Nayuki's theme is "Yuki no Shōjo" (雪の少女, Girl in the Snow); Makoto's theme is "The Fox and the Grapes"; Shiori's theme is "Egao no Mukōgawa ni" (笑顔の向こう側に, Beyond the Smile); lastly, Mai's theme is "Shōjo no Ori" (少女の檻, Girls' Prison).

The first music album released was Anemoscope which came bundled with the original release of Kanon in June 1999. The next release was a single, "Last regrets/Place of wind which arrives", which contained the opening and ending themes plus arranged versions of three background music tracks and a male vocal version of the opening theme. A compilation album containing tracks from the two albums was released in December 2001 called Recollections. The game's original soundtrack was released in October 2002 containing 22 different tracks along with short versions of the two theme songs. A piano arrange album was released in December 2003 called Re-feel which contained five tracks from Kanon and five from Air. Excluding the first two albums, each of the albums released for the visual novel version were released on Key's record label Key Sounds Label; this is due to the first two albums being released before the label was formed.

The first anime's first original soundtrack was released in May 2002, and a second followed in July 2002. The first anime's opening theme is "Florescence" and the ending theme is "Flower", both sung by Miho Fujiwara; the maxi single containing the anime's opening and ending themes was released in June 2002. An album containing music box arranged tracks of music from the first anime was released in July 2003 called Orgel de Kiku Sakuhin Shū. The albums released for the first anime were produced by Frontier Works and Movic. A single was released in commemoration for the second anime called "Last regrets/Kaze no Tadoritsuku Basho" which contained the game's original opening and ending themes in original, short, and remixed versions; the album was produced by Key Sounds Label.

## Reception and legacy

According to a national ranking of how well bishōjo games sold nationally in Japan, the original Kanon release for Windows achieved its highest rank at number two in the ranking. Three years later in June 2002, the original release ranked in again at 45, and then again at 46 the following two weeks. The original release also made the ranking after that at number 41 in early July 2002. The Kanon Standard Edition premiered at number 16 in the rankings. The Kanon Standard Edition remained on the top 50 list for the next two months, achieving the rankings of 47 and 35. The all ages version of the Kanon Standard Edition premiered at number 42 on the national ranking, went up to 35 the next month, and did not appear on the rankings after that. The Dreamcast port sold 42,379 units in the first week and was the fourth top selling console game in Japan for that week. Kanon has sold over 300,000 units across several platforms, not counting the PSP release.

Five days before the first PS2 release for Kanon, a PS2 printer called Tapis MPR-505 went on sale which enabled the user to print out game screens. Kanon was one of the three games supported at launch, the other two being America Ōden Ultra Quiz from DigiCube and Marle de Jigsaw from Nippon Ichi Software. The first PS2 release in 2002 was reviewed by the Japanese video game magazine Famitsu where the game received an overall score of 29/40 (out of the four individual review scores of 7, 8, 7, and 7). Yūichi Suzumoto commented in an interview in March 2001 that he felt the end of Kanons story could be summed up as "the prince and princess live happily ever after. The end," resulting in an ending that does not expand on what could possibly happen afterwards. In the October 2007 issue of Dengeki G's Magazine, poll results for the 50 best bishōjo games were released. Out of 249 titles, Kanon ranked fifth with 71 votes.

Characters from Kanon have appeared in several dōjin games not directly based on the Kanon series such as the Eternal Fighter Zero game by Twilight Frontier where most of the playable characters either came from Kanon or from One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e. The dōjin game Glove on Fight featured at least two Kanon characters: Ayu Tsukimiya and Akiko Minase in a fighting style game along with various other characters taken from other media. The character Ayu Tsukimiya in particular is known to appear in works outside Kanon, such as in strip 67 of the webcomic Megatokyo where Ayu is shown eating taiyaki.

The second Kanon anime series was reviewed at Anime News Network where Theron Martin commented how the series is a "formulaic moe haremfest", and how the moe aspects of the series may make viewers "feel like they're drowning in a vat of gooey cuteness". The series is described as being similar to the anime television adaptation of Air, saying "Like Air, the first four episodes can be simply summarized as 'male lead arrives in town and kills time interacting with cute girls.' Unlike Air, however, these interactions can occasionally be very funny." Martin also compares Kanon to the anime adaptation of Shuffle! which is described as "bombing" where Kanon "works". The reviewer chalks this up to the characters "endear[ing] themselves to the viewer...far better than what Shuffle!'s do." Martin cites the transition between humor and serious content as a defining feature of the series. However, Martin comments how one of the series' flaws is how it "overplays the mundane cutesiness and moe cards at times" causing little to happen with the plot. Yuichi is described as being "too erratic to be fully credible" or easily believable. Despite the series' drawbacks, Martin still describes the series as "one of the best moe-centric series to date" and lauds Kyoto Animation's production values making Kanon "one of the prettiest-looking anime series of the past year". Martin adds another series comparison, citing Kanon as the "polar opposite of Gurren Lagann''", which deals primarily in its action-oriented content.

1999 Japanese adult visual novel

Anime television series based on video games

TBS Television (Japan) original programming