Ranked #1

Clannad ~After Story~

Clannad ~After Story~ is an anime that gives us an "after" in "happily ever after". And it is a beautiful ever after.

This series manages to be a lot more emotionally complex than the first season, and is a lot heavier content-wise than most anime ever dare to be. Rarely do we ever get to see what happens next in the lives of the characters we have grown to love. So the guy gets the girl? And then what?

Clannad ~After Story~ marvellously answers those questions, giving us the next step in the lives of Okazaki Tomoya and Furukawa Nagisa after forming a relationship in the first season of Clannad. But then, this story goes beyond that, and gives us moment after moment, stage after stage of the lives of these two people who have agreed to share their lives with one another.

The anime is filled with different arcs, most centred around the people who bear certain significance in Tomoya's life. This may be where viewers of the first season may find ~After Story~ to be weak, having shifted its focus from the multiple recurring characters and supporting cast. However, the premise of Clannad is to follow the life of Tomoya and those around him. As he grows, people grow apart and people come into his life, and the storyline of Clannad suits this movement. So when the story arcs are no longer focussed on friends or classmates and starts paying attention to centralised characters and family, it is a natural shift; those who have become important to Tomoya are the people with whom he wants to make a home.

Clannad ~After Story~ achieves a lot more than other anime of its genres could ever hope to. How often do we see stories that reveal the very nature of growing up? Maturity is a hard thing to reach, and we watch as these people strive through some of life's toughest moments to become stronger, or we watch, as strength fails them and reminds us that succumbing to the sadness in life is far easier than one would think.

Also, the story of the world that exists alternately, the world of illusions, has a greater significance to ~After Story~ and in essence, is explained.

The art for this anime remains excellent as ever. There is close attention paid to colour and detail. Speckles of rust on an aging building, soft lights in the sky, a field of flowers, the exposed cuts of a bruised knuckle--these are just some examples of the beautiful, inane details that are embedded into the artwork. The animation is some of the best as well. The contortion of a face, the swing of an arm, the lilt of a smile; the characters' movements are animated fluidly and their movements are close to being realistic. The character design remains as cute as ever, as each character does have that trademark shiny, large-eyed look that Kyoto Animation is famous for.

There has been no real change for Clannad ~After Story~'s score; it remains the same from the first season. The exceptions of course lie in the theme songs, which are new. The largest complaint perhaps may be the change in the ED theme song. While Dango Daikazoku is an emotional piece that went well with the featured melancholy of Clannad, ~After Story~'s TORCH by Lia only suited the anime for very few episodes. In fact, there were quite a handful of episodes that would leave a viewer ready to burst into tears (unless they were already crying) only to then have the anime conclude with a cheerful, upbeat song. Wholly inappropriate. The background music remains beautifully composed, and the soundtrack consists of many memorable pieces. Nagisa's Theme for example is possibly the most magnificent offering of the anime's score, gently slipping into emotional scenes, building up, and adding its powerful impact. It is a stirring, beautiful, emotionally moving track. Any bit of music that can affect a listener so deeply is certainly commendable.

Return of old characters as well as the introduction of new ones can be found in ~After Story~. Clannad's characters remain as charming and involving as ever, and some of the characters even go through some of the greatest growth imaginable.

We watch Tomoya as he grows from being a boy into being a man. And throughout his growth, his attachment to the things around him reveals itself to be one of his greatest strengths and weaknesses. He observes, almost helplessly, as the world changes around him and there is very little he could do about it, so he leaves it as is, though it is in his nature to create change. More than any other character in the anime, Tomoya experiences world-shattering joys and sorrows that almost seem to be unfair to him; his hatred of the world returns despite the happiness he experienced in the end of the first season.

Nagisa continues to be of great importance to the anime, though her character eventually becomes a role due to an important event that occurs during the course of the series. However, her significance never wanes, and to Tomoya, she is the most important person in the world. Nagisa epitomises what quiet, subtle strength is in a girl becoming a woman. Her support for Tomoya is a persevering one, her love for life is a wonderful, almost magical one. While determination is often depicted in a character as something robust or loud, Nagisa gives the attribute an entirely different meaning.

The supporting cast of the first season plays a much minor role in ~After Story~ and perhaps this is where fans may be peeved. Most appear for a few episodes and some even only make brief cameos. The most important roles go to the people who have become Tomoya's most important people: the Furukawa family, Sunohara, and those whose lives he manages to stumble into or those who stumble into his life. Some characters make a grand return, and a few new Clannad cast members appear.

However, there is one particular new character who will warm your heart and win you over. With complete believability, plain and earnest charm, a genuine and simple sweetness, and with a voice that has the lilt of innocent but deep sorrow, this character is possibly the greatest addition to the Clannad universe, and is a beautiful, wonderful character on the whole.

Filled with heartwarming, heart pounding, heart-wrenching moments, ~After Story~ proves itself to be one of the most daring, most different anime series ever to be made. There is a lot of humour, a lot of sadness, drama, romance, and tragedy within this anime that almost makes it replicate exactly what real life is like. And there's the magic and miracles. What's life without remembering or even hoping that those exist?

As life continues, we learn (often in the hardest of ways) that things never remain the same. One can be happy for only so long. Sorrow creeps--sometimes barges--into our lives when we are least prepared or when we least suspect it. But one can only be sad for only so long as well, as Clannad ~After Story~ shows us that life does not end even when we think it does.

There is always a story that takes place afterwards. read more

I felt like I was going into viewing this series as I would if I had a loaded gun pointed at the back of my head. The high expectations I had for Clannad were shattered and I was left wondering if I had seen the same show as everyone who loved it. I watched this mostly because I was setting out to prove to myself that I was one of the few people who saw nothing special at all in it. I vowed never to watch another show in the slice of life genre again - at least not without extreme precaution. Five episodes in and I still felt the same way except this time I was starting to get angry. So many things in this show were grating on me – the cliché moe girls, the cliché loud girl who is permanently in PMS, the straight man main character, and, most predictably, the unwelcome comic relief. Such simplified characterizations and it would be stupid of me to expect any depth whatsoever from a show that breeds off of cliché after cliché after cliché.

And here I watched a continuation of the story of these characters whose lives I deemed far less interesting than my own.

I loved Clannad ~After Story~.

No amount of effort could bring me to choose to stray from the crowd and say it sucked. Even though it had clichés. Even though it had stereotypes. Even though I was dangerously close to dropping it.

None of that matters now because this anime means much more to me than anything else I’ve ever seen or read. Despite my tendency to scrutinize, I was able to look past its faults and highlight and focus on its strengths instead. Does that mean I pretended that they never existed? Of course not. But they were such minute annoyances that I realized I would only sound whiny if I let them affect my overall opinion on this show.

My negative opinion on Clannad was slowly revoked as this follow-up finale series brought about twists and turns in the lives of the characters, changing them indefinitely (for better or for worse). These friends go to great lengths to guide one another and it’s inspirational. It’s the best kind of feel good show because it makes you wish you had this same effect on those around you. It makes you wonder why you don’t feel that same twinge in your heart when you spend time with your own friends or family. It makes you wonder why you take life for granted and it makes you realize why reality will rarely be preferable to fiction.

The main protagonist of Clannad is Tomoya, a certified delinquent (although he is the nicest and most rational delinquent you’ll probably ever see) who has an indifferent attitude towards school, his relationships, and life in general. That is, until he meets a soon-to-be special someone who turns out to be just what he needed to turn his life around.

Nagisa is the soft spoken girl whose inner strength and unrelenting optimism motivate Tomoya throughout all of his ordeals. As soon as he begins to feel exhaustion creeping up on him all he needs in order to keep going is to be reminded of the simple things which make him truly happy - like listening to Nagisa talk about the progress she made in school or being offhandedly, yet shockingly, praised by a coworker. Things most of us wouldn’t give a second thought to mean the world to him. And it’s not pathetic or farfetched; it feels so natural and heartwarming.

The beautiful thing about Tomoya and Nagisa’s relationship is that they aren’t lovey-dovey and they aren’t all over one another. I’m not sure if they even kissed once throughout the series (or at least if it was shown). What’s expressed here is that what matters is the notion that they will always be there for one another. And that nothing will come between them no matter what happens. Not even Nagisa’s dad.

This brings me to the supporting cast of Clannad ~After Story~. In high school, Tomoya was often seen hanging around with his unlikely best friend Sunohara. Sunohara provides a lot of the comic relief in the show. The show has many running gags, one of which is that Sunohara is the butt of jokes and is often at the receiving end of physical abuse. He gets beaten up almost every time he encounters the anger-prone Kyou. It’s hard not to sympathize with the guy after a while because he’s clearly misunderstood by all of his friends. It’s a relief to see that he gets some actual character development and more of his and Tomoya’s back story is revealed. Normally it’s hard to take comical characters seriously because seeing them placed in or replaced by an intense dramatic situation feels laughably absurd when compared to the exaggerations and outlandishness we’ve grown accustomed to. But that’s not the case here as comedy and drama are blended so well that it’s impossible to appreciate the show if it only had one or the other.

I loved when Tomoya would deadpan reactions to the people he surrounds himself with. At first I wondered to myself ‘Is this supposed to be funny?’ but soon I realized that the thoughts Tomoya voiced were often those of mine as well. And I couldn’t help but laugh soon after. It’s a shame that these lines and moments fly by so fast that it’s easy to forget even the funnier quotes. Although my personal favorite was when he stated something about Nagisa’s family being stupid.

Another running gag is that everyone hates Nagisa’s mom’s bread. It’s an incredibly simple joke but it actually gets more amusing as the series progresses. This is one of the few anime I’ve seen where the parents actually play a vital role in the main characters’ lives and they aren’t annoying in the least. In fact, they’re lovable and endearing. Nagisa’s dad is one of my top 3 favorite characters of the show. I found it amusing that his seiyuu also voiced the engrish-speaking Mr. K in Gravitation.

Now, family plays a major role in this series. Tomoya is often distanced from his father and their relationship is very strained. Over the course of the series, Tomoya’s seemingly concrete stubbornness is gradually whittled away to nothing and it becomes easier to see why this show moved many people even if it didn’t do the same for others. It feels so good to see the characters come to terms with their mistakes and mature into adulthood that all of the pain and misery they went through amidst all of that ends up feeling minuscule.

The art here is of higher than average quality. The colors are very easy on the eyes and pretty to say the least. The most distinguishing features of the characters are their eyes which are difficult for me to describe because, well, they’re eyes. If I had to make a comparison I’d say they appear almost gem-like. They’re shiny and detailed with very beautiful colors. The characters’ appearances clearly represent the purity and beauty of the show itself.

The soundtrack often switches between being either soothing or lighthearted. The fact that it is so easy to forget that there even is background music during some of the more involving scenes is a shame. Especially considering these tracks add so much while still being so subtle and low-key. I loved the show’s ending theme. It’s lively and enthusiastic and it always seems to promise that happier times are ahead even if I seriously doubt it. At times it seems unfitting due to the significant decline in mood towards the conclusion of the series, but at the same time it’s so much easier to appreciate it after being drained of emotion.

The voice acting is good all around although it does depend on the type of character and their significance to the plot. I guess it should be guaranteed that with a substantial increase in conflict and depth there will also be more chances for the seiyuu to really impress. Yuuichi Nakamura is perfectly assigned to the role of Tomoya. It can’t be too difficult to fall into the trap of unintentionally overacting in emotional scenes. However, he never does and he gives a stand out performance. Mai Nakahara does a wonderful job voicing Nagisa. Although I wasn’t a fan of how childlike her voice was (not that it’s entirely the actress’s fault) I don’t see any reason to disapprove since it does fit her character’s personality. Other performances I was impressed by were for the characters of Sunohara (he’s loud and over-the-top, but somehow not annoying) and, as I mentioned earlier, Nagisa’s dad. A very honorable mention goes to Ushio's seiyuu who produces one of the most adorable voices I've ever heard.

Did this show manipulate my emotions a bit? Yes. Was it cheaply and distastefully done? No. Every scene in this series is integral to the conclusion. Friends drifting apart, accepting and appreciating the company of others, reconstructing broken bonds. On the surface, these are mundane things that can only be expected from what lies ahead in our lives. But what matters is the process of getting there and the decisions we make that will make or break our futures. Clannad ~After Story~ tells us nothing new. It's about the presentation.

And it's truly moving and inspiring.

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