Ranked #169

Clannad: Another World, Kyou Chapter

Clannad: Another World, Kyou Chapter is a rather sombre, romantic depiction of a young man who is torn between his commitment to one sister and his chemistry with the other.

This anime is an alternate ending of the first Clannad series. Forget the events of ~After Story~. Forget the concluding episodes of Clannad. Forget that Okazaki Tomoya ever stopped on that hill to talk to that estranged girl mumbling the name of bread to herself. In this world, those things never happened. In this world, Okazaki Tomoya has come into the lives of the Fujibayashi twin sisters.

The story picks up from an unknown time in the chronology of the Clannad franchise, but opens with Fujibayashi Ryou confessing her love to Tomoya. Unable to turn her down and lacking direction and resolve, he decides to date her. However, there are the feelings of Fujibayashi Kyou to consider. She too is in love with Tomoya. Tomoya feels helplessly trapped when he realises that there is some sort of electricity between himself and his girlfriend's sister. Ryou refuses to acknowledge what is evident to everyone. This anime follows three people caught and struggling in a melancholy love triangle.

Art remains as gorgeous as ever, though there are some truly spectacular sunsets and twilight scenes in particular. One of the more magnificent aspects of this anime is the direction of the scenes. Images cutting from one to the next, one point of view to another, and the unusual camera angles all contribute to give a deeper meaning to each scene. There are scenes in the anime that truly impress; when images of Kyou and Ryou are spliced interchangeably, the effect is nothing short of emotionally stirring, as you see one sister's feelings juxtaposed with the other's.

The score comes straight out of the set soundtracks for the Clannad universe, so nothing new here. However, what is extremely significant is the way the sound is used. The background music is beautiful, but there are moments in this anime where the silences create an atmosphere that musical accompaniment cannot touch. The scenes in which dialogue take precedence are some of the most powerful in this anime. All you hear are the voices of people whose lives are being changed accompanied by the sounds of the world around them, quietly or noisily continuing as though nothing of any significance is happening.

The characters provide the drive for this OAV. Kyou loves her sister too much to act on her feelings. But she loves Tomoya too much not to. She is seen putting on a brave face when all she wants to do is break down and cry. Ryou has always been one of the weaker characters in the Clannad universe and in this episode, she is clearly overshadowed by her sister's presence. Perhaps this is the irony of her characterisation, as she even says it herself--Kyou has always been the better one. The interaction between the twins are some of the more pivotal though understated scenes in the OAV; they love one another too much to cause each other pain and yet it seems that it is inevitable.

Tomoya retains his dryly sarcastic, helpful and deeply caring personality. However, if we are to assume that this is the same Okazaki Tomoya from the Clannad series, then his behaviour is quite unlike him during several scenes in this anime. The Tomoya we know inserts himself into the lives of people and changes them, getting close without ever truly getting close. He would never allow himself to get that emotionally connected to a girl in case he ever ended up hurting her. Yet he does it twice in this single OAV. His decision to date Ryou is truly baffling, and a later action that takes place with Kyou is shockingly out of character, considering his prior characterisation in the TV series. The only other significant character in this anime is Sunohara, who surprisingly dishes out words of wisdom but never forgets to be the joker. Botan makes a brief cameo.

There are some stomach-twisting scenes, lovely, heartfelt moments and genuinely bittersweet elements to this anime. It is an enjoyable watch, especially if the Fujibayashi twins peaked your interest in the first series. It is best to wipe your mind of Furukawa Nagisa if you want to fully enjoy this, since this "chapter" does not compare in any way to the much more fleshed-out ~After Story~. It is a lovely little OAV, and it is worth watching. Unless, of course, you cannot bear the thought of Tomoya taking any other route than the one depicted in the television series.

You can pick your friends. You can select your lovers. You cannot choose who you fall in love with, and you cannot choose your family. More importantly, can you choose between one or the other? All we can do is hope our decisions can give at least one person happiness, even if it is not ourselves. read more

*Heartwarming end to an exceptional adaptation.*

“We can only hurt each other … because we ended up liking the same person.” – Fujibayashi Ryou

In this alternate dimension in the world of Clannad, Fujibayashi supporters will be glad to hear that their goddesses are now the main spotlight of the story. The other female characters, such as Nagisa, Tomoyo, et cetera, still exist in the story, however their lives no longer cross with Tomoya’s the way they did from the TV series (say good bye to Ushio).

Fans wishing for a new OP or at least a change in scenes/characters for the OP will be disappointed. Not only does it reuse the same OP from After Story, but all soundtracks and BGM throughout the OVA are nothing new. Everything just recycled from both the first and second season of Clannad. But is that necessary a bad thing? Probably not. For instance, the insert song from the first season, Ana, is a much more fitting ED than the original After Story ED (TORCH), which many find to be too upbeat for a show like Clannad.

Assuming you have been following Clannad and After Story, the animation should not be anything new to you. There is still the shadow from trees and clouds cast down onto our characters. There is still the smooth dynamic animation transition between scenes. And there is still the unique camera angles giving viewers a different perspective every now and then. In addition, I was totally impressed by the personification used in this short episode. The clouds that were used to express the inner thoughts of Kyou (her logic and desire) were exceptionally well made.

Perhaps the one thing that fans can enjoy now is the more elaborate character developments for the Fujibayashi twins. Although their feelings for Tomoya were evident ever since the beginning of the first TV series, but for various reasons they were held back and ultimately became sidelined characters. I have always regarded this triangular relationship the hardest and most interesting of all Clannad routes. No matter which girl Tomoya chooses, the pair still has to face the other for the rest of their lives. Both sisters wanting to love and be loved but they are bound to hurt each other in the process. Viewers see the characters grow and mature, making decisions that will affect themselves, their family, and their future. read more