Nov 25, 2015
Clannad: After Story is the pay off from all the character and plot building that Clannad first set up. The characters that you've come to love are beginning to face the challenges of adulthood and are set on their individual paths. The two leading characters, Tomoya and Nagisa, become even deeper characters as they face these new challenges together. This whole series is a roller-coaster of emotions and you'll definitely want to have some tissues prepared for this one. This whole season is very strong plot wise....until the last six episodes. (The ending is why I gave a six in the story category.) A lot
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of people will tell you that the ending is perfect the way it is; and while it is touching and heart-warming, it was too perfect. Perfect as in the old fairy tale "and they lived happily ever after" ending. [Slight spoilers ahead. Skip to the last paragraph for conclusion.]
The ending failed to hit hard because after all the trials Tomoya had gone through, his whole situation was fixed within a matter of minutes with the greatest plot device in existence (sarcasm)...magic. The writers wanted the"ideal" happy ending so bad that they resorted to fixing everything using a power that was out of the main characters control and wasn't explained very well. This is just my personal opinion and I'm in no way saying that the ending was bad but it just could have been done better or ended sooner. It easily would've been a 9 or maybe even a 10 in my book if it wasn't for this.
So in the end the characters, plot and soundtrack are all outstanding and really drive home the emotional parts of this anime. The series, however, should have ended at episode 18 in my opinion. This was the emotional height of the season and tied up the main conflict nicely. Everything after this episode felt forced and had to be wrapped up in only six episodes leading to a rushed and underwhelming ending. Overall, this series is a must watch for any romance/slice of life fans out there and should be watched in its entirety despite its shortcomings.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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