Like the first season, Clannad After Story still showcases the same brilliant art and music. Here we can see KyoAni has realy grasped a hold of their Key-style character designs, having come a long way from when they did Air back in 2005. The designs are aesthetically pleasing while still being a very enhanced degree of cute. The backgrounds, likewise, are very detailed though not meticulously enough that it would come off as gaudy. The town looks like an actual town, with construction sites and familiar pathways, which is excellent as the town itself is a key theme to the story.
Music provided from the game's original score continues to fit every scene perfectly, and vocal performance quality has skyrocketed with the growing characterization of Nagisa and Tomoya. Akio and Sanae are also well-cast and add to a good lot of scenes and episodes. Unfortunately, this second season has a penchant for insert songs, especially when they're not really called for. In addition, the ending theme "Torch" is wholly inappropriate for the gross amount of the episodes. Clannad After Story does top the previous season in making the opening theme even better, a very moving piece, "Toki wo Kizamu Uta" sung by Lia, who also sang the OP for Air TV. The accompanying graphics to the opening sequence only heighten the emotional value of the lyrics and the melody. It's easily one of After Story's more notable features.
With a more emotional opening though, comes a more emotional story. After Story begins by moving beyond the main characters to focus on arcs for smaller roles. These short arcs are actually just as moving as the longer arcs of the first season, providing a surprisingly hefty amount of character development from what were previously background characters and actually invoking a connection to them, which I really have to applaud this series for. Plus, these mini-arcs buffer well into the main part of the series.
The actual After Story itself, when it's finally reached, is quite possibly one of the most well-written and developed arcs of any anime I have ever seen. The story moves to a more linear format, focusing on Nagisa and Tomoya. For two characters who got the shaft for development in the first season, they get their development here and in spades. I dare say Tomoya may be the most multi-faceted harem male to ever grace anime.
Every episode flows smoothly into the next in a very consistent format, and every episode brings a new turn or twist, sad or happy, but always dramatic and leaving you wanting more... that is until the last two episodes of the storyline.
In this final stretch, After Story hits the wall. Following several episodes of dramatic, moving, top-tier material, the storyline, dialogue and characterization all take a major downturn in the form of an unresolved loose end that has followed the series from the start. It feels so incredibly forced when its resolved, and takes away everything gained from the previous episodes, that it feels like a sucker punch both when they tie it up and in how they do it. This is only emphasized by the fact that they had two whole episode spaces to explain the story, but instead decided to end it with a non-consequential side story and a recap.
As the old saying goes, its not about the destination but the journey. The destination has left a very sour taste in my mouth, leaving me to reflect on how some of Key/Visual Art's more signature elements have only hindered this otherwise phenomenal slice-of-life romance, but it should not discredit from the phenomenal work that the rest of this series was. Trust me, it's worth the ride to swallow the end.
Overall, Clannad After Story gets a 9 out of 10.
