After Story is quintessentially Japanese with no compromises. It both frames the world with elements of traditional culture (slightly patriarchal approach to relationship with fragile female protagonist, refusing money from parents for the sake of honor, immediate respect for grandparent) and shows the world with elements of modern life (changing city, new construction, environmental preservation, long working hours). (Also, there aren't yet cell phones, which itself is fascinating to think about for sociological purposes.) This is both refreshing and realistic in the world of anime: After Story doesn't seem like it's using a medium with fantasy elements only to escape reality. It takes life as it is and, overlooking a few contrived missteps, shows how the characters change the existing reality for themselves while being inextricably tied to it. Tomoya even considers running away from his problems by leaving the city with Nagisa (metaphorically escaping almost everything about his reality), but she reasons with him about the family he has in the city.
That said, I found myself quite able to interpret the story in my own way. Outside of the humor and occasional filler, there are many important moments available for reflection. This appreciation for stillness and reflection (even occasionally outside of slice of life), I think, is the strongest argument for why anime is a medium and not a genre, and why it appeals to certain types of people more than others. One of my highlights in the first season was Tomoyo's conversation at sunset with Tomoya, where they theorized about 'family'. The essence of 'family' further explored by After Story is complex and multithreaded, and remains the defining question and legacy of the whole series. If you personally identify with the series, the questions raised by the series may remain a part of your everyday reality no matter what stage of life you are in. They may even cause you to think about everyone else in your life in new ways.
The music of the series was the strongest aspect for me, both in After Story and the first series. It opened my mind up through emotions to consider the realities and struggles of the different characters. Consider all of the scenarios presented in the first season. What must life be like for Kotomi, studying all alone in the library those long hours, living a life completely different from the high schoolers around her? In the real world with degree inflation in Asia where university has become a safe haven for students who can't get jobs yet are quite intelligent, what will become of students like her? Will all her domain-specific scientific knowledge become obsolete thanks to databases and her inexperience with cutting-edge electronic equipment? Think about Tomoyo. In a world of big data and near-total destruction of privacy, there may be less chance to change who society believes you are. Think about Kyou's future role as providing familial comfort and understanding to all the primary schoolchildren who don't have a family life as both parents work long hours. Think about Nagisa's parents, who would have a tough or impossible time paying for Nagisa's college with their modest-income jobs after sacrificing their dream careers. Are such parents realistic in families of the future? And the future Yusukes in developed countries may need to sacrifice even more family time to their jobs to sustain services in societies with many retired seniors. On a level closer to the canon, how will changes in Nagisa and Tomoya's life impact the people and the city around them over the years? More abstractly, to what degree do changes in the family of the city affect the family of friends and actual families? In After Story, just as in the first season, the music encourages thoughtful, probing questions for imaginative types and shows how much change time can bring. Perhaps the music can become a part of your life as you associate a song with a certain time period. For me, "To the Same Heights" contains a wonderful mixture of hope, uncertainty, and wonder in facing the future.
Some people will not enjoy this anime. The moe art style may seem unsuited to the depth of the storyline (although for me, it seems merely an extreme case of the wonderful juxtaposition of innocence and hope against harsh realities in a similar vein as Madoka vs Kyubey, Akane vs Makishima and Sibyl, or even Honoka, Umi, and Kotori in front of an empty theater). The story arc before episode 9 in After Story is not realistic. The drama may be too intense for them, and the everyday dialogue too melodramatic. Yet starting with episode 9, I think what follows is the finest piece of storytelling that will exist in anime for a very long time.
Take all the happy and sad things and roll them up. Dango dango daikazoku~
