Clannad Movie

[As originally posted on AnimeNfo.com]
[Watched and Reviewed before Viewing TV series]
-via kyzoryn

A few days ago I witnessed the animation called Clannad, an epic story that focuses around the progression of a boy that who suffers from depression and a girl who never loses hope. It is a “good slice of life” movie that centralizes around the themes of strong friendship and family.

One major weakness is the underdevelopment of the climax and ending. They reach the climax and then proceed to give and show no detail, but rather rush towards the ending. I’m not going to give any spoilers, but the ending, though great in depth ... should have been more developed.

I have not watched Clannad the television series, and I am currently watching the after story, but as far as I can tell the after story developes Nagisa and Tomoya in a much better fashion as well as the other characters. Speaking of Nagisa, her character lacks depth as you only see the cheerful side to her, never sadness or grief. Thus the strong point is obviously Tomoya, as you witness the ups and down and growing strength. From this I will say that you should watch Clannad the television series rather than the movie.

I liked the movie and would say that its strong point is the development of Tomoya and its weak points are the story and the development of most feminine characters including Nagisa.
[7/10]

There are just too many things I could say. This movie, predecessor to the anime, is far different in comparison. The first half follows the events of Clannad and I assume the second fallows the after story. Though several aspects were changed in the anime I feel that, in combination, they each fill holes in the other’s story, leaving the viewer with a greater understanding of the characters as well as adding depth to them.
Despite how much I loved the movie, I must say, although it DID come before the anime, my advice is to watch the anime first. I don’t think I would’ve sat ... through very much of the movie had I not already had an understanding of the characters. The movie is more of a serious drama then the anime with most, if not all, of the slapstick removed. This brings me to what I feel was the hugest change between the anime and the movie; the anime, usually, was lighthearted and care free with only a mild serious undertone that only engulfed the show in a few episodes, but the movie, on the other hand, seem to have a bit of a dark cloud following it the whole time.
Over all, I just love this series in its entirety and am soon to begin watching the after story. I truly only recommend the movie to fans of the series and people looking for an anime movie with a chick flick-esk feel to it. Those are the people I think’ll get the most out of this movie. To fans of the anime series, I say to you that you will find this movie completely endearing as it adds greater depth to some characters, especially Tomoya’s father, but I also would like to warn you to look through the differences and take the in stride, remembering that the movie DID in fact come first and it‘s differences are not a load of bull poopie. To people just hoping to get into the series, I suggest to you to start with the anime instead just because of how dark this movie is in contrast. And to those with no real interest in the series, I suggest this movie only if you’re in the mood to cry because I seriously got to the point, a whole THREE TIMES, near the end, where I had to take off my glasses and/or pause the video because I was crying.

first off if your wondering why i gave enjoyment a 1
it is because it made me cry... i cant enjoy things when i cry Q.Q

anyways about the movie that started it all...
what is there to say besides it started it all...
the movie is basically the whole clannad+clannad afterstory- a few plots here and there. it wraps the wholse series into 2 nice dramatic hours where in the end i was crying at school the day after...


the story starts off with a boy...the boy has weird dreams(not thsoe dreams...) the boy is considered a dilinquient. one day he goes to school and there he sees this ... girl. girl gets sick easy and never really shows up at school. girl wants to join drama club. drama club disappeared because of lack of interest. boy helps girl. and the rest if yours to find out. i left out almost everything but that basically wraps up the whole 1 hour of the movie if it was in play no detail form. if this was a play this would be a comedy(not ha ha comedy but happy ending comedy)

Recommended for:
people taht like to cry...
people that love dramas
people that wants to know where the clannad series all started from...
people that just wants to see a good movie once in a while...

In my opinion, a master piece!!!

This movie is gonna be perfect for those who enjoy crying with sentimental stories. It's full of emotions but isn't cheesy at all...

Clannad's movie (a summary of Clannad part 1) shows that happyness is never complete... No matter how much a person deserves it, nobody is going to be entirely happy ever. So, the main character (Tomoya) is moved from the happiest scenaries to the most suffering situations.

The story will catch you... you'll see characters facing unfair situations because story is as cruel as real life is.

Its main message must be: "Only those who decide to chase happiness will get ... a piece of it."

the clannad was a masterpiece set aside from its TV counterpart. the TV counterpart focuses mainly on the arcs of the game and the side characters whereas the movie cuts out a large portion of the cast(mei, fuko, ryou, sunoharas dorm keeper). this however does not ruin the movie even the slightest bit. the movie focuses on the mysterious dream that carries so much weight but is barely touched upon in the TV version. also it shows you the majority of the acting performance at the founders festival(a thing i was overjoyed about because it is skipped in the TVanime) it ... also focuses on the after story of the nagisa arc(which isnt illustrated at all in the TV version) and the fate of Ushio, nagisa and okazaki's child.

that said it is unfair to judge the movie against the TV version because they tell 2 different parts of the same story. if you watched the anime you should watch the movie. if you watched the movie first then youll still enjoy the anime because it isnt spoiled by the movie.

i recommend everybody watch the clannad movie.

When I first heard of this movie, I didn't expect to like it a lot, but it looked good enough to watch so I decided to get it out of curiosity more than anything, and I am very glad I did.

Story:
I felt that the plot - which has already been handled in game and anime series form - was dealt with very well in this movie. It didn't drag on, and there were moments that placed me on the verge of tears. I obviously can't compare it to the game or anime but in a nutshell it's: simple but thought-provoking; heart-warming and heart-wrenching; perfectly ... paced and effective.
If you want to find out what it was about, turn to Wiki! =P

Art/animation:
The art is, to tell the truth, hard to rate. The majority of the time, I thought it beautiful; some of it breath-taking. Some interesting techniques were used to great effect; a good example would be when the screen was divided in the middle, allowing two clips to play simultaneously, as this helped show the two perspectives as they happened synchronously. But I cannot ignore some of the slightly irritating flaws.
Firstly, I didn't like it when short parts of the animation were repeated; one of the techniques used - on several occasions - for emphasis (at least, that's what it felt like it was used for). Not only did this appear lazy, it made the animation static. (I even thought the video was acting up until I realised it was actually MEANT to happen!)
Secondly, while many of them were beautifully drawn, there were a few too many stills. This wouldn't have been too bad had they not tried to make the stills a little more... "exciting" by adding effects - such as blurs and overlays - and over-dramatic shadows! This is forgivable though, as it wasn't done all the time.

Sound:
I have little to say about the voice acting, to be honest. It was in Japanese, so I can't really comment on whether the tone was suitable, but I felt it was, and the voices suited their characters well (which is more than I can say for other animes such as Fushigi Yugi!).
The soundtrack was very good, each track perfectly suited to its corresponding scene. The song "Dango" was, at first, a little embarrassing to listen to (it was so childish >_<), but it soon grew on me and I found it perfectly suited to the story and Nagisa's character. It could be said - although I didn't personally find this - that it was overplayed, as they managed to include several instrumental versions, but this helped to sustain Nagisa's presence, and actually made it all the more heart-wrenching and bittersweet.
One thing was laughable though: Nagisa's giggle! It made me laugh AT her, which is never good.

Character:
I haven't seen the anime - yet - and so can't really compare (a few people have complained about the omission of their favourite character). But perhaps that is a good thing as I can treat this movie as an independent piece of work, and can approach this section without any bias.
I thought that the characters were very good; the main two developed steadily. In fact, I felt there was little to critique.

Nagisa: Surprisingly, I truly loved her character; her sweet, upbeat and warm personality left little to be disliked. And the more the plot revealed, the more I came to appreciate her. Despite the fact she's friendless, due to taking a year out of school (reasons for this are explained), she's hopeful; her ambition, determination and assurance in the face of adversity is something I ended up aspiring to. I didn't even mind her slightly childish side. In fact, I found it endearing - it wasn't a BAD childish side. It added to her character, helping to make this movie the masterpiece it is. Had her character been less innocent and bright (cheerful!), its end would not have been so tragic. Her character is central!

Tomoya: While I didn't like Tomoya as much as Nagisa, I can't flaw his character. I don't agree with what synopsises generally say about him - that he's a delinquent - but he does have a cold side to him, appearing to despise his father, and only relying on his violent - but very comical! - friend for company. However, after he meets Nagisa, this changes; his character - almost - totally changes until the fateful incident (which I shall not mention) that results in him becoming even more introverted in the future, as we are shown. But now I fear ruining the plot...so I'll leave it at that!

The minor characters all had their perks, each endearing in their own way but none of them really appeared enough for me to give them each an individual section.

In conclusion:
Despite my doubts, this is quite possibly my favourite anime movie! There is little left to say that I haven't already but if you're looking for something that's both fun and moving - or just a film that's easy to watch while still remaining meaningful - I'd recommend this! Oh, and it might just soften your heart! =P Anime movies have pulled at my heart strings before, but I don't think any has touched me in the same way this did.

How could they ruin the amazingly heart-gripping story that is Clannad with this atrocity? Well they didn't.

The movie version of Clannad is an original take on the visual novel. The movie is actually not that bad when you judge it on its own merits. The series undoubtedly one-ups everything that movies does right and corrects everything it does wrong.

The story moves quickly through Nagisa's route from both seasons and at intervals does get a bit complex to follow but nothing real serious to complain about.


The art and animation are splendid. The character's emotions are well portrayed and the soundtrack plays like a dream to ... the mood.


The characters of the movie version are probably the movie version's biggest flaw. While the characters are well done the seem to do certain actions without really explaining why.

On its own, the movie version of Clannad is a good story with good characters but with its share of flaws makes it hard to enjoy completely and if watched while comparing it to the series then that enjoyment is practically taken away.

First of all, my opinions on the anime of Clannad. (I haven't read the VN, so I can't comment on that.) I thought both were kind of average. They were fairly entertaining, but I didn't find them to be very special. I gave both seasons a 7, as well as the specials.

Art and Animation: 7

The background animation is pretty good. The characters not so much. The original Clannad artstyle was already hard to get used to, but by the second season I had already accepted it. However, the movie style is awful.

Soundtrack: 7

Nothing noticeable really, but it does it's job. Of paticular note is the ... Dango song, which sounds different. While the original was like a lullaby, the movie version sounds more like a happy children's song. Is this good or bad? Well, since I watched the anime first, I'm more used to that version, but the movie version isn't excatly bad. As for the voice actors, they are mostly the same for both Japanese and English.

Plot: 7

The plot differs slightly from the original, as the plot centers solely on Tomoya and Nagisa.The plot is also faster, since it is a movie and it doesn't have a lot of time compared to the anime.

I noticed that the movie had a lighter and more comedy feel compared to the anime. Two reasons: a) The movie has quite a bit of comedic scenes, adn these stand out more compared to the anime since the movie is a lot shorter; b) There are less sad scenes, as there is no focus on the other characters of Clannad, with the only sad part being the After Story segment.

Another thing that's different is the ending of the movie. (I'll try not to spoil anything.) For one thing, the ending is more straightforward compaed to the anime, which ws slightly harder to understand

The movie does not have an "Illusionary World". Instead, the film has the concept of a recurring nightmare that Tomoya has. Of course, the lack of the Illusionary World makes the ending quite different...

The exceution of the plot was quite average. I felt that the film had slight pacing issues, adn I would ahve preferred more ofcus on the After Sory part. The differeces with the plot did not bother me as much though. I actually preferred the ending of the movie.

Characters: 7

The movie focuses primarily on Tomoya and Nagisa, again due to the short time. Unfortunately, this leaves very little time for the side characters.

Tomoya is mostly the same as the original. Nagisa, on the other hand, is kind of different. She seems more bold and outgoing in the movie. In the beginnig, after meeting Tomoya, she actively attempts to become friends with him. She's also more actve in terms of the Drama Club. Even before she met Tomoya and Sunohara, she was working hard on making posters for the Drama Club. She is also very certain of excatly what she wants to do with the Drama Club, and excatly what kind of performance she wants to put on. Overall, I like the movie version of Nagisa because she's bolder.

Sunohara is also mostly the same, playing the role of comic relief while having some serious moments. Tomoyo is still running for student council president, and she seems less aggressive. Kyou seems to have the position of Tomoyo's best friend, and helps Tomoyo with her election campaign. Kotomi makes a few cameos as the conductor of a choir. Ryou, Fuko, Mei, Yukine, and Misae are some other prominent supporting characters that do not appear in the movie verse.

Akio and Sanae are also mostly the same. Kouko is an expert in martial arts, and was also the advisor to the previous Drama Club. Yoshino has a different personality which I find similar to Akio's at times. Lastly, Tomoya's dad plays an important part in the After Story segment, but personality wise is still mostly the same.

Enjoyment: 7

The movie was entertaining, but nothing special.

Overall: 7

I found the anime to be better than the movie, but the movie is not bad by any measns.. I would recommend it only to fans of Clannad, since it presents a different take on the Clannad universe. If you disliked Clannad, don't expect the movie to be better, because it is inferior to the anime. If you haven't watched the anime of Clannad, you should watch that first, then check out the movie if you liked the anime.

After watching the series the movie was a let down. It did not pull me in to the world that it was trying to make. In the series I became connected to the characters. In this movie I really did not get this feeling.



Story: I give this an eight because the story had two moments where it shined and conveyed a lot. Other than that it really was boring. Sometimes I could not tell where it was going.



Character: This gets an eight because of the lack of real character development. The only characters that gets any real development are the main characters. Other ... than that most characters just seem like filler.



Art: This gets a nine because the animation was done really well. It helped with conveying the mood and tone of the movie. IT helped you sense what a character was feeling.



Enjoyment: I give this an eight also. Even though I believe the movie was a let down after watching the series it was still a great movie. I just enjoyed the series more you could say. This just left me with the feeling that Air: The Movie did. It left me with unanswered questions.



Sound: I give this an eight too. It gets that because some of the voice acting to me left something to be desired. But the ambient music helped with conveying the mood and tone of the movie.



Overall I give it an eight. It was good, but I stilled enjoyed the series more. If you want an overview of the series watch this.

A beautiful story with a happy ending. One might say a beautiful drama!

I've cried as his daughter Tomoya USHIO has seen at the end!

I commend all the romance anime fan to see this movie! It goes straight to the heart!

I´ve just watched the Clannad movie, after watching the series, as i was curious to see it. Ii later realized it was made before the actual series, which would mean that the movie is a first gathering up of ideas for the series.

When i compare both, of course there is lots of different things like the songs or the animation itself, as it was created by another Studios (Toei Animation instead of Kyoto Animation), but the main story and the characters are the same.

Only when i stop comparing, i can truly enjoy the wonderful experience that is seeing this movie.
Although it was created before, i ... suggest seeing the series first and the film afterwards, as i believe the series is much richer and has, of course, more time for character and story development. Seeing the movie afterwards makes me understand the movie more (as i already know the plot).

As in the series, i love the story and the characters and i like the animation in the film and the music as well. It has the emotional dramatical side of the Clannad story, as well as its funny cheerful moments. Overall, the film for me was worth seeing, i enjoyed it and recommend every Clannad fan to watch it!

It my opinion, the series where much better than the movie, i watched the most movie skipping it in early states so dont really want to give point to it that might not feel fair, but as i have to, i found one strong side in the movie, so giving it a nice score.

The only part of the movie i liked was close to ending, the part, where Tomoya was depressed after Nagisa death, and the part where his friends were coming to him to try helping him. This is the part that i kinda missed in the Series and i think they could have ... putted like one episode to it, how his friends would try to help him to recover. Cuz if u think about, thats what friends do, they try to support u on bad days, not leave you for full 5 years.

Clannad is one of those anime that just hit at the right place at the right time. Not only was it adapted from a famous, beloved visual novel, a fairly new production company at the time, Kyoto Animation, really made an effort to do it justice by adapting it into an anime series that bordered on having 50 episodes. Then again, by that time, KyoAni already had experience adapting the works of Visual Arts/Key into animation previously, though they actually weren't the only ones doing so. For some reason, Toei got in on it as well, though their direction was to adapt them into movies ... (In the case of Kanon, they made that into a 13-episode series). KyoAni stopped adapting Key's visual novels into animation after Clannad, something that didn't sit well with their fans at the time (Man, remember when JC Staff was first revealed to be making the Little Busters anime? I remember the backlash being sooooo overblown). But Toei's adaptations of Key's work had their merits, mainly making them into more bite-sized for anyone who didn't want to watch 20-50 something episodes of KyoAni's TV versions. Having seen both the Clannad TV anime and the movie, I do feel that the movie is the inferior version, but I also don't feel it should be completely overlooked.

Fans of Visual Arts/Key will already know the story, but for the uninitiated, here's a general synopsis: Tomoya Okazaki is a delinquent who goes through life in a daze, with no ambitions in life, detached from everything, and weighed down by his own personal demons. Every night, he has a strange dream that he can't explain. When he meets a young woman, Nagisa Furukawa, who asks for his help, Tomoya is at first reluctant, but humors her, as he doesn't have much to do. But the two find themselves interacting more and more, and through a series of encounters and events, they gradually become friends. Nagisa wants to start up the drama club to put on an original play, and Tomoya, along with his slacker friend Youhei Sunohara, decide to join and help her out. But Tomoya's decision to help her out becomes something far more than even he and Nagisa could have ever imagined, enriching his life.

If you're hoping the movie will be exactly like both the visual novel or the anime, you're in the wrong place. Being a movie, it can't possibly adapt the entire source material, so changes do have to be made in order to adapt it to a different medium. For one, the focus is entirely on both Tomoya and Nagisa, with characters like Kyo and Tomoyo reduced to just friends. Kotomi only gets a cameo in one scene, and characters such as Fuuko and Ryo are left out entirely. But other characters get their roles expanded, such as Kouko, who becomes the drama club adviser instead of the elderly man who does so in the game and the anime...though as much as I like Kouko being more of a stern badass than she was in the anime, did they really have to pull the whole making her move so fast that she disappears into lines like she's in some Dragonball Z show? That just felt lazy to me. Also, whose idea was it to throw in a really random scene where Sunohara urinates on-screen? That was just unnecessary. Plus, with the movie's length, it doesn't have time to flesh out any character that's not Tomoya or Nagisa. But I'll give the movie credit for knowing what to focus on and what to keep limited, as it kept the focus on what was important, leaving out subplots that would have made the movie feel bloated. It helps that the major side characters, such as Tomoyo, Sunohara, Kyo, and Nagisa's parents, do get plenty of screen time on their own, and they get just enough time devoted to them that they don't feel like one-dimensional cardboard cut outs, even taking into account their different roles and execution compared to the TV anime. Basically, the side characters do a great job supporting the main storyline without overtaking it.

As far as animation goes, the Clannad movie is obviously inferior to KyoAni's take on it, but that doesn't necessarily make it bad. For one, the character designs are true to the game, and while the animation isn't as dynamic or fluid as that of the TV series, it still gets the job done. Plus, there's something else to consider: This would be the final film directed by one of anime's most famous revolutionaries, Osamu Dezaki, who made a lot of great things during his heyday. He directed famous anime like Rose of Versailles, Treasure Island, Nobody's Boy Remi, Ashita no Joe, Oniisama e, and various Lupin III specials, among many other things. He even did some animation work for, of all things, Rainbow Brite. He started up and refined a lot of cost-cutting animation techniques, such as split screens (And the Clannad movie has A LOT of them), filters, repetition of scenes—stretching them out for dramatic effect, and, one that Dezaki fans will definitely recognize, stark, heavily lined watercolor paintings to close out scenes, or enhance them for further dramatic effect. His directing style definitely won't be for everyone, and his character designs are very much unlike most anime you see nowadays. I don't have as much to say on the soundtrack, as half of it is original stuff that I barely paid attention to, and half of it is music reused from the visual novel. Both are good and fit the tone of the story very well, but that's really about it.

Going back to the characters, Tomoya and Nagisa's roles are very much reversed in the movie. Nagisa is much more assertive and confident than she is in the show, and while the change in personality does make her feel a lot less overly cutesy and moe, I felt like the movie version stripped away the more realistic character flaws that made her more three-dimensional and dynamic in the TV anime. Tomoya suffered the most, as he's a lot more angsty and brooding, often staying that way for 90% of his screentime, even those his reasons for being so are valid (Mostly, barring the dream sequences which are nothing like the anime or visual novel). Because the movie took away some of his other personality traits in favor of ramping up his angst, he loses a lot of depth and character that he had in both the visual novel and the anime, which is a shame because he's the main character!

So yeah, don't go into this expecting it to be slavishly faithful to the original source. Clannad The Movie is very much its own entity trying to stand on its own and it needed to make do with what it had in order to tell the story it needed to within its limitations. For what it is though, I like to think of it as a bite-sized version of Clannad that's perfect for people who don't want to or are unable to commit to watching the 50-episode anime. It's not the absolute best adaptation of Clannad there is, but it does have its merits, so I would recommend it as a nice little time killer for if you want a bite-sized, quiet romance to watch.

For this review please mind that I first saw the movie, recently finish the entire game and re-watch the movie after that.


This movie is a reinterpretation of the canonical Clannad game arc, so both plots barely match. But, instead of being a horrible because of that, it is actually pretty good. The essence of the original story is still there -Things that must be sayed are sayed-.
Some characters are missing, like Fushibayashi Kyou little sister, and the characters that appear have different relationships with each other. But their personalities are almost untouched, maybe a little overdo it.

The worst of the film are character designs. Their ... faces are a little different.
Sound is fine. There are Anime series and movies with worst sound.


I've enjoyed very much the movie in both occasions, especially on the second because of the game. That's the why of the overall rate.

If you want to see a little summary of the history, then see the movie.
If you want to go a little beyond of that, then see the Anime.
If you have time, patience and you like visual novels, then you MUST play the game before seeing the movie (note that there is an English Translation Patch for the game).

I personally recommend the last choice.

Honestly, I'm not a 100% sure how I feel about this one.

I definitely did enjoy it, at least for the most part. The main bulk of the story is fun, balances the lighter parts with the more serious root of the story nicely, and keeps the focus nicely on the two protagonists. It's funny, properly funny, and the romance aspect works really nicely for the most part, pacing itself decently.

At least... until it gets to the end of the main story. I was wondering why, as it came along, the romantic end felt weirdly rushed, almost brushed over. I was concerned about how they'd ... ended the film. And then it carries on for another half an hour. At which point the pacing sort of falls of a cliff. The rest of the film, adapting roughly half of the notorious 'after story' I've heard so much about, has a really rough switchover, rushing through both the ending of the 'main' story and the introduction to the after story, meaning that both of them lose a lot of their impact; I was so distracted by the jarring transition that I forgot to care a little bit. I didn't entirely not care, there was SOME reaction, but the emotions definitely didn't hit at the level I think they were expecting to.

Thankfully, by the time the after story settles down, it manages to pull itself back admirably. While the pacing definitely had its struggles, it manages to calm down, let the story actually play out, and while I was still a little distracted by the crossover to have an entirely emotional reaction to the ending, I definitely enjoyed that ending.

On the broader production side, it's fine. The animation isn't fantastic but isn't terrible, the music isn't awful but isn't particularly memorable, the supporting cast is likeable but not especially deep. It's solid, definitely not something that's going to stick with me into the future, but something I'm definitely glad to have watched and that I enjoyed plenty. At the least, it's given me a reason to maybe even go and watch the series.

Remember Clannad? Ever thought the drama was too forced and the ending was too lame? Well this might be for you...

Animation: 7

I honestly can't tell if this movie was made in 2007 or 1977 at times, the directing is so old-school that it harkens back to the days of Tohoscope flicks such as Mystery of Mamo and Golgo 13. Not that I'm complaining.

Story: 6/10

Delinquent duo Tomoya Okazaki and Youhei Sunohara are two down on their luck poor sods dealt a bad hand at high school until they meet the main heroine of the VN, Nagisa Furukawa. From there we get a sweet movie about ... these two helping her perform a solo play at the school festival. What I like most about this movie is Sunohara's character. Somehow he has more depth than in the TV anime and feels like an actual real person.

Style: 6

More style than whatever zoomer crap is being made today, that's for sure. Though it may feel 30 years older than it actually is.

Overall: 7

This movie is an okay retelling of Clannad, but no substitute for the original story. I recommend either starting with the TV anime or VN and then watching this movie for the amazing Sunohara and Okazaki bro moments.