- Last OnlineOct 20, 2012 6:13 PM
- GenderMale
- BirthdayJan 1, 1984
- LocationDK
- JoinedMar 2, 2008
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Mar 21, 2008
First impression:
As my first romance anime I had next to zero expectation to Clannad, since I picked it up as a change from mecha/action.
The intro really made a big impact on me, the music, animation and colors are well timed. The opening song is sweet yet with a feeling of energy.
After the opening song you get introduced to several main/support characters. With a splendid use of humor, animation and BGM I’m left behind with a small yet solid knowledge of what awaits me in the future episodes.
The ending song is cute and simple animated, not quite my taste but I’m sure I belong
...
to the minority here.
Great episode, I’m hungry for more.
Few episodes later…
The main focus is on Fuko (one of the main girls), a rather mysterious girl who hangs out with Tomoya (protagonist) and Nagisa. It becomes clear to me that Clannad is divided up into several arcs but I’m not sure what the main plot is about. It doesn’t matter though, since the characters really deliver the entertainment, so I’m tagging along.
Around episode 10ish Clannad shows its true potential. The arc of Fuko culminates in such a manner that swept me away; I couldn’t believe that I didn’t foresee the outcome.
Even though I’m a newcomer when it comes to romance, school-life animes, I’m now sure I’m watching a big giant in this genre.
Story:
It revolves around Tomoya Okazaki, a male student who believes himself as a delinquent. He is very helpful and shows good understandings of other people. Throughout the show he meets several female fellow students, who in one way or another need his presence.
That means the show is build up around the girls in the opening and divided up into the following arcs, and Tomoya interacts with them one by one and hopefully ending with one of the girls.
The main story is plain and simple, but it is the background stories of some of the characters that show us the depths.
Art:
I’m surprised how well made the ‘insert-scenes’ are. The correct word for it is yet unknown to me, but scenes like Tomoyo kicking Sunohara or Kyou ranting around the guys are hilarious (like when she gets embarrassed or mad). There is many more and every one of them delivers.
The backgrounds are well used to add up the effect of particular scenes, the animations and the colors are made with lots of efforts and are a great joy for the eyes.
Sound:
The sound in Clannad is outstanding. It creates a great atmosphere and becomes in one with the animation. It could have been great with another opening and ending song throughout the show, but nevertheless both of them are very catchy. After a while the ending song grows on you, so you can’t stop yourself humming to the tune.
Character:
Each of the main and supporting characters is very colorful and full of life. It is hard not to be fond of them, but on the other side they are very static. Meaning after a few episodes you don’t get surprised by their actions anymore, but that doesn’t matter in this case, since you just want more and more screen time with your favorite character.
Enjoyment:
From hilarious jabs to tearful events, Clannad has it all. Great animations full of colors and details, amazing voice acting and amusing dialogues blended together with gloomy background stories are great tools to make the theory of relativity to come true. You lose the sense of reality and get surprised how fast each episodes pass’ by.
Overall:
This show is the new benchmark when it comes to romance, school life. I got this feeling that Clannad is rather a melancholy than a happy series, but when the show masters all the aspects of ‘what an anime should be’, it really doesn’t matter in the end.
Stunning voice acting and perfect interactions between the characters are the corner stones of this show.
Watch it if you…
… are nothing more than a normal anime fan. You don’t want to miss this one.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Mar 20, 2008
First impression:
Accompanied by the pop-rock tunes from FLOWS, the introduction to "Eureka 7" has begun. Even though the melody and the text are fairly good, the animation is not the time worth it. It looks terribly humdrum.
As the audience you get thrown directly into the plot. Lots of unanswered questions turn up and you get this small idea about where the show is heading.
Right after a rather weak cliffhanger, a pretty decent ending song comes out from the speakers, but with a similar animation theme like the opening, the potential is gone.
But hey, interesting girl this Eureka – let me watch more.
Few episodes later…
Wait
...
a minute, haven’t I seen this before? With that been said "Eureka 7" starts out really slow. It feels like re-watching episode 1 again and again, lots of new questions but no answers. The plot is not getting anywhere, but the character development is interesting to follow, or can I say bothersome (Renton). Somehow I feel the design of the characters fits to their behavior, that’s an upside. But I also feel like the male protagonist is borrowed from a shonen show like Pokemon/Naruto, really simple-minded and dense. (Don’t remind me that "Eureka 7" actually is a shonen (teenager) show).
The music is not getting many points either; it is a personal opinion though.
So what is keeping me from dropping the show? I will say it is the other characters’ development and interactions, the themes and references throughout the story.
Story:
The story revolves around Renton Thurston, the 14 years old son of Adroc Thurston, a hero who died saving the world. Renton is a fan of a renegade ‘reffing/lifting’ group called Gekko State led by his idol; Holland and he is dreaming about the day he joins them.
A sudden meeting with the legendary mecha robot, Nirvash and its pilot, a mysterious girl called Eureka, turns out to be Rentons way to get out from the boring life of his and the adventures together with Gekko State is about to begin.
But a beginning towards what and end where? The first many episodes are trivial and somehow can be considered as fillers. It is first around the 30ish episodes, the main plot starts to kick in and the questions getting answered one by one.
Art:
The character design and animation are great. You get to see various expressions and colorful backgrounds, but when it comes to battles, it is like watching animations on a blue screen.
Sound:
The BGM and insert songs were not creating the atmosphere as they were supposed to. Most of the times it felt like background noise instead.
The voice actors did a good job with voicing the characters expressions like anger, sorrow or joy. Yet again the voice of Renton became an obstacle to fully enjoy this anime. 50 episodes with his never ending yelling are really tiresome.
Character:
Renton Thurston: A very emotional and outgoing boy with strong ideals and compassions, but on the other hand he is naive and jumps very often into conclusion/matters before understanding the whole context.
Renton falls in love with Eureka at first sight and as the show progress’; it develops into a love relationship with many misunderstandings.
He is driven by the hope of seeing his sister Diane again and the need of protecting Eureka.
Eureka: A mysterious female pilot of Nirvash, which she treats like a living being. To other people she can seem to be distant and awkward, plus she has trouble with communicating with others and understanding their feelings.
Enjoyment:
The most prevalent theme is about racial and religious tolerance and harmony. It also shows how the media can control the crowd and how easy it is to point fingers in the way to find scapegoats.
I mean I can only think of the recent conflict between Denmark and many Middle East countries.
It is funny the environment theme also turn up, when I think about it. I mean in "Eureka 7" ‘Kute-class Coralian’ appears when the ‘Planet’ (Scub Coral) receives heavy damage and how an understanding and communication is needed to avoid any further destruction. It is almost like the global warming and CO2 discussions we have today.
At last a common fairy tale theme is seen in "Eureka 7". Renton Thurston sets out a grand tour by leaving his childhood home in order to search after his lost sister, to find himself and overcome all the obstacles when he protects Eureka.
Overall:
It is a good anime show with very good character developments. But it is tough to cut through the shadow made by the monotonous sound/music and the very slow story progress. Plus when it is a shonen show where action/battles are the highlights, it hurts to see how poorly done the action scenes are.
One big positive side is the girl Eureka. I must say she is one of the candidates to get the last spot in my favorite character list.
Watch it if you…
… are looking for an anime with very good character developments, but you must also overcome the childish attitude from Renton and the eventually frustration.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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