May 29, 2015
I have always been drawn to tragic, sad stories. A story that can evoke a lot of emotions and touch one's heart tends to leave a stronger, lasting mark for me. I watched Clannad because I knew of its reputation in the anime community, and that's why I was so eager to finally experience the story for myself. To say that I was disappointed to find out it wasn't my cup of tea is a bit of an understatement.
I love drama if done well, and I'm no stranger to slice-of-life stories with or without romance. Unfortunately, the drama in Clannad was handled in an overbearing
...
way. It lacked subtlety. You, as the audience, are made aware of the oncoming collision so when it finally hit you, it feels more like a nip on the leg rather than a severe body trauma.
But if I were to pinpoint exactly where Clannad lost me, I'd say the biggest culprit is its characters. I didn't feel any connection to any of the characters at all. I loathed the moeness and whenever a character does something so stupidly cute, it's all I could do not to stop watching. To be clear, I have nothing against moe characters. It's just that in Clannad's case this "moe problem" detracted a lot from my enjoyment and it seriously contributed to my overall detachment from the story. This is a minor snag but I also didn't find the character design appealing and I don't know about you, but this anime deserves a harem tag. Ok, I'll stop nitpicking now.
Interestingly, I liked the father figures better. They represented qualities that I craved: A complex character in Tomoya's dad and a mature one in Nagisa's. I admit Nagisa's dad can be childish, but it makes his mature moments all the more powerful. I actually wanted to know more about Tomoya and his dad because it is when they are interacting that I get quite emotional. Sadly, Tomoya never gets his backstory but maybe we'd see more of this in the After Story? Please, say yes.
I know this review is negative, but it's not my intention to diss those who loved Clannad. I tried so hard to love it and even though it has its moments and it generally improved in the latter half, I'm still perplexed by how different my viewing experience is from the majority. I guess people do have different tastes and I'm one of the party poopers this time.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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