When I first watched Clannad, I thought it was a dull harem which had nothing spectacular to say. When I watched Clannad After Story, I thought it would offer the same dull nothing which Clannad was all about. This actually happened, but only for a short period of time. Soon after the start, Clannad After Story made some tragic acts and took a different route, completely new and fresh route. This route started a story which would never be forgotten. A story which would burn into the minds of all the people who end up watching the series. The mark it would leave would be a very positive and warm which would be treasured by majority of its viewers. But, in the same time, there would be people who would absolutely hate it and bear a great hatred towards the series and people who made it.
During the run, Clannad After Story becomes very realistic. So realistic that it is closer to truth than anything, and the truth is something we can't handle, so we get to see something else instead. A conclusion where the world is something "better" and far more "good" than what people would expect from reality. A conclusion which makes Clannad After Story a series which gives absolutely no value to the dead nor those who have dealt with the death of someone close. The ending is the prefect way to ruin one of the most impactful series possible, and change ones views about the series completely. It's an immature wish fulfillment ending which is executed solely because of viewers preferences for happiness. This unneeded happy ending destroyes everything the series itself managed to accomplish, but only in terms of the fiction, and not in terms of already experienced emotions, which is why majority of people can keep calling Clannad After Story a masterpiece.
There is a lot of people saying that Clannad After Story is the most perfect anime out there. World changing and life changing series which determinates ones humanity and shows how good of a person they are. This is ridiculous. What I, and majority of people seem to get of Clannad After Story, is that there is definitely good people in the world. This is where I stop. After that becomes the conclusion that good stuff happen to good people. There are miracles in the world and these miracles happen and make people happy. What Clannad After Story really makes is not a miracle, it is a cop-out with a lot of foreseeing. One very popular topic about the ending is the use of deus ex machina, which frankly, doesn't even matter. The trope used there is irrelevant since tropes aren't defining quality. The ending is nothing but a second change given in a situation where you don't fucking need a second change. You are supposed to live like the rest of us, not to fucking miraculously get back the things that can't be gotten back.
Lastly, I loved Clannad After Story, and that's why I hate it.
