I must admit that I can’t see the reason for this show’s popularity in the first half of the series. I find it to be very boring, in fact. There are so much establishing points that I find to be unnecessary. The story is so slow and nothing really interesting is happening. It tries to make up by cracking a joke once in a while, but these jokes are not at all funny and appear to be a little forced. As for the characters, they are fairly interesting. They are distinct enough to leave an impression. However, the problem with these characters, or at least for me this is a problem, for some might find this okay, is that most of them are MOE archetypes. Instead of making me sympathize with them, their innocence and overwhelming sense of emotion have the opposite effect on me. They seem to be too exaggerated for my liking.
When I was beginning to lose hope for this series, for Fuko’s story arc was excruciatingly slow, it suddenly became interesting. The redeeming factor for Clannad, perhaps, is the ending of Fuko’s story arc. Even though the arc is really slow, the ending gives it a lot of justice. After this arc, the story starts to be relatively interesting, as I discover that the establishing points that I thought are random are not random at all, as they resurface again to contribute to the overall story. There is also a huge change in pace. The story turns from slow into okay. Aside from this, the comedic scenes are much funnier compared to those in the first half of the series. In fact, I remember laughing aloud to some of them. I also feel that the depth of the characters is slightly altered, but not so much to create inconsistency. Their MOE tendencies are reduced dramatically, and so I actually start to sympathize with them. I must also admit that their interactions in the second half of the series are much more meaningful, as their beliefs and motivations become more prominent. What make them even more interesting are the hints of rising romance. They add more emotion to the overall series.
I must say that the last episodes are really emotional, and they got me really good. All the establishing and building up have paid off, despite the fact that they slowed the series down. I’m just so glad that I didn’t give up on this series. In the end, it redeems itself from the mediocre first half. Now I know why Clannad is a very popular title. It stirs so much emotion to the viewers that, sometimes, they will find themselves teary-eyed.
I actually heard from different people in the internet that Clannad: After Story is much better than Clannad, and it is the one that really makes the franchise popular. This just rouses my interest to the story further. No doubt, after feeling a sense of attachment to the characters of Clannad, I will watch Clannad: After Story and be blown away by subtle emotions once again.
