Clannad ~After Story~ is a charming roller-coaster of emotions ...and you certainly have heard that before.
Using figures of speech isn't the best way to describe something in detail. However, for this franchise the rule does not apply, because the focus of Clannad's story is on people, their relationships and their feelings. The story itself acts like a living being, suffering changes and progressing step by step alongside characters, creating something curious, because this symbiosis develops so well and so smoothy that saying it is charming, beautiful, endearing, heartbreaking and all these adjectives become the most accurate way to describe it.
It's a story that is easy to get attached to, something that's hard to find in some generic romance/drama anime where, most of the time, characters seem patterned or act in unnatural ways. Clannad brings such realistic situations that most of the people who watch can really put themselves in the characters' shoes. Maybe because they've been through situations like that in their lives before or just because the story becomes endearing to a point anyone could feel sympathetic with it.
The following is mostly focused on story and characters. If you want a quick resume, jump to the Final Considerations;
"Clannad" is an old Irish word for "family" and, of course, it's no coincidence. This series' theme and focus, besides all those mentioned above, is indeed the importance of family. But not only the orthodox definition of family, composed of parents and a child, what is beautiful in Clannad is that it expands this idea to all the circles of people's lives and all kinds of "families". The circle of friends you're in, your work, college and even the community you're inserted in, just like a whole city is a large family of people who interact with each other.
Doesn't it remind you of the Dango Daikazoku? While paying attention to the lyrics, one can get an accurate view of the story.
Just like that, the After Story manages to go beyond the first season, where it appeared that the moral of the story was limited to expressing the importance of friends and relationships in general.
Considering that you, reader, have already watched the first season, you might have heard that it was based on a Visual Novel and that both seasons were originally part of the same game. However, in Nagisa's route, the story became too deep and emotionally charged, so the production staff decided to divide it. When the animation came out, the same happened, leaving for the first series a more easygoing mood in a school slice-of-life scenario, but giving the After Story a chance to sacrifice a bit of this atmosphere and the comedy side of the show in order to effectively build up its emotional appeal, reinforcing the series' central theme and spicing it with a bittersweet drama/romance.
Because, in the end, After Story's focus is, in fact, telling the bittersweetness of Tomoya's life.
It resumes old plot questions that were left open when the 1st season ended and shows Tomoya and Nagisa's relationship progressing, while their friends move on with their lives. It goes all the way from finishing high-school to entering the “adult world” and facing new adversities and challenges, finally giving a solid conclusion, different from the “They lived happy after ever” we're used to.
That's also why most of the “plot holes” and flaws stayed behind in the first season, leaving few and small issues for this one in a way that isn't even worth mentioning.
But, saying that a 24 episode series tells the story of a person's life isn't too much?
That's why I mean it in the symbolic way, the philosophical meaning of the beginning of a world, of a life, not in the biological sense. After all, doesn't a life start when it is given a meaning, an objective?
Especially that first encounter between Tomoya and Nagisa. It holds a meaning beyond the “boy meets girl” setup, but is only revealed in After Story.
The division of episodes into "arcs" is the same, even though, since the focus in now on the couple, we barely see Yohei, Kyou or Kotomi, for example, in the later episodes.
Still on the matter of characters, Fuko fans will rejoice to know she has some appearances this season -although more as a tension reliever than anything- which becomes pretty obvious when you notice her arc in the story ended long ago and that her scenes are now just a manner producers found to break the melodramatic mood. The downside of this is that a character who used to have depth becomes flat and somewhat of an outcast in the middle of all the serious events. Those who didn't notice this probably stayed confused and annoyed by her suddenly and completely random appearances.
The same thing happens with some episodes between arcs. Have you ever heard of breather episodes? That's what people like to call the episodes placed between or after heavy emotional sections of the story, letting the viewer relax a bit. However, with Clannad, it was a bit different. The responsibility for those moments was placed on Fuko's character, and the breather episode took a completely different setting. This quote from TvTropes explains it:
"It's odd to consider the first episode of a season as a breather episode, but episode 1 of ~After Story~ certainly qualifies. After the power of the end of the first season, and before all of the nuclear powered emotional scenes later in ~After Story~, it starts with the cast... playing baseball."
That's why Clannad doesn't work for everybody.
-It's worth leaving a warning here rather than regret not doing it later.-
Fans of action packed thrillers or strong dramas where everybody dies and there's a bunch of gore or bloodshed won't be entertained by Clannad, and probably will drop it right away. Clannad is a psychological drama, that requires some interpretation and a lot of attention, but at the same time it is CUTE, filled with CUTE characters in a charming and calm environment. There are no bad words, no FANSERVICE, no fights, no bankruptcy, no thieves, it's indeed an utopia, a "Lovely Drama" after all ...if that is even possible.
Can't the skeptics appreciate the beauty of it?
It's kind of useless saying it in the 2nd season review, but considering that some people might read this before watching the first season, keep in mind that this is a romance, that develops into a very emotional packed drama, and it has a lot of references to Japanese culture, habits, and especially relationships in the sense of "interaction". And this is something that always appears in discussion forums, the physical interaction between characters, most notorious between Nagisa and Tomoya, questions such as "why can't they kiss?" or "wth? not even a hug?" are common complaints.
Actually, it's supposed to be like that. This is one of the series' objectives, showing that people can express their love with passion in different and meaningful ways that aren't restricted to hugs, kisses and some other R+ rated things...
This is one of the main reasons it's also easily recommended as “family entertainment”, meaning, it's a series you won't feel awkward if someone steps in while you're watching. Kids could watch it, and even though they wouldn't get the undertones, would still be able to appreciate it.
Yes! As you probably noticed so far, it's filled with subtext and symbolism.
It's a Key/Visual Arts anime after all, what were you expecting?
I said it is charming in many ways, didn't I?
First of all, the artwork is astonishingly beautiful and character design doesn't stray behind. KyoAni makes sure to -again- prove why they are one of the companies with the best illustration artist of the industry.
Clannad has been considered before to be one of the best "bishoujo animes" ever released, meaning, you won't find a female character that looks "ugly" (even beauty being a relative thread). Actually, not even a single cat could be considered ugly in this series.
Some scenery look like they were removed from a painting and even some dishes look delicious to eat when zoomed in. Particle effects animation for things such as rain and cherry blossom-gales was carefully conduced creating really astonishing scenes and effects. One will surely recall the first scene of the anime on the school hill when talking about visual effects. The amount of color, brightness, highlights and undertones in some scenes really helped to bring feelings up and set the environment.
As for the soundtrack, the OST is majestic just like the one for the first season was. With calm and gentle pieces for the sadder moments but also funky and happy synthetic compositions for the easygoing moments.
The seiyuus chosen for the main characters were also perfect choices. Nagisa's seiyuu, Mai Nakahara, with her calm and gentle voice, really helped creating comforting and relaxing dialogues together with Yuuichi Nakamura's strong and more serious voice of Tomoya. It was a perfect match.
Nice to mention, the English version licensed by Sentai which contains the dubbed ver. is also great. The voice actors chosen have similar vocal characteristics from the originals, the only thing that (for me) is a downside of dubbed versions is the loss of the honorifics after the names (e.g: Tomoya-kun).
Regarding sound and artwork, it's impossible to forget the opening sequence. Not just for the music, but also for the way the scenes were organized and which ones were selected. That OP by itself is a masterpiece.
An interesting thing about it is that it spoils the entire series. However, it does it in a way you will only notice after you finish watching. Then, if you aren't surprised enough, watch again the first opening for the first season and behold more hidden heavy plot spoilers!
Still, in an imperfect world not everything is perfect, and the Ending theme was sure a miscast. Its lively and happy nature fit the first episodes pretty well, but from the middle of the series onwards it was a horrible mood killer. Unlike Dango Daikazoku that was a "neutral" ending theme, this one couldn't possibly look good after a strong dramatic scene. It almost seems like somebody is making fun of you for getting emotional with the episode.
It completely demolishes all the melodramatic atmosphere the last scenes created to a way that after a while, it becomes healthier to stop the playback before it starts if you don't want to get mad with it. Any other song with a slower pace, or even a calm and gentle vocal piece, would be a better ED for the series than this one.
That said, this completely removes one point from the "Sound" rating of the series.
Final considerations;
If you're planning on skipping the first season and only watching this one, don't do it. You'll lose so many things that nothing of the After Story will make sense. After all, it's the AFTER story, you need the STORY in order to properly interpret things. Duh.
What is great about Clannad is that it doesn't force emotions on you.
Unlike other series where every single little thing is an excuse to bring up sad violin pieces and show characters crying all over the place, Clannad kind of "warns" you when a sad moment is coming. You can feel it approaching but end up playing along without even noticing because even though you know it's heartbreaking you also know it will get a conclusion and that this is part of the path, not just a random tear-jerking scene.
This anime isn't like a summer story. We've accompanied these characters through a whole part of their lives and it's sad to say goodbye. It's sad to let go. This is the kind of series that someone will always cherish, with characters that make you want to look after them, wish them a happy life. If the first season made you tear up, then After Story will too. With such a beautiful ending, even the most cynical would shed a tear.
It is a masterpiece not only on the numeric score, on the drama topic or the romance side, but as a complex symphony of story, sound, voice acting, subtext, art, design, with all instruments together, resonating in a pattern of vibration even Kotomi's parents couldn't predict in their theory.
Story: 10 | Artwork: 10 | Sound: 8 | Characters: 9 | Enjoyment: 10 | Overall: 10.
In the end, few shows rise to the levels this one does.
