[Story]: (8/10)
Tomoya Okazaki is a delinquent third-year high school student who doesn't like school and skips school along with Sunohara, his friend, and plans to waste his high school days away. One day, while walking to school, he passes a girl who was muttering under her breath. Tomoya soon befriends that girl named Nagisa.
Nagisa has a dream and it's to revive the school drama club. Tomoya helps her form the club along with the help of four other girls.
I'm going to have to say that the story was overhyped and overrated by the fanboys and fangirls of this show. I didn't really see the story as a masterpiece. It's a good story but it's not something that needs to be praised. The series is divided into 3 arcs. The 1st arc is Fukko's arc, the 2nd arc is Kotomi's arc, and the 3rd arc is Nagisa/Drama Club Members arc. I honestly don't know the name of the 3rd arc so I guessed. Let's focus on the 1st arc.
The 1st arc is Fukko's arc. I'm going to be very honest here. This is the most disappointing arc out of the 3 arcs in Clannad. It dragged on for way too long(this arc had 6 episodes) and the show didn't give me a reason to care for Fukko. This arc really bored me to death so it took me at least 5 days just to finish Fukko's arc. That's pathetic because watching 10 episodes usually takes me a day or 2. Hell, I was even ready to drop the show but I wanted to see if the rest of the episodes are going to be as boring as this arc. The ending of this arc also disappointed me. You made me watch 6 boring episodes, later to find out that she has disappeared and they eventually forget her overall existence? What's the point? It's like the writer hated her that much that she was just thrown aside. She does make some cameo appearances later on during the 2nd and 3rd arc but only to disappear again after 3 minutes.
The 2nd arc is Kotomi's arc. Now, this arc....is one of the best I've seen in Clannad. It didn't bore me and it only lasted for 4 episodes which is a reasonable amount of episodes and it didn't felt rushed nor did it felt slow. This is actually the only arc that made me cry. After hearing what happened to Kotomi's parents and how she dealt with it, I just couldn't handle it. I just broke into tears. I was impressed by this arc so my plans on dropping the show was cancelled. It also developed Kotomi's character and this arc wasn't pointless like Fukko's arc which felt pointless and unnecessary.
The 3rd and final arc is Nagisa/Drama Club Members arc. This is, honestly, the best arc out of the 3. It's filled with humorous moments, introduces some new characters, it further developed the friendship of Tomoya and Nagisa which is the main focus, some love triangle moments between Tomoya and the girls, the struggles to revive the drama club, Tomoya and his father, Nagisa's past, and more. It's filled with perfect dramatic moments that it deserves to be called best arc for this show. I would have wished they gave Kyou, Ryou, and Tomoyo some more screentime.
The pacing is ok for Ep. 10 - Ep. 23 but the first 10 episodes was boring. I understand why the first 4 episodes was boring (introducing the characters) but Fukko's arc was just too boring to watch.
I don't really want to spoil the ending of Clannad but all I have to say is....It's satisfying and it left me with a happy note on my heart. I just love Tomoya and Nagisa's "friendship".
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[Art/Animation]: (9/10)
The animation for it's time is great. The only part of animation that I was bothered by is their shining, angled, big eyes. It eventually grew into me after a couple of episodes. There are 3 characters that looked almost identical which is Kyou, Kotomi, and Tomoyo. I can tell Kyou and Ryou apart even though their twins but sometimes Kyou and Kotomi confuses me. I also get confused with Kyou and Tomoyo sometimes. When I first watched the show, I thought Tomoyo was Kyou and the other way around but the opening constantly reminded me that the girl with the gray hair is Tomoyo and the girl with the purple hair is Kyou. For its time, the environment looked great and the character design looks great too.
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[Sound]: (8/10)
The OP theme song is "Megumeru" by eufonius and the ED theme song is "Dango Daikazoku" by Chata. At first, the OP theme song sounded great to me but after 3-4 episodes, it became very annoying real fast so I decided to skip the opening for the rest of the series. I didn't really like the ED theme song. Sure, it sounded cute but it just wasn't my taste. In short, the series had a lackluster OP and ED theme song but it does make up for it with a great background theme that fits perfectly with the corresponding scene that is being played.
I watched the show in English Dub so I'm going to review the English VA. In my opinion, they did a decent job. There are times where they sound monotonic and there are also times where the voices sound off. Kyou's VA sounds like an old woman but i eventually got used to it.
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[Characters]: (8/10)
The characters in the show are a 50/50. You either like them or you hate them. Some of them are great and some of them aren't. For example, some people like Fukko and some people like me don't. The show didn't give me enough reasons as to why I should care for her. Tomoya befriends her and suddenly, we get slapped with a dramatic backstory. It's not even that developed. What's worse is she was just thrown aside after her arc was finished. She instead makes cameo appearances to remind the viewers that she still exists. She sometimes ruins the serious argument that is happening. I wonder why Kotomi's backstory worked and Fukko's backstory didn't? Oh, I know. You can't just introduce a goddamn character and all of a sudden, have some tragic backstory inserted into that character. Kotomi's tragic backstory makes sense and there's also a reason why she has that "loner" personality. There has to be little unnoticeable/noticeable hints from the start so it doesn't feel like they just threw in that backstory to make the viewers cry.
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[Enjoyment]: (8/10)
All in all, I did enjoy the show but I'm going to have to avoid the first 10 episodes if I ever want to watch this show again.
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[OVERALL]: (8.2/10)
I really wanted to give this show a 10 or a 9 but that means I'd be lying to myself. In reality, it's not a masterpiece show. Hell, I might love After Story more than this show. Overall, it's a good show to watch but not a masterpiece. Kitomi's arc was very sad and the last arc is depressing/sad and happy at the same time. Fukko's arc doesn't deserve a mention. If you're looking for a dramatic/comedy show then this is the show for you. Just drink some coffee during the first 10 episodes.
Pros:
+Well-done story
+Great Animation
+Good Soundtrack
+Great Characters
+Filled with humorous moments
+Dramatic moments
+Satisfying Ending
Cons:
-Fukko's arc dragged on for way too long
-Some overused jokes
-Kyou, Ryou, and Tomoyo didn't get enough screentime
