...
don't say i didn't warn you.
first off, if you have not watched Clannad, you need to watch that before you ever start Clannad AS. in my opinion, Clannad is a very average anime (7-7.5/10 at best), but the background information in Clannad is crucial to AS. That being said, if you watched Clannad, you shouldn't hesitate to watch clannad AS. AS and Clannad shouldn't be looked upon as separate series -- but a continuous one.
STORY (8.5/10)
Mostly because I have problems with the ending -- i felt that it was placed mostly to make all the Clannad fans happy than to deliver a good story. Because the ending was too happy, too surreal, I think the impact of the message (which I believed was along the lines of family, finding what you want to protect and changing your own fate) that Clannad attempted to make significantly decreased. On top of it, there are a lot of cliche quotes/scenes. In some scenes I was able to guess what the characters would say long before they did and almost to the point. However, at the same time, I can never slander Clannad for its cliche plot because it delivers it with an amazing emotional intensity. And I truly believe that it is this emotional appeal that makes Clannad AS so loved by many fans and allows the critics to overlook its cliche storyline. It makes you really feel from the bottom of your heart what it means to love someone. what it means to be a parent. what it means to care for others. what it means to live. At the end of the day, this anime makes you think. Laugh. Weep and Sigh with contentment. For its versatility of emotions that it was able to carry in mere 24 episodes (technically 22), I applaud it. (I would say emotional component alone was 9.5-10/10)
Art (8/10)
I had no huge problems with the art other than the fact that all the girls seemed to look alike (aside from their hair color). it bugged me -- a little. But not much.
Music (10/10)
fantastic soundtrack. i downloaded all of them. the serene/mellow tracks are definitely my favorite. Listening to the tracks makes me remember certain scenes -- which indicates just how powerful of a tool music is in Clannad. I really believe that in certain scenes, it was the music that carried the mood more than the story. Also, the Dango song is integrated into the plot and becomes a symbol for Nagisa -- which was I thought an interesting way to incorporate music with the anime. It made it seem that without music, a piece of this animation would be missing -- brilliant.
Character (8/10)
I loved. Loved. Loved. Tomoya’s character development. But I felt that Nagisa remained rather static. Actually, I felt that her personality was flat in Clannad compared to the other characters, but I saw that she did at least improve a little. But in Clannad AS, she is hardly seen and hardly grows. She is just an emotional pillar that Tomoya learns to lean on when he needs help. I wish that her character was developed with tomoya because it would have brought their already close relationship to an even more stellar level. However, I think that Tomoya’s character growth was suddenly stunted by the way that the Clannad writers chose to do the end. I wish there were more scenes with Ushio and Tomoya. Ushio is the cutest, most loveable character I have ever encountered in an anime. She’s a mature but cute kid that anyone sane enough would “awwww” and would like to adopt :]. Basically, I love her. It was a shame that the story focuses purely on Tomoya and Nagisa (although I did prefer it since the story was given a better focus) becase it sacrificed the huge number of character cast that Clannad boasted before.
Enjoyment (10/10)
Overall (8.3/10)
while I didn’t bawl at any point in the series, I did have moments where I had goosebumps and when I just felt a part of my heart shatter looking at their tears (helloooooo episode 18 -- an episode I've watched countless, countless of times. It's my favorite episode by miles and miles. It’s one of the major reasons why I think this anime is gold). It has an amazing emotional component that easily out does many, many of the same animes in its genre. I could definitely hail Clannad AS as one of the greatest romantic animes of its time, and although the Clannad series on the whole (including original Clannad) has its bumps and flaws, I’m glad I finished it up until the very end.
