First time I saw the Clannad poster, I think this anime would be another harem anime that have a ball-less male protagonist that surrounded by girls and yet he can't decide to pick one. But I was wrong. REALLY WRONG. It's true that there are lot of girls in this anime but they are not just mere decoration, if I put it bluntly. Each of them have major influence on the main protagonist, Okazaki Tomoya. In this first season, Clannad divided the series into four parts, there are:
1. Fuko arc
2. Kotomi arc
3. Tomoya's life when Nagisa got sick
4. Nagisa arc part 1
One of the most memorable episode for me is the Episode 9 as the end of Fuko arc. That is the first episode ever that successfully forced me to cry. I wanted to hold my tears, but I can't. I thought that I'm not normal but after I read the testimonials from Clannad audiences, I realized that the one who are not normal is the one who didn't cried at all or at least felt touched after watching the episode 9. I was relieved, LOL. The final arc about Nagisa is quite sad too, but not sad enough to make me cry. Therefore, Fuko arc is the best arc in this first season of Clannad, IMO.
Okay, now I will talk about story, art, sound, character, and enjoyment.
Story : 9
In fact, the story is realistic and really close to our daily lives, with some jokes being the exception (i.e Tomoyo's kick on Sunohara, LOL). At first, I think the story is rather ordinary, boring, and slow-paced. Then I realized that this anime have SOMETHING. Yeah, something that make this anime very memorable. Guess what? Yes, the story-telling and dialogues. A great story without great story-telling is rather meaningless and forgetable. Bad story-telling would make great story looked like garbage. Fortunately, that's not happen in Clannad, as expected from Jun Maeda. Awesome!
Art : 8
Many audiences complain about those BIG eyes. Oh yeah some anime chara design have big eyes, but that's not a problem for me. They are quite decent and worth to enjoy. Let's forget the eye size and take a look at facial expression and body proportion. They are really good. The facial expression of each chara really describe their personality. Loved that!
Sound : 9
THIS is the extraordinary factor for Clannad. Those heart-warming and sad moments would not be perfect and memorable without good voice acting, OST and BGM. All of sounds are from the VN, by Key Sounds Label. Thanks to Key Sounds Label, every moment in Clannad was PERFECT to me. Awesome story-telling, awesome seiyuu, and awesome OST.. That's perfect. Then why I didn't give 10 for this factor? I'll explain the detail in After Story review, but the point is, I don't really like the OP and ED even though the BGMs are awesome. But after I completed the After Story, I changed my mind. That's why, in this first season scope, I only give 9 for sound.
Character : 9
As the first season, Clannad has introductions of each chara. Major introduction for Nagisa, Fuko, and Kotomi. Key, who originally created Clannad VN, explained about each character carefully. They told how each character have emotional influence on Tomoya, the main hero. They also describe Tomoya's point of view cleverly, how he solved his problems, interacting with his friends and other people, etc. Now I'd like to make a short description about each main character:
1. Tomoya
He is a delinquent, bad boy, but loved to help other people to solve their problems. He is often trolling and make fun of his best friend, Sunohara Youhei. Even though he is a delinquent, his kindness and charm made many girls fallen for him. That includes Nagisa, of course.
2. Nagisa
She is a sweet girl, dilligent, and has strong determination. Despite her weak health conditions, she tried all her best to solve her problems along with Tomoya and friends. One thing that can make Nagisa fall for Tomoya is he can help her to gather courage to take action, because before meeting Tomoya, Nagisa always being timid and hesitant.
3. Fuko
She is the type of annoying and easy-going girl and yet mysterious at first. She is often being a prank object for Tomoya, because she is too plain and naive. Like Nagisa, she is a very determined person that will try her best to accomplish her goal.
4. Kotomi
The tensai shoujo. She is well-known as a really smart student and spend a lot of time in library. She is very kind but too shy and timid, even more than Nagisa. That makes her have difficulties when interacting to other people. Fortunately, she met Tomoya and being helped to gather many friends.
5. Kyou
She is the 3E class representative that had known Tomoya since 2nd grade. She is the tsundere type that actually fallen for Tomoya since 2nd grade, yet she said she didn't. The proof of this kind of personality showed when Tomoyo suddenly got close to Tomoya, she got jealous and made a red face when Tomoyo asked if she loves Tomoya. She is very easy-going, have many friends, have great courage and also strong in both academics and sports. But when it comes to love problems, she doesn't have enough courage and always thinks about her little twin sister, Ryou.
6. Tomoyo
She is very bold and excellent in both academics and sports. Moreover, she aimed to achieve student council president position to fulfill her goal. She is known as the strongest girl in town. That issue made Youhei wanted to proof it by himself, assisted by Tomoya. The result of Youhei actions is Tomoyo can get closer to Tomoya and make good friends with both of him, even though Youhei still scared of her presence.
Alright, that's quite long, hehehe.
Enjoyment : 8
What I really enjoy about Clannad is the character development and interaction between characters. The story pace is a bit slow but I enjoyed it, especially those Tomoya - Youhei jokes, LOL. There are a lot of heart-warming, sad, funny, and epic moments in this anime, so when I got bored, I often rewatched some episode, especially episode 17 because it was so hilarious.. xD
Overall : 9
Yeah this anime is really great indeed! This anime have changed my stereotype about non-mainstream anime. At first, I didn't watched then because they have inferior quality compared to mainstream anime like Naruto or One Piece. But once again I said, I was WRONG. Those non-mainstream anime, including Clannad are totally worth to watch. And this Clannad series is truly a masterpiece!
Phew, writing a first review is a bit tiring, but it's fun! I hope this review will help you :)
