I cried...
I experienced something that changed my life...
that Bob Marley movie was fucking awesome, now, on to the Clannad after story review...
"After story" is an adaptation from the original Visual Novel by KEY and the sequel to Clannad, and continues the story of Nagisa and Tomoya okazaki`s relationship with each other and those around them while living in the city that they love so much.
I will admit something before I go any further. I went into this anime not wanting to like it, as I was “such a big fan” of the orginal manipulating one dimensional turd known as clannad that I thought I would be in for another big plate of horse shit with this sequel, but as it turned out I would have to get my doctor ordered daily supply of horse shit somewhere else because Clannard after story was a surprisingly good ride proving that you can teach an old dog new tricks, except for my dog sparky, the only new trick he seems to have learned is how to decompose on my couch.
Anyway most people have probably already seen this series before but for those who haven't I will keep spoilers to a minimum. So anyway in its simplest terms “After Story” is about people, relationships and of course growing up, and it does this in a very realistic, enjoyable and surprisingly insightful way without feeling forced. For the most part it felt genuine and sincere which is very rare in anime these days, with very few moments feeling contrived or too cliché. In fact this is one of the few anime`s that one could actually believe that the characters are real people and act as real people would in their situations, which was a big fucking surprise to me given that this is a sequel to Clannad, where people act like, well, fucking one dimensional video game characters.
“After story” basically builds upon Nagisa and Tomoya`s relationship, which starts with them just going out with each other and eventually growing into much bigger things and of course as these things happen and they get older all the challenges that they have to face along with all the amazing things that happen to them. Anyway Clannad After Story excels where Clannad failed miserably, namely in making you care and feel for the characters and in getting you emotionally involved, which is basically what this anime is really about, getting the audience emotionally invested in the lives of these fictional characters more so than telling a story, which is fine, I enjoyed it a lot and it never felt boring or slow, which is is a great accomplishment given that this is very much a slice of live anime, proving once again that big fight scenes and special effects are no substitute for a good story and believable characters. I suppose you could say the story of “After Story” is without sounding too cliché, about life, and the challenges that all of us most one day face while we're alive. And for the most part After Story does this very well in a mature and realistic manner, even touching on subjects that many animes wouldn't dare touch such as child birth, being a parent, loneliness and loss.
And this is where this anime really shines with its realism and true life grittiness, sure it still has some of the cutesy elements left over from clannad but there used sparingly and appropriately and don't do the show much harm. Really as far as story or plot goes there really isn't any and that fine because there doesn't need be because this is a story about life, belonging and growing up. Going into too much depth about this stuff exactly would just spoil things for others how haven't seen it yet which I don't like too do to people, unless their black... shit I mean, oh on, crap how do I delete thi....
As far as sound goes in this series I was very impressed, there are some good pieces of music here that really help to set the mood and make you feel what's going on even more, however I have one complaint and that's that for the first ¾ of the show any-time the anime wants us to feel very emotional they play the same piece of music again and again. It got to the point where I was rolling my eyes every-time it stared thinking “oh God not again, I GET IT! IM SUPPOSED TO FEEL SAD, THANK YOU!
One of the smartest changes “After Story” made was keeping most of the other characters from Clannad out of this series or at least subdued, the reason for this is because they just wouldn't work in this new realistic, gritty setting. And that's the reason this series is so good, because its not filled with so many cardboard cut out characters there simply to give viewers a boner or as comedy relief, sure their there a bit but its subdued and doesn't get in the way of the story, you know what gets in the way of the story though, my inability to see light or hear sounds.... to help me please donate money too www.thisisdefiantlynotascam.co.fuckyousucker
The biggest problem with this show I thought was the fantasy elements in it, I don't want to spoil things for some people but I thought this show was at its best when it was dealing with real world issues such as growing up, finding a job, loss etc. and that the whole other worlds thing was utterly pointless and took away from the show. The girl and robot scenes were there for no other reason than try to create a mystery, tug at our hearts with expository dialogue that just felt forced and ultimately give an ending that made no sense and as an excuse for some 3d art which just looked awkward. Really this show felt smarter or beyond having to use stupid things like magic or whatever to tell this story, and it messed with the tone at times like when serious things are happening and then it cuts to the robot and that girl and im like “what the fuck, go back! I don't give a shit about this robot or whatever the hell hes doing, because hes never been established, if I don't know who or what he is I wont care and so its boring.” There where also a few other bad scenes were I was thinking, “people don't act like that in real life” or “this makes no sense” but that okay and understandable I mean its an anime with cute girls and fucking robots and other worlds in it, its not fucking Citizen Kane or the Godfather or Casablanca and when you understand that you can enjoy this series for what it is, and I enjoyed this series a lot.
Anyway to sum up I really was surprised and enjoyed this series more that I ever thought I would, sure there some annoying things and shit that made no sense but those aren't really problems for what this series was trying to do, namely grab your heart and get you emotionally involved which it does splendidly. If your into slice of life then is a must see and even if your not, unless your a nit picking ass-hole or just one of those people that thinks anything popular is overrated and stupid then you will certainly enjoy this, unless your black, I mean shit I did it again oh no fuc........
