The story is one of the weak points of the show. It's based off the tried and tested visual novel formula that people probably should have been sick of but aren't. The lead character befriends a group of girls that all just happen to have pasts filled with misfortune and decides to help out these girls because a) He has also has a checkered past b) He wants to get in their pants or c) all of the above. Tomoya falls into category A due to the fact that it's based off of an all ages visual novel. Just like most of Key's work, it provides an interesting spin on the formula but not enough to make it feel natural. Everything still feels very processed, The tear jerking moments are sad at first but when when I re watched the show I found myself cringing rather than crying.
The dramatic effect is heavily reliant on the visuals. Although it makes it feel even more processed, they were definitely right on focussing on this to enhance the effect. The animation is fluid and natural while the artstyle is detailed and cutesy. This is probably the best looking show I've ever seen. But I'd expect no less from Kyoani. After all, they are the studio behind Haruhi Suzumiya. The eyes are big, the noses are non existent and everything is shiny. Say what you will about the show's quality, but there's no denying that they put a lot of work into the art.
The music in the show fits every scene perfectly. Knowing just the right heartstrings to tug at. Once again, it's just another method of manipulating you but still nice to listen to regardless. The thing about the music I like the most, however, is the use of songs from the series as background music. There's even foreshadowing of songs that don't get introduced until Afterstory. The English dub is for the most part not very good. Luci Christian is wonderful as Nagisa but pretty much everyone else is miscast. Sunohara sounds like a nerd rather than a delinquent, Kyou sounds like a middle age woman and Tomoya sounds too bland. They do a very good job with the comedy scenes of the show (Some of them are even funnier) but the drama really suffers. The inconsistency of the script is also to blame which means some scenes are lost in translation . It's not an awful dub but I would only recommend the dub to newbies and those who really oppose subs (If sub haters exist). The original language track is the only way to go otherwise.
The characters are a slightly stronger point with varied personalities and fun quirks and traits. There is, however, a familiar feeling with a majority of these characters. They're all based off of characters from other works of Key. FOr one, the protaginist Tomoya bares a striking resemblence to Yuichi and Yukito from Kanon and air respectively. In both appearance and personality, they're basically the same. The girls are no better based off of character types commonly seen in Visual Novels and anime of similar genres. Ryou is clumsy and awkward, Kyou is a tsundere, Mei Sunohara is the token loli, the list goes on. But despite the fact that they're based off of character types, they're quite an enteratining bunch. And even though their back stories are woven together in a less than fluid fashion, they still have some interesting stories to tell.
Overall, I liked Clannad a lot more than I thought I would. At the start I still hated it but as the show progressed it got better and better. Even when I rewatched it and the drama showed its manipulative side, I still thought it was a fun and funny highschool comedy drama. A good show (As indicated by the 7) that's definitely worth a look. I also recommend watching it just to see the sequel, After Story. But that's something for later.
