Anime: Clannad: After Story

FOR BOTH SEASON 1 & 2

Clannad is a series that made me feel both anger and joy. I laughed at the dumb humor as it is, but felt angry at the fact that the show left me wanting more of the drama than actual comedy. The story is not very memorable as it because there is barely any. People growing up and becoming parents is of course, a thing that I wanted to see done right. As it is, the show provides a very high production value (Kyoto Animation for the win) Colorful backgrounds, lively characters, even if they have the same faces, it is very well animated and well planned. That is not the issue here though. I much enjoyed when they “had” in mind when they made it, it was fun as it was. But things come to a close when the drama hits the fan. I was on both on the edge of my seat when I was watching - After Story - . It was heavy emotional and delightful to look at, well--- for the most part. The character drama in AS was mainly focused on the moments when there is a sudden change in atmosphere. Meaning that the characters themselves feel pain and angst at the same time you are suppose to feel bad for them with the little development they get, (unless you count the goofing around in season one as development then yes.) there are no awkward tonal shifts to ruin the mood, depression, sorrow of characters around him. Life is changing, obstacles to pass. It has many things to hit us in the heart when we least expect it, and it was very well directed. The director himself knew how well to handle the moments and the characters when the right moment came, like hitting buttons on the viewers emotion, for example when to cry, laugh and enjoy themselves. Characters never feel dull a moment when you see them. Like mentioned before they lack development in the first season as they are mostly comedy relief, with some hit-or-miss moments in that regard in - AS - as I previously added, they are constantly under pressure of adulthood, cannot find life as easy as it is, working to earn your keep, to look after your family it all puts stress on the person himself, which was nice but definitely not for the weak hearted. If only the anime was more like its second season, also the ending to the series (which made the show popular in its own way) was a turn off so be prepared, if you do not mind it then you are fine, finally. Musical tunes hit the right moment. With tunes like this, or the sad and cheerful ending theme. Its original soundtrack is beautifully composed, and so are all Jun Maeda games. I would give it a higher score than I the one I will now
In short : It has many surprises to intrigue the viewer who watches for enjoyment, but those who prefer realism, I sadly cannot think of recommend it to because of some moments. That may seem uninteresting and done sort of poorly. The concept is simple and fun
OVERALL SCORE : 7/10

“Clannad is a secure way to never marry”

Clannad After Story offers a lot of drama, romance, everyday lifestyle and a original story.
This is a sequel to Clannad and it is a bit slower with the plot but in my opinion much more satisfactory and you get so much more.
Filled with emotions ,for me, it unlocked a totally different perspective on anime as whole since all i watched until now was shounen anime.
Definitely one of the Kyoto animation master pieces, awesome animation and sound.
Recommending to anyone who has not seen it yet.

Best regards

Aza

Notice: This review covers both seasons. No reason to make separate ones.

Kyoto Animation knows how to mess with the emotions of a softie audience. It can make them laugh, cry, feel angry or scared as easily as flipping a switch. Because people within such an audience are robots, easily manipulated and can’t think for themselves. No wonder we call them NPCs. I care more about the technicals and not how much I cried while watching something. In fact I didn’t cry one bit while watching this, because I am not fond of cheap emotional manipulation, which is what shows like these are all about. I don’t like being played like a fool and I focus on good writing.

So starting off at that, the first season of Clannad is almost entirely just another high school romcom with rather stereotypical characters, lots of dumb moe-moe, and a plot that could easily be summed up in a few episodes. The finale stands out, because unlike most other shows of its genre, it allowed the protagonist to choose a girl instead of leaving it open for an infinite number of episodes. You see, most developers don’t want to agitate the fans that favor a girl that wasn’t chosen in the end. Or even worse, because they want her to remain a pure waifu. Well, so much for that, because in this case the writer had the guts to offer a solid decision… Ishihara presses emotion button No.1 …while still playing it safe, so everyone can be satisfied. You see, eventually they made more OVAs that work as alternative sequels where the protagonist chooses a different girl. They didn’t have the duration and complexity of a full series, but it was better than nothing for those annoying shippers who didn’t get their OTP.

Another interesting bit is how this season escapes the tired to death high school setting. The characters graduate and we get to see them coping with adult life by having to find a job and support a family instead of just going to school and having carefree fun. All of you who got fed up with the usual school romances will definitely get kicks with this far more mature premise. As for those of you who still dig nothing more than school romances… Ishihara presses emotion button No.2 …worry not, as the heroine is still in school since she failed to graduate because of her illness. And she is so pretty and frail and moe, you just want to protect her UGUUU! There see, it is still fluff despite the seemingly more serious story.

At one point the heroine wants to help out by making money as a waitress. This is again attempting to show a mature side of how women are not always frail and in need of a man to run after them all the time. At the same time, you shouldn’t wonder how the hell is she working when she is frail enough to faint while reading for school, much less work hard for 8 hours a day. Just focus on… Ishihara presses emotion button No.3 …her, looking all sexy in that maid suit as she serves her masters.

Another interesting part is how the main characters are now married and have a happy life together. And of course that means they are having sex, so it has none of that sexual awkwardness and dense reaction every time they want to express their emotions. Those of you who got fed up with people just holding hands and blushing, and romance in a romantic story going nowhere, you will definitely love this relationship. As for those of you who still like dumb platonic school romances… Ishihara presses emotion button No.4 …worry not, as we never see them doing anything. I mean, really, all they are doing is the same old crap we get in romances without the tiniest scene of sex. Just look how they are sleeping in separate futons, with different colors in their pajamas and sheets, and are just holding hands whenever they are together. Yeah, so hot and steamy.

Midway through the show the heroine gets pregnant. This is supposed to again offer a more mature approach to the relationship, since now the protagonist will be a father with even more responsibilities. Yeah, how nice, too bad this pregnancy came out of thin air since they never did anything. Ishihara presses emotion button No.5 But, alas, tragedy befalls this happy family. The show turns suddenly to a tragedy and made tens of thousands of viewers to cry their hearts out because it was sad. The protagonist doesn’t scrub it off like it was something minor either, as he is devastated. He loses the meaning of his life and he succumbs deeper and deeper to despair, and worse things keep on happening to him. Just don’t mind how his friends and family don’t seem to be trying to help him recover for five years; we are just supposed to accept that they are not important enough to try. Or how he is crying over one loving person, but is ignoring another loving person entirely. Because the drama wouldn’t work that well if there were people who cared.

So the show reaches its final episodes where things can’t possibly get any worse. Tens of thousands of people can’t stop crying because of how sad the show is. They are ready to deem this anime the worst romance of all times for being so evil. They are ready to run back to those ridiculous school romances where the characters never graduate, never kiss, and where nothing ever happens. And then all of a sudden… Ishihara presses emotion button No.6
…a time reset happens so we can get a fairy tale ending. Everybody rejoices and deems this show the best romance of all times because everything that was sad got magically whisked away.

If the show had remained mature and realistic, if it was about the protagonist having to slowly recover from his depression and having his friends being next to him for support, accepting the tragedy as part of the past and moving on with his life, finding a new purpose, a new meaning, maybe a new woman to love and put together the pieces of his life… people would hate this show. So instead of realism… Ishihara presses emotion button No.7 …we get this cop-out finale where the scriptwriter says fuck you to reality and renders irrelevant everything that happened in the show. All it takes is to have some magical power that resurrects dead people and turns shit to chocolate mousse. This is why Clannad is a show about escapism that only uses mature themes as a dressing instead of actually exploring them. This is also why you are supposed to cry because it’s sad, and be happy when a fairy tale ending completely trashes the illusion of realism it was faking all this time. It’s just emotional manipulation that doesn’t work the moment you think about it.

Obviously the emotionalfags are not going to realize that and they will keep dancing to the rhythm of the Kyoani strings! They will cry at every asspull and forced event that is thrown at their face, and they will call it realistic, since anything that gives them the feels is translated as realistic. They will also claim that Clannad AS is a subversion of school romances because it’s deconstructing the stereotypes of the genre… Ishihara presses emotion button No.8 …without never truly changing them. It’s professional trolling. You know you are being played and you are still falling for it.

Clannad ~After Story~ is the continuation of the Clannad TV series after Tomoya officially starts going out with Nagisa. This part of the story has more of the sad undertones typically found in other Key works.

Most of the supporting characters in the original Clannad return though with more limited appearances. Since there is less of Sunohara and the other comedic characters, there is also a proportional decrease in the amount of humor. The focus turns to Nagisa and Tomoyo, emphasizing the "family" theme of the series.

As with other Key works, be prepared for some pretty depressing stuff. The ending, though, is a nice surprise that I won't spoil.

Fans of Key rejoice, this is a job well done. The story gets a bit slow at times but it's well worth it.

Animation:
The animation of Kyoto Animation is still top notch. Beautiful scenery with dynamic coloring that adapts to the mood of the series. This is also the only series that I've seen a CGI human character actually look well done. This is an outstanding work overall.

Sound:
This series has a new OP/ED combo which matches the tone of the series quite well. The OP is a bit sad and slow and the ED is upbeat, Nagisa's dango theme returns as one of the most memorable BGMs in the series.

The VAs are the same from the original so if you loved them then, you still will now.

Music: 4/5, VA: 5/5.

Story:
The slice of life style of the original series continues but now with Okazaki working after graduating. Many of the supporting characters have moved on to other things in life as well (Sunohara with un-dyed hair...).

The focus shifts from school-life drama to real-world and family issues. It seems to emphasize that the real world is less protected than school life, meaning that there will be fewer happy/comedic moments and more hardships to go through.

The overall mood throughout the majority of the series is a combination of hopefulness and sadness (which one dominates depends on the episode). The progression of the plot is more focused than the original Clannad.

Certain magical elements found in other Key works return, making for a "magical" happening that, while making things happy again, leaves a sense of the original story being usurped

Despite the mysterious nature of this twist, it is executed fairly well overall and is complemented by a supporting conclusion that indeed actually ends the series in a conclusive fashion (contrary to some of the other current series).

The "other" world with the mysterious girl and robot are fully explained and will relate to the real world, similar to how the voice of the girl in Kanon made sense by the end of that series.

While I didn't like the decrease in humor and magical plot twist, the other elements of the story were good enough to make up for some of this.

Character:
The relationship between Nagisa and Tomoya is furthered along with other characters not to be mentioned for fear of more spoilers. Tomoya becomes a bit more responsible by the end of the series which is a nice touch. He's the main focus of the series while Nagisa returns to getting sick every year.

As stated before, supporting characters have a much more limited role in this series but do manage to make a few cameo appearances. Fuko chan does return to give some decent humor to the latter part of this series but for the most part, Akio and Sanae will be all the humor you get.

Value:
The series gives a more conclusive end to the Clannad series and gives the overall storyline more of the Key flavor. If you liked the happy-humor nature of most of the original Clannad, this series is a bit of a different flavor. I personally found it nearly as enjoyable but from more of a plot-based viewpoint. Overall though, the conclusion is worth getting to. After finishing this, a re-watch of the entire Clannad series might shed new light on the other-world robot and girl.

For those of you that liked the 1st season of Clannad, you will like the 2nd season of Clannad, but probably not as much since the 2nd season is moderately slower. Clannad After Story to me is broken down into 2 phases which I will get into further along in this review.

Clannad AS is probably one of the best romance/drama series you will see. I would say out of all the people that watched this show/season, I would guess that over 85% of them cried somewhere along Clannad AS because its that powerful and influential.

DISCLAIMER: If you have not seen Clannad AS yet but are reading this review to decide whether to watch it or not, this review will have a few spoilers here and there. Though they won't be major spoilers, it's spoilers none the less and should be watched by the viewer by watching Clannad After Story, so please stop reading now for those that have not watched this anime!!

As mentioned, I thought Clannad AS was broken down into 2 phases which were 1) School Days & 2) Post School Days

Phase 1
For those that enjoyed/loved the 1st season of Clannad, then the 2nd season first half of Clannad is exactly the same. The main focus is around all the main characters Tomoya and Nagisa, but also concentrates on the sub-characters which are a lot so I won't mention by name.

This was the half of Clannad AS that I enjoyed the most, because it had all elements that I want in a romance/drama series. It had romance obviously, but comedy which I love as a genre was heavily in the first half of Clannad AS. Romance, comedy, drama, school life, and a positive atmosphere were the rest of the genres in this half of Clannad AS.

I enjoyed the fact that some of the sub-characters had flash backs on their lives of hardships which were usually sad to the point that you might cry and then brought back to the present to show how much they changed based on the experience that was learned by each individual. The 1st half of this series was sad, but not that sad because it was focused on school life and comedy. All in all, the 1st half was the best part of Clannad AS because all the characters in this series were still in school and enjoying their school days or what was left of it. A way you can look at the 1st half of Clannad AS is the calm before the storm.

Phase 2
For me, this half started right when Tomoya graduates from high school, because Tomoya and Nagisa's friends are hardly showed and the overall atmosphere gets dark, lonely, and depressing.

A good portion of the 2nd half is concentrated on Tomoya working and living together with Nagisa. The parents of Nagisa are now the sub-characters instead of her friends. The 2nd half starts off at a very slow pace since its only concentrating on Tomoya and Nagisa instead of everyone at school during the 1st half. However, Tomoya and Nagisa start living together and then eventually get married, which in my mind I'm saying "damn dude... you're like 18 and married". But in today's society would say that's way too young, but happens here.

If marriage wasn't enough to say "wow you're too young for this", then they have a kid. So just when you think nothing could go wrong, is when everything spirals down for Tomoya. I mean it goes from good to bad to worse to horrible. And each step is very emotionally moving and would make most cry. I won't say what happens, so I'll just mention situations. From the Nagisa, to the father, to the child situation, you can't get any worse then that because all those people are precious to Tomoya but has hardships (to say the least) with all of them.

The only thing that was confusing about the 2nd half of Clannad AS was the last episode, because towards the end of the last episode, its like the writers of this anime say, "just kidding, forget all the hardships you just watched and how we dragged Tomoya through the mud... but here, happy ending". Plus the ending was weak in my opinion. Out of all the options that could have been used for such a strong overall series, it seems like the weakest ending was chosen that made you say to yourself "wait... it really ends like that? For reals?"

Summary
There isn't anything flashy about this series, Clannad AS is a very linear series with no filler or episodes that make you think, "why is this here" or "this does not make sense". The storyline picks up from the last episode and progresses the further you go into Clannad AS and because of this, the viewer can enjoy a well developed plot.

I think this is a no brainer that this is a must watch if you are into romance series. I would even venture and say that if your not into romance genre anime, that you would like this series because its one of those series that make you think and appreciate how well done this anime series is. Every year there are few anime series that make you say "wow, what a great anime series" and I think for this year, Clannad AS is one of those anime series.

A review with perfect scores usually contains the following properties:
-Heavily biased
-Written by fan-boys or fan-girls
-Contains little to no useful information
-Frowned upon in general

I am fully aware of the negative effects if I were to give this review a perfect score. I had initially thought about lowering the ratings of certain categories, but came to the realization that one should not intentionally abstain from giving a series its deserving flawless ratings just so it would go with the norm, and Clannad After Story, in my humble opinion, is one of such show.

Before reading further, please note that this review could contain minor spoilers. While it does not contain actual description of events, the general structure of the story will be touched. If you want a complete fresh experience of the show, I'd recommend you read no further.

Clannad After Story is the continuation of Clannad, focusing on the life of two characters after they started dating at the end of the first season, but side-stories of several sub-characters are told in the first half of the series. These little stories don't actually have much of an impact to the main storyline, and the characters might not even feel all that interesting initially. However, through the enchanting plot crafted by the talented creators, I found myself tearing at the end of each little tale. As a guy, I have to say it is not something I am too proud of =/

Animation 10
KyoAni (the production company) did not disappoint its fans once again. Fluid animations, breath-taking sceneries, accurately depicted character expressions, meticulously detailed backgrounds, nothing but "impressive" describes the animation of Clannad After Story. As an example of the power of the visuals, it has given such a strong flavour to the town and seasons in the show, it is almost at a level where the viewer can feel and long for. An easy 10.

Sound 10
I have always wondered whether this category includes the music. It does not make sense how a review could lack a category for music, as it is possibly the most important factor in bringing out the atmosphere and emotion of a scene, but grouping music as "Sound" is slightly, just slightly, insulting if anything. I suppose I'll just have to make do.

Not a whole lot to comment for the character voices, you get your usual anime-pitched female voices and a myriad of other voices for various stereotypes.

As for the BGM, just like Air and Kanon, Clannad reuses the music from the game. The Key composers - Maeda Jun, Togoshi Magome and Orito Shinji have again done a wonderful job in delivering the perfect atmosphere, some scenes are so touching it leaves the viewer in awe, yearning for more. Even though simple and synthesized, no one can deny the perfect harmony between the music, the characters and the world. I think music has so much of an influence that without these seemingly magical themes, Clannad After Story would not even be half as enjoying.

Story 10
To be honest, the story is fairly simple and straightforward. There are no jaw-dropping twists, nerve-racking suspense, or mind-blowing actions. It's just life story of several characters and that's that. But, the best story is not always the one with the most content or concrete happenings - it is the one that can drive you to love, hate, or simply care about some imaginary characters in some imaginary plot.

There are far too many sub-characters that I first thought are uninteresting and generic. But time and time again I was proven wrong and at the end of each story I'd be loving the characters and thought they have every reason in the world to be in the show. Keep in mind that these stories are told in just 2 to 3 episodes, but it was so well presented/written/expressed, I was just sitting there, stunned, amazed at how the writers could manipulate the emotions of the viewers at will, almost effortlessly. And to think that they are just little side stories.

Suppose the impact of a story is linearly proportional to its length, or in other words, the number of episodes. And suppose this proposition applies to this show. Now you could probably derive how much of a force could the main story be. Yes it's pretty bad.

Character 10

Being a Key story, one should probably not expect much in terms of variety of character traits. As generic or over-used as the personalities may be, they just somehow work with Key's style of story telling. Personally, I am not too big of a fan of weak, sickly, female characters, and the maine heroine just incidentally happen to be one. But that's the beauty of the show, the first impressions on the characters do not really matter, because it will make you like them, without you knowing, subconsciously.

Value 10

I find it hard to quantify how much a series is worth usually. I guess value is heavily tied with the general impression on the show, and for how much I love and praise Clannad After Story, I don't think its value can be anything less than perfect. Even though the romance, the plot, and the characters are probably not too convincing when it comes to real life and that you would probably not gain much in terms of life lessons after watching it, its true value lie at the times when you are alone, reminiscing all about it and feeling how lovely the story, the characters are. And as unrealistic as the story events could be, sometimes, just sometimes, one can not help but silently wonder how sweet it could be if it ever happens to themselves.

Enjoyment 10

Clannad After Story is a anime of contrasts. It is not surprising to find yourself laughing happily at one episode, and depressed at the next. It has its comedy moments, but also its serious drama business. I suppose it's hard to argue it's un-enjoyable when you get the two spectrum of the world.

Overall

Anyone who is reading this review would already know Clannad After Story is a romance show, but it is worthwhile to note that it features a very different sort of romance, or at least a different phase. In brief, there are 3 stages in romance - the first when the characters meet, know and discover each other, and eventually feeling something special - budding of romance; the second stage begins when the characters start dating, where they will learn about the definition of love, to accept the flaws of each other and to realize if he or she is the special one in their life - mutual acceptance; and ultimately the final stage when the characters are ready to commit to each other - marriage and family.

It is undeniable that majority of anime focuses on the first phase, but it makes sense - the audience is generally teenagers and young people, and it is the angst, hot and passionate feeling that excites us; no one would be interested in a dull family story. But this is what makes Clannad After Story special, it is a story about family, about struggle, about happiness, about sacrifice, about what it means to love. And it proves how beautiful a family story can be.

Opinions are subjective, there are good and bad ones, but not right or wrong ones. Opinions are affected by a variety of factors on the individual - personality, emotion, experience, upbringing, etc. It might be a little harsh to say this, but I believe that to truly appreciate Clannad After Story, one might need to be of a certain age to understand romance, and personal experience that relates with it is always a plus. With that said, Clannad After Story should still make a decent watch for everyone, given its solid amount of comedic material.

Another successful element of Clannad After Story is its presentation. A lot of times, there'd be scenes where characters would say some cheesy lines in some cheesy fashion, but the music, the atmosphere, the presentation is done so well, you could feel nothing but touched. Certain formulae are used again and again *coughspiritualbeingcough* but it never gets old. A simple story with simple characters, yet it is powerful enough to drive people into tears. All of this is attributed to its presentation - a perfect concordance of visual, music and atmosphere.

To conclude the review, Clannad After Story is a anime saturated with emotions, it is a story not to be watched, but to be felt.