Clannad TV (first season) - Overall Series Impressions & Total Series Rating [Archive]

Kristen

2008-03-28, 09:33

Clannad. The first ever season that I've followed from the announcement until the end, and I'm glad I did.

Clannad evoked different emotions from me at different points. Like at the start of the Fuuko route, it was a very "Isn't this Ayu all over again?" feeling. By the end of the Fuuko route, it became a baw moment, where I just wanted to cry.
The Kotomi route was definately the peak of the storyline. Every week was just amazing, and the route was something unlike anything I've seen before. She was the perfect character, with the perfect voice, playing the perfect scenario. I think I broke down more than once in that route. And the amazing this way, the game actual had even more baw in it than the anime.
At the end of the Kotomi route, Clannad was well on its way to passing Kanon for the top spot in my list. It had amazing routes set at an amazing time, with an apparently amazing finish to it. I was excited without a doubt for episode 15, 16, and 17, hoping for more great storylines.
That was when I felt like it stagnated a bit. KyoAni did an EXCELLENT job in mixing together all of the stories, but I just think that those stories really should not have been mixed at all. Then again, I felt like the Tomoyo and Kyou routes really had minimal plot, so it probably was alright. The basketball game and Mei's appearence didn't really have too much of an effect on me, though.
Nagisa's arc picked up the pace, and ended out on a very nice note. If that was the end of the story, it would have been a trainwreck of an ending. But, they announced a season two, so it's just a very nice place to end it.

Basically, as of now, Clannad really is just a typical visual novel. Five girls, with the male lead picking one of them. Nothing too different from Kanon. But, it becomes something more, and that was what made Clannad special. So, no more about this until the season two review. :p

But I guess the thing about Clannad is that it holds a special place in my heart. I'm very much like Nagisa. I am shy, stubborn, and have difficulty taking the first step. Since all of my friends went to different schools, I found myself completely alone here, too shy to take a step to make new friends. So, I basically connected with her instantly. In fact, I've actually started saying food names before tests and classes I dislike to encourage me to get through them.
But, it meant something more than just a connection. Every week, it gave me something to look forward to. Something to push through the week for, something new and different. It helped me gather the courage to attend my anime club for the first time and make friends there. It made me realize that my family situation is a complete mess, and we never do anything together anymore, which in turn allowed me to start trying to fix it. It made me realize that I need to indulge in my hobbies and not spend so much time working. And it gave me a pseudo-community here to love and laugh with as it was airing.

I'm going to miss Clannad. It may have not had the best storyline I've ever seen, but it was just something special and beautiful.

Anyways, ratings...
Animation Quality: 10. Honestly, it's Kyoani. Would you expect anything else?
Voice Actors: 10. All characters fit their roles nicely. Tomoya's voice and Kotomi's voice, however, were just something special, giving it a boost to a 10.
Script: 8. The lull in the middle lost this are some points. But, there was nothing really awkward in it, like excissive dramatic moments where a character then says another's name in that exasperated shock.
Adaptation from the game: 9. Honestly, it's word for word the game, except they made the Drama Club a little larger. And honestly, I liked that change. The 9 is for the cuts of some of the minor routes I wanted to see, and still may see.
Editing: 10. Goes in line with that last rating.

Overall, this series gets a 9.7, a little higher than EF's 9.6, and lower than Kanon's 9.9. It was just beautiful, and will probably be a fond memory for years to come.

MeoTwister5

2008-03-28, 10:11

People asked me why I liked Clannad, beyond the human drama and the themes. It's because I find myself terrifyingly similar to Tomoya. It's almost like looking in the mirror, and seeing yourself as a blue-haired high school student.

A wayward, listless soul that is just floating from moment to moment, never connecting with people and always so distant. He is like a ghost, a passive observer to the things around him, misunderstood due to the crosses he carries in his heart. He has his scars and it prevents him from ever making that human connection.

He has self-esteem issues despite what others say, and thus he decides to float along with the tides wherever it may take him.

Until he meets a girl below that hill, saying "Anpan" to herself. This girl would change his life forever.

And maybe more than seeing myself in Tomoya, it's that Tomoya through the course of the story slowly evolves into the type of person who has overcome his own demons and finally found someone who would carry his cross with him willingly. He may be damaged goods, but Nagisa was more than willing to become damaged with him. Screw the labels of a delinquent and an idiot. If the world scorned him, then she would gladly be scorned alongside him.

That's where our similarities end I'm afraid. Tomoya is walking up that hill with Nagisa and I'm still waiting at the bottom, waiting for my own "Anpan" girl.:)

Bah! Enough with my personal life!

Animation - 10
Need I say more? KyoAni breathed life into characters who were already so vibrant and alive in the game, and made them move like real people.

Voice Acting - 10
Excellent voice acting, but the one's behind Fuuko, Nagisa, Youhei and Tomoya were absolutely brilliant. Did I mention I have similar speech mannerisms with Tomoya?:heh:

Script - 9
At times brilliantly funny, at times brilliantly sad, and at times strangely profound. Save for some rather cheesy lines, you could have sworn you knew people like this in high school.

Adaptation - 8
Personally I wanted more on the Sunoharas and on Yukine, since I found them to have critical themes concerning the story, but the way they handled Kotomi and Fuuko's arcs was excellent.

Editing - 9
The fact that they were able to turn the leads into a solid group of friends and give them ample time to develop and interact was wonderful. I still think they could have have handled the Kyou/Ryou/Tomoyo love issues a bit better, but that's a minor issue.

Klashikari

2008-03-28, 10:25

[Danger! Incoming BIG wall of text]

CLANNAD was most likely one of the few series I enjoyed to the fullest: expectations from Kanon or whatnot, the touch and atmosphere shown in the trailers were quite nice appetizers, but they certainly didn't make false advertizing of what the story would be.

Enjoyement speaking, CLANNAD is difficult to put in a specific category as the story and characters are versatile and quite colorful to the point of being fit in many situations without much troubles.

Is the quality only centred on the characters? well, I don't think so:

1) Image Quality:

1.1 Sakuga
The art is once again done by Ikeda Kazumi: large eyes and a gloss effects here and there. Personally, I was never troubled by Hotaru Inoue design, and it is quite refreshing to see Ikeda with the same one, with even further details and such.
Colors, smooth outlines, etc: CLANNAD has a very eyecandy side, especially the eyes: sometimes overkill, these are so detailed that expressions of the characters are natural and so forth (which is not only restricted to girls, but to the guys as well, be it Tomoya, Youhei or Akio).
Even if some episodes were inconsistent here and there (most notably, episode 19), the efforts and details are really impressive.

In comparison with Kanon, I believe CLANNAD is much more attractive, in an artistic sense, for the amount of backgrounds, colors and such.

1.2 Animation
The animation is... sometimes overboard.
The nice strength in CLANNAD is the various details which give more life to the characters: some hand gestures (non verbal communication) during a character speech (see Akio's scene in 22), some movements done so casually (see how Kotomi switches her sitting pose in episode 4), etc.
It is very smooth and energetic without rare Frame skip.

On the contrary, the Illusionary World sequences are completly overkill (around 24 UNIQUE frames per second) which don't even drop the quality of the said episodes.

In short
The visual quality of CLANNAD is nothing to complain about. Of course, the design itself might repel people who can't stand "moe", but I think it is pretty much superficial to judge and put such prejudice just because the cover of the book is too eye candy or not of one's taste.
The score is almost at the maximum, however, it would really need a constant quality from start to finish to deserve the 10. But that said, CLANNAD is pretty much close to that, for its own genre and material.
9/10

2) Sound Quality:

2.1 Voice Actors
It is simply a prestigeous cast we got here.
Even if this one was already hired by Key for the voiced PS2 version of the Game, it is quite commendable for the studio for being able to get all of them (even the minor/unnamed characters!) to retale the family tale.
Lot of bigshots are presents: Nakahara Mai, Noto Mamiko, Tamura Yukari, Yukino Satsuki, Inoue Kikuko.
Of course, many others great Seiyuu are in the pack, such like Sakaguchi Daisuke, Hirohashi Ryou etc.

Nakamura Yuuichi is quite the only "newbie" among the cast. However, he is hardly behind everyone, giving many tones to Tomoya: fun, sarcasm, lazyness, but also care and strength.

Nakahara Mai, famous for her cute roles such like Ryuuguu Rena (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni), Yuzuha (Utawarerumono), Kasugano Midor (Midor no hibi), gave a pure but also strong drama club leader.
What is actually commendable is how she could change her act for the anime versions, as many changes were done (Nagisa is far less "slow" in the anime and so forth).

The list would be quite too long, but each character is pretty much faithful to its material and personality. And if we consider the script, there is nothing to nitpick about.

2.2 Opening / Ending
Mag Mell (or Megumeru - メグメル) is very nice, giving many enchanting and dreamy tones.
In comparison with the original version, I largely prefer the anime versions, for its use of intruments and such.

As for Dango Daikazoku, it is quite simple at the first glance, but it stick very well with the sequence but also with the general theme of the series.

2.3 Inserted Songs
There weren't many inserted song, but their timing and so concluded quite well the most powerful scenes of the series (Ana for Fuuko, etc.)

2.4 BGM
Pretty much faithful to their reputation, KyoAni sticked with the source material, to the point of being hardcore, along with some remix.
The timing of most if not all is quite nice, and there is little to no momentum break, such like awkward or undesired silence at a wrong moment or so.

Keeping the original soundtrack was the best move here, as each character respective BGM just represents so well their personality and much more.

In short
Faithfulness to a scary degree, CLANNAD might suffer of some "unpolished/non modern" feel in some BGM. Aside of it, the sound environment is vibrant, giving a consequent immersion along with the visual qualities.
10/10

3) Script:

3.1 Characters:
The strongest point of CLANNAD: a huge, but coherent cast. Colorful and full of chemistry, the characters of CLANNAD just apose a sympathic and empathic universe.

The 5 main girls were pretty much representing the usual "archtypes" though they quickly standed on their own merits.
But much like I said before, the chemistry itself is working so well that it is giving a proper and coherent string of interactions to the point that Tomoya is hardly the center (which gives even more reason not to call Clannad as a "harem").

Quirks, fun and various other things shroud the characters in their daily life.

Tomoya was truely a male lead that most person can accept, considering its backstory, but also stance and actions: he is not a super hero, nor a jerk. He is simply a character who was torn by his past and predicament, but who can't leave things bad when it is arround him.
Altruism? Well, he is far more social and helpful than he might think.

Nagisa is the "too cute to be true" at first, but she is not acting "for the hell of it" and has a specific environment for this. Nagisa is pure, kind and so, but she is not perfect and is aware of that. Too self unconfident? Probably, but that is hardly something at fault.
That said, despite her terrible shyness, Nagisa is able to overcome it and grows steadly and nicely along with Tomoya, turning the situation into a plain natural harmony (none of the other relationship in the series is as natural as theirs).

Much like Nagisa, Kyou suffered a superficial image of an archtype character, tsundere in her case. However it was quickly wiped for more substancial point, such like an incredible selfness and devotion for the persons close to her: Ryou, Kotomi, but also Nagisa when her romance with Tomoya was set in stone. Complexity of such character is not her only asset, as she also provide many good laughs in combination with Tomoya against Youhei.

Kotomi has a special aura around herself, giving a soothing mood, much like Nagisa but in a very stark different way. Kotomi has a very discrete, yet active presence among the group

Tomoyo was considered by many as "ice queen", but she quickly showed her own warm side (well she always had it before in my eyes :heh:). Straight and hardly as restricted by her own emotions as Nagisa or Kyou, Tomoyo is quite the outstanding girl among the cast.

Fuuko would be the "little animal/hostile little sister" a la aruuruu from utawarerumono, but she demonstrated a very deep and caring side in her trial. Cute and definitely odd, Fuuko brought her own colors.

The main cast itself is quite complete already, but they are accompagnied with many, yet as colorful characters.
Youhei being an interesting comic relief, yet an undeniable essential support for Tomoya in many situations. Ryou is deeply linked to Kyou, but also offer her own contributions with the drama club, etc.

With a cast of 24 characters (yes, Twenty four), CLANNAD gave a plethora of personalities and likable protagonists.

3.2 Story progression
The main "dish" along with the characters, most likely. The definite change here is commendable different storytelling in comparison with Kanon: the scripters decided to keep the characters together, even if they are "done" with their route.
Be it Kotomi or Fuuko, both are still on the boat which is respecting the themes of the series. And keeping this approach, using Nagisa's route as the main vector with everyone involved with her is one of the main praise I would give to the scripters of KyoAni, as this was most likely the weak poin of Nagisa's route in the game: even trying to get all girls, they don't have much interactions with either Tomoya or Nagisa (Kotomi is completely absent for instance).
Fuuko was the pillar of "drama" for CLANNAD. What is actually peculiar and brilliant with her route is: she is not a mere copy of another character from Kanon. Her route is actually not something I would call "tragic", as her fate was already sealed. The true strength of her route, for me, was the resolve and the Iron will Fuuko carried, so she could congratulate Kouko for her weddings.
The blessing itself seems to be simple, but the efforts and meaningness behind it are grand. That's actually the reason I didn't feel exactly sad for Fuuko, but rather overly glad that things could get there despite the alarming "bad end" approaching.

Kotomi's route was on the same category: the drama was kinda affecting the character alone, but the resolution itself is definitely not the drama people would expect. Kotomi's route was more towards how people were trying to "move on". And so, the unity of the group is quite demonstrated here, with the whole group, not Tomoya alone, trying to cheer her up.

Kyou and Tomoyo routes were probably called as the "weakest" routes or so. Considering how they are heavely based on romance, such things wouldn't be alright with Nagisa's route. That said, I certainly disagree with the consensus that they were "shafted" in the process: their routes are of course very rooted with the romance, but it isn't only the sole reason for these to exist. In such, Kyou's route already started around episode 10, while Tomoyo couldn't be present because of her objectives.
Hence it is rather a problem of coherence the scripters preferred to stick on, but also a superficial judgment on "apparant route". Much like Nagisa's, Kyou's and Tomoyo's were already entwined, but of course, much less apparent than the "winner".

Nagisa's route ends the little journey of the School Life arcs, which ends on the most logical conclusion of clannad: the confession and so forth.
This route basically started from episode 1 and unfolded how BOTH Nagisa and Tomoya grew, ALONG with the other characters: In this route, the most important point wasn't really the resolution between Nagisa and her past with her parents, but her own life with everyone in the drama club.

This is why this route is the backbone of CLANNAD, as it is the main vector of the message: family and friendship.

The progression and many choices, well for me, were correct and pertinent. Despite they gambled a lot on possible issues with "lack of events", the scripters sticked with the characters, who are the real point of CLANNAD story.

In short
This series is hardly "dramatic" as people might expect from the same Company which did Air and Kanon. However, if it is so, it is "working as intended". CLANNAD was not meant as a Nakuge, but a story unfolding many characters in their life, with a heartwarming touch. This definitely worked for me, and much like I said on the Character poll, Most if not all characters in CLANNAD are likable.
9.5/10

4) Adaptation from the game
I actually played the game during the 3 weeks break of Christmas. With such, I had a tasted of the series without and with the game knowledge.

To be frank, there isn't much thing to complain about this adaptation:
The scripters had, much like I said before, the great idea to really "combine" the characters between them, being together as any usual group of friends.

The other praise I would mention is probably how they tried to involve everyone (such like Yukine, Mei, etc) in the story, without giving "unecessary cameo" or cluttered moments. That is giving even more cohension and strong bound between the characters, not only the main cast which is really a fresh change, where "secondary characters" in huge cast animes series are usually disappearing midway or so.

Of course, there is some dead end, such like the impossibility to convey fully Tomoyo's, Kyou's but also Mei's, Yukine's, Misae's and many other characters arcs. But they did quite an impressive job, far more challenging than Kanon.

In short
Knowing KyoAni for their past productions, I wasn't exactly worried about the adaptation itself. However, the scripters proved they had many cards under their sleeves to keep their vision of the story extremely close to the original material.
9/10

Conclusion
The anime series would probably suffer a lot of its own fame and hype. However, CLANNAD was really an enjoyable ride: showing an outstanding synergy between the characters, the story was a nice blend of many genre and themes, giving memorables comedy moments and such.

CLANNAD is probably one of my most favourites story/VN, and this adaptation is working wonder. The best among the 3 key games adaptions done by KyoAni for me.

9/10 - Excellent

This "essay" is of course my only opinion, and i don't pretend to get an appreciation more worthy than anyone else's.

Although they have announced a new season i am NOT looking foward to it, although the artwork will be great and it will have the funny parts again i feel the story for the next season is poor and sad. and i know its ment to be marked on this season and thats what i have done but it would of gone to maybe 10 if the next season keeps up this standard which i think it won't

I feel it is kinda a pity that you are giving such prejudice for a mere "feeling". Are you spoiled?
I believe that if you play the game, you would realize that After Story is keeping the winning formula, and adds more on it. Basically, School Life arcs are just a mere appetizer and the true Strength of CLANNAD is shown in AS. I think many people who played the game agree that AS is definitely superior to the school life portion.
Now, it will depends how KyoAni will animate it, but considering what they did for the SL period, I'm really confident in that.

Khaos

2008-03-28, 10:38

It started great, got weaker, tried to get up, failed and fell down at the end...
Animation quality, Voice Acting, etc were ok, they don't influence my rating in either way. It's all about the story.

Fuko Arc: 10/10
+ Ep 9 was the saddest and most beautiful of all episodes
+ Tomoya playing jokes with Fuko and Sunohara was genious
+ Fuko herself was lovable, a totally clueless harmless cute adorable ghost girl
+ Also nice beginning with Tomoya and Nagisa, Nagisa was cute in her own way

Kotomi Arc: 8/10
+ Kotomi is very cute too
+ Kotomi's violin attacks were funny, kept up the humor from the Fuko arc
- The violin recital was totally overdone and stupid...
- Kotomi locking herself in the house and the others spend two episodes making the garden...
- So Kotomi thought, she burned her parents work for all those years? Forced drama, not half es moving as the end of Fuko's arc

"Threesome" Arc 7/10
+ technically very good inermixing of three arcs
+ some very nice fanservice scenes
- Tomoyo opens up her heart to Tomoya and then fin, that's it??
- sudden change of pace because of the intermixing of those three arcs
- Nagisa gets ill and Tomoya doesn't even visit her once...yeah right.
- They didn't even care to show Kotomi get her violin back and showing her play really beautiful again like when she was a child. :upset:

Nagisa Arc 5/10
+ At last the way is free for those two
- Forced Drama!!! When they initially said, that she probably did something bad, the first thought that came to me was "she probably went ill and nearly died", come on, don't be THAT predictable!!!
- Akio and Sanae never tell her the truth, even when she find's out the most and is totally depressed they don't tell her until she stands there crying on the stage before the whole school audience, loving parents, wtf????
- Not even ONE Kiss...Nagisa asks Tomoya to move in with them, as if this would be totally normal, but they even need one extra episode just to get from "how about we be lovers from now on" to holding hands???

Really, they ruined so much just by making it so difficult for them to get closer!!
So overall rating is 7.96 = 8, because Fuko arc was the longest.

Skyfall

2008-03-28, 10:38

Clannad is an interesting piece of work. What sets it apart from most visual novel adoptions is the way character "routes" are integrated. Instead of having clear-cut character arcs (minus Fuko and Kotomi to a degree) the events are thrown together and intervened, which makes for a more casual feel to the story, instead of making it seem like the male lead keeps switching from one girl to another. And no, the routes didn't suffer any because of it. Contrary to what some people might think (and i can assure you they have not played the game), neither Tomoyo nor Kyou got shafted - when you take out the notably huge romance part of their stories (more so for Kyou than for Tomoyo) there is not much more to tell than what we got to see.

What i especially liked is the relationship between Nagisa and Tomoya. It develops slowly and gently, but at a steady pace as both of the two fill a role in the other's life that was missing thus far - a crutch of confidence and support for Nagisa and the warmth of family and love for Tomoya. They simply feel natural together, and not because of some childhood promise but because they slowly but surely grew closer through everyday hardships by supporting one another. The transition from friends to something more is very natural and one has to wonder just whet was the line crossed. Clannad deserves good amounts of praise for the compelling relationship between the two leads.

That said, there is one thing Clannad completely failed to inspire in me - attachment for any of the characters. I am not exactly sure why, but i found myself unable to care all that much for anyone of the cast. As such Clannad made for an interesting, but emotionally uninvolved story for me. At times i found the character reactions to be a bit forced as well.

I found Clannad to be at it's best when it tried to be funny, but at it's worst when it came to drama. The comedy is simply gut-busting and jokes are genuinely funny. The amount of times when Sunohara (whom i consider to be the best character Clannad has to offer) made me laugh with his obliviousness and Tomoya made me smirk with his ability to spout nonsense with straight face is impressive. The comedy was simply funny, period.

However the drama failed to gripe me. And this has nothing to do with the overstated claim that Clannad is not supposed to be as dramatic as Kanon or Air; it isn't and thats not what i am saying. It has to do with my inability to feel for the characters on any noteworthy level. And i am left wondering why ... because on their own i find plenty of the characters likable. It can't be that Fuko and her arc, which i found to be the epitome of dullness, had completely corroded my willingness to accept drama from Clannad, right ...? Well, for whatever reasons that is the result - it is not that the drama was "bad", i simply couldn't bring myself to care about the characters involved. I was staring at the screen laughing when comedy kicked in, but the story failed to hold my full attention once the more serious events started taking place. My feeling that the characters are behaving in a slightly forced manner in some dramatic scenes did nothing to improve my opinion on this aspect of the story.

The animation is generally pretty as one would expect of KyoAni. The eye details are overkill, and the illusion world scenes are simply droolworthy (among few others like Kotomi's window scene), but it doesn't really have that refined feel i had in Air or even Kanon. At times the sakuga quality seemed a bit questionable during far camera pans, though this might well be because i can be quite picky about this.

In the end that is what Clannad is to me - a generally well written show with praiseworthy relationship development between the two leads and solid production values, and an interesting theme. But thats about it - it didn't do anything special for me, nor is it about to leave a memorable imprint in my mind. A solid and likable, yet emotionally uninvolved entry on my anime list.

7.5/10

Looking towards to the upcoming After Story with rather high expectations.

pac2is

2008-03-28, 11:21

Animation Quality: 10
Voice Actors: 10
Script: 10
Adaptation from Game: 10
Editing: 10

Got 2 words for it: PERFECT ANIME!

In my opinion this anime gets a 10. Its soo good, i love the story, the style...EVERYTHING

SO looking forward to the After Story (2nd season :D )
P.S: Any1 knows how many eps the 2nd season will have?

Ascaloth

2008-03-28, 11:59

Well, I'm stuck.

I've been meaning to do the Triple Critique for CLANNAD only at the end of After Story. Right now though, I'm starting to waver. And considering True Tears is ending soon as well, it's going to eat a lot of my time if I try to do Triple Critiques for both.

Guys, what do you think I should do? Do it anyway and do another one at the end of After Story, or just wait til After Story?

Deathscyther

2008-03-28, 12:03

Clannad was one of the most enjoyable animes I've ever watched.

Animation Quality:
Great animation. I love the way the characters look and the backgrounds were perfect. There were a few moments where the level of the animation dropped though. It didn't bother me that much, but I thought I'd mention it.

And the illusionary world scenes were just too perfect. I loved how beautiful those scenes were.

9/10

Voice Actors:
Perfect. Every character had a great voice and it fitted the character. I especially liked Nagisa's, Tomoya's, Fuko's, Akio's and Sunohara's voices.

The OP and ED were great, and I loved the insert songs in episode 9 and 22. The music during the episodes was really good as well and it always fitted the scene.

10/10

Script:
Great story. They handled the story arcs really good in my opinion. Fuko and Nagisa's arcs were the best. They couldn't throw in Kyou and Tomoyo's arcs because they relied on romance too heavily, but I'm okay with that. It's a shame that they couldn't tell some other stories, like Yukine and Mei. The other world scenes were timed very well as well.

After story is better than the school life part in my opinion, so I'm not giving out a 10 yet. That one is for season 2 if handled well enough.

9/10

Adaptation from Game:
I've played the game when I had seen episode 1-15 and I have to say that they did a great job. Most lines were straight from the game and they made some of the scenes even better. It was impossible to do everything what was in the game, but that's because there are so many routes in the game. It's impossible to do them all in 24 episodes. With the time they had...they did an awesome job.

9/10

Editing:
The game was great, but the anime improved some of the scenes. I especially loved how everyone played a big role in the threater club. It made the family theme even more obvious that way. The kyou/tomoyo/nagisa route combination was a bit rushed imo, but still well done. Again, it was too bad that we couldn't see more routes.

9/10

Overal

9.2/10 Very, very good =)

I think that After story will be even better, so I wonder what I'll rate that:p

Maxtro

2008-03-28, 15:44

I gave the series an 8. It started out strong but I just didn't like the Nagisa arc. Too much drama and emotional stuff. I liked most of the characters and I loved the humor. Tomoya's practical jokes were the best. His "fantasy's" at the extra episode were great.

One thing I can't stand about shows like these is how predictable the ending is. From the very beginning it's completely obvious that Nagisa and Tomoya will end up together. Boring. How come none of the shows like this do a little twist give as an un-obvious parring?

Also I don't like how wussy Tomoya became once he and Nagisa started going out. Two weeks and they haven't even held hands yet?! I thought he would be a little more sure of himself.

It was still a great show and I enjoyed most of it.

Proto

2008-03-28, 15:52

One thing I can't stand about shows like these is how predictable the ending is. From the very beginning it's completely obvious that Nagisa and Tomoya will end up together. Boring. How come none of the shows like this do a little twist give as an un-obvious parring?

A show must be logical within the reality frame it constructs for itself, shows that fail to do that are often called to cheat on its viewers. In other words, even unpredictability must be logical within the universe rules a show it is based on. A show can only ask so much suspension of disbelief from its viewers; if a show gives clear signs of an event eventually taking place and it gives no sub context of a probability of anything else happening itself, then that first even MUST take place. Not doing so leads to cop-outs, deus ex machina, rabbits out of the hat and similar delicatessen.

Klashikari

2008-03-28, 16:19

The other point is the fact that it isn't meant to be like Shuffle or so: the main goal of the story is certainly not harem or so. Hence, it has nothing to do with "who will be the winner" but how the story will unfold for the couple and the other characters.

If you are expecting a competition, you are missing the point, it isn't like the true harem genre, such like Da Capo, Shuffle, etc. Heck, it isn't either a triangle like Canvas 2, H2O, etc.
The result is because of both the genre of the series, and the events themselves just like what proto just posted.
It is "working as intended".

Kaioshin Sama

2008-03-28, 16:35

I had a good reasonable length post typed up for all of this but then my darn mother came in and wanted the computer and closed the window afterwards. Thanks a bunch ma..... :frustrated:

Anyway, the score was:

Animation: 9
Characters: 8
Music: 6
Plotting 7
Overall: 7.5 rounded down (I used a coin toss to decide as always) to a 7 so it can fit in the system. The score still is 7.5 or 75% of perfect or whatever people want to call it. I kind of wish I still had my reasons to explain, but I don't feel much like typing it all up again. Sorry....

Maxtro

2008-03-28, 16:46

Proto

2008-03-28, 16:54

If the show had given signs of pertaining to the twisted comedy, sarcasm or wacky development genre, then I would agree with you 100%. However suddendly changing your genre or the direction halfway through the show or at the ending is not considered a good writting practice.

I am not saying that a show should be predictable. I am saying that a show should normally be coherent and logical in retrospective. It should match with the theme, the direction, the character interaction that it presented at the start and that developed through the series. Rabbits out of the hat are generally not funny unless it pertains to such a genre, like Hayate no Gotoku or Excel Saga.

Rembr

2008-03-28, 17:29

I agree. It was predictable. That may have been a factor to why the whole thing was plain and why I could never get into this genre.

However, since it looks like they planned AS from the get-go, the whole coupling thing was pretty much set in stone. From what I understand Nagisa is integral to the AS story.

Or for that matter, they were working with a predetermined script to begin with, so there's not much they could've done with predictability on the large scale.

That said, I would definitely love to see Kyoani work on an original story sometime down the road. Maybe they can crank out something unique. Maybe not. Who knows.

tripperazn

2008-03-28, 18:35

Meatrose

2008-03-28, 20:29

I always considered Clannad an unfinished project, but until KyoAni had officially announced the AS I didn't dare to rate it as such.

Had KyoAni done the unthinkable and ditched the AS I would've considered this to be their first failure. Don't get me wrong, they certainly did an amazing job adapting the SL part of Clannad, but the "failure" would have been to end it at this point. Luckily, they did what I assume all who played the game expected them to do.

So, now that I can finally rate this for what it is, all I can say is that I'm really satisfied. This adaptation was a brilliant piece of work in my opinion. They basically included whatever could be included from the five main routes. I was sad to see Kyou's arc get slaughtered, but I knew from the beginning that it would be impossible to include most of her arc without ruining the entire project. I really recommend all of you who fell in love with her character to play the game. It is really money well spent, and I think you can patch it so that you can play everything but the AS in English. (Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about this, but as far as I know the AS has not yet been patched.)

Anyhow... as an adaptation of the SL part of Clannad, this was truly a work of art. The strength of Clannad, in my opinion, is the After Story and the characters. The characters have all been beautifully portrayed in the anime. Everything from visual character-directing to character-animations and the directing of the seiyuus is really top notch. As expected from this studio one might say, but it was nevertheless wonderful to watch the first few episodes and be amazed by the fact that "this really IS Clannad".

I never use an x/10 kind of system to rate shows and I'm not about to start. The only thing I do is to mark an extremely small minority as masterpieces (at the moment I've marked less than 1% of the titles I've seen as masterpieces). I can't rate Clannad as a masterpiece now, even though what has so far been adapted was done masterfully. I will most probably not rate this season and the AS individually. I'm going to treat them both as "the complete KyoAni-version of Clannad", and then we'll see what happens. :p

Everything that KyoAni has touched has more or less turned into gold, and now that the AS has been announced I dare to say that this will not be an exception. All I'll say at this point is this; given the quality of what we've seen so far, it really bodes well for the future.

Kaisos Erranon

2008-03-28, 21:38

In one, simple sentence: This is KyoAni's most well-done series ever.

It's not my favorite, but it was absolutely amazing and beautiful.

Win/10.

Rhyel

2008-03-28, 21:54

I agree 99% with Klashikari + Skyfall reviews, great words for both.

Reinforcing Skyfall, Clannad have a happy aura, the sad moments is too fast and erased at next funny moment. :) To me is a good point, I am a little tired of sad animes.

About Tomoyo arch, her past was told too fast, her words about family is very important to Tomoya, but it is not explored well.

Same with this small details, I give a 10/10, looking others recent Animes, Clannad is far much better than anyone, in all aspects.

Kaioshin Sama

2008-03-28, 23:03

I thought I'd start to give more of my reasons for my ratings now that there's little chance of anything going wrong (I regret saying that now for some reason).

Animation: 9 Being Kyoani everything they touch turns to gold, especially animation right?.....No? Well not exactly gold, but perhaps silver. As we're seeing more and more anime series with animation of the calibre that Kyoani showed with Haruhi in 2006, Kyoani's animation style is starting to appear a little less special to me. They like to use lots of orange and lense flares and make things like pretty with a very bright colour pallete, but I've seen better (perhaps that's not a good word, let's say equivalent instead) lately. One thing they are for sure though is consistant in design, though there are still some instances of lazy animation in the series and it just doesn't really push the limits of what I think animation can achieve like other series such as Macross Frontier and Gundam 00 (Hi Def version), which equal or surpass it from time to time. Kyoani was leading the way in animation for a while, but now I think they are just top calibre among a couple other torch bearers. I also have got say I didn't really care much for the character design. It just feels to much like I could be watching Haruhi or Kanon with the usual spread eyes small nose look. Does that mean it's weak, heck no it's still among the best, just not perfect. A 9/10.

Characters: 8 There were those I liked a lot, those I felt were okay, and one I wished just didn't exist and groaned everytime he came on screen.

My favourite was actually Kotomi, delicious Kotomi acid trip like fantasies based around her and a her potential deadly final boss status with her violin of doom. Along with being the character I found myself most attracted too (I noticed one thing actually in many scenes when she appeared and that's that she seems to have a rather large bust for a character of her build) I also felt she had the strongest character arc with her finale being my favourite episode of the series. Some parts of her arc felt a bit overwrought, but nonetheless time with her onscreen was good fun.

Fuko was a mixed bag for me. Early on she kind of didn't seem to go anywhere and was just this ditzy lolish girl that handed out starfish to people. Later it became apparent what was going on and her arc ended strong with her fulfilling her wish. I wasn't bothered by her later appearances much as others seemed to be as I saw her as more of symbol at that point of the personification of familial bonding and friendship. Still she never really grew on me even then.

Tomoyo was a character I liked too actually. For somebody who is supposed to be a delinquent she never felt to over the top at any point and I even argue seemed like a voice of reason a lot of the time in conversations. The kick counter joke centering around her was kind of eeeeeehhhhhh....yeah I don't know, I'll be honest, the humour in this series didn't work much for me. Still she's right up their among my faves and I kind of wish their were more anime females like her.

Nagisa is just awesome to me. Throughout the series despite having the Key Virus she always seemed to exude a quite strength and her mutually supportive relationship with Tomoya just felt so right to the point that I am really confused that some people felt that Tomoya should end up with Tomoyo (on that note, did Tomino pop in and name these two? Their names are so similar that I swear I must have mixed up their names a couple of times along the way) or Kyou. Not that this series ever came across as being about though. It wasn't a competition, it was an exhibition of life, the good kind. Nagisa is the embodiment of the kind of female character I'd like to see more in anime.

Kyou along with her sister Ryou (Whenever their names would be said within even a few sentences of each other I'd immediately think of King of Fighters) was a character who's popularity I just couldn't brash. She just came across as overly obnoxious and loud to be perfectly honest and never appealed to me in any regard. She was also part of a frequent comedy routine that was lost on me in her attempts to torture Youhei and perhaps if this series had been straight comedy it may have worked for me, but the series tried to balance comedy and drama in a way that just did not work for me most of the time. I did like her boar however (it also reminded me of the first boss you fight in Tales of Phantasia).

Tomoya was a decent male lead, never too over the top and usually reacted to situations in what I felt was an appropriate manner. I certainly like him more most out of any Kyoani male lead as for once we aren't dealing with a Sugita Tomokazu character that screams his head of at the most innappropriate of times and yet it's deemed acceptable by all the other characters. No Tomoya forges a relationship of equal respect and support with Nagisa that as I said before feels so right. Dare I say he's somewhat Gar (his VA is the one for Graham Acre after all so no surprise)

Sunohara alas I wish did not exist. His antics had me grinding my teeth everytime he was on the screen and for me made a lot of moments a write off. I'm still not sure he was really needed in this series even if he did prove instrumental in regard to Nagisa's arc. Tomoya could have probably handled all the roles Sunohara was given with ease and I would have been saved the annoyance of having to see him....ever.

And that's all the major characters I want to talk about. Overall I gave Kotomi a 10, Fuko a 6, Nagisa a 10, Kyou a 5, Tomoyo a 9, Tomoya a 10 and Sunohara a 4 for a rounded up total of 8 overall for the critical characters.

Music: 6 Not all that memorable to me, not like the Kanon ending theme, which is probably my favourite song featured in a Kyoani series ever. The opening and ending were kind of average to me (then again they aren't really my taste so that can't be helped and it isn't the fault of producers). I really just can't remember any of it really. It's not something I seek to own, but nothing I can recall that was in the BGM every really annoyed me. It was just....well average. So a 6 it is.

Plotting: 7 Well certainly better than like 90% of VN adaptations that's for sure. After viewing and dropping so many bland and boring VN adaptations I did not expect to find a series I could make it through, but here we are. Still I don't feel it's godly perfect or anything. Early arcs were clearly too long and characters like Fuko got way to much spotlight while I felt more time could have been placed on making Kyou a more likeable character for example or even giving minor characters like Mei a bit more time to shine. Also the ending episode was just kind of average and considering the last series by Kyoani ended with a stage production too I couldn't help but have the feeling of a rushed/rehashed ending even if that was how it was supposed to go in the original game. Could they not have picked any other point at which to end it that didn't remind me of Lucky Star? Well anyway, the pacing was good, but not great. I must admit I'm more used to seeing 50 episode series so this was a bit of a tough sell for me. I came away pretty satisfied with this adaptation and wonder if maybe Kyoani might want to try there hands at doing a good rendition of Prism Ark after this is all over. It got a 7 overall from me.

And there people have it. Tallied up the series average out to a 7.5 overall for me and coin toss yadayadayada. I hope people don't think I've been to hard on the series. I have a reputation for being hard on Kyoani shows, but I felt I gave this one all the chance I could and I really tried to like it and honestly to my genuine surprise did.

I don't really care what Kyoani does next, but can I just ask that peace be with people and we don't end up fighting or getting angry with one another if say Haruhi doesn't come out within a season and that we be respectful of our fellow anime fans regardless of what is coming down the line. We aren't here to compete and rank the importance of our favourite shows against those of others and say this is better and more important to pay attention to at the moment, but to be a shared community of people from different walks of life. So like I said when Lucky Star ended, let's not dwell on what has been or what has come to be, but move on down the line and see what the future brings us.

RandomFlameStrike

2008-03-28, 23:16

A show would cheat on it's viewers if it wasn't predictable? I don't agree with you there. Would it have been that bad if Tomoya ended up with Kyou? It would have been unpredictable and it still could have worked out.

Unless I misunderstood there were several parts where the girls were wondering "who will be the winner." I find it annoying that the audience is teased with the possibilities of different pairings but it's always the obvious one.

Call me crazy but I would have liked something wacky to happen. Like when Tomoya was confessing to Nagisa, she rejects him and tell him that she likes Sunohara. There could be a funny "Shock" scene and it would lighten the mood of the episode.

Thats the kind of unpredictability I would have liked to seen and with the shows humor it could pull it off.

Heh ok I'll call you crazy (no offense). To me it WOULD have been really bad if Tomoya suddenly randomly had to hots for Kyou or some other girl, it would have been unpredicatable and NOT have worked out.

A twist like that is on the scale of say, a nuke coming out of nowhere and destorying the city killing everyone. It just doesn't work. I don't know if you're a Kyou fan or what, I like Kyou but the WHOLE SHOW (in every arc) had Nagisa x Tomoya developing. Not only where they perfect for each other with great chemistry, but considering the After Story it was impossible for me to think of Tomoya getting with any other girl (I'd have liked the awesome Tomoyo with Tomoya considering Tomoyo After but oh well).

Like many people have said before Clannad isn't about the harem or who the guy picks. You might have been fooled into thinking there where chances of a diffrent possibility but he NEVER thought of any of the other girls that way or showed feelings for them. That was already predetermined. If something like Nagisa rejecting Tomoya happend it would be out of character and defeat the purpose of all that development. Besides Kyou's route really sucks (in my opinion) and she could find a person more suited to her than Tomoya. (Like how Ryou gets it going on with Kappei)

Being unpredicatable can be nice at times but there's a line between unpredicatable and stupid/random that can ruin shows.

Nagisa is just awesome to me. Throughout the series despite having the Key Virus she always seemed to exude a quite strength and her mutually supportive relationship with Tomoya just felt so right to the point that I am really confused that some people felt that Tomoya should end up with Tomoyo (on that note, did Tomino pop in and name these two? Their names are so similar that I swear I must have mixed up their names a couple of times along the way) or Kyou. Not that this series ever came across as being about though. It wasn't a competition, it was an exhibition of life, the good kind. Nagisa is the embodiment of the kind of female character I'd like to see more in anime.

Yes I totally agree with you!!! I am also wondering why some people are thinking LOL KYOU X TOMOYA PLZ, but in the end it's just fanboys who want more Kyou screen time and don't care to see how awesome Nagisa x Tomoya is. Even in the game I thought Kyou x Tomoya had bad chemistry. Although I think Tomoyo x Tomoya and work out, they where a nice pair in Tomoyo's route, not as good as Nagisa x Tomoya but pretty close.

Tales of Phantasia's boar boss is sad, you are forced to kill the babies too!!

Kaisos Erranon

2008-03-28, 23:37

Tales of Phantasia's boar boss is sad, you are forced to kill the babies too!!

No you're not. If you just wait a bit they'll run away.

They do drop Furs, though, which are worth quite a bit at that time, so I tend to kill them anyway.

RandomFlameStrike

2008-03-28, 23:47

No you're not. If you just wait a bit they'll run away.

They do drop Furs, though, which are worth quite a bit at that time, so I tend to kill them anyway.

Oh crap! I just assumed you had to kill them and slaughtered them everytime, was it for no reason!? Oops.

Sorrow-K

2008-03-29, 00:03

I gave it "Good". 7/10. My review. (http://www.nihonreview.com/anime/clannad/) And this isn't on what unfortunately appears to be the popular rating scale where "good" means "tolerable" or "watchable, but not terribly worthy of praise". "Good" means "good" and there's no two ways about it. For me to give something 7/10, it has to be good.

Clannad is a strange anime, in that it has flaws, but their all minor and relatively easy to forgive. The character and relationship development was the best thing about this anime. It followed a path that wasn't dissimilar to Nodame Cantabile, in that it's two lead characters complemented each other so well, that they both grew so much just from being with one another. Obviously, Chiaki and Nodame characters are completely different from Tomoya and Nagisa (I find it funny when someone here mentioned how much they relate to Tomoya, because I find the same thing myself for Chiaki), but there are certain parallels with the progression of their respective character developments. It's a formula that I highly approve of. I love this message that we can become better people because of the people we exist with, and that one can find meaning in life in another person.

The themes in this anime were beautifully explored, and were almost always at the forefront of the series. Throughout the series, there were these numerous examples of people working for the sake of others. Fuko, for her sister; Tomoya, for Kotomi; Sunohara, for Tomoya and Nagisa; Kyou, for Ryou; Tomoyo, for her brother and the cherry blossom trees; and, of course, the big one, Tomoya, for Nagisa. The family relationships were beautifully done as well. There was this message with regards to family, that it defines the people we are. It was an even-handed message, it was just as quick to point out that sometimes family can cause us pain, but the overriding one was that we grow and experience joy because of family. Tomoya was the most obvious example of this: his growth is just as much because of Nagisa's family as it was because of Nagisa. Clannad was a very enjoyable anime because it was rather uplifting. It never tried to be heavy in the same way Kanon did, but it worked well for what it was trying to do.

I loved Fuko's arc. Just loved it. There was a simplicity to it, because it was just a case of triumph due to endeavor, but the simplicity of it is what made it work, IMO. I initially found her somewhat annoying, but I slowly found myself admiring her dedication. How do I put it... I just found it such a lovely story. Kotomi's arc... no, I didn't really like it at the end. It started off as very entertaining (Kotomi is so moe, it hurts), but I didn't find it as easy to sympathize with her as I did Fuko, and the ending, as spectacular as it was, rather defied suspension of disbelief.

There's been a lot of talk of the melding of arcs in the late-middle episodes. It gave the story flow (well, at least it should have, and I really didn't think it did), but here's where I think that whole section broke down: it lacked focus. One minute it was problems with the Theater Club, the next minute it was Sunohara Mei-time, the next minute, we're having a basketball game (a scene which was all about Okazaki, and had absolutely nothing meaningful to say about the Sunohara siblings, which that arc had previously suggested it would), and then the next minute we're playing "let's pretend Clannad is a slice-of-life harem series". Actually, backtracking for just a sec, nothing meaningful was said of the Sunohara siblings at all. Oh well.

On the "let's pretend Clannad is a slice-of-life harem series" section (which is eps 17-18 in my book), at the time I actually quite enjoyed those eps, because there was some highly entertaining moments (Kyou, trapped in the storeroom... oh Kyou) and some rather poignant ones (Tomoyo's story), but looking back on it, there was a real staccato pacing throughout that section, and one could make the argument that a lot of the events that took place were a distraction from the larger story. The Fujibayashi BAAW scene was the big one for me. I'm a big believer that characters need clear motivations and reasons behind their actions, but the reasons for the Fujibayashi twins crying weren't explained well enough, and were overly ambiguous, I thought. It didn't come out of enough, and lead to very little as well, since neither Kyou nor Ryou received any spotlight after that scene was over. I think they missed a big opportunity by not fleshing this sequence out. There's nothing in the plot that needed to change, but background for those two characters would have been invaluable.

I loved Nagisa's arc. It wasn't as good as Fuko's arc, but there was so much meaning to it. Again, there was a simplicity to the whole thing, but it relished in its simplicity by allowing itself to be theme-driven primarily, and character/relationship-driven secondarily. There was character development, and there was an uplifting message behind it all, and it was all so momentous without being heavy-handed. The final episode was a fitting finale, and I still don't understand just what people were so unsatisfied with after it was all over. Like I've said plenty of times, I welcome the second season now that we know its coming, but I'd have hardly been belligerent towards KyoAni if it never happened, because, other than the Illusionary World, everything of importance had been at least acknowledged, and, at best, tied up. Nagisa had overcome her problems, and realized that she was entitled to chase her dreams, Tomoya's father issues had been addressed, with the series realizing that they didn't need to be so heavy-handed as to "resolve" what is essentially unresolvable (at this stage), and Nagisa and Tomoya are together. That's what I'd call a good ending.

On the technical side of things, I think I've already said about all I needed to say in my review. I didn't mention anything about the seiyuu cast, so I'll say something now. In short, I wouldn't say this is a super ensemble performance, but there was nothing bad in it. I wouldn't say this was anywhere near Kuwashima Houko (Tomoyo) or Noto Mamiko's (Kotomi) best performance, and even Nakahara Mai (Nagisa) wasn't alway on-song. I thought Hirohashi Ryou (Kyou) just nailed her character, though. She was the pick of the female seiyuu, for me. The male seiyuu were almost universally great, though. Okiayu Ryotaro's (Akio) stirring speech in the final episode made me regret not nominating him among the Best Supporting roles in the Seiyuu Awards thread, while Daisuke Sakaguchi (Sunohara) and Nakamura Yuuichi (Tomoya) both completely nailed their roles.

Overall, my opinion of this anime is that it was one of the most enjoyable series of the last twelve months, but it wasn't one of the best. And I deserve a medal for writing all that, and only mentioning "Kanon" once. Like I said in my review, I hate to allow reviews to be driven by comparison (see my Mai-Otome review for one of my worst), but in cases like these, it's very hard not to.

Well, I'm stuck.

I've been meaning to do the Triple Critique for CLANNAD only at the end of After Story. Right now though, I'm starting to waver. And considering True Tears is ending soon as well, it's going to eat a lot of my time if I try to do Triple Critiques for both.

Guys, what do you think I should do? Do it anyway and do another one at the end of After Story, or just wait til After Story?

Well, I think the best approach is to treat the first season as independent of the second, and treat the second as an extension of the first. But, it's up to you.

Kamui4356

2008-03-29, 01:37

Overall I give the series an 8. Honestly I found it a bit lacking in the story compaired to other series based on a Key game, such as Kanon and Air. Still, it's a solid series, and does stand out in some ways from it's predicessors. The greater emphisis on comedy throughout most of the series for example. Also, Clannad seems to have stepped back a bit from the tragic drama we see in Kanon and Air.

While a solid series, it does have problems with unresolved plot threads, such as the girl in the other world. This will probably be tied up in Clannad After, but it does lose a point for leaving us hanging. It also doesn't really give enough to the Kyou and Tomoyo story, though that understandable. Tighter pacing earily on in Fuuko arc may have helped, though if they had includedmore there might have been problems. It may have also suffered from the scheadulaing losing up to 3 episodes to breaks. If they had been included, it may have helped with the pacing a bit.

I also thought the ending to Nagisa's story was a bit weak. I think it would have been better for Nagisa to realize things on her own rather than have her father shout it in the middle of the theater. Still the rest of it was done well, so I can forgive that.

Still it was a nice take on adapting a bishoujo game, avoiding the repetitive arcs we usually see in the genre. While it definately had it's flaws, it was an enjoyable series, well deserving of an 8.

EXEs

2008-03-29, 02:36

I've only gave 1 series a 10/10 and that was TTGL. Clannad gets a 9/10 from me, oh-so-very close.

Animation Quality: 10. This is one of the best points of this show. The animation is top notch quality, as KyoAni is well renowned for their excellent animation. Animation also was very smooth, and has a noticeably higher framerate than most other animes. The characters themselves also looked beautiful on the screen, especially the eyes :). The different screen effects for, say sunsets were also executed very well. The scenes with the Imaginary world girl and robot were extremely smooth CG, and was flawless. KyoAni did not skimp on this series, no siree.

The seiyuus did their job really well, from the manly, GAR voice of Akio, to the funnily f@cked up voices of Sunohara when he's getting abused, to Kotomi's cute yet quiet voice. 10/10

The characters. Whoa. This series has so many characters that really appeal to you. Tomoya, kickass male lead, Kyou, realistic tsundere, Sunohara, comic relief, Fuuko, kawaii moemoe. These characters manage to be more realistic than some from other animes, while retaining such a likeable air (Fuuko got annoying when she keeps reappearing randomly). Clannad also has good integration of secondary characters, without completely neglecting them (Yukine :p 9/10

Plot: The story. I can say that the pacing was somehow erratic. They had Fuuko's arc, which lasted a great deal longer than the other character's arc, so it was quite slow then. Afterwards. they had Kotomi's arc. which was shorter, but still satisfying. Then we see "The hell? 14 episodes passed already, and they only did 2 girls' arcs?" Combining Kyou and Tomoyo's arc was probably not such a good idea, as there was less direct focus on one of the characters. And then, of course, they announced that Clannad ends officially with 2 episodes. So, 8 episodes with 3 girls' arcs to do. The ending felt somehow rushed, and we didn't really see much Tomoya/Nagisa romantic interaction till the last few episodes. 7/10

Humour. Oh lord, this is where Clannad really shines. This series made me l0l much more than any anime I've watched so far (Excel Saga is the only exception, but its main purpose was crack filled humour anyways). Sunohara getting abused is major win. Tomoya pulling pranks on Fuuko, the Kyou/Tomoya gym locker room scene, hell episode 23! Glaring examples. All while not straying away from the main story. 10/10

This series really grew on me, and it was the only anime series I looked forward to every week (Gundam 00 too) when I had my anime depression. The lighthearted fluffiness infused with humour and a touching storyline made this series the bomb for me.

anselfir

2008-03-29, 16:57

Clearly school kids love is utterly serious business. gad. We must give grand life lessons (how grand are they anyway? the most serious character by far in tomoyo was shrugged off! she's a good feminist who cooks!) to every character on the books, in order to show that this show is utterly srs business! The entirety of attractiveness for this show is the characters and their quirks, not the contrived backstories and metaphysical nonsense. If you want to do a serious show, pick serious material. School girl romance is not srs material. This so called plot is just a device, come on. Emphasis was deliberately put on the insubstantial, in detriment to the most interesting characters. As such, it falls short of its potential.

but then again, i am to blame for buying into the teases. key aids, beware.

this is not to complain about certain characters not winning. winning in harem type shows is really not proper romance anyway. harem, i.e. multiple girls with romantic drama, is pretty difficult starting point for a truly inspirational romantic tilt. The fantasy ending of harems is not a certain girl winning, but everyone winning together. if there is a decisive standout girl, it would not necessarily be a good sign. either it is forced, with the attractiveness of other characters are forcefully cut off, or you haven't got any other attractive characters at all, a failure of the very exercise. so, they forced a romance onto a harem, with predictable results. i had attributed it to some sort of moral guilt before, but right now im not so sure. maybe it is just the target consumer base.
/facepalm

i didn't pay much attention to nagisa development, not that there was much of one. the basic role could be occupied by any other girl to greater effect, and her position is achieved by basically running a different race than all the other characters. the harem girls shine and provide the content and substance, nagisa is the world tree of generic romance plot with the depth of a first crush. glorious stuff i say.

and yes, this is a harem, at least harem enough for me to call it a harem for my purpose. if the other males in clannad were developed, i think this will be more apparent. imagine questions like "why is tomoyo clinging to this kid" etc. the very security of the willing girls is to orient the viewer in the position of the harem fantasy.

anselfir

2008-03-29, 17:26

Call me crazy but I would have liked something wacky to happen. Like when Tomoya was confessing to Nagisa, she rejects him and tell him that she likes Sunohara. There could be a funny "Shock" scene and it would lighten the mood of the episode.oh how naive you are, young one. nagisa was crowned from day one, and i knew it. just did follow the show for other characters. clannad consists of about 50 animated gifs for me.

were it only about tomoya and nagisa, i would not watch this show, ever. i'd just watch a documentary on say social problems in africa or something, would be far more productive and substantial, not to mention honest.

RandomFlameStrike

2008-03-29, 18:51

oh how naive you are, young one. nagisa was crowned from day one, and i knew it. just did follow the show for other characters. clannad consists of about 50 animated gifs for me.

were it only about tomoya and nagisa, i would not watch this show, ever. i'd just watch a documentary on say social problems in africa or something, would be far more productive and substantial, not to mention honest.

Ok... how the hell does a documentary on social problems in Africa relate AT ALL to Tomoya and Nagisa's romance? I don't see the connection nor anything on how it would be more "productive" (Hell no I'll watch my awesome anime kthx) "substantial" or "honest".

i didn't pay much attention to nagisa development, not that there was much of one. the basic role could be occupied by any other girl to greater effect, and her position is achieved by basically running a different race than all the other characters. the harem girls shine and provide the content and substance, nagisa is the world tree of generic romance plot with the depth of a first crush. glorious stuff i say.

I disagree with you here, Nagisa is awesome in her own way as a character. If you replaced Nagisa with say, Tomoyo you'd get a totally different story. Like Tomoyo After. She might seem generic or lacking to development to you but you expressed yourself as someone who can't see the depth in anime or something so maybe you aren't seeing what some other people are?

The entirety of attractiveness for this show is the characters and their quirks, not the contrived backstories and metaphysical nonsense. If you want to do a serious show, pick serious material. School girl romance is not srs material. This so called plot is just a device, come on. Emphasis was deliberately put on the insubstantial, in detriment to the most interesting characters. As such, it falls short of its potential.

It's up to the individual to determine what they like about the show or what's important. If it's serious business to them who are you to say NO IT'S NOT JUST CUZ!!! Or if someone likes the contrived back stories and metaphysical nonsense and see that as why they like the show that's their call.

anselfir

2008-03-29, 20:02

what, you think the official pairing is not there to trump up some good fashioned family values and personal redemption. for value based shows, there are far superior sources.

you are quick to defend a character that is not explicitly or even implicitly attacked. the point about nagisa was not that she sucks etc, but that the source of her character is in the plot and the surrounding activities, or what is called a role, fit for a particular type of story. thus i said 'to put someone else in the role', meaning the impersonal and contingent portion of her character could very well be placed on some other personality and the show would go on. it does not necessarily have to be tomoyo et all, it may be a buffed up nagisa, or a nigasa or whatnot it is. the character and the story for nagisa is an assymetric relation, and the point is that there could have been better development on that front.

as for the rest, i do see depth in animu, i see the real depth, but not the imaginary depth. animu is fine as a medium, but let's be honest here, it is a mixed basket at best. that someone see interest in nagisa does not contradict my point at all. i would just say they see the interest in the plot and the story, of which nagisa the phantom character is composed. this is to put it overly harshly, but w/e.

It's up to the individual to determine what they like about the show or what's important. If it's serious business to them who are you to say NO IT'S NOT JUST CUZ!!! Or if someone likes the contrived back stories and metaphysical nonsense and see that as why they like the show that's their call.
and it is up to me THE INDIVIDUAL to tell them that they are being silly. please do not bring relativism etc into this. if you disagree with the assessment that school girl drama is really overblown, say so. i would disagree, and call it trite. anyway, past this silly tangent, i feel you have not worked hard enough to see my approach to the thing, and thus have not come up with much in the way of an argument. the basic point is that the show has both harem elements and romance elements, but the latter is held fast while not given enough room for development due to an insistance to hold onto the former, at least for show, for much of the time. that i happen to see more interest in the harem elements is incidental and rather irrelevant to the main point.

Kaioshin Sama

2008-03-30, 03:52

Can we not have things decay into a debate about who the "chosen one" is that gets the guy? Just once? I mean that's not even the core theme or payoff of the series.

boggart

2008-03-30, 06:13

Animation Quality: 9
Although top notch in certain episodes and in certain scenes (i.e. Illusionary World), there appeared to be some lacking ingredient which I can't seem to put my finger on at the moment. There were also times when I thought the animators were dead lazy, as in that scene with Kyou's now infamous dead-looking eyes in the club room (slightly before the Basic Instinct-esque leg crossover). The background art was slightly less appealing that Kanon and Air's, if I were to make comparisons with past KyoAni/Key collaborations, however with that being said, the quality was indeed up there in the realms that KyoAni has dominated in recent years.

Voice Actors: 9.5
Everyone's voicing was top-notch, except for my expectations of Ryou's voicing at the very beginning of the series. I guess her voice was the only one which didn't feel "right" at the beginning but eventually I found myself getting used to it.

Script: 8
The pacing of the first episode or two seemed to be on steroids, however it slowed down to a reasonable pace when we got into Fuko's arc. The Ryou/Kyou route seemed to be lacking something more substantial - to me anyway. The end fitted in reasonably well, and given the announcement of ~After Story~, I think it ended on a very sweet note. The bonus episode was also a pleasant ride.

Music: 9
There seemed to be some moments of silence when there could have been at least some BGM playing. I mean look at the repertoire of tracks in the OST of the VN. Other than that, music by Key is always a pleasure to partake in.

Average: 9 (8.875)

NB: Please note that I don't give out 10's very often, and will only do so if it was perfection for which I have witnessed.

Skyfall

2008-03-30, 07:22

you are quick to defend a character that is not explicitly or even implicitly attacked. the point about nagisa was not that she sucks etc, but that the source of her character is in the plot and the surrounding activities, or what is called a role, fit for a particular type of story. thus i said 'to put someone else in the role', meaning the impersonal and contingent portion of her character could very well be placed on some other personality and the show would go on. it does not necessarily have to be tomoyo et all, it may be a buffed up nagisa, or a nigasa or whatnot it is. the character and the story for nagisa is an assymetric relation, and the point is that there could have been better development on that front.

I fail to see what you are trying to say here; only thing i get from your posts is that you don't like the show (or more precisely - Nagisa), the way it developed and are trying to pass it of in negative light using what seems to be rather big but ultimately empty claims. Character only exists to fulfill the role designated for it in the story and displays personality according to the preset circumstances ? Well of course! Every single character in any piece of fiction is like that. Sorry if i misunderstood something, but unless your purpose was to state the obvious, i don't know what you meant to say.

i didn't pay much attention to nagisa development, not that there was much of one. the basic role could be occupied by any other girl to greater effect, and her position is achieved by basically running a different race than all the other characters. the harem girls shine and provide the content and substance, nagisa is the world tree of generic romance plot with the depth of a first crush. glorious stuff i say.

So, you say Nagisa didn't have much development, but at the same time you claim not really having paid attention. She had plenty of development to speak of; it isn't the best thing ever i have seen, but it is nothing to shrug at either. Of course it is "generic romance" in the sense it is about a first crush. Is that bad ? There is hardly anything i would personally consider original, and that doesn't matter to me - whats important is the presentation. And the way the relationship was presented carries more depth than we generally see in "generic romance shows". Except Clannad isn't really about romance in the first place. You can put whatever labels you want on it, but it doesn't take anything away from what it had to say.

and it is up to me THE INDIVIDUAL to tell them that they are being silly. please do not bring relativism etc into this. if you disagree with the assessment that school girl drama is really overblown, say so. i would disagree, and call it trite. anyway, past this silly tangent, i feel you have not worked hard enough to see my approach to the thing, and thus have not come up with much in the way of an argument. the basic point is that the show has both harem elements and romance elements, but the latter is held fast while not given enough room for development due to an insistance to hold onto the former, at least for show, for much of the time. that i happen to see more interest in the harem elements is incidental and rather irrelevant to the main point.

Actually, you having more interest in the harem aspect than romance is quite relevant. At least it helps me understand better why you seem displeased with Nagisa as a character in general - because with her there it is not much of a harem ... or rather the harem element can't develop because Tomoya only has eyes for her and everyone else is being courteous. There are better titles to go after if you are interested in harem ... actually one shouldn't expect true harem from renai game adoptions in the first place.

As for whether the "schoolgirl romance is overblown" - that really is not saying anything. I could say that about almost any genre or thematic you could come up with, as i would have likely seen another dozen shows of said genre. Such "criticism" can really be applied to any genre, and bringing up when it is convenient to make a point doesn't make for a very strong argument.

What am i trying to say ? It is perfectly fine to dislike a show or specific characters. I don't even think one needs to write an essay to explain why. But if one does so, having a biased stance against a character at the core of argument does not make for a very objective review, as subjective of a concept objectivity might be.

neshru

2008-03-30, 08:08

animation quality: 10
Probably the anime of the last season with the best animation quality. The animation is great in about every episode, and you really can't say the same for most animes out there.

voice acting: 6
It's alright, even though Nagisa's voice and way of speaking is the most irritating thing I've ever heard in an anime.

music: 5
Mediocre. It doesn't add anything to the show, quite the contrary. I can't think of any memorable track, and some of them are even annoying.

script: 6
There is nothing really great or intriguing about the story, it's rather plain and simple. I can say the same thing about the characters: with the exception of Tomoya and few others, they are all so uninteresting to me. I mean, I didn't care one second for Fuuko and Kotomi sad stories.
The best thing about the show is the humor, I enjoy the fun bits.

overall: 6/7
There are some points that make the show worth watching, but in the end there is nothing memorable about it.
I realize the story is incomplete and there will be a second season, but still many other animes manage to be much more interesting on their first season.

arkxkra

2008-03-30, 09:44

I give it 10/10.

The anime have all the happy, sadness, touching and etc moment, although is not sad as Air. But I love the series, all the song, bgm nice as well. Seiyu all was very good. :D

DragoonKain3

2008-03-30, 15:15

I'm not going to lie... I absolutely love Family Dramas. In fact, I try and watch every j-dorama about family that I can get my hands on; it's my favourite genre in live action drama, exceeding even that of your regular romances (mainly because vast majority incorporates some aspect of it). From Otousan/Oyaji to Brother Beat to Stay at Home Dad, I simply can't get enough of it.

So that said, you'd think Clannad would be a major hit with me. Well, it is, but it was a major fail as well.

Fuuko and Kotomi's arc was just done perfectly IMO, as it is the stuff I expect to see from family doramas. Fuuko's because her will is so strong that it literally transcends her human body, while Kotomi hits home especially hard for me as I grew up in such an environment. But I won't get into much in these two arcs, as I think you really have to see it to believe it. It was so powerful though, that I actually was moved to tears, and I'll leave it at that.

Now for the bad part... as much as I love Kyou, I really do think that the Kyou/Tomoyo/Ryou arc was done really badly. First off, there was no dramatic tension at all, since we knew Tomoya was pretty much head over heels for Nagisa even before that point (which is evidence as to why it's a fail to have a GAR character for a pure romance series; thank God Clannad had the family thing going on as its main focus). More importantly, these arcs didn't really fit the theme; it felt as if they were included just for completion's sake.

That is, I really do think it would've been better to cut out their arcs, because they are unable to do it properly in the first place since their stories are very incompatible with Nagisa's. It feels so out of place that it makes even their 'family' feel downright forced. I mean, we're only introduced to Tomoyo's brother the episode she tells about his story, and we're supposed to feel for the guy? Even Kyou's 'sacrifice' for her sister seems like a farce to me, since it CAN be argued that she did it partly because she wants to be at Tomoya's side and yet don't want to risk getting hurt by confessing herself. That might not be the case in game, but them cutting out major portions of each of the character's game arc gives the uninitiated viewer the wrong impression of the real character. So do it right, or don't do it at all IMO.

Nagisa on the other hand, seems to be half baked to me (pardon the pun) as it still feels like I'm still in the middle of her story. I'm still missing the 'punch line'; if that is the climax of her story, then I do feel I was jipped. Her parents' decision to leave their jobs to me isn't that much of a sacrifice; they just had a paradigm shift in that their most important focus is Nagisa above all else. They said it themselves that there are plenty of couples out there who can have a successful career and yet manage to bring up a family at the same time, so they didn't HAVE to quit their dream. They just chose to give it up to spend more time with Nagisa, which IMO is actually a boon as the family had the means to do so even after giving up their 'real' jobs. So yeah, for me there really was nothing 'special' at all about the Furukuwa's parents decision. So I'm actually wanting more from Nagisa since what is shown is to me is just the very basics of family, and I'm looking for something grander.

(Do note that this is coming from someone whose parents were rarely 'home', but not because they want to leave their family alone, but they had to to pay the bills etc. Maybe the reason why I connected with Kotomi's arc more ie because it's more alike with my situation, while I didn't connect with Nagisa's at all as it is the exact opposite of hers in a Family perspective.)

Maybe Clannad wasn't meant for me, as I hardly see anything extraordinary about Family in the last two arcs. First cour, it would've been a first rate show and would've been the best of that season if I left it at that. In fact it was my personal best of the season before winter '08 started, but the failings of the second half really leaves a lot to be desired; Da Capo II now has taken over the runner up of the season for me.

Fuuko: A+
Kotomi: A+
Love Polygon: D-
Nagisa: C-
Overall series grade: B+

mikesince83

2008-03-30, 16:24

Knowing now that there's a continuation in the works, I'll hold off a series review till it's here.

SeedFreedom

2008-03-30, 21:27

Very very excellent series. Ending defiantly didn't end as high as i wanted it to, but it was by no means disappointing. I'm surprised that the emotional pull from Nagisa's arc came from Akio and Tomoya instead of Nagisa.

High points:
-Wonderful story
-best cast i have ever seen
-good pacing compared to most animes (with one exception, see below)
-main character not an idiot

Low points:
-not enough Tomoyo (felt like they we're too much to give her proper screen time. The whole thing with her brother took a whooping... 10 seconds. Defiantly could have done more)
-still not enough Tomoyo x 100
-missing a little from the ending (I'm sure the after story will make up for that) (I hope Tomoya doesn't loose his anti-SPSness)
-Fuko got very very annoying at the end

Technical Scoring:

Animation Quality: 10/10 (11/10 for the IL world parts)

Voice Actors: 9/10
one point off for... well i imaged, or more wanted, some characters to sound different. but looking at those actors previous works i can tell they made them sound that way purposely.

Script: 9/10
need an injection of Tomoyo, but otherwise, absolutely amazing.

Adaptation from Game: N/A (didn't play the game so cant rate)

Editing: 10/10
IL world part was done wonderfully and not many gaps in animation quality

OVERALL 9.5/10 (its my preference to never give a perfect mark. but this is close)

P.S. I'm thinking the play Akio was doing in school was Oedipus right?

Sheba

2008-03-31, 02:59

P.S. I'm thinking the play Akio was doing in school was Oedipus right?

Yeah, there are enough hints in his lines about it.

gaguri

2008-03-31, 05:27

Without elaborating too much,
-Most of the characters were bland. And they couldn't make up for it like characters in Kanon did with their emotional depth, imo due to their inferior execution of story arcs for the first two, and lack of any story for
the later two.
-Humour is a mixture of low-brow slapstick (aka Sunohara) and sometimes really funny, i.e. combination of witty Tomoya/some clueless idiot. Funny most of the time, face-palm inducing when it gets stupid.
-Has a great theme of family, but certainly not explored as thoroughly or with as much ambition as other more serious works. That's ok because it never tried to. It does well to provide light-hearted experience without trying too hard and that's pretty much my rating of CLANNAD; it doesn't accomplish anything groundbreaking, but does well to lighten up my day with little doses of romance, comedy and drama.

7/10

Ketro

2008-03-31, 13:38

10/10

They could have involved Tomoyo and Kyou a bit more, but the overall anime is a perfect 10 :heh:

SidVicious

2008-03-31, 13:39

Looks like the DVD-only OVA will be about Tomoyo.

Kaisos Erranon

2008-03-31, 13:59

Looks like the DVD-only OVA will be about Tomoyo.

Goddamnit, that means no Baseball route.

SeedFreedom

2008-03-31, 14:07

Looks like the DVD-only OVA will be about Tomoyo.

seriously? That just made my day :).

Sinestra

2008-03-31, 14:36

For a first season i thought it was pretty well done lets hope for the best later on. I pretty loved every character in this series its hard not to. But for me Kotomi was just the icing on the cake add her along side Nagisa and you get some much cuteness your eyes might be burned out of their sockets. Lovely series in deed i never played the game but watching it has made me want to try it out now.

KholdStare

2008-03-31, 16:34

This gets a 9/10 from me. I really love this show, because it is a wonderful mix of romance, comedy, and fantasy with elements of slice of life. I can't give this a more thorough review because I'm not worthy.

Animation Quality: 10
Voice Actors: 10
Script: 8
Adaptation from Game: No Clue
Editing: 9

Average = 9.0 => 9

10: Masterpiece
9: Excellent, memorable, and usually has some kind of personal impact
8: Very enjoyable, meaningful, and often addictive. Ratings of 8 or higher are considered exceptionally good.
7: Very good. Most anime I enjoy goes here.
6: Good, enjoyable. Most anime I watch starts here.
5: Average, kept my interest somewhat, but nothing too memorable.
4: Below average, watching it feels like an obligation.
3: Very bad, but I only watched it due to obligation. (if finished)
2: Painful, why did I watch this at all? (if finished)
1: Nightmare beyond words. Thankfully I've never rated anything this low.

For more info on my anime ratings please refer to the link in my signature.

Yukinokesshou

2008-04-02, 16:31

Using KholdStare's rating scale...

Animation Quality: 9. For the most part, the animation was amazing. There were some episodes (19 and 23, I think) in which the quality dipped noticeably. Given the circumstances however (i.e. not a big-budget Studio Ghibli production), this is only to be expected. I appreciate how the characters are drawn with slightly more normal-looking features than in the movie version.

Voice Acting: 8. Minus two because Sunohara's and Ryou's voices irked me, but that's only my personal taste. Kyou's and Tomoyo's voices were perfect for their personalities. Nagisa sounded childish, but that suited her. Otherwise, voice acting was good but nothing extraordinary, hence 8.

Script: 9. Very well written. A lot of the credit goes to Key, however, and not Kyo Ani. Family theme strikes a chord with me.

Adaptation from game: 7. Personal taste again - would have preferred a little less time spent on Kotomi and Fuuko. Kotomi's arc really stood out like a sore thumb; it didn't tie into anything else. Too much time was wasted on digging up the garden. Fuuko's arc, at the very least, helped to develop Okazaki's and Nagisa's characters. Episodes 16 to 23 were superb: 10/10.

Editing: 9

Average = 8.4 but with very strong personal impact due to well-presented family theme.
Scenes involving Nagisa and Okazaki = 10!

anselfir

2008-04-03, 02:23

i must say i am being very harsh on this show, and it is my fault, if one can say that. however, the critical stance merely allowed me to see more inadequacies than i would normally pay attention to, so even though it is a biased view what is seen cannot be unseen. if the show gave you a warm and fuzzy feeling, it is worth your praise period. i am only stating a critical position.

I fail to see what you are trying to say here; only thing i get from your posts is that you don't like the show (or more precisely - Nagisa), the way it developed and are trying to pass it of in negative light using what seems to be rather big but ultimately empty claims. Character only exists to fulfill the role designated for it in the story and displays personality according to the preset circumstances ? Well of course! Every single character in any piece of fiction is like that. Sorry if i misunderstood something, but unless your purpose was to state the obvious, i don't know what you meant to say.

well no, the story itself has certain tropes and these are distinguished from the character itself. the character's development consists of the things over and beyond the formulaic demands of the story. for instance, a heroic tale will demand the hero to have certain heroic aspects, and these are manifest in the performance of the plot events, such as important battles etc when the character will be brave. this bravery is not of the character but of the plot, and it would be poor development if the bravery is not well supported by further developments of the character. similarly in a romantic story, the romantic developments demand the leads to have certain traits that are quite formulaic and necessary. the traits that any and all girls of romantic interest must have, as distinguished from personal flavor, is all too apparent. but the stress here is on what actually constitutes a particular character. if all we see are formulaic plot events, then the character is a plot character. the plot here means the typical tropes.

So, you say Nagisa didn't have much development, but at the same time you claim not really having paid attention. She had plenty of development to speak of; it isn't the best thing ever i have seen, but it is nothing to shrug at either. Of course it is "generic romance" in the sense it is about a first crush. Is that bad ? There is hardly anything i would personally consider original, and that doesn't matter to me - whats important is the presentation. And the way the relationship was presented carries more depth than we generally see in "generic romance shows". Except Clannad isn't really about romance in the first place. You can put whatever labels you want on it, but it doesn't take anything away from what it had to say.
of course, it is not romance in the western sense. there is quite a bit more of this family and domesticity in japan, however, this is irrelevant, as we will simply claim that this family theme is just the particular plot type nagisa is designed to voice.

as for presentation, it is a question of details. although i did not pay attention to the nagisa 'arc,' that there is this arc structure to the show is already sufficient to show that the show is trying to do two things at once. the romantic development that is supposed to compose the nagisa ending is really just an 'arc.' a tacked on piece of plot. if we are to view the show as a sincere development of just this nagisa traditional romance aspect, then all the other 'arcs' lose their place. it is straightout false to say the show is always about nagisa and this higher story. it is not, and it would not make sense to say so. that viewers would think so is just reflective of particular instances of self delusions and feel good partial views. an honest examination of the composition reveals otherwise.

Actually, you having more interest in the harem aspect than romance is quite relevant. At least it helps me understand better why you seem displeased with Nagisa as a character in general - because with her there it is not much of a harem ... or rather the harem element can't develop because Tomoya only has eyes for her and everyone else is being courteous. There are better titles to go after if you are interested in harem ... actually one shouldn't expect true harem from renai game adoptions in the first place. i dont like harems at all. i treat the harem characters as instances of personal development, if only in the sense of a pagent. but really, im not watching this type of anime sincerely at all, im rather root for particular trends or gestures that impress me as progressive. such as a strong and truly independent, thoughtful woman, or an intelligent character in general. there are cheap graphic attractiveness, sure, and some cute comedy moments, but mostly i am interested in the development of heroic character types that reflect progressive values. in this regard, i evaluate the show not only on its own merits but on the general responses taken to it. it is after all the anime culture i am interested in, as in, how anime is affecting the general states of mind.

As for whether the "schoolgirl romance is overblown" - that really is not saying anything. I could say that about almost any genre or thematic you could come up with, as i would have likely seen another dozen shows of said genre. Such "criticism" can really be applied to any genre, and bringing up when it is convenient to make a point doesn't make for a very strong argument.
no. this is not true. you'll have a hard time devaluing say a heroic political narrative, or at any rate you'll devalue it at the cost of devaluing valuable visions. there are no such visions found in the school girl drama, and one could even say the preoccupation with this sort of banality is positively unhelpful. it is fine to be entertained etc with it, but dont say it is a dramatic life changing event or something that is reserved for the truly deserving.

What am i trying to say ? It is perfectly fine to dislike a show or specific characters. I don't even think one needs to write an essay to explain why. But if one does so, having a biased stance against a character at the core of argument does not make for a very objective review, as subjective of a concept objectivity might be.

it is not an objective review. it is an appeal from a point of view. i do not really have anything against nagisa, i think she can be viewed in a quite good light, and appreciated for teh right reasons. but the way people react to such character types is obviously not tasteful. the domestic and soft girls are craved to serve the banal tastes of otakus. since nagisa's character is built up by plot elements disproportionally, her character type is really reflective of a particular view of the 'good girl' that i find distasteful.

anyway, i should explain why i think tomoyo being shafted is a severe blow to the show. tomoyo has many good traits for good feminist stories. she's basically a great person, but in a girl. to develop tomoyo fairly is to render justice to overall female dignity in this show. the exit development here is particualry interesting. tomoyo does look to be above the dependence on the male lead. but this in the larger arc of the show has the solemn judgment of plot arbitration. this is because, in the event of the tomoyo route, tomoyo is the lead. the male lead is simply a tomoyo success. the male lead's relation to tomoyo is in fact, within the tomoyo development, quite significant to how the type of woman (understood again as a way of life with its associated aspirations and sensibilities) is positioned and valued. it is nto necessary here to have tomoyo 'end up' wtih tomoya, as long as this developmetn is understood as not a dismissal of tomoyo but the very concept of romance itself. however, the show does not take this development well, and we have tomoyo brushed aside quite inconsequentially.

so you should now have a basic idea of how i see harem. harem to me, however unwittingly and unconsciously, pits several ideals of 'the good girl' against each other. it allows me to root for the more progressive sorts, not to 'win' but to grow more, and be more inspirational. clannad doesn't really do this well, and in fact fumbles the ball quite badly.

KholdStare

2008-04-03, 03:27

Okay I lied. I'm so lol bored that I'm writing this right now:

Animation Quality: 10
Voice Actors: 10
Script: 8
Adaptation from Game: No Clue
Editing: 9

Total rating: 9.0 => 9.0

First of all, I'm rating this anime as Clannad, the TV series, not another one of Key's work, another one of KyoAni's work, and definitely not Kanon's sequel. If you're trying to find out more about why Clannad is completely inferior to Kanon is every way, you're reading the wrong post.

Clannad was beautiful. To me, this is more of a comedy/slice of life than a romance/drama...kinda of. The Fuko arc was definitely drama, but then the drama subsided to a peaceful, high school anime concerning friendship. Editing was wonderful, perfecting the crucial mixture of drama and comic relief. The only reason why I'm giving it a 9 was because I did not like several of Fuko's random appearances. I thought they were discrediting Fuko's character, but many seemed to not take this point of view. Fortunately, Fuko's latter appearances were spot on. And of course, there's Youhei, probably the best supporting character I have seen. He is funny and serious at the exactly right moments, and never once was he out of character.

From an analytical point of view, KyoAni perfected the male protagonist role, Tomoya. In the past, I have been trying to make arguments about how the male lead's actions are hated to initiate or drive the drama, because if he is perfect, then there is no drama. However, Tomoya proved me completely wrong. He is very aware of what is around him and he isn't a stupid, emo, nor lecherous character. This is why I give so much credit to Clannad's plot. They perfected combining character and plot without one of the two taking a huge hit. I personally have no problem with infamous male leads' actions just to advance the plot (Takayuki Hiromi, Makoto Ito), but Tomoya leaves nothing more to be desired.

Voice acting was perfect. I mean absolutely perfect. Even Akio and Sanae's voices contributed to the near perfection of Clannad. Every voice actor did well in all drama and comedy scenes, so there was nothing to complain about.

Ah, yes, the thing most people complain about, Clannad's pacing. From the perspective of someone who had no clue Clannad was a famous visual novel, the pacing was decent. The only part that got rushed to me was Tomoyo's arc, since I can see how Kyou's arc was actually integrated piece by piece from episode one, similar to Nagisa's arc but ended early along with Tomoyo's arc. Okay, so maybe my total score would be lower if I am familiar with Clannad's adaptation, but since I don't, it shall remain high.

The next point I want to bring up is the discussion about how Nagisa is bland. I don't see it. Once again, I classify Clannad as mainly a romance/comedy/fantasy with elements of slice of life. Yes, Clannad made me teary, but heavy drama was only present in possibly 2-3 episodes, while comedy was present in 75-85% of the episodes. Judging from a slice of life view, Nagisa waited until it was the time to finish her arc like a good girl. What do you expect, Nagisa and Tomoya kissing when Fuko's disappearing or right before Kotomi's house was shown on fire?

So why am I not giving this series a 10/10? This is because Clannad lacks that "wow" factor. Actually, it did, but that ended along with Fuko's arc. This is what I called a disadvantage of an anime without heavy drama, but that's how my scale works. After Fuko's arc, Clannad was just something that I really looked forward to every week. It was clearly the best of the season, and it is almost always the anime I watch first from my list of downloaded anime. It was memorable as an excellent, but nothing too memorable. Without Fuko's arc and Mei's last episode, this anime would've easily been rated an 8/10. I still think that I'm overrating this anime by giving it a 9/10, but I have lots of good memories with this series, which fits into the 9/10 category.

Yes, Clannad is one of the most horrible drama series I've seen. Kanon is also one of the most horrible action series I've seen.

Total score: 9/10

10: Masterpiece
9: Excellent, memorable, and usually has some kind of personal impact
8: Very enjoyable, meaningful, and often addictive. Ratings of 8 or higher are considered exceptionally good.
7: Very good. Most anime I enjoy goes here.
6: Good, enjoyable. Most anime I watch starts here.
5: Average, kept my interest somewhat, but nothing too memorable.
4: Below average, watching it feels like an obligation.
3: Very bad, but I only watched it due to obligation. (if finished)
2: Painful, why did I watch this at all? (if finished)
1: Nightmare beyond words. Thankfully I've never rated anything this low.

For more info on my anime ratings please refer to the link in my signature.

Rembr

2008-04-03, 08:07

The next point I want to bring up is the discussion about how Nagisa is bland. I don't see it. Once again, I classify Clannad as mainly a romance/comedy/fantasy with elements of slice of life. Yes, Clannad made me teary, but heavy drama was only present in possibly 2-3 episodes, while comedy was present in 75-85% of the episodes. Judging from a slice of life view, Nagisa waited until it was the time to finish her arc like a good girl. What do you expect, Nagisa and Tomoya kissing when Fuko's disappearing or right before Kotomi's house was shown on fire?I think people that wanted her to kiss were people that liked her.

As far as Nagisa's blandness. Only in anime, can a character with her disposition cause so much story and emotional movement. I think it is a set-up for her redemption in the AS. So people who are annoyed/bored will receive that much impact and say, "hey, she is a valid character!' Or not, who knows, I don't know the AS's story so I can't tell. She better redeem herself though. I watched 20something episodes in hopes of it happening and it didn't happen.

gaguri

2008-04-03, 08:27

Being bland =/= not emo + didn't kiss Tomoya

Some weird equations people are coming up with these days.

dangodaikazoku

2008-04-03, 09:14

I think people that wanted her to kiss were people that liked her.

I think kissing is too emphasized in western culture. You can love someone a lot without kissing. You can also confess your love without kissing. Why does modern western literature like Harry Potter have to mark every confession scene with a kiss? I just don't understand. I prefer the Tomoya/Nagisa way.

As far as Nagisa's blandness. Only in anime, can a character with her disposition cause so much story and emotional movement. I think it is a set-up for her redemption in the AS.

Not only in anime. Maybe only in fiction. Charles Dickens really liked that type of female character. Nagisa is much more colorful and stronger than Agnes Wickfield, Florence Dombey, and swooning Lucie Mannette.

P.S. My rating is 9 ^_^

FuzzyWuzzy

2008-04-03, 09:23

I always thought fuko would return from the hospital since they still had like 12ish episodes after the fuko story. I didn't really like the pacing of the story. It seems so laid back to me like nothing ever happens. But I've never really liked shows like these- like kanon and air. They are like average to me or the same league as Rosario Vampire anime.

I like shows like ef or true tears. Clannad is very slow and very laid back like Honey & Clover.

Rembr

2008-04-03, 09:37

I think kissing is too emphasized in western culture. I don't get all this "oh they didn't kiss" complaining. You can love someone a lot without kissing. You can also confess your love without kissing. Why does modern western literature like Harry Potter have to mark every confession scene with a kiss? I just don't understand. I prefer the Tomoya/Nagisa way.Who knows, I didn't care if she did or not.

Not only in anime. Maybe only in fiction. Charles Dickens really liked that type of female character.I like Dickens' use of valid concerns/problems onto characters which produces valid effects from them.

I can understand why some people are appreciative of slow, weak type by the way.

Sheba

2008-04-03, 11:30

Nagisa have to redeem herself for what? "Stealing" Tomoya from "more interesting" girls? My god...

Rembr

2008-04-03, 11:36

For her blandness.

I thought my stances were clear, but if you need an essay for clarification, I'll try to comply.

Proto

2008-04-03, 13:03

Not really, everyone is entitled to their opinion, and we have already discussed this back in the ep 22 thread if people need more refence as to Rembr and yours truly stance on this issue.

SkoolRumble4Ya

2008-04-03, 14:53

I give it a 10/10 because every episode I've watch I enjoy it big time. No series has done dat for me yet.

BigGimp77

2008-04-03, 19:58

+Excellent animation
+Voice acting was terrific
+Lots of laughs
+Good drama
+Great addaption from the game...
-... except they kinda rushed Tomoyo, Kyou, and Ryou arcs together into one arc

Well it's hard to say what hasn't already been said. KyoAni has once again done a great job. I played a little bit of the game and it seems they did a solid adaption. The only problem I had is that they smushed together a couple arcs. However, overall the series was still great.

I thought the ending was done particually well. They handled the romance a lot better in Clannad then say, Kanon did. The way they handled the confession between Tomoya and Nagisa was one of my favorite parts of the season. I understand why some people might say she's bland, but most of you are just mad other characters didnt win.

Overall. One of my favorite animes of all time. Probably in my top 5 for the genre it's in. Now all thats left to think about is what I like more Kanon or Clannad. Uggh such a hard decesion:eyespin::eyespin::eyespin:

Overall Score: 9.4/10

qtipbrit

2008-04-03, 21:43

I think kissing is too emphasized in western culture. You can love someone a lot without kissing. You can also confess your love without kissing. Why does modern western literature like Harry Potter have to mark every confession scene with a kiss? I just don't understand. I prefer the Tomoya/Nagisa way.
Harry Potter -> Western Literature?
Do we really fail that much?

No, I'm not flaming Harry Potter for all of you fans. I'm just saying that it's nowhere near literature, especially considering that some don't even consider Tolkien's works to be literature.
I always thought fuko would return from the hospital since they still had like 12ish episodes after the fuko story. I didn't really like the pacing of the story. It seems so laid back to me like nothing ever happens. But I've never really liked shows like these- like kanon and air. They are like average to me or the same league as Rosario Vampire anime.

I like shows like ef or true tears. Clannad is very slow and very laid back like Honey & Clover.
Air was laid back?
Wow, I thought they cramped more story in three episodes than True Tears or Ef had in all 13/12 respectively. (No, I don't dislike either series. I though True Tears was good and ef was excellent.)
-... except they kinda rushed Tomoyo, Kyou, and Ryou arcs together into one arc
Ryou wouldn't have had an arc anyway, seeing as she's a side character and inferior to the amazing Kyou.
But I do agree that fitting two arcs into one wasn't a good choice, though it was better than what Code Geass did.
And again: no, Code Geass is one of my favourite action shows.

*Puts up flame shield just in case there are hardcore Harry Potter, True Tears, ef, and Code Geass fans browsing.*

I could write a full review, but I'm much too lazy, so I'll make a mini one.
Animation - 10/10
It's KyoAni.

Sound - 9.5/10
The voice actors were nice, Kyou's tsuntsun and deredere were both good, Mai Nakahara was a cute Nagisa, and Tomoya was fine without going to a Tomokazu Sugita level of "cool". And Mamiko Noto was win as usual. The music was good; the OP was catchy, and the ED was indescribably indescribable (really, I can't say it was good or bad, it just... was.) Insert songs were generally good, though Ana wasn't as amazing as Aozora in Air.

Script - 7/10
Obviously, it had its flaws, and I'm trying not to be either harsh or generous here. It began well enough, but it later had to cram in several arcs in fewer episodes. Of course it loses points for whoever's arc was between Kotomi's and Nagisa's.

Enjoyment - 9.5/10
The "funnest" of the Key adaptations, it was probably my favourite comedy of both the Fall and Winter seasons. It had a dramatic scene or two, but they weren't quite on par with Kanon's or Air's. The comedy school life aspect of Clannad was its plus here.
Episode 23 = Win.

dave1992

2008-04-04, 06:30

Animation Quality: 9
Voice Actors: 9
Script: 10
Adaption from Game: 10
Editing: 10

dangodaikazoku

2008-04-04, 07:07

Harry Potter -> Western Literature?
Do we really fail that much?

No, I'm not flaming Harry Potter for all of you fans. I'm just saying that it's nowhere near literature, especially considering that some don't even consider Tolkien's works to be literature.

Wrong word, sorry. How about "fiction" instead? I was using literature as a catch-all term for well-known fiction, not trying to indicate artistic value or anything.

Proto

2008-04-04, 08:22

You don't need to apologize though, the term was correctly used

Literature is a body of written works related by subject-matter, by language or place of origin, or by dominant cultural standards. Literally translated, the word means "acquaintance with letters" (from Latin littera letter). In Western culture the most basic literary types include poetry and prose, fiction and non-fiction.

If the elitists only want to consider for literature anything nobel caliber and up that's just their take on the term, and not the official usage.

Anyway, as it is the case of other people, I'll wait for the CLANNAD to be completely broadcasted for me to make my final evaluation.

Doki

2008-04-04, 10:14

first i would give it a 9 only..
but then i after playing the visual i would rate it a 9.5~10 /10
ok its maybe wrong because the game isnt = anime.
but when i played it, i kinda realize how good they actually animated it.
i mean there was a lot of good stuff that they managed to transfer from game to anime. i really enjoyed it through the hole series , still imo not as great as air, maybe beacuse it was my first kyoani? ;)
just simply want to watch 2nd season right now~~

Shana

2008-04-05, 20:15

Clannad was what I was the only anime I was actually waiting for, after Lucky Star finished. It started quite good, I must say, though KyoAni "wasted" so much episodes in Fuko's arc; 5-6 episodes? Too much. They developed Fuko so much I thought they'd keep her awaken/alive, but as a girl who likes Tomoya.

They introduced every girl/character really fast in first episode, like an introduction. I remember how anxious I was when episode 1 aired, lol. In Kotomi's arc, they developed her quite fast, every thing was about her, in her arc. After her arc, they started with a little Sunohara-Tomoyo arc, introduced Tomoyo very, very much, I even thought she was in love with Tomoya, silly me; she had many memories in her that she couldn't even think of love. They could've just left Sunohara like that, because after that little arc he "came back" to himself.

Introduced Mei after the first half of the show, kinda bad. So much Fuko moments after her arc, some of them were funny, but it got old with the time.

Made Nagisa "strong" in episode 19-20, what's up man? and then, making episode 23 a not-plot-wise episode? No, at least they could've introduced a bit the After Story. Introduced Kyou too much in Nagisa's/Tomoyo's arc.

Kinda rushed the ending. I give this a 8/10, good show, could've been better if they didn't introduce some girls so much.

Jechtsphere

2008-04-06, 17:37

I gave it a 8/10

It was a nice anime, very cute. loved the characters so I enjoyed watching every episode.

It was nice to have a feel good anime to watch after the last few I've seen.

Vexx

2008-04-08, 00:51

I stayed almost completely out of the potboiler forum that was the Clannad forum... but my final take on a story that I've had Piro/Fred of Megatokyo beat me over the head with for eight years now??

I enjoyed it. It had a lot of characters and a lot of multiple threaded stories - a great deal more humor than I expected. However, it didn't "change my life" or grant any serious "epiphanies" -- unfortunately, I think my exposure to much that came after the original software novel had much to do with that. It was also competing with a couple of other series that I thought were respectable competition in this time and place (Kimikiss and TT).

I give the series a good, solid enjoyable "8" (VERY GOOD). I'd watch it again and probably will. If they release it in R1 -- I'll certainly buy the collection.

incube

2008-04-08, 20:59

Loved this anime from the beginning till last episode. Although i cant get it out of my head and dont think it will happen any time soon :p There was a happy ending but i think the reason im still not over it is cause i feel bad for all the other girls after Nagisa was chosen. Not that im against it but i feel bad for them since they are all very nice and kind girls.
I dont have much more to add to all that has been said... so i give it a 10/10 and i'll be waiting anxiously for the next season :p

OmegaPhlare

2008-04-10, 04:50

I gave CLANNAD a 10/10 and of course I give very generous ratings. Here is how I see it: The presentation (style/music/animation) is the best I have seen and the story (plot/characters) is so beautiful I will watch the series repeatedly for years to come. I am completely satisfied and need not say any more.

Quick Paragraph about Nagisa:
I always fall in love with the characters who are described as simple, bland, weak, and uninteresting. However, I am not interested in ordinary people I find in everyday life, I am for those who may or may not exist: extraordinary people. Nagisa isn't an uninteresting or weak person, she is kind and considerate of others. Anyone can clearly see that about her. Yet, I guess for some people, that has no value and thus she is simply boring.

I'm really looking forward to the After Story. I haven't played the game, but I'm certain there is a true ending to the play and it really is a sad one.

Rodo K.

2008-04-11, 12:54

I give Clannad a 10/10. I fell in love with this series right away but it also encouraged me to watch Kanon and AIR. For the characters, i wish they put more into Fuuko; i want to atleast she her wake up after 3 years. :3

Bou

2008-04-12, 07:00

I voted 10, The storyline was just amazing, it was enjoyable from begining to end and there was nothing to complain about.
The animation made the anime a lot more enjoyable as it was great quality and worked hard on!

Archuka

2008-04-13, 16:49

Hmm, where should I begin? I guess I'll try to break this up into categories.

Art & Animation
Excellent as always with KA. The scenes from the dream world especially were so detailed they probably contained more frames than many entire shows.

Character designs were amazing as well. I really like how they again slightly distanced themselves from the game's designs (more than in AIR) as I really don't like those.

Characters & Plot
I really hate how they pretty much gave away the ending right in the very first scene of the first episode. They really need to break loose from the first-girl-unless-it's-osananajimi syndrome.

Also, I'm a little disappointed that Nagisa was the one whose route would end the series as I didn't really like her that much. Or perhaps it's not that I disliked her, but that I simply couldn't relate with Tomoya's infatuation with her. Dumbness just turns me off in a girl and let's face it, Nagisa wasn't exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer. This is also why I wasn't rooting for Kotomi despite her super moe looks as even though she was bristling with brain power, she didn't know how to apply it and just seemed mentally challenged most of the time.

If I were allowed to choose, Kyou or Tomoyo would have been paired with Tomoya. They had much more character than Nagisa and I found their personalities a lot more attractive. This conclusion to the series is especially bothersome as I know After Story is coming and I'd much, much rather have seen it focus on one of these two characters instead.

I also need to mention my dislike for Fuuko. Her character was very cute and all, but was she really supposed to be a high schooler? She behaved more like a six-year old. Also, her presence was never explained nor her story concluded. Did she wake up or not?

I also think there was a lot of forced drama in the series. Many of the scenes that were supposed to be super dramatic just felt so meaningless to me. It's like the characters loved making big deals out of nothing. Especially Nagisa's major breakdown for the silliest of reasons in the climax of the series was very difficult for me to understand. There were also many situations where the characters seemed to overreact to what was being said. I was especially bothered by the usually adamant Tomoya gasping at certain things.

I think Clannad was much better with comedy than it was with drama. I love how creative KA was with all the gags and jokes throughout the series from the RPG parodies to Sunohara's antics. Even the scenes where Sanae runs off crying after Akio insults her bread never got old even though it happened several times. :heh:

Voices & Music
Voice acting was pretty solid throughout the series. I don't really have any complaints here as even though I didn't like some characters, the voice work for them was really fitting and the actors and actresses performed admirably.

BGM was, I suppose, somewhat forgettable, though not bad by any stretch of the imagination. After having just seen the last episode, I can honestly say I can only recall one track. :uhoh:

Minus points awarded for the really, really bad Engirsh at the end of Fuuko's arc.

Total score: 8

Kaisos Erranon

2008-04-13, 17:03

Characters & Plot
I really hate how they pretty much gave away the ending right in the very first scene of the first episode. They really need to break loose from the first-girl-unless-it's-osananajimi syndrome.

Also, I'm a little disappointed that Nagisa was the one whose route would end the series as I didn't really like her that much. Or perhaps it's not that I disliked her, but that I simply couldn't relate with Tomoya's infatuation with her. Dumbness just turns me off in a girl and let's face it, Nagisa wasn't exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer. This is also why I wasn't rooting for Kotomi despite her super moe looks as even though she was bristling with brain power, she didn't know how to apply it and just seemed mentally challenged most of the time.

If I were allowed to choose, Kyou or Tomoyo would have been paired with Tomoya. They had much more character than Nagisa and I found their personalities a lot more attractive. This conclusion to the series is especially bothersome as I know After Story is coming and I'd much, much rather have seen it focus on one of these two characters instead.

The very first scene in the anime is in the game, too. It also is the very first scene.

Also, I love how you're giving credit to KyoAni for the humor when they made very little of the humor up themselves... you can credit Key for that.

As for After Story, they can't possibly choose anyone other than Nagisa for it, given that that's how it is in the game, unless they wanted to do Tomoyo After, which is incredibly depressing.

I'm getting really, really tired of people hating on Nagisa when Nagisa and Clannad are basically inseparable. You can't have one without the other.

I wish people would just stop trying to push their own desires onto a story that has already been written and that KyoAni is adapting, not rewriting.

Proto

2008-04-13, 17:11

Well, everyone is entitled to their opinion Kaisos, and no opinion can be said to be better than the other. The second season will be when the show will speak for itself and give all the people who want proper closure for all the open ends what they want, however this thread is for people who want to take the first season as a stand alone and evaluate the show how has it been so far. If you see it from that perspective many of the complaints here actually have some logic and coherence.

That's why I decided it would be better to just leave all my arguments for the CLANNAD TV (second season) overall series impressions & Total Series rating thread.

Kaisos Erranon

2008-04-13, 17:21

Proto

2008-04-13, 19:57

Well they probably need the revenue from the DVD sales to have a financial breath. Some years ago KyoAni only had 1 or 2 series per year, so the fact that they have been showing series non stop since Kanon has been a feat itself already. :)

Archuka

2008-04-13, 20:38

The very first scene in the anime is in the game, too. It also is the very first scene.

Also, I love how you're giving credit to KyoAni for the humor when they made very little of the humor up themselves... you can credit Key for that.

Look, I haven't played the game and I don't plan to. I couldn't possibly know what scenes or jokes are directly from it. Also, the visual presentation of the humour is still from KA, even if it was originally written by Key.

As for After Story, they can't possibly choose anyone other than Nagisa for it, given that that's how it is in the game, unless they wanted to do Tomoyo After, which is incredibly depressing.

I'm getting really, really tired of people hating on Nagisa when Nagisa and Clannad are basically inseparable. You can't have one without the other.

So if we ignore Tomoyo After, Nagisa's route is in its own league in terms of length? Or do all routes eventually lead to a Tomoya x Nagisa pairing anyway? I Didn't know that, but I don't see why it should matter as what's in the game still has nothing to do with my opinion about the anime.

I wish people would just stop trying to push their own desires onto a story that has already been written and that KyoAni is adapting, not rewriting.
I guess I should be pushing my own desires on Key, then? :rolleyes:

Kaisos Erranon

2008-04-13, 20:47

So if we ignore Tomoyo After, Nagisa's route is in its own league in terms of length? Or do all routes eventually lead to a Tomoya x Nagisa pairing anyway? I Didn't know that, but I don't see why it should matter as what's in the game still has nothing to do with my opinion about the anime.

Clannad isn't over yet.

The "true" story of Clannad is the Nagisa end, and, as a result, After Story.

Tomoyo After was created because a) The creator wanted to explore her character more, and b) all the raging fanboys clamouring for it.

Ice Block

2008-04-13, 23:12

If I were allowed to choose, Kyou or Tomoyo would have been paired with Tomoya. They had much more character than Nagisa and I found their personalities a lot more attractive. This conclusion to the series is especially bothersome as I know After Story is coming and I'd much, much rather have seen it focus on one of these two characters instead.

Trust me, as much as I would LOVE to see an AS from Kyou's route, it will never be on the same level as Nagisa's AS. Even Tomoyo After's not as good as Nagisa AS...

Anyway, my mini-review:

Animation
Original Score: 9/10
KyoAni's trademark high-quality, bright, glowy animation. Need I say more?
-1 for lack of quality control (ep19)
+1 for Illusionary World scenes
Final Score: 9/10

Voice Actors
Original Score: 9/10
They just took all the original VA's form the game. It worked for game fans, and it still does for non-gamers.
+1 for Akio's speech (ep22)
Final Score: 10/10

Script
Original Score: 8/10
Clannad's School Life arc isn't really special. Fuko's and Kotomi's arcs provided the necessary drama everyone was looking for, but they seemed a bit lacking. Then came Tomoyo's mini-arc, which looked like it had a bad end (though they can still continue this during S2). Kyou's arc never really existed -- it was just an extension of her mini-arc during Kotomi's scenario (yes, it happened in Kotomi's route in the game too).
Final Score: 8/10

Adaptation from the Game
Original Score: 10/10
To be honest, I came into Clannad knowing nothing but the Wikipedia entries on it back in September 2007. Then came ep18, which just screamed GO PLAY GAME NAO! Well, as somebody said earlier, KyoAni stayed faithful to the source -- too faithful in fact that its scary.
Final Score: 10/10

Editing
Original Score: 8/10
I have no idea what this is, so I just gave it a random score :heh:. Not really... Can't comment much, so lets just say that this is my gut feeling.
Final Score: 8/10

Overall Score: 45/50 = 9/10

IRJustman

2008-04-16, 00:23

If I were allowed to choose, Kyou or Tomoyo would have been paired with Tomoya. They had much more character than Nagisa and I found their personalities a lot more attractive. This conclusion to the series is especially bothersome as I know After Story is coming and I'd much, much rather have seen it focus on one of these two characters instead.

There's one fundamental problem with this: If you wanted to go that route AND be canon (remember, this IS Kyoto Animation we're talking about, and there's no pun intended here!), there wouldn't be much TO focus on (though Tomoyo's does have a bit more in the form of Tomoyo After, but again, not MUCH more).

The story would end. You would have to start again, taking a different route.

That also takes into account that the three major female leads' routes are mutually exclusive:

Tomoyo: Allows for Tomoyo After
Nagisa: Allows for After Story
Kyou: Dead end

You said earlier that you didn't see why what's in the game doesn't (or shouldn't) matter. What I just said above is why it does and why it pertains particularly to Kyoto Animation adaptations of Key titles. Remember, Kyoto Animation has a bit of a reputation going for sticking pretty closely to canon. They probably already knew that this route was not going to go much of anywhere. It wouldn't even last two full cour as it already has.

It only makes sense to go with Nagisa because there's a lot more story, and it's not so much to flesh her out; it's to flesh HIM out.

--Ian.

P.S. To address one other question you had, only one path leads to a Tomoya + Nagisa pairing, and that's the Nagisa route. The other paths do not.

RandomFlameStrike

2008-04-16, 03:14

Heh well despite the fact that Kyou's route totally sucked (Debatable), she doesn't really have an "After Story". I think Nagisa's AS alone is almost (equally?) as long as the whole Tomoyo After game. You might find Tomoyo/Kyou's personalities more attractive (TOMOYO FTW, Kyou... not so much) and so do I, but as a paring I think Nagisa and Tomoya are the best together.

Spectacular_Insanity

2008-04-17, 01:42

I really loved this anime. The Fuko arc was sad, Nagisa's parents were gut splittingly hilarious, and Tomoyo was kick-ass. And all the little stuff in between. The random Fuko moments were pretty funny down the line, and I absolutely loved the ending. It was very sweet and actaully had some closure, which I am thankful for. I am thankful that it didnt end up like a harem anime or something like that where nothing is solved and the main characters don't ever express their feelings for one another. As it was, I got some closure, then a treat with the OVA that was both sweet and hilarious. Nagisa's dad is still my favorite character in the whole series, with Tomoyo pulling a very close second. All in all, while it wasn't perfect, it was damn well close enough for me to give this gem of a series a 10/10.

mangalowres

2008-04-19, 16:11

I just watched this show today and I must say -> Excellent
The middle part was pretty sad with some heartbreaking moments that can make you cry.
But there was also the violine play part which was so awesome funny.
This otherworld part didn't make any sense till her father talked about that one day which changed their whole life, after that it did make some sense vene if I don't get it fully.....

I feared a sad end because of her illness but they managed to give me this "happily ever after" feeling that I really really like.

Soooooooooooooo Excellent show till the end, I would have given a 10/10 but there was no kiss ;) so it's only a 9/10 .

Zaris

2008-04-27, 17:44

This is my personal overview of CLANNAD, and to begin, I want to make something very clear. I am not a CLANNAD knowhow. I have never played the game. I haven’t spoiled myself with walkthroughs, Wikipedia, or synopses. I have absolutely no knowledge of the series at all. So what you can expect is an objective review from an objective eye on how Kyoto Animation turned one of Japan’s greatest visual novels into something for the common viewer. Which means there’s gonna be things that you’re gonna disagree with, and that’s okay, because I’m gonna tell you with great objectively that you’re wrong! I don’t expect to get a lot of nods and consensus here anyway. But if you’re still interested in knowing how I feel about the show’s first season on television, then read on.

Contents
Basis
Sweetness and Hype
The Essence
Mucking Around
Epilogue

Basis
This is the biggest Key adaptation that KyoAni’s ever made, but it’s still no longer than 24 episodes, no wider than five story arcs. And unlike a normal harem anime, it doesn’t have lip-smacking or girl’s undergarments, so it’s perfectly suited to be viewed with your parents…

…wrong.

This is an anime pumped so full of innuendo and fan service, it could be fueled with Frappuccino. Its shameless humor and shaven legs are a guilty pleasure almost in itself. And that’s fine. You see, the last Key visual novel that KyoAni transformed, Kanon in 2006, was very melancholy and very serious. So it’s alright if the producers, artists and animators felt what we all needed was… livening up a bit.

CLANNAD is a step above Kanon in so many ways. All the mechanics has been sharpened up, hunkered down, tightened. The atmosphere’s warmer and rich with energy, truer to life yet fantastical all at the same time. The story is also more intertwined than its predecessor. No more devoting strings of episodes exclusively to twosome interactions before moving onto the next. Characters here mingle rather than go missing. This is a show where the cast actively supports one another and together, they drive the story forward.

So what is that story? Well, it’s not exactly what you’d call a harem. It really is just a guy and a girl. That’s it. CLANNAD is a straight-forward romance from beginning to end. You know who the subjects are. Watch the series premise and you’ll know in two minutes how the show’s gonna fall through. It makes no apologies for what it is. So if you want an alternative ending, watch another anime. If you want equal emphasis on all girls, watch another anime. If you want a male lead with a libido… yeah, watch another anime.

Sweetness and Hype
But what you do get is good stuff. For example, look at the animation quality. As always, KyoAni stays very consistent with their quality of work. This time, it’s not so much their attention to detail (mind you, they do a good job at making spaces interesting by guiding the eye with lines and angles and so forth) but to the story’s overall look. Highlights include the bus ride in episode 13 and the lunchroom in episode 16. You just get so much of those soft lighting effects, you’d think the show was filmed live. And they use a lot of Earth-friendly colors too like blue and green and… magenta. And most the action takes place during the daytime or in well-lighted areas. So what you’re left with is an image that’s cool and clean and modern. It really does invite you into the picture.

The characters are also especially fab. They’re as close to life in high school as I can remember, and that’s one of the things I like about this series. If Furukawa Nagisa was a real person, her name would be Jessica Lu. It feels like all the personalities from CLANNAD were taken from people I actually went to school with. There was an Okazaki Tomoya where I went to school. There was an actual delinquent who was as deplorable as he was respected. Everyone in the anime is characterized and labeled by one of their habits as were the kids where I grew up. Everyone was interesting and everyone had a “live life and party” attitude that treated school not so much as a study, but more of a place where self-conscious, insecure, and horny teenagers can go and decide on where to best spend their parents’ money. The teens of CLANNAD behave how teens behave, do what teens do, and enjoy life as teens did before cell phones arrived. The characters are very slice-of-life. It feels accurate and looks real.

It’s not all sweetness and hype, though. Everything’s got too much of a “Kanon” feel to it. I mean, the plotlines are remarkably similar to its sister story. There’s the hyperactive girl who shows up early on and is the center of attention until she disappears in ways that would baffle top scientists and goes largely unnoticed for the rest of the show. Then there’s the childhood friend whom the protagonist had so heartlessly forgotten until they tearfully reunite during her senior year in high school. And let’s not forget the star athlete who happens to have the strongest connection to the male lead and yet falls short of coming out on top. In a sense, it really is a question of storytelling brought by déjà vu.

Thing is, though, you’d have to be a hardcore anime/Key freak to notice any of these similarities. And besides, you’re probably thinking, “Who cares? Just as long as it’s funny and fun to watch.” Well, it’s not the most laugh-out-loud anime in the world. The subjects are more teen-oriented than cute, but I will admit, the gags have been very amusing… and titillating, which makes me wonder who at KyoAni has the lucky job of drawing tantalizing crotch shots and love confessions for his bag of rice? Because there is so much more sex appeal going on here than all the previous Key works combined, it’s like all hormonal control suddenly went berserk.

Whatever. At least it can still give a serious performance. The whole terrain of this first season was to rebuild this theater club and sit it back on top of the columns of prestige. And they did it, very dramatically I might add. The whole process has been like a whitewater kayaking trip that nearly crash and burned on the rocks several times. And at several points, I honest thought that was it; it’s over, there’s no chance to get that club restarted. But with a little luck, a little teamwork and understanding, they pulled through, and Nagisa gave a great performance in the end. This is one of the few finales where I actually liked the entire 24 minutes. It was delivered brilliantly.

The Essence
So, the art’s been done by God, the characters are more relatable, and the story blends subjects and themes muchbetter than anything previous. All that begs the vital question: have they done it? Is this KyoAni’s best Key remake?

No.

Let me explain: if I was watching an action anime, I’d want to be on the edge of my seat. If I’m watching a drama, I want to feel moved. CLANNAD just doesn’t do it for me. Everyone’s too comfortable and there’s absolutely no tension, which is the essence of drama. Kanon, from one year ago, did this not only well but better. And I’m sorry if I have to draw comparisons, but when the same studio does two adaptations of two visual novels from the same company, forming connections is as inevitable as it is natural (even more so since they actually did three, but I haven’t watched AIR). I came here hoping to see the things that Kanon failed to deliver, and though it gave a lot of what we’ve never seen before, it had no backbone. CLANNAD fails to execute the same finesse as its sister show. It tells a story, but it doesn’t tell it well.

There’s a lot of blame to go around, so I’ll start off first with the cast. Now, it’s not that they’re not good. They are. They’re a precision take on real people like you and me, but it is just too real. You see, as a teenager, you would hang out mostly with your own group of friends because you got along with them. And whoever wasn’t part of your circle, you pretty much felt indifferent – maybe just a casual “Hi” or a brief look in the eye when you pass them down the hall, but that’s it. Point is: most teenagers stay within their own little comfort field. They aren’t out looking for trouble. And it’s the same thing here. There’s no conflict within Tomoya’s posse; whatever differences they have of each other, they settle it right away. Whatever arguments they have is sarcastic or short-lived. The limited contacts they do have with people outside their 15-18 year-old age group understands, agrees or sympathizes. It’s just a bunch of “happy people” on the screen. Everyone gets along so well that it’s boring, and because nobody wants to start a fight, they’re as attentive and uninteresting as real teenagers – like ourselves for instance! With no challenges to overcome and no dilemmas to tear friends apart, there’s no suspense or uncertainty in the story. Characters that get along this well are stagnant and have no passion and no drive, and that doesn’t fuel my emotions at all.

Annoyingly, when CLANNAD does decide to do something with big impact, it works: Nagisa collapsing in the rain in episode 2, Nagisa in tears at the end of episode 7, Ichinose Kotomi in 12, the basketball match in 16, and, of course, the season finale. But that’s about as heart-stopping and depressing as you’re gonna get. Mind you, you may feel a tear in your eye when you see the Fujibayashi sisters breaking down in episode 18. But unless you think about it really hard or happen to know the visual novel by heart, you’re not gonna understand. And, speaking directly to the viewers, were those tears of sympathy or tears of revulsion? Because I was looking at them and had one of two reactions: “What?” and “What… a poorly drawn scene.” Their pain was too ambiguous to be acknowledged, and, compared to the way Nagisa looks when she cries (and we’ve seen it plenty enough), the sisters were way too ugly to be taken seriously. Did the artist accidentally run his pen too far over and tried to cover up the mistake? Cuz that moment was just not very KyoAni-ish (and what’s with the pan up at the end? Sakagami Tomoyo’s like, “Hmmm, I pity these girls, but there’s something more interesting here in the sky!” I’m glad Kyon was the first to recognize such a blatantly overused plot device – who, ironically, stems from the same cell that’s mitosing this series!).

Mucking Around
Which brings me to the next party at fault: KyoAni. I realize that it’s hard to live up to the expectations of previously celebrated, well regarded material. But I’m struggling to think how KyoAni could fail at something so plain and basic in storytelling as consistency. And I’m not just talking about Kyou. See I’m a proponent of the idea that, if it doesn’t contribute, don’t put it in, and if you absolutely must have it, get to the point and make it short. You see where I’m going with this.

Ibuki Fuko’s little moment on the spotlight was great. It had purpose and ups and downs. There was something essential at stake. This was probably the highest moment of drama for the whole series. Shame, then, that they had to put her in the beginning. And it staggers me to think why she shows up randomly at unknown points in time. Am I supposed to remember her? Is she supposed to be funny? Because she already was in her own right during her own segment. So why is she needed? She defused and spoiled so many situations that it weakened the rest of the story rather than enhanced it. It’s a mystery why she didn’t show up on stage with Nagisa in the end. Cuz at least the producers would’ve been consistent.

Kotomi was also a mixed bag. Everything was good, but we don’t really see any progression. It’s more of a journey to the past, to locate it, to recall it, to reclaim something that was once lost. It’s good, but not substantial enough to be great – partly because the past is past, and partly because of her absence, which kind of put Tomoya a little more on the spotlight than her. And the ending… come on! Not only was it the biggest inconsistency they ever made, but it was also the lamest attempt to illicit any kind of optimism and global pride for mankind.

At this point, things just got worse. Not only did they introduce a new character, but they gave her as much liberty and screen time as the next two. And she had absolutely no interest in her brother at all. If CLANNAD is about family, then this is the least a man can get.

The whole blending of arcs thing is a rare sight to behold, but it was too coincidental, too contrived, and too short. You could just pick at the mechanics at how Tomoyo’s bit started so conveniently after the shed thing came to an end. Was she waiting for him from an adjacent wall? And that’s another thing: Tomoyo and Kyou didn’t have the same focus as Kotomi and Fuko. And even when there was focus, it wasn’t enough because you would always be comparing it to the length of time the other two got, who both had far less romantic interest in the male lead. In telling a romance, the people who are given the role of criticizing and complicating the lives of the principal lovebirds should get more time to express themselves. But they didn’t. All that potential to flesh out something unique got wasted. And coupled with the two separate weeks without any airing, it further disconnected me from the series.

What’s worse is the fact that CLANNAD is plagued with ambiguity and too obvious when they’re trying to be clear. You don’t know really why the characters do what they do, and they wouldn’t tell you. I know, if I had studied Japanese a little more, I might have known why Tomoya gets so upset with his father when he speaks. That kind of grammatical importance should’ve been told earlier on (they should’ve put episode 19 at the forerunner). And why should I be responsible for it? I also never knew that Tomoya was so hardcore with basketball and I never knew that Kyou had a secret crush. They just don’t explain it. What they do explain, though, are essential plot devices that get the ball rolling

Epilogue
This article takes a lot from my own personal experiences when I was a high schooler, which may not be closely related to your own. And you’ll notice I don’t list examples of the things I say. Words have been over exemplified and exaggerated to illustrate a point, and it is that CLANNAD is an exercise rather than a performance. The characters are excellent, the animation’s good, but it is much too plain. The mechanics creak and the gaps are as obvious as the themes it explores. They don’t make gardening or searching through a shed any more exciting than what we regularly do. Any mystery or cliffhanger becomes disregarded with a break into intermission or ending credits. In the end, it’s just not as exciting as Kanon because there’s less anticipation and less feeling when you walk away. You empathize with the characters, but you’re not swept away by their charisma. I feel remote and lifeless, and that comes close to ruining the whole experience.

I admit this is not the best review I’ve ever written. Even as I type this sentence now, I want to get it over with. CLANAND is not a bad show, but compared to the stuff that KyoAni has made before, this is pretty weak and I don’t want to spend a lot of time on it. And I also think that part of the problem is I’m not really sure what I should be categorizing this show as. It certainly has the laidback feeling of a slice-of-life series, but it also tries to scramble relationships like a harem while laying out some elements for a fantasy or surreal drama. Perhaps the events of the second season will give it more of a direction to go on. But since this is KyoAni we’re talking about – canon to the point of obscurity and original to the level of absurdity – I’m not terribly enthusiastic about it. I expect more of the same.

Ratings
Story: 7
Concept: 5

Animation Quality: 10
Character Design: 9
Voice Acting: 9
Music: 8

Drama: 4
Romance: 6

CLANNAD: 7 (Something nice to watch, but nothing more.)

kingsky123

2008-04-29, 07:47

im a guy, and in this story i prefer the dude(main charactor, not the yellow haired one) then the rest of the cast combined

the girls are not .... lifelike? enough for it to be a highschool romance. felt more like what happens when you put a normal guy in a anime world

RandomFlameStrike

2008-05-02, 23:51

What’s worse is the fact that CLANNAD is plagued with ambiguity and too obvious when they’re trying to be clear. You don’t know really why the characters do what they do, and they wouldn’t tell you. I know, if I had studied Japanese a little more, I might have known why Tomoya gets so upset with his father when he speaks. That kind of grammatical importance should’ve been told earlier on (they should’ve put episode 19 at the forerunner). And why should I be responsible for it? I also never knew that Tomoya was so hardcore with basketball and I never knew that Kyou had a secret crush. They just don’t explain it. What they do explain, though, are essential plot devices that get the ball rolling

Heh that's a pretty interesting review. It's nice to see some people voice their opinions objectively and explain them. I disagree with a lot of your points, but at the same time I can understand where you're coming from.

As for the Japanese speech thing with the Tomoya-kun, it's not your fault but it's not really KyoAni's fault either. The show was made with Japanese people in mind and they could pick up on such things pretty easily. A similar situation occurs with Kyou's crush, but I'm a game player so it was very obvious to me. I also thought the basket ball things was pretty obvious too... I mean Tomoya told us right away?

Whitemoon648

2008-05-27, 05:54

Finally an anime that i can update in my top 10 ( or even possibly in my top 5). It was kind of sad for it to end. Well at least the season 2 is confirmed :D.

luna divin3r

2008-05-28, 17:20

Because i knew that the people who made Haruhi Suzumiya made Clannad i had high expectations that it would make me laugh and cringe like Haruhi did.

All clannad did was make me cry, repeatedly.

i thought there was going to be something really wow with the opening clips of the girl in the land of the not so living but it ended up being nothing but a story.

on its own its an alright anime...but compared to others its lacking excitement

Proto

2008-05-28, 17:23

Well, as it has been said before you may want to wait for the second season to see the conclusion to the story and for all those loose ends to be solved. ;)

X207

2008-05-28, 22:06

9/10 very funny but too little time to really focus on each character. its understandable that they had to go thru the arcs one by one but 23 eps and 6 arcs didnt leave much time to dwell on anyone aside fom nagisa and tomoya. not to forget tomoyo never really did get the most airtime :(.

kyon91

2008-06-23, 08:02

the episodes about Fuko are pretty boring, the Kotomi episodes are good, but the last episodes saved the series, especially 22 and 23, so I say 9/10. More Kyou and Tomoyo would make it 10/10!

Generic Asian Guy

2008-06-23, 17:18

I liked the TV series better than the movie. To anyone who is planning to watch the movie: I warn you that you will not be able to get the one or two hours of your life back.

phishn37

2008-07-01, 13:45

Animation – 9/10
Kyoto Animation has proven in its last few shows that they can make a show that looks consistently fluid and crisp, even if a show doesn’t require it. The character designs were distinctly moe, and a bit of a repeat from their other shows, but that’s what this kind of genre calls for so I wasn’t disappointed.

Voice Actors – 7/10
I loved Fuko’s voice so much ~ ! Other than that, nothing really stuck out, but nothing bothered me particularly either.

Script – 6/10
My absolute favorite part of the show was the Fuko arc. I thought it was done perfectly, and was able to be funny, enduring, and very sad at the same time. Had the show ended with the Fuko story, this score would be a 10/10. However, the stories that followed never caught my attention as much, and I felt were more clichéd and thrown-together. The one big thing that bugged me was that the dream with the girl turned out to be nothing! I was really interested in that aspect and I was really disappointed to find out it was just a story.

Adaptation from the Game
(I’ve never played the game, so I can’t really comment ~ !)

Romance – 7/10
Despite many other fan’s outrage, I’m happy Tomoya ended up with Nagisa. I thought their time spent together and the development of their feelings was the most honest out of all the girls. However, this show does fall back a bit onto the harem standby, and plays with that idea during the show sometimes instead of sticking to one main romantic plot.

Total Score ~ ! 7/10 I hope you enjoyed my review ~ !

Proto

2008-07-01, 14:10

The one big thing that bugged me was that the dream with the girl turned out to be nothing! I was really interested in that aspect and I was really disappointed to find out it was just a story.

Stay tuned for the second season :)

JagdPanther

2008-07-10, 16:46

All I have to say is:

I want my own Tomoyo. :D

And the ending theme was just about the greatest thing ever. "Dango dango dango..." =^_^=

SidVicious

2008-07-15, 10:25

RAW for Tomoyo's episode is out.

SSJiffy

2008-07-21, 13:14

I loved and enjoyed Clannad. It's animation quality astonished and kept me immersed in their world. The voice acting was excellent the emotion whether comedic, dramatic, sad, or casual consistently made each episode have just that much more affect on the viewer. I enjoyed where the story led us through several character's scenarios albeit some of them felt like they ended too quickly (Tomoyo's) or weren't explored as much as I would of wanted them to (the Fujibayashi twins). But I still enjoyed what was presented by Kyoto Animation but it is on the script that I'll dock a point for the aforementioned things. Overall the anime is awesome and I'm sure to watch it many more times in coming years and still get the same level of enjoyment out of it.

Animation Quality: 10
Voice Actors: 10
Script: 9

Looking forward to the After Story :D!

Bennyswan

2008-07-25, 20:03

Ah I just watched the whole series and I loved it, really sad though.

Animation : 10
Script : 9
Voice Actor : 10

Overall for me its a 9/10

I want to play the game but i just can't find it =[

Vegard Aune

2008-07-26, 09:55

Ah I just watched the whole series and I loved it, really sad though.
...I can only assume that you've never seen Air. Clannad might be emotional at times, but it's not a SAD story, all the stories they told ended well.
...Well, one could argue wether Fuko's story had a happy ending or not, but as they showed a few times later on, it's not like she was dead or anything.

But yeah, it was awesome. And I'd like to play the game too, but in my case, I can't because the translation-patch isn't finished yet.

Bennyswan

2008-07-26, 19:04

...I can only assume that you've never seen Air. Clannad might be emotional at times, but it's not a SAD story, all the stories they told ended well.

Nope lol never seen Air but I'll check it out. :D

rogueblade

2008-08-05, 10:25

WARNING: LOTS AND LOTS OF TEXT.

Well, I did start watching Clannad back when it originally aired, but then due to school and exam pressures, I decided to lay off following anime and get on with the hard graft. Only recently have I had time to sit down and catch up on it - of course, I started from the beginning and watched the series, only to break so I could get some sleep. Like some previous critics, I haven't had any prior exposure to the Clannad universe - all I know of Key is from KyoAni's adaptation of Kanon, which I deemed to be just a superb piece of drama. I haven't played the visual novel, so I had to take the anime as it's own entity, rather than compare it back to source material. What follows is part review, part reaction to some commonly claimed criticisms of the series.

The pretty stuff - all the lights and sounds

First, let's establish that the visuals are just faaaaaaantastic. I expected no less from Kyo Ani after the gobsmacking Kanon, really. There are times when some dips in the quality are noticable, but they're never sustained and are usually only done in places where you won't really be looking, unless you pause and actively look for 'em. The important thing is that the characters are really bought to life via their facial expressions and so-subtle-that-you-don't-notice-it actions.

Also, the robot and girl scenes are just breathtaking, really. So smooth, they should be wearing ice-skates.

Now, what about the sound? BGM and all that jazz. Well, it was generally very effective and used in the right places; although if I wanted to be harsh I would say that certain tracks were slightly overused, so that they felt a little cheesy nearing the end. Also, I don't know the name of the song, but there was this one sung in 'Engrish' which really didn't go down well with me. Something about clouds. But it's a small complaint, and doesn't hold much weight.

Finally, the voice actors. They did a damn fine job in complementing the exquisite facial animations and hence bringing these charcters to life. Flawless, really.

The story - arc by arc

I suppose the subtitle is a bit of a lie, really - this isn't about the story per se, but about the execution of it; the pace, the focus, the clarity.

I've seen a couple of critics complain that Clannad lacked in the 'drama' department, instead being much more a comedy (some commenting about how Kanon is much superior in the 'drama' aspect) - and while they are fully entitled to their opinion, I don't really see where they're coming from. Not to say that Clannad isn't funny - there are real gut busting moments, such as the store room incident. Drama is something that is central to Clannad, but it manifests itself in a different way to that of Kanon. Good thing, too! Nothing wrong with some variety.

No, where Clannad gathers it's drama jollies is really through the interactions between the characters, and how they develop as a group - sharing the burden of a hardship falling on one character (the Kotomi arc is the best example of this, I feel), or dealing with conflicts in the group. I don't really remember Kanon that well, but I recall it being more about Yuuichi + whatever girl was being taken through the ringer at the time. It relied more heavily on more intense personal stories because there wasn't the same level of background drama that's going on in Clannad.

------->Damn starfish. Fuuko!

A really fine starter to the series, and one that seemed like it was built to embrace Kanon fans. It was handled with great care and respect, I felt. Nothing was rushed, and the conclusion was tear-jerking stuff. Very powerful conclusion. However, I just think that maybe it ran for a little too long given the number of episodes in the series. Sure, it's important that the gradual Fuuko amnesia is shown at a careful pace, but the conclusion could have come an episode earlier, freeing up some time to expand on other arcs later on. Eh.

------> Kotomi. Kotomi. Kotomi. Ugh.

This was probably one of my favourite arcs of the entire series, and the reason is that everyone was involved somehow. We had Kotomi's personal tragedy, and then we had the group bonding together, making an impact on everyone involved. That, and Kotomi is one of my favourite characters in Clannad. Not really a lot to say on this arc - I think it was paced very well, considering that we had a running start into it.

------> The weird bit.

I couldn't really think of anything to give as a title for the bit between the end of Kotomi's arc and the real start of the conclusion of Nagisa's. It all seems very muddled, there lacks a critical focus to the proceedings; there's this romance sub plot going on, where Ryou's got the hots for Okazaki, as has Kotomi, as well as Tomoyo, and they all try and jump him despite the fact that it's painfully evident that Tomoyo wants Nagisa. It's slice of life, and it's done fairly well, I suppose - certainly got a chuckle out of the bento scene, but that was only really due to Fuuko's appearance.
Then you have a Tomoyo mini-arc thing going on, with the student council president election. I don't know, It's evident that Kyoto Animation were between a rock and a hard place here - they couldn't go with either a Kyou or a Tomoyo arc as it would take some serious liberties, so we seemed to get this messy slice of life compromise. It works, I guess, but it's not really very memorable.

------> Nagisa takes a bow.

So, we reach the conclusion of this half of the story. I, contrary to quite a few people, really thought this was a good arc. Well, it's not really right to sya that the arc starts here - it starts right at the beginning, that much is evident, and generally retains quite a bit of focus throughout. I thought it was done excellently, and provided a good rounding off of the series. I don't really see much fault with it, there are a couple of minor things, I suppose - the way her father, mother and Okazaki pep-talked her before she started the play was boardering on the upper limits of cheese, for example. However, it seemed like a great place to end the series on, considering there's a second series; if there had been no second series, then I would've said that it lacked closure on a couple of issue such as Fuuko.

Overall

I bloody well enjoyed it. I really think that's all that matters, at the end. Sure, it has it's faults, sure, Kanon was more powerful and direct, but Clannad is more believable and subtle in it's celebration of happiness. It's difficult to quantify it, but I'll go with a solid '9/10'. See you around for the after story.

kingsky123

2008-08-06, 09:37

Animation Quality: 11 - i really liked the robot thingy. All anime should be animated at that level X(
Voice Actors: 10
Script: 8

CGraphics

2008-08-11, 15:10

I absolutely loved this anime, one of my favorites.

srb

2008-08-13, 06:54

I absolutely loved this anime, one of my favorites.

I came in expecting not much, came out very pleased with the experience overall.

Sunohara is superbly fabulous. All the girls were interesting and fun in their own way, except Ryou. Fuko is the best inept starfish astral projection ninja I have ever seen and her episodes touched me.

Tomoyo is superior, but Nagisa and Okazaki are very sweet.

The last episode bothered me because I didn't think Okazaki would be such a thoughless chump. Clock that shrimpy bastard and support her instead of buying that crap he sprouts! Argh, I guess even the mightiest of trolls fail at times.

Kagami~n

2008-08-15, 11:25

I just finished the series last night, and I loved it. :)

I'm not one for "harem" anime usually, and I've been shy of shows based on galge in the past. I checked this one out because a friend recommended it to me, and I was pleasantly surprised.

I liked how the overall feel of the story was sweet and heartwarming, with fair bits of comedy and tradgedy dotted here and there. One reason why I tend to hate harem style shows is for their demoralization of women and glorification of loser boys, their fixation on sex and fanservice, and their general lack of convincing emotion or given reasons for why one character is in love with another. When I started coming to the realization that family and friendship was the overlying theme of Clannad, putting romance in something of a backseat, I gained a new respect for it. The fact that Fuko's arc got me to tear up says a lot for it. I liked the story arcs and I appreciated the overall fairly distributed character focus, but I felt a little like the twins didn't get enough time. The ending confession seemed a little rushed to me, though still very sweet. I also wish that a little more had been drawn upon the girl in the world that had ended and her doll friend.

I never played the game, so I can't make a comparison.

The characters were great. Clannad's women were all great ladies in their own right, a couple of them very independent and empowered. Tomoya was a delinquent with a bleak future, but he certainly wasn't the sniveling nerd with all the personality and charm of a brick who inexplicably attracts hoardes of gorgeous women, as I've seen before. He was a good hearted, clever and funny guy, which are actual real reasons why a girl might have a crush on him (as opposed to appearing out of the blue and shamelessly throwing her breasts at him).

The art style and animation quality were pure love spread on toast. I <3 KyoAni forever and ever. The exceptional fluidity in the movements of the girl in the world that had ended were especially nice to watch, although her actions were kept rather simple. I wondered why she was animated with so many frames, if it held any symbolicism or if they were trying to give us an etheral feel, or something.

The character design was what I considered nice to look at. No one's appearance was too far out there, no one's mouth was too close to coming between their eyes, etc. The characters themselves were a delight. It's a good sign when I can't bring myself to dislike anyone in a cast. Among my favorites were definitely Kyou and Fuko.

I'm not a speaker of the Japanse language, so I don't consider myself all too credible when it comes to judging voice acting here...but I can say that the performances I heard were very satisfactory to me. Mai Nakahara is one of my favorites, and I really liked her emotional performance as Nagisa. Fuko's voice was beyond adorable. The rest of the cast were all seiyuu who I recognized and respected. It was a pleasure to hear them all act together.

I think that I could have enjoyed having the show be a little bit longer. I did feel that the twins didn't get enough focus when compared to the other characters. I would've loved to see a real conclusion for Fuko, but I think I have to wait for the After Story for that.

Overall, I don't think that "harem" is a good description of this show. It delivered what it promised - a heartwarming story that teaches you the importance of family and friends. The development of both male and female leads showed that very well, I think. Can't wait for the sequel now.

anime ronin

2008-08-18, 13:53

9/10... it was good and i liked it

Harimo Haria

2008-08-24, 11:47

I feel Clannad is easily the best of the 3 Key series. I absolutely love every single one of the characters, it's hilarious and it has that romantic touch that perfects it. 10/10.

Eczema

2008-10-08, 12:52

Gave it an 8. Kotomi's arc dragged it down for me, after a spectacular opening Fuko arc, and tear-jerker final Nagisa arc with Akio GARness. Splendid music, and generally cohesive and likable cast.

Mega-Japan

2008-10-14, 06:38

I rated it 6 (Average). I don't know, I think it's a good story and I kind of like the characters and it really gets hilarious at times but that's it. Very watchable but lacks excitement, for me at least.

I liked it, but I feel it gets far more credit than it deserves...

Lirael

2008-10-14, 12:14

* General impression of the series.
Well, at first I was a bit skeptical, having heard things about Tomoya that I won't repeat out of fear of spoiling the plot! But once I'd actually started watching it, I found I really enjoyed it. I'd seen the film beforehand so had some idea about where Nagisa's story was heading, but Fuko and Kotomi were totally different characters to me; I didn't know what to expect from them! (or any of the others) I actually found their stories to be the most heart-warming, probably 'cause I knew what to expect from Nagisa!

* Opinions on the overall story, writing & plot devices.
Well, I've said a lot about that above... I liked the fact there were different arcs and felt they were all handled very well, and in a perfect order. Fuko's arc was a good start, but I do wish they had used her a little more effectively for the rest of the anime! And I think it would have been better if Nagisa had remembered her too. >_< I liked the writing, and thought a lot of the lines were very poetic...Mm, it was all very good. :)

* Thoughts about the animation quality.
At first I didn't really think the animation was all that good...I had preferred the style of the animation in the movie and didn't really understand how people could claim that the movie was worse. However, this opinion quickly changed and I began to highly prefer the softer animtion style in the anime itself. It was simple most of the time, but there were moments when something beautifully artistic was added. That made it all the better.

* Will there be additional DVD only episodes and what will they contain.
Um...I don't know. :P

* How did the anime compare with the game?
I haven't played the game, but would like to...Does anyone know whether it's possible to get English on it?

* Characters/Character Design
I thought this was flawless...Ok, Tomoya's design was a bit cliche, but I still felt the designs were handled well. I was a bit confused between Tomoyo and the purple haired girl (whose name I can't remember; NOT Kotomi) for about a quarter of the series. :P

* What the show meant to you.
I found it all to be very inspiring actually, and it's become one of my favourites to date.

* What could the creators/animators/writers could have done better.
I didn't like the filler eps and felt they spent a little too much time dragging out Nagisa's arc.

CuXe

2008-10-25, 13:25

K.... just finished watching this series and gotta say... WOW.... it was definitively NOT what I was expecting, it was a lot better! There were lots of great characters and good comedy to break the tension during "emotionally heavy moments"

Things I liked:

-- I liked how they made of this series "NOT another harem" fan service anime... I mean .. don't get me wrong, I do enjoy fan service but the plot in Clannad was definitively refreshing...

-- I loved Nagisa's dad's personality... dam .. this guy was absolutely awesome every time he was given airtime ... and in ep 20 (I guess) I loved when he tells his wife "Did you fall in love with me all over again?" ... and her wife says yes .. or something along those lines and then he applies the same move on Nagisa after Okazaki connects a hit ... totally priceless :) There were many other cool moments with this guy but I would end up writing a whole narrative of the series here.. so I won't say anymore ..

-- Tomoyo and Kyou were very enjoyable characters.... I loved the fact that they were strong as hell AND were not stupid when it came to matters of love, I mean both immediately understood that Okazaki chose Nagisa after seeing his reaction during the tennis match when Nagisa got hurt...

-- -- -- I ALSO liked the cool odd moments and the music that was used during those moments.. for instance... I loved the time when Okasaki got locked up in the storage room with Kyou ... ahaha ... she totally thought that Okasaki was going to take her virginity there ... lol ... Another cool scene was the opening when Nagisa wanted to speak to Ryou and she thought Nagisa was going "Lesbian" on her... lol .... ... and another equally funny moment happened when Okasaki assumed that Sunohara's sister was in love with her brother ... big lol moments there :)

Things I disliked:

-- I didn't like the fact that during several eps they made Fuko an important character and all of the sudden everyone forgot about her to move to other arcs and she occasionally kept popping up...

-- I didn't like the fact that there was no kiss to close the deal between Nagisa and Okasaki.... I mean, after so much infatuation ... no kiss??

-- I didn't like that ep 24 (Tomoyo lil episode) ... I feel they shouldn't have made that "preview" or ep or whatever ... I mean it was truly painful. I know they probably offered this alternative ending to sorta show what Okazaki's future would have been like If he would have chosen Tomoyo but still that was too sad and I felt I didn't really need to see this sad alternative story... not after such nice ending with Nagisa on ep 23....

My Fave Characters:

-- Tomoyo/Kyou... supa strong and powerful machine gun-like kicks...Kyou was also cute and strong.. If I were Okazaki I'd be leaning towards these chicks....but hey! thats me...
-- Nagisa ... this chick is soo cute and came a long way from where she started
-- Okazaki Tomoya ... definitively NOT a goose ball like most males in harem animes act ... very cool guy
-- Akio.... OMG whut a cooool dad!!! this guy was awesome every single time... I am not going to add more cause I could write a freaking novel about how great he was.
-- Furukawa Sanae ... very cool mom .. not to say she was also a total hottie!

P.S.

Might update this post after I watch the movie...