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Old 2009-03-12, 13:27   Link #21
panzerfan
Name means little...
*Graphic Designer
 
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
(I watched this episode raw. Life's good when you can have your cake raw)

This ending arguably is stronger than the visual novel's ending. Kyoani actually filled the gap of 'what happened with everyone else' by including those brief clips featuring all the cast involved in the story. I think this end was fulfilling of what's expected for Kyoani given the material that it has to work with overall. I come out thinking that the cast of CLANNAD do not merely disappear, and that they will contineously impact each other in their lives, which is quite a good omen.

The hidden star of the show, the town itself, made such an impression during this episode should make it clear to the audience that CLANNAD fundamentally is about the people and the town that they live in. Everything do change with time, yet while yearning for new things, those closest to you should be old. I think it is this core message that makes the show transcend from any romance drama into something much more broad than most of the genre.

The bit about the world that has ended, the robot, the girl, Tomoya and Nagisa over the foot of that hill tied up without fail. There is too little time for one to soak in the sentimentality of having it all thrown together, and I think it will take more than one viewing for all of that to get digested. Nevertheless, it's nice to see Tomoya not regretting the choice of going down the path of life with Nagisa as the two reaffirm themselves for posterity.

I think CLANNAD has successfully argued its case that the true end is something that the audience actually want to see by the end, despite how one might feel regarding the relationship path chosen. I think that the scene with Tomoya, Nagisa and Ushio going on that train ride sums up the aspirations of even the audience regarding expected outcome fairly well.

The Fuko tsukkomi with Kouko is a faithful rendition of the postscript in the visual novels. It's a much needed cool-off from the apex of the entire after story arc and I am rather happy to see this final development over the Ibukis' interaction with one another.

(I perfer the Chinese Stealth suit as opposed to T-51B, but my sentiment about runaway from all the shitstorm remain the same)
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It would be enough for the depressing things in life to only exist in reality.
It is because that I think the birth of a story... is from people dreaming of a happy ending. ~Misaka Shiori


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