AnimeSuki Forum - View Single Post - Clannad series - Overall Series Impressions & Total Series Rating

izmosmolnar · 2009-03-28, 10:47

Well I decided to finish lurking and contribute my own opinion about the series now that it's ended. (It's just my subjective opinion, no flaming intended whatsoever)

The first time I've heard of Clannad (the visual novel), I just ignored it as I usually dislike High School oriented stories. However later on when I've seen that quite a lot of people voted it as favorite Visual Novel and it's playthrough is about 50+ hours, I decided to check it out, and I didn't regretted it. I felt hooked immediately, I finished some school arcs in one sitting, and I really grew to like almost all the characters (that's what makes these series interesting IMHO). After that I've thought I'm not gonna like the After story arcs that much as Nagisa wasn't really close to the position of favorite character in my rating (it's not that I didn't liked her, it's just the other "heroines" in the VN school arcs proved more interesting back then). And that's when I decided to watch the series, which proved to be my favorite series later.
The VN managed to bring me close to crying (or laughing out loud in some funny scenes) sometimes, but I was actually shamefully sobbing in quite a few scenes during the series -and laughing even more on the same funny scenes animated-.

My opinion on some character improved greatly -Fuuko for example as I've thought she was just a waste of space in the VN, but in the Anime it was so entertaining to watch her determination and stubbornness with her voice combined as she deals with Tomoya or when he messes with her-.

After I've watched season 1, I went back to play through the After story which proved to be interesting enough, but I didn't liked it first as much as the school arcs. However after Ushio borns and the VN goes heavily involved with emotion, it's impossible not to adore the whole of Clannad.
After I've run through the whole game I've started to watch the After story series, which was out as far about episode 14 back then.
The only thing I didn't liked in the adaptation of the Game is, that the series ignored some arcs (due to the limited amount of time possibly), but gave far too much episodes on some arcs which wasn't that great in my opinion (Yukine, Fuuko or Mei). Not animating Akio's route for example doesn't make much sense to me (as I really liked him and I was terrified about the events in his arc).

What I didn't understand either is why they entirely skipped the whole of Kappei route (hell they didn't even put him in the series at all) as I think he was a great pair with Ryou and Kappei's arc was quite good itself. They could have introduced him first season and hook Ryou up with him in the second season, after Tomoya decides to pursue Nagisa and reject everyone else's affection.

About ratings:

Music
As I usually play VNs without BGM and playing mp3 or listening to the TV in the background, so I have no experience with the game's music, but I really liked the music in the Anime. I think it blends real well with the story, and some epic scenes indeed had remarkable music (the Tomoyo OVA snow scene for example).
9/10

Art/Animation
It's simply gorgeous. I don't remember any moment when there was any flaw in the Art or the Animation. They did a really good job here.
10/10

Voice Acting
It's great, as I mentioned my opinion of some characters improved greatly, in big part due to the quality of voice acting (Fuuko, Nagisa)
9/10

Storyline
Not much need to be said here
10/10

Adaptation:
Well I may be alone, but I think they can improve here. As Kristen mentioned already they did a good job improving the boring Yukine route, but in my opinion they could have edited the remaining lesser arcs a bit too and include the mentioned skipped routes aswell.
And not just the routes, it could have been awesome if they'd adapted such small easter eggs like the zombie mansion, the Laser tag prior to knowing Akio (including his final speech before the final duel), or some jokes involving JET Saito (especially how big pain in the b*tt it is to finally see that). Of course they squeezed some like that in (the gayish Sunohara-Tomoya "bad end"), but I would have preferred some of that more and watch less of Fuuko/dream world/etc.
8/10

Overall
10/10
Clannad series is a class on its own, It's uncomparable to the other Highschool life or Slice of Life animes. It was always entertaining, and it's really such a series, which I would show my kids too to watch it years later.

I just only hope they gonna animate the Tomoyo after game soon too for various reasons (hell I'm gonna miss Clannad till then).

2009-03-28, 10:47	Link #6
izmosmolnar At the end of this world Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Hungary, Europe Age: 39	Well I decided to finish lurking and contribute my own opinion about the series now that it's ended. (It's just my subjective opinion, no flaming intended whatsoever) The first time I've heard of Clannad (the visual novel), I just ignored it as I usually dislike High School oriented stories. However later on when I've seen that quite a lot of people voted it as favorite Visual Novel and it's playthrough is about 50+ hours, I decided to check it out, and I didn't regretted it. I felt hooked immediately, I finished some school arcs in one sitting, and I really grew to like almost all the characters (that's what makes these series interesting IMHO). After that I've thought I'm not gonna like the After story arcs that much as Nagisa wasn't really close to the position of favorite character in my rating (it's not that I didn't liked her, it's just the other "heroines" in the VN school arcs proved more interesting back then). And that's when I decided to watch the series, which proved to be my favorite series later. The VN managed to bring me close to crying (or laughing out loud in some funny scenes) sometimes, but I was actually shamefully sobbing in quite a few scenes during the series -and laughing even more on the same funny scenes animated-. My opinion on some character improved greatly -Fuuko for example as I've thought she was just a waste of space in the VN, but in the Anime it was so entertaining to watch her determination and stubbornness with her voice combined as she deals with Tomoya or when he messes with her-. After I've watched season 1, I went back to play through the After story which proved to be interesting enough, but I didn't liked it first as much as the school arcs. However after Ushio borns and the VN goes heavily involved with emotion, it's impossible not to adore the whole of Clannad. After I've run through the whole game I've started to watch the After story series, which was out as far about episode 14 back then. The only thing I didn't liked in the adaptation of the Game is, that the series ignored some arcs (due to the limited amount of time possibly), but gave far too much episodes on some arcs which wasn't that great in my opinion (Yukine, Fuuko or Mei). Not animating Akio's route for example doesn't make much sense to me (as I really liked him and I was terrified about the events in his arc). What I didn't understand either is why they entirely skipped the whole of Kappei route (hell they didn't even put him in the series at all) as I think he was a great pair with Ryou and Kappei's arc was quite good itself. They could have introduced him first season and hook Ryou up with him in the second season, after Tomoya decides to pursue Nagisa and reject everyone else's affection. About ratings: Music As I usually play VNs without BGM and playing mp3 or listening to the TV in the background, so I have no experience with the game's music, but I really liked the music in the Anime. I think it blends real well with the story, and some epic scenes indeed had remarkable music (the Tomoyo OVA snow scene for example). 9/10 Art/Animation It's simply gorgeous. I don't remember any moment when there was any flaw in the Art or the Animation. They did a really good job here. 10/10 Voice Acting It's great, as I mentioned my opinion of some characters improved greatly, in big part due to the quality of voice acting (Fuuko, Nagisa) 9/10 Storyline Not much need to be said here 10/10 Adaptation: Well I may be alone, but I think they can improve here. As Kristen mentioned already they did a good job improving the boring Yukine route, but in my opinion they could have edited the remaining lesser arcs a bit too and include the mentioned skipped routes aswell. And not just the routes, it could have been awesome if they'd adapted such small easter eggs like the zombie mansion, the Laser tag prior to knowing Akio (including his final speech before the final duel), or some jokes involving JET Saito (especially how big pain in the b*tt it is to finally see that). Of course they squeezed some like that in (the gayish Sunohara-Tomoya "bad end"), but I would have preferred some of that more and watch less of Fuuko/dream world/etc. 8/10 Overall 10/10 Clannad series is a class on its own, It's uncomparable to the other Highschool life or Slice of Life animes. It was always entertaining, and it's really such a series, which I would show my kids too to watch it years later. I just only hope they gonna animate the Tomoyo after game soon too for various reasons (hell I'm gonna miss Clannad till then).