Clannad is a fascinating series.
Why? Because it breaks so many rules of the genre, that’s why. Initially, I was disappointed in Kyoto Animation’s decision to deny Kyou and Tomoyo story arcs of their own, but the more I learned about the structure of each heroine’s story in the original visual novel and the more I thought about the approach the studio took in its adaptation, the more I felt it was the right decision to make. There was just no way to make it work otherwise. I feel sorry for the Kyou and Tomoyo fans out there, of course, but I can’t help but be impressed by the studio’s decision to address the issue of balancing multiple scenarios head on and make the hard choices necessary to prevent the show from spinning off in multiple directions at the very moment it needed to be coming together.
I was thrown for a loop at first, having expected the standard, “give each girl her due,” approach as seen in Kanon and Air (and a billion other game adaptations). And I kept looking at the number of remaining episodes and the number of remaining heroines and thinking, “this is going to get real ugly, real soon.” Coming out of Kotomi’s arc, those foreboding thoughts really colored my perception of the show in a negative way. It was to the point that I grew reluctant to watch new episodes. I figured I was in for a nasty surprise.
But, you know, just as there are nasty surprises, there are good surprises. And seeing the studio mollify all of my concerns in the course of a single scene was very much a good surprise. It’s why I’m taking the time to write this post. The approach taken may have caught me off balance, and it may have seemed awkward given my expectations, but I was genuinely impressed and satisfied with how it all worked out in the end. The phrase, “Bravo, KyoAni,” shows up here a lot, but I really do mean it this time.
The surprises keep coming, too. For example, I fully expected Clannad to be in full “tissues and Zoloft” mode by now, but with the exception of the tear-jerking conclusion to Fuuko’s scenario and a few scenes in Kotomi’s scenario, the show has remained lighthearted. And even the serious moments are more heartwarming than they are depressing. Just as the characters seem to bounce back from melancholy with ease, so does the show itself. It has an entirely different vibe compared to both Kanon and Air.
And if I expand on that comparison further, I have to say how surprised I am to be so taken with Nagisa as a character. Clearly, she’s the “main” heroine in Clannad. The main heroines in Kanon and Air, however, I never cared much for. Or, rather, I never considered favorites. Ayu and Misuzu were fine leads, of course, but Shiori and Minagi were my favorites, and I automatically assumed my favorite heroine in Clannad would turn out to be a secondary character all the same. Turns out I was wrong. It’s Nagisa. No contest.
Of course, endless praise notwithstanding, Clannad is not all rainbows and unicorns. Due to its unusual structure and pacing, the show has been difficult to follow at times. And I think I understand why some folks have described it as “boring”. However, knowing what I know now, I feel it would be beneficial to rewatch the show from start to finish on the assumption I’ll understand it better and appreciate it even more the second time around. That’s my plan, at least.
For now, though, bring on Nagisa’s story!
I wonder how depressing or not they’re going to make Nagisa’s arc.
Clannad is the worst of the Kyoani Key anime adaptions. Kanon is the best and Air is somewhere in between.
Nothing else needs to be said about my opinion on Clannad because the above statement tells where I stand.
This post helps me feel at ease about the whole Tomoyo/Kyou/Ryou rejection issue. Although I will support those three over Nagisa any day, I understand how Nagisa is likable.
Sometimes, I feel tempted to make a throughout list of the stuff I dislike about Clannad. But then, every time I watch an episode, it flies by and before I know it, Dango Daikazoku is playing.
Any show that is so entertaining that it manages to startle me each time I see the mid-episode eyecatch or makes me frown every time I hear the first notes of ED, is a show I can’t seriously complain about.
Maybe because of my limited experience in this sort of show, I’m finding Clannad to be unusual from the opposite direction so to speak - it stays within the confines of its genre/type of source material, but makes for a decent romcom for those of us who aren’t familiar with visual novels. I can see certain visual novel aspects creep in but when I view it as a TV series that’s trying to be a TV series instead of a computer game, I see it as a success. Whether or not it succeeds as a stand-alone piece remains to be seen. At any rate, I’m following the widescreen versions at the moment so I’m a bit behind!
I’m finding the episodes that come after Kotomi’s arc to be really enjoyable - I’m sure they’ll look like filler in retrospect when we’re treated to the full emotional force of the final arc but for now they’re a welcome return to the feelgood factor that got me into the series in the first place.
Nemo_N@ Damn. You bring up a good point because I seem to get the same feeling. Hmm I wonder if I do dislike this show as much as I thought then?
With regard to the episodes flying by, I’ve had the same experience. The show has an unusual ebb and flow that doesn’t necessarily fit into clean, 24 minute chunks. It’s one reason I want to do a concentrated rewatch of the show when all is said and done, because I feel it might work better without weekly gaps between episodes.
Kanon was painfully obvious with its story arcs, cliffhangers, and climaxes, and while I didn’t have a problem with that approach (it was well done, after all), I know it rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. The pacing and structure in Clannad, on the other hand, has been much more complex.
For what it’s worth, as much as I enjoy Clannad, I haven’t found it nearly as engaging as the Kanon remake. That’s odd, considering that I already knew Kanon backwards and forwards by the time I watched the remake. Clannad, on the other hand, is almost entirely new to me. I recognize it as a very good show, but not an “all-time favorite,” sort of show. Not yet, at least… perhaps that’ll change with the final episodes (or following a rewatch).
In other words, I’m as uncertain as the rest of you. It’s a good sort of uncertainty, though.
>I fully expected Clannad to be in full “tissues and Zoloft” mode by now
Same here. Going into the ends of Fuuko’s and Kotomi’s arcs, I was expecting waterworks on the magnitude of Makoto’s arc from Kanon but I was denied; I can’t decide if that’s a good or bad thing though. Nagisa’s arc is indeed still left, so I guess Clannad still has one more chance to turn me into a little girl.
I agree - I’ve heard that this production of the series was an experiment for a larger project.
I just started watching Clannad a couple weeks ago (at 16 I think), after Kotomi’s Arc I realized how much more Intense watching hours of Clannad is than any other show. I am definetly going to rewatch it again, and another time when/if the dub comes out. Even though Clannad may be semi-boring I am still compelled to watch it more than any other show at the moment. Since it has such beautiful animation I attempted to stay a couple weeks behind to watch the 16:9, but I just couldn’t.
I don’t really have a favorite (although Kyou is hot) so I can’t see this ending badly for me. I am sceptical of how “the other world” thing will turn out. I hope it doesn’t interfere with Nagisa (which it probaly will), but I don’t want it to be all anti-climatic. Now that we can confirm that the main plot is around Nagisa (especially due to the title) I don’t think I’ll watch the show in a different light since it was known from the beginning (actually the first scene, also the one where Nagisa is reciting the play in the street). Even if there is a big surprise with Tomoya and someone else, I really won’t mind.
As far as I know I have been intrigued with this show aswell. Allthough I am not as far in the show as you all seem to be (I have three other anime to watch too tons of music to listen to and perhaps write about, music is nice and the OP/ED of Clannad aren’t awful).
You people make me want to watch it as soon as possible, let’s see if I have the time today tonight toy*ta or some other time aswell, I need a new HD i think, it’s bursting almost now.
I am keeping my hopes up as to hoping an ending will be as spectaculair or different as we, no you all seem to hope.
~cheerio’s
I agree with you on many points. Kyoani have shows they have tremendous stones by denying the two most popular girls (arguably) their full arcs. I also enjoy CLANNAD far more than kanon (haven’t seen air) because it’s more fun and more integrated than kanon. As far as Nagisa goes, i’ve seen a fair bit of division on the issue actually. I like her a great deal (though kotomi is my preference) and i think a fair few quite like her. That said, i’ve also seen a lot more main-girl hate than usual, probably because it was made so obvious from early on.
To get the most out of the series, i think a play through the game really makes it better.
I really like and enjoy Clannad and Kanon. I like so much the two shows that I almost see the same animation style and drawning and I ussually compare characters in both shows.
Im a Nagisa fan and she is clearly the heroine in Clannad but i like Tomoyo and Kyou as well.
I haven’t seen Kanon, so I can only say that I’d like Clannad better than AIR. It helps that I haven’t felt like I should be forced to cry, and that I don’t get the “It’s a game adaptation” feel that I get from other series of Clannad’s nature. Of course, it helped that I tried not to expect anything when I started watching the show (even more so that I’m not acquainted with the game at all).
All, things in Clannad have been more “slice of life” and less supernatural/dramatic at the moment, and I don’t mind that mix. :3
When you said “breaks the rules of the genre” I was about to question your sanity, but then I saw you were more referring to the structure of the series rather than the content. Yeah, knocking off Tomoyo and Kyou in one shot was clever, but it kind of strikes as “Whoa, shit. How many episodes do we have left? Shit, SHIT! Quickly, knock off two girls in one go!” In a way it feels more mechanical than the usual way they go about these things, but that’s just me. My opinion may also change when I watch episode 18 again in widescreen.
But besides that, Clannad feels very by-the-numbers school drama. Sure, it’s well done, polished and shiny, but I can’t really care all that much about it. Yeah, it’s a fine show, but I don’t exactly wait for each episode with bated breath… like I do with Kaiji. Or did with Gurren Lagann (and Code Geass, but I can’t mention that since I’ll loose pretentious points– oops.)
You know, I wish I had just stuck with the widescreen, since due to all of the delays in the 4:3 version’s airing, the 16:9’s only a week off now. I only watched the 4:3 to keep up with the series discussion, but I really find myself having a whole lot of nothing to say about the show a lot. Oh well, I guess it’s fun watching it twice…
It’s pretty obvious they thought Kanon sucked (or substitute a less offensive word if you choose), so when given the chance to redo in CLANNAD they took some steps to improve it.
Yeah, knocking off Tomoyo and Kyou in one shot was clever, but it kind of strikes as “Whoa, shit. How many episodes do we have left? Shit, SHIT! Quickly, knock off two girls in one go!” In a way it feels more mechanical than the usual way they go about these things, but that’s just me.
No, I pretty much thought the same thing. Well, kind of. I thought the conclusion fit well with Tomoyo who’s a straightforward character and only recently became the ‘focus’ so to speak, but as much as I enjoyed watching the twins BAWWWW their hearts out on each other, I couldn’t help but to feel somewhat cheated with that manner of resolution when they’ve been playing all these little push-pushy ‘Hey dude take a hint’ -love games throughout the series. The lack of confrontation bugs me, I guess mostly because they did build up things a good bit - It’s like the Big Bad Villian in some story would suddenly go “Oh man I’ve been so mean and bad the entire time, I better stop doing this, it’s not nice at all” and that would be the end of the story. Sensible and logical? Yes, but it still feels like cheating.
I pretty much disagree with you.
Do play the original game if you have the time to understand how much the series has been butchered. While it is indeed remarkable how KyoAni is able to nicely structure out everything, there is only so much you can do to patch up a highly butchered story.
Yeah gee I don’t know. Considering that I’ve never been one to think Kyoani had some sort of magic fix touch that could see them through anything, I thought this series was surprisingly tolerable. Masterpiece, no, decent watch, surprisingly yes. I fully admit I’m not really a huge romance fan, but Kyoani shows a lot of passion when trying to do these kinds of series, which can’t be said for whoever did Prism Ark. I think that was the turning point for me where I said, “You know what, I find all this endless praise for Kyoani to be really silly, but in the context of VN adaptations they’ve earned a fair bit of it”. Let’s not get carried away though. In the grand scheme of things Clannad is something of a seven out of ten series overall for me. It carries itself well and stands out in it’s genre, but it’s just not that remarkable overall nor something I will remember a year from now as any sort of masterpiece anime.