What difference does a year make?

Two years ago, I spelled Kanon with a c and two n’s and didn’t know what a fansub was.

One year ago, I thought “USODA” is a strange type of drink, and that mahjong isn’t very manly at all.

And now, in 2008, I’m here for the second time trying to come up with something suitably dramatic – one might say overdramatic – to introduce the first day in an extended project that is bringing together anibloggers from all over the world, in one giant display of …

… of, well, massive fanboy(slashgirl)ism.

The Twelve Moments of Anime is a homage to the famous Twelve Days of Christmas song, except our lover (one might say waifu) is anime and their gifts are those precious moments that make you really glad to be a fan.

And let me tell you, if you’re dedicated enough to be writing something like this, you’re definitely a fan.

Even if we wildly disagree on what’s awe-inspiring and what’s not – not to mention the dozens of other issues anibloggers clash over on a daily (hourly, minutely, etc) basis, the overall feeling of this event, I’m hoping, is the same, and that’s one of passion.

Quite often the anime scene seems so dark and gritty, with companies collapsing, and each season seeming to be less and less radiant than the last. And while I can only hope the first part is not as gloom-and-doom as I state, the second part is rather untrue – I’m always finding, if not great series, little moments of greatness in good series.

Little reminders that, anime can be great. It can be tear-inducing. It can be hand-clenchingly dramatic. It can be side-splittingly hilarious.

And sometimes, it can be … well … very, very captivating.

12 Moments of Anime 2008
#12: Clannad – 17

If I can call it that.

In all honesty, there are better moments to put for Clannad than this one(remembering the fact that I am following a one moment per series guideline). In fact, I counted 6, in the seven episodes that followed.

But while the sweeter moments of Clannad are plentiful, one might argue that they’re rather common, especially among a sap such as me.

Don’t get me wrong, I like the heartfelt moments of Clannad. The way that it integrates a decidedly more slice-of-life tone than most visual novels, with a well-rounded cast that you can’t help but bond with … it’s quite superb.

(Judgment on the second season, After Story, notwithstanding.)

But I simply had to pick the scene in the gym storage room, because …

… because, well, I …

… it’s like, it’s just that …

… hey, hey, my thought train is over here! …

… I, uh, um … was talking about something, I’m sure. It was… what was it … oh, yes! Why I picked this moment.

It’s because this moment quite literally was the moment that froze the otakusphere.

Fanservice? In a KyoAni work? With the most dipolar tsundere we’ve seen in quite a long time? You better believe it.

I don’t know what it was that made this so standout, in a sea of fanservice in anime. Was it the fact that the comparatively conservative Clannad (and its fairly conservative cast of fairly shy girls) suddenly dived into the deep end of sexual undertones?

Was it the all-too-delectable image of a vulnerable Kyou showing a side to her that even veterans of tsundere didn’t know she had?

Maybe it was that saxophone trance-whatever-style music? Saxophone is always a good idea.

Whatever the case, it was certain that over the next week, there would be masses upon masses of posts and people proclaiming the OH GOD HOTness of Kyou, and I don’t blame them.

Even speaking as one who isn’t the largest Kyou fan, I can say from experience that I was trying to hold a conversation about some serious plot-related matters while watching this scene. After about 30 seconds, I just couldn’t hold on to a thought coherent enough.

I’ll admit it! I’m an easily distracted guy, and even I of the megane-worshipping can’t withstand a direct hit to the tsundere shields. It’s quality fanservice; not just thoughtless ‘hey look breasts they jiggle’, but subtle, well-animated, and actually containing non-sexual entertainment value.

Even if it was just a throwaway moment, it was one that manages to be one of the defining scenes in Clannad, not just in terms of cementing Kyou’s status as a Tsundere Class SSS but as an almost memetic moment.

Your mileage may vary, depending on to what extent your name is J**** M*** or not, or whether you like delicious thighs, but for me, this moment was one of those that sort of just melts into legend, right next to USO DA! and Nice Boat, out of sheer audience-breaking power.

It’s to the point where I end up viewing scenes like Ryuuji and Minori getting locked in a storage room in Toradora (episode 3), and contemplating “this could have gone more amusingly if it was like Clannad”.

It may not be as glorious a defining trait as the Siscon of Da Capo, the Stabby of School Days, or the Distortions of Higurashi, but the Gym Scene of Clannad is still quite the bar to set things to, in terms of sly seductiveness, and sheer internet-derailing powers.

And let us not speak of the doujinshi this spawned…

-CCY

Ah, everyone, let’s sit down, it’s time for the weekly Theater Club meeting … ah … uh … everyone, we have to talk about the Clannad movie today … could you quiet …

Hold on Nagisa, let me handle this …

Kotomi, stop trying to burn today’s script!
Akio, stop running around screaming manly phrases!
Ryou, stop blushing so much, the visible steam is making too much noise!
Tomoyo, turn down the beatdown on Youhei for a bit!

I’m sorry, was I being too distracting? It’s his fault that he’s screaming in pain so much.

Mei, stop trying to use your loli charm on anything that moves!
…Uh…Sanae…I think those screams of the damned I keep hearing are coming from your cooking.

NO ONE EVEN USED MY IMAGE IN THE LAST TEAM CLANNAD POST! *runs out crying*

I LOVE YOU THEATER! Wait, no…I WILL ALWAYS STAND UPON SANAE! Damn it … hold on, I’ll be right back.

And Tomoya … Tomoya, Tomoya, Tomoya … I’ve got to deal with you personally, you naughty boy.

Hey, that’s not tsun or dere, that’s just being dirty!

S-stupid Tomoya, it’s not like I was trying to come on to you or anything!

FUUKO’S DETECTING AN OBVIOUS LIE!

Whoa, that’s cool, I didn’t know Fuuko had a lie detector built in.

…yes, I got a speaking role!

HERE, HAVE ONE OF FUUKO’S 37 SENSES!

Uh, guys? On topic? Clannad movie? Review? …OK, Nagisa, you’re with me, we’re on our own now.

Hello. Nice to meet you. My name is Kotomi Ichinose, a senior in Class A. My hobby is warning people about spoilers (Huge spoilers, like spoiling After Story, i.e. the second season – I AM NOT KIDDING ABOUT THESE SPOILERS). I would be happy if you could continue to read this post.

Good. Let’s begin this review. Clannad the Movie is a condensation of a seventy-hour visual novel, which had previously been condensed into a twelve-hour anime, into a mere 90 minutes. It’s an ambitious task undertaken by Toei Animation, especially since they had taken a lot of heat for their questionable adaptations of Kanon (2002) and AIR (the Movie).

Still, what’s important is that they try their best! That’s what Mom and Dad always told me to do. Any dream can be accomplished with power and perseverance.

HEY! Does that mean that I might have a chance to -

No, you’re never going to get to bed me in your life, Sunohara, not even in Youhei After. That’s straight SEEN666 right there.

*yaoi fangirl squee*

I was talking about Kyou, not you.

…oh shit.

Anyway, as Toei’s Clannad movie is but an hour and a half long, a lot of … budget-saving maneuvers have had to be made. Consider it a streamlining of the plot. First off, Fuuko, Ryou, you don’t exist anymore.

FUUKO OFF, TOEI!

(Ryou was not available for comment.)

Sis! No! Without you, I only have … Tomoya … all … to myself. Hey, come to think of it…

Second, the only character we really focus on is Nagisa.

DAMN IT!

I mean, uh, s-stupid Toei! It’s not like I wanted to appear in more than one scene as more than a bit character … or anything. Actually…

S-stupid blogger! It’s not like I wanted to have more than one personality as something other than this tsundere stereotype or anything.

T-that’s a lot of pressure, being the only main female character and all. I’ll try my hardest to make everyone happy but wouldn’t it be better if everyone could play a part instead?

Don’t worry about it Nagisa, we’ll be there to support you. And besides, you don’t really appear after the first hour anyway.

Really? Why not?

You’re dead.

WHAT.

WHAT.

WHAT.

EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?

I win!

… don’t look at me like that!

Hold on Kyou … apparently then we take a break and switch scripts with the Kimi ga Nozomu Eien studio just down the street. Tomoya’s going to fill in Takayuki’s role, of course, and I’m going to take Mitsuki’s place. Nagisa, you’re Haruka, except instead of being in a coma, you’re still dead.

B-but but, I-I still get to astrally project myself and stuff, right?

Apparently not.

So does this mean I get to have snap-out-of-your-depressed-phase sex with you, Tomoyo?

Although it’s more intriguing than Youhei After … no.

WHAT’S UP WITH THIS THEN? Love of my life, dead; hot girl of my life, chaste; tsundere of my life, irreleva – oh crap dictionary -

YEAH! We’re not going to stand around and let them take our Nagisa away! This goes beyond impossible! We’re going to kick this plot to the curb! If there’s a sad story in our way, we’ll destroy it! If there’s no comedy, we’ll make it with our own hands! WHO THE HELL DOES KEY THINK WE ARE!?

Akio dear you made a Gu**en L**ann reference last time…

I’m happy, though. (Doubly so because apparently now I am the coherent character)

It’s very much what Key has been known to do after it tried to kill the entire cast of Air and Kanon twice over, and after you get over the shock the story is actually really sweet and touching, right down to the reunion between Tomoya and Ushio at the end.

Who’s Ushio?

Your daughter you bore with Tomoya, apparently.

WE HAD KIDS!?

…OK Tomoyo, you’re forgiven.

Wow, I wish I was there to see that happen …

I really wish I was there …

You wanted to be in the hospital room when the baby was born too?

… oh.

Anyway, to carry off what Kotomi was saying, once you get over the shock of Nagisa kicking it, and the fact that it was kind of bluntly done – ‘oh by the way Nagisa’s dead’ and all – Ryou, will you stop crying in exchange for actually being able to appear in this post?

BAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWoh ok.

Thanks. The ‘After Story’ part of Clannad the Movie, shock aside, really saved this film from complete and utter boredom. Maybe it’s because of the excellent (and much longer) KyoAni adaptation of the main arc, or the fact that the Nagisa arc wasn’t flavored with all the other characters, but the Toei adaptation of the Nagisa arc was quite poor, even for a movie cut of the original.

It’s true! I don’t think I’m half as submissive as I was in the movie … I’m a strong person! In the movie, I just came off as weird and kind of weak. Physically weak, maybe, but I try my hardest to be a strong, well-defined person, something that I don’t really think the movie showed.

I’m sorry, was that a bit harsh? I’m just a little angry the dango song wasn’t as well converted either. Dango, dango, dango, dango …

Additionally, I didn’t have enough time to develop my angsty personality, nor have my true character brought out by Nagisa.

“My own heart, UNLOCK!” and all?

I have no idea what you’re talking about, really, I don’t.

In this movie it was more of a snap judgment, really, from “this Nagisa girl is annoying” to “ZOMG NAGISA IS SO MOE OVER 9000 I MIGHT DIE and also I love her”, and I wasn’t one for it.

This movie also has a very bad habit of being like a grade schooler and not being able to keep still. There were always random triple pans, or action lines, or funny zoom-ins that made it look like the building was collapsing. Was someone trying to be artsy or something when making this film?

Oh come on, the chicks totally dig the artsy type of animation they don’t understand! Just look at Shinbo!

A girl with a broken memory, a girl who won’t stop leaving you messages on your phone, and an entire classroom full of messed-up stereotypes. See, I’ll take my harem anyday.

Can we stop referencing other anime now? The art direction sucks, and I’m the main girl in Tomoya’s harem, we get it. Anything else to say about this show? Ryou?

W-well, it d-did include a lot of s-scenes that s-somehow w-weren’t in the Clannad a-anime. The e-early section wasn’t a-all repeat, you c-could say.

I feed you a line and that’s the best you can stammer? C’mon, learn from the best:

S-stupid movie, it’s not like you had to include scenes that weren’t -

Thank you, Kyou.

See, she’s totally jealous that I got the eroge sequel and she didn’t.

Wait, damnit. Then what was that scene about getting locked in the gym storage room about?!

That didn’t even show up in the movie …

…sadly.

Alright, with all the off-topicness we’re getting, I’m assuming that no one has anything else to say about the movie, correct?

FUUKO DOES!

Yes, Fuuko?

The movie lacked starfish.

And tsundere power.

And hot girl-on-girl action.

You know, we don’t need any of those to make a good movie -

Hey Tomoyo, want to show Youhei some ‘girl-on-girl action’?

Wait, I thought it was Tomoya that you lik-

I mean ‘do you want to beat the crap out of Youhei’, Tomoyo.

I’m almost dissapointed. Certainly, Kyou.

This can only end badly.

Alright, I’m going to leave them to their own ways. I’m the manifestation of the author again as a random glasses girl, here to summarize all the boring parts of this review.

1) There are no words to summarize the shock of ‘oh, and Nagisa died’.
2) Although there are plenty of words to write about how dull the pre-After Story section of the movie was, with little real conflict or character development.
3) After Story was warm and sweet, and helped develop the Tomoya side of the story a lot. Definitely the strongest part even with Nagisa randomly getting Key’d.
4) Take a drink every time you see a random triple pan, zoom in, or shot of scenery (two drinks if you can guess ahead of time whether it’s the sky, a train, or the river).
4b) Root beer, of course.

Overall, I wasn’t really impressed by the Clannad movie at first. Maybe that’s the fault of having an adaptation of greater length predating it – which would also explain why I enjoyed (and whined about) the After Story section a lot more. I’m worried that after seeing KyoAni’s After Story that the Toei movie will become next to worthless except to Nagisa fans or those who want a more straightforward, arc-less story.

But Clannad is really a work that needs time to be experienced, and so if you just watch the movie to get the whole picture, you’re missing out on a lot of great development, not just for Nagisa and Tomoya, but also for the other important characters. Not to mention, Ryou and Fuuko actually show up there.

As such it’s hard to reccomend the Clannad movie, mainly because either KyoAni’s adaptation will make it look boring, or it will ruin some of the suspense of KyoAni’s After Story adaptation. (Spoiler: Nagisa dies)

It’s not a painful watch on the most part, just not a noteworthy one. I’d say it’s time better spent watching three episodes of the anime proper – or maybe a better, more encapsulated movie. That’s all I’ve got to say.

Ah, that was a good time, wasn’t it, Tomoya?

True, I’d love to do it with you and Tomoyo more often.

It’s always more fun as a group.

True. Beating up Youhei together is almost therapeutic.

Tomoyo … you know what?

You’re no fun at all.

-CCY
(Ah, I wonder what team I should do next … these are too fun to write.

P.S. BAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW goddamnit Nagisa, Key, I hate you all. I love being simplistic and happy.)

Tomoya and her went to go take the trash out by the gym storage locker a long time ago … I wonder if they’re OK?

WHY THOSE~ Uh, Ryou, where did I put my chainsaw?

W-w-weren’t you stripped of your license to use one after the incident with the last thousand fanboys?

Mmm, stripped…

Ah, fine, I’ve got better weapons anyway. I’ll be back in a minute.

(THIS NOT OUT-OF-PLACE INTERJECTION AT ALL INDICATES KYOU IS WHERE NAGISA AND TOMOYA SHOULD BE)

Hmm…the door’s locked. That’s it, then! *clears throat*

S-s-stupid door, it’s not like I wanted to open you or anything!

(Door breaks cleanly in two. Kyou gets duct tape and patches it up cleanly before continuing.)
Ah, Kyou!

ALRIGHT YOU LITTLE HUSSY PUT YOUR PANTS BACK wait what? What’s this?

Look, look! We found this dango farm in the gym storage room and we’ve been entranced with it ever since! Isn’t it just adorable? Dango, dango, dango, dango…

Alright you guys, can we get serious here? We have to do a peer review and we have to get going now. We’re months behind.

Tomoyo? What are you doing here too? (Alright, I get a speaking line!)

Well … I figured … if Tomoya was going to be here so long with Kyou and Nagisa … that I …

FUUKO’S HERE!

No, Fuuko! Go away! You’re killing my deredere Tomoyo fantasies!

(Actual review-like content after the jump … sadly. Also, watch out for spoilers.)

Alright, let’s get this review started. Does anyone here not know what Clannad is?

FUUKO DOESN’T!

Ugh … Fuuko … wait … who’s Fuuko? Anyway, Kotomi, tell everyone – Kotomi, stop trying to cut the definition out of the Wikipedia page! That’s plagiarism!

Ah. Clannad is another Key visual novel adapted by acclaimed studio Kyoto Animation, featuring cute – some might say pandering – character designs, sad stories, and a lot more comedy than any of the previous adaptations, like Kanon or AIR. Overall, it’s a mix of comedy and drama that most shows should struggle to match.

B-but, I don’t know if Clannad is good enough for the viewers … I mean, they wanted a real crying story so much, and to dissapoint them like this, it just doesn’t feel right … it’s j-just so sad, isn’t it?

HOLD IT!

Why are you throwing a dictionary at ME?!

I think you’re giving the viewers too much credit here. If they wanted something that was exactly the same as what they’ve seen before, they could go watch True Tears – not that it’s a bad anime, just a familiar one – or Kanon again for all I care. Key and KyoAni did the right thing by spinning a bit of a different formula into the equation, instead of just doing Kanon v.2.0.

FUUKO DID! My story was pretty much exactly what you would expect from a typical visual novel story. Here, have a recap! I’m a girl, in a coma, who projects herself into the real world to make someone she loves happy. Except, shock! A twist! That girl’s not the lead guy, but her older sister instead! It’s tearful and made Fuuko cry!

M-me too… it really was an example of these kinds of stories done right. Even if it did drag on a bit long, and was a bit typical, it was still really sweet, don’t you think?

Hello. Nice to meet you. My name is Kotomi Ichinose, a senior in Class A. My hobby is burning important papers. I would be happy if you could become my friend.

What the heck!?

Tomoya, you can’t say that. That’s my line. My arc is again a lot like what’s been done in other stories. I’m secretly a childhood friend of Tomoya’s and – what the heck!? I’m a childhood friend? Why didn’t I win?! WHY!?

Oh no! Kotomi’s using her ’super high-pitched Mamiko Noto scream’ attack! Quick, Kotomi, go to your happy place!

*Begins playing the violin. Glass shatters, birds begin to fall from the sky, Kyou stops acting tsuntsun, likewise horrors.*

SANAE I LOVE YOU! Wait … wrong target. Kotomi! Your violin is too good! It’s so good that it’s beginning to make us all jealous of your skills! So please stop! Before … we … get too jealous! Please! Stop!

Ah, I feel much better now. That’s right! I was talking about my arc. I’m a childhood friend type, that suddenly gets massively traumatized by my parents dying in a plane crash. It’s up to Tomoya to be a bad enough dude to save my former self. At least, that’s what these books say. These are strange books.

Kotomi’s arc wasn’t too bad either. I really think Kotomi is a good person after all, and she’s very cute and mature as well. Her story was a bit hard to believe at times, but there have been stranger things in this world, right, Tomoya?

Yeah, like that one girl … who was it?

FUUKO’S BEEN FORGOTTEN!

HEY! How come you talk about all these other girls but ignore Ryou, Tomoya! Have some sensitivity!

Well, it’s kind of like the anime itself. She, you, and Tomoyo didn’t get much plottime after all, being relegated to characters who were cute but didn’t get a lot of attention.

S-s-stupid Kyoto Animation, it’s not like I asked you to give me an arc or anything…

B-but … wasn’t it for the better? T-that other characters got the chance to express themselves? T-the fans adored us anything, perhaps m-more so because we weren’t one-hundred-percent fleshed out.

It is true. The Fujiyabashi sisters and myself are probably among the most popular characters of Clannad. However, I could describe this emotion regarding the lack of an arc as ‘longing.’ Perhaps it would have been better after all to cut short Fuuko’s story.

At least there’s After Story, right? Another season of Clannad, where everyone can get together and have more fun with everybody, and all…

B-but it’s not like we’ll have another chance to get Tomoya, or anything? I m-mean not get Tomoya l-like get him a C-Christmas gift or some g-giri chocoloate or whatever but g-get l-like, y’know, Nagisa, you’re not the only one with eyes on T-Tomoya, Ryou, Tomoyo, and I-I-I… AHHH MOUUUUUU I CAN’T STAND IT ANYMORE BAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

BAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

BAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

H-hey, d-don’t cry or else I’ll … BAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Guys, cut it out! I understand how you feel, it’s not like I wasn’t that way either, but I think it’s important to focus on more important…

BAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Alright … well … you made me.

*INSERT 512 HIT COMBO*

That was INCREDIBLY hot.

S-s-stupid Tomoyo, it’s not like I wanted to get screwed over by Kyoto Animation or anything! … uh … I mean … sorry about that.

Don’t worry about it. I only meant to get you to move along with the discussion here. I understand that it’s very sad that the Fujiyabashis and myself got little attention relative to Fuuko, Kotomi, and Nagisa, but I think it wasn’t a total loss after all. Our characters functioned well without having to have a massively sad story – or only a very slight one – behind them, which I thought was respectable.

That’s right Onee-chan. The two of us were really normal – if not perhaps a little exaggerated in personality – and yet managed to be really cute and enjoyable for the audience. Of course it would have been better if we had achieved a bit more in the spotlight, but there’s no polygamy here, so … there’s always the visual novel, right?

Well, I guess … hold on, let me compose myself.

WHY AM I GETTING A DICTIONARY THROWN AT ME AGAIN?

Just getting back to normal, Tomoya! Anyway, Nagisa, you better take good care of Tomoya, since we’re letting you have him!

EH!? I didn’t – I – ah – oh yeah. I guess we did get together at the end of the series after all.

Come to think of it, what took you so long anyway? It took almost until the end of the show for the two of you to begin going out. It’s obvious you two would make a good couple. I would have liked to see more of you two as a couple.

HEY! Do you want to shorten our arcs more or something?

Excuse me … I was just reading the instruction manual, and it looks like Kyou has a switch here …

Whoa, I want to try!

S-stupid Tomoya! It’s not like my tsundere demeanor is that easy to flip on and off or anything! *flip* But, I can understand why you would have a curiosity with such a thing … if it’s Tomoya, I guess it’s OK… *flip* HEY! What do you think you’re doing!? Don’t take a girl’s feelings so lightly … *flip* B-but, if you want to try it, I’ll let you do it … *flip* There’s nobody inside…

THERE WAS A YANDERE SETTING!?

Guys! Guys! Back to the script, can we? Thanks. We were … talking about Nagisa and Tomoya, were we not?

Y-y-you don’t have to do that! It’s really embarrassing! I mean … I’m happy and all, but …

I’m happy for you two also … it’s very rare that we get to see a pair of characters like this in anime, where both characters teach each other something. Nagisa seems like a weak character but is emotionally strong in the end, while Tomoya is a bit of the reverse. It’s not as easy as that, of course, but you really get a sense that this relationship was well built and well deserved. We couldn’t have had it any other way.

Y-yeah, I suppose, I’m happy … but… aren’t there more important things in the story than Tomoya and I?

What are you talking about, Nagisa!? The sweet dance of a couple in love is the most rewarding thing in the world! Love conquers all! Believe in the me that believes in you! Kick reason to the curb! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM! I LOVE YOU SANAE andyourbreaddoesn’tsuck!!

Akio is definitely right that Nagisa and Tomoya’s relationship is one of the most intriguing and one of the best aspects of Clannad, but unlike other Key shows there was another side to Clannad that made it special. And that’s the humor! Simply put, this time around Clannad induces almost as much laughs as it does tears.

B-but at the expense of main characters though … j-just look how Onee-chan and I h-have been reduced to joke characters in this post!

S-stupid blogger, it’s -

FUUKO’S BLOCKING AN OBVIOUS GAG!

But, to make myself sound coherent for once, Clannad has a wide range of humor that everyone should find something to enjoy in. There’s some romantic comedy, some physical comedy, some running gags, a few nerdy or fourth-wall-breaking parodies, even some raw moe moments which will leave even hard hearts smiling. It’s a better mix than other visual novel shows which tend to layer their drama and comedy like water and oil.

Personally, I was left a bit dissapointed with the show that it didn’t live up to the standards of Kanon and AIR from the past, in terms of raw emotional appeal. I prefer a show that can really leave a mark on the viewer, shake their soul and make them truly emotional, and in the best cases make them question life. Kanon did it. H2O did it (partially), ef did it. Byousoku 5cm did it.

Clannad felt like, to borrow a term, a paradigm shift, something that aimed at a completely different target. It seemed more lighthearted in nature overall, a story whose characters will be remembered as archetypes instead of people. Clannad leaves a sweet taste in your mouth, as at least it’s not just cotton candy like some shows; rather, the taste will linger for a short time after the show, but it won’t stick like the true greats in the visual novel / emotional genre have managed to make happen.

It’s more likely Clannad will be remembered for scenes like Kyou’s gym storage moe-packed mind-melter than the touching scenes between Nagisa and Tomoya. I think that’s a shame that Clannad isn’t as emotionally worthwhile as the rest of the things upon which Key has built their reputation; but from any other studio or developer, Clannad would be legendary. So there’s a case of high standards for you.

To summarize it, because you – yes, you – just skipped to the bottom and read this:
1) Fuuko = one of the most emotional arcs, and one of the most dragged-out characters.
2) Kotomi = really cute and her arc induced a little emotion, but it’s oh so typical.
3) Tsundere Kyou is tsundere.
4) Ryou was a personal favorite, but together with Kyou, neither got a lot of coverage.
4b) By the ’side character rule’ I demand more attention for the two, but I won’t complain about the focus we got on Nagisa.
5) Nagisa is an excellent character, covering emotional strength in a moe outer shell. Her family is much the same, but switching out the moe for a comedic gold flavor.
6) Tomoya, who I didn’t talk about at all, didn’t get as much exposition about his father as I thought. His character’s not too bad but I’ve always preferred the sarcastic type.
7) The allegory about the dream world was either played out too little or too much. Perhaps it’s more sublime in nature. It says how much I know about it by how much I talked about it (not at all)
OVERALL) Clannad is a great comedy show and a very good drama / sweet show, but it doesn’t match up to the same pretentious standard as Kanon and AIR. It’s a different kind of show that is extremely enjoyable to watch but won’t leave an intense lasting impact.

Uh, excuse me.

Yes?

Who are you?

A representation of the author through one of the random cute glasses girls (full-time, unlike you) of the show, so that I can say some important stuff in this post.

Kyou? Get your dictionaries. Kotomi? Grab your violin. Nagisa? Get some skewers from your dango-ka-bobs or something. Follow me.

*COMIC SOUND EFFECTS ENSUE*

Hehehe, the author must be a secret masochist!

And Mei, you can grab your brother by the ankles and get over here too…

Hehehe, time for some revenge for almost not getting my picture used!

*OH DEAR GOD THE HUGE MANATEES*

Ah, uh … everyone, thank you for coming. This concludes Clannad: The Series Review. We hope to see you again.

-CCY

(Funnily enough, this was one of the quicker posts I’ve written.)

It must be “The Kyoto Touch” or something. It seems sometimes that everything Kyoto Animation lays their hands on turns to moe. Or gold.

Maybe both.

This magic seems to continue with Clannad, which has recieved pretty universal praise, more so than Kanon or maybe even Haruhi. Naturally, there are still naysayers both of the legitimate and the “it’s cool to hate” kind, but among fans of visual novel / harem anime, Clannad seems to be top-notch, and it’s even snared some of the lighter, slice-of-life fans with a surprising amount of humor for a show of this type.

It’s funny to see something like this happen, because to be honest, for all the praise about how Clannad is different, it’s surprisingly similar to the tried-and-true formula that we’ve seen from Key. I think what really ensnares people, and why I enjoy this show, is not how it really brings much incredibly new to the genre, but rather how it manages to mix together many solid concepts in a way that pushes the buttons of pretty much any viewer that comes within fifty miles of the target audience. It’s pretty much a jack of all trades to me – it’s not a masterpiece, but it spans enough character and plot archetypes that it’s an enjoyable and entertaining watch.

I should note two things here, one being that “pushing buttons” doesn’t always refer to physical turn-ons, and two, that I don’t mean to be saying anything wholly negative about Clannad. I think that the characters are incredibly entertaining and enjoyable, and the story is passable and not completely the “sad girl in stuff” fare that many dislike, but anyone who’s hailing this as the second coming of…the first thing you thought was incredibly godly, is overshooting the mark a bit.

I think I just lost about three-fourths of my readers to this picture

Let me present public target number one: Kyou Fujibayashi.

Yes, I’ll admit. Her locked-in-the-storage-room scene left me mentally frozen; you couldn’t have derailed my train of thought any harder than if you took it and chucked it off a cliff using a rocket launcher. Oh God, hot, etc. And it was done a bit more tastefully than the Alternate Universe Eroge equivalent (replete with Makoto Itou), although I’m sure the doujin artists will be jumping on this like angry KimiKiss fans bashing Mao…uh…that is…very furiously. And yes, that music background rocked my soul.

But anyone who’s thinking that Kyou isn’t covered under, as Shirukii puts it, “Key’s retard moe umbrella”, I believe is all wet.

Shut up, I know Kyou is the only one I gave two pics

You see that? That’s the tsundere switch flipping on and off. Tsundere’s been there, done that; I don’t mind them so much as characters, but I don’t think that they’re anything revolutionary in terms of harem / VN shows. Maybe Kyou’s not a retard but she’s every bit as catering to the fans as Fuuko or Kotomi. Maybe I’m not into covering my shy characters in a flimsy “tough exterior” shell but tsunderes, at least in relatively typical cases like Kyou, don’t exactly fall far from the moe tree.

Kyou’s got an edge up in the fact she’s selfless so far in sacrificing her love life in favor of her twin sister Ryou, at least. But I think, maybe I’m just disillusioned, but this just seems a bit of a set-up for the standard “you’re not supposed to love me!” of what her ending probably shapes up to be. Not that you’d get to see it, because she is so getting set-up for the Nayuki Club, something that bugs me immensely.

All she needs is some glasses, a new hairstyle, and some blue-haired girl who wants to kill Tomoya

Kotomi got pretty hammered from her arc already, which was described around places as functionally emotional but not wholly touching. Her ‘childhood friend’ act may not have been expected from a character like her, and she may have developed into a mildly stronger character by the end of things, but still, man, how come I don’t know any shy, socially-clumsy genius girls that happened to have been my friend from years ago? Disbelief off the scale right there.

I think for me she’s much the same as Kyou in that yeah, she’s a character that sends the cute and/or attractive meter off the charts, but in terms of being a surprisingly fresh and enjoyable character, not so much. She’s even getting shoved into the background and demoted to token lines, from the looks of things. That’s not a shock; KyoAni seems to be getting better at not shoving characters into the damn hospital once they’re done with them, and the decentralization of what seems to be the Tomoyo slash Kyou slash Nagisa arcs is promising…if not for the sense that they’re doing it to cram for time. It’s a veritable revolving door going on, with Kyou heading out as Tomoyo heads in.

STARFISH PARADOX

I probably don’t need to go over Fuuko, because she seems to be the only character who doesn’t really recieve a lot of love. Realistically, this should probably mean that I like her a lot because I am too cool to like the characters everyone else does (insert pretentious pout) but I’ll have to agree with the masses here, in that her random appearances are a bit off-putting.

I’m not sure if it’s because they sort of demean her touching ending, or if because they’re interrupting otherwise serious moments, or oh my God is that canned footage from KyoAni? … but it doesn’t work for me. Again, it’s kind of a “OK, we put her in the show again, can you forgive us for Mai and Shiori now?” on KyoAni’s behalf. Cute antics (Hitode Heeeeeato~!), amusing character, but a little too Completely Not Ayu for me.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner

Ryou, Kyou’s sister, is the character that I’ve been rooting for since episode one, but you couldn’t stamp her as the “shy girl with a crush on the hero” any harder than if Tomoyo mistook her for Sunohara and chased her all over the place with a stamp that says “shy girls with a crush on the hero.”

(So, I’m not going into an English major…)

I have hopes for her just because technically she and Kyou are in opposite situations; Kyou is the one that doesn’t want to back off despite her statement that Ryou should be the one with Tomoya, and Ryou is the one that is having second thoughts despite Kyou laying a gold-lined path for her. I’m sure if I tried hard I could make a snarky jab about how this is rather typical too, but I have a blind spot for those who give up on their affection, since we don’t see that played seriously (example of non-serious: Shuffle’s “There’s always polygamy”) as much in this kind of show.

Dan-gao?

Nagisa, contrary to my earlier (way, way earlier) predictions, is actually one of the stronger characters of this show. She’s kind of the confidence equivalent of tsundere, which is really a lot better than it sounds: she has the shy, weak girl character to lure you into shoving her into a personality pigeonhole, but don’t doubt her: she’ll fight back better than any other character in the show, with a form of emotional courage very rarely seen in the female heroine. She could probably (and is probably) teaching Tomoya a few things.

The reason why I’m not hailing her as the golden girl of this show is, again, that the remainder of this show is really her judgment day to win: it’s obvious she’s the “destined girl” but how she works with both this and whatever unnamed tragedy she has to face (likely involving whatever incredibly well-rendered “alternate universe” they keep throwing at us every now and then) will determine whether she falls into the personality pitfall or not.

After all, how refreshing would it be if Nagisa really was a relatively normal girl with no huge conflict, and Tomoya was the one with problems all along? (His father has to come into play sometime…)

Somewhere way back there the original point of this post was to prove that the characters of Clannad, while not all “retard moe” like some have criticized past Key works to be, all fit into different flavors of moe; some more refined than others, but otherwise all containing at least a degree of redundancy with past works. I think it devolved a bit into simple ad hominem attacks in the middle there, though, so let me get back onto track with the last girl to cover, Tomoyo.

I’m fairly certain this crossover was worth 7 pages of gouging my eyes out at Danbooru

Tomoyo, I think, is my favorite character of the show, because she really is one of the stronger character of this show, more than what Kyou can claim and close to what Nagisa can pull off. She’s really naive, in a sense, to the whole idea of boy x girl (and for the sake of bi Ryou, girl x girl) romance, and to the kind of personal image that she projects. She really personifies a lot of this show in both mocking and embracing the tropes of harem / VN anime, in the same way that a counterculture teenager would.

Clannad has the locked-in-a-room-together scenes, yet it emphasizes the laughs and the emotional development of Kyou over the dirty aspects; although a couple pans of Kyou didn’t hurt apparently. Tomoyo wakes up Tomoya in the morning like any self-serving childhood friend (this is where I contemplate making the Harem Show (Root-Beer) Drinking Game. Anyone else done it or is it good future post material?), yet she does it…intending just to get him to school on time. I can’t decide if KyoAni is laughing at us or with us.

Tomoyo’s density with regards to Sunohara touching her body, and walking home with Tomoya, and everything, is to the point that I almost wonder if she is serious about it all. I mean, it’s too far gone to be an act, but…it’s almost like “anti-moe moe”, to incite a few readers. She’s the kind of character that viewers tired of typical moe would get into for being so “different”, and that’s what worries me. I’m one of those people, and I think her character is refreshing, but I can’t help but getting that feeling of being outmaneuvered, that “thinking what you’re thinking I’m thinking” sense. Again, I reserve judgment as she and Kyou get wrapped up (their arcs, unfortunately) before Nagisa gets her turn to take center stage.

Unless, there’s another ace up the sleeve? Until then, I’ll have fun with this show, as a work with characters that are enjoyable and definitely adorable, but not all shining examples of how well-rounded characters should be done (although, we are looking at a 50% ratio with luck). Key sure knows their business sense, making characters just strong enough to tingle the nerves of the visual novel connoisseur, yet more than weak enough to appeal to the base fanbase. Sometime I wish they were less that way, but somehow I feel I’m one of the people who would enjoy being part of the base anyway. There’s a time for heavy moe, a time for zero moe, and a time for a rich blend of moe, which Clannad has proven.

-CCY

I bet a lot of you think I sound like this

(Not entirely biased about Ryou, a.k.a Tsukasa Misaka, nope, not at all. Remember, I hate ’cause I love.)

(Random thought of the day: How come no one else has read 1984 and had the phrase “Onii-chan is watching you” – would that be Onii-chan ga miteiru? – pop into their head. It’s so comic when you translate it into another language and give it siscon overtones.)

1/26/08: Episode 15
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1/20/08: Episode 14
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Click here for more information on Track Two.

-CCY

Moe: is it in your anime, killing your enjoyment?

Recently I’ve been in a bit of despair over Clannad, the third installment in Key’s sad-girls-in-noun series that has been animated by high-quality animation studio Kyoto Animation. By all means, I like to consider myself a Key fanboy (I believe the official term for this is “kagikko”) like the best of them; look up at my banner (might need a couple refreshes, admittedly) or down at my posts, and you’ll see a whole lot of raving, ranting, and allusions to vanilla ice cream, among other catchfoods.

But with the advent of decidedly more real, down-to-earth visual-novel type stories in anime, for example, the highly lauded KimiKiss, it seems that some of Key’s works could almost be growing stagnant. Even other shows with what could be considered mildly moe characters, take a more realistic, balanced view, as the infamous quote in ef – a tale of memories goes: “If the girl is thought to be cute, it means she isn’t being described properly.”

There are a lot of instances of concentrated moe in anime nowadays, but Key works are generally among the genre-leaders in this regard. Just look at Kanon, and Yuuichi’s four childhood friends. Clannad is a bit more even-keeled in terms of characters, but Kotomi’s recent arc is what really tipped the scale for me, and led me to this post.

It made me wonder – is there a sort of divide between moe characters and strong characters? Is a moe character, by definition, one that has to be shallow? Or is this just a false dichotomy?

Now, as you may surmise, I’m going to be one to stand by the Kanon characters until the end of time. Whether it’s the persistent, fight-o attitude of Nayuki, Mai’s deceptively kind demeanor lying behind her silent personality, or Shiori’s strange, worldly poetic monologues, they all strike a chord somewhere deep inside.

But one has to wonder whether this emotion results from a liking of a strong characteristic or personality they have, or just what many people label as “moe”, what has been described as a sort of ‘protective urge’, a sort of “wanting to be there for them” of like.

I say this because if you think about it, what exactly would happen if you removed the main character (and projection of many a viewer), Yuuichi, from the puzzle. Would they all come crashing down? Would Shiori ever have been happy? Would Mai ever have stopped fighting those demons, internal and external? Would Makoto and Ayu even exist?

It’s a sort of grown-up fantasy for people to idolize guys like Yuuichi and situations like his, more than just a simple lust that people feel towards swimsuit models and front-page pin-ups, more of a wanting to “be the only one that can help them”, an ironically selfish motive.

And in order for this situation to exist, the girls’ characters have to be intentionally flawed, they have to be incomplete, one might say ‘broken’. Of course, that’s not to say that any flawed character is bad – a character in fiction shouldn’t be perfect by any means, and entire Shakespearean works have been built around characters – and stories – gone horribly wrong.

But I think the key to a character is to make them functional enough so that they can live on their own. Kaiji, from his self-titled series, I think, is an example of one such character; he lives a rather poverished, lacking life, but there’s no question that he could survive in his tiny apartment on his gas station pay. He may not be happy with his current life, but he is capable in every way, and so when he gets offered these deceptive opportunities by the yakuza to step up into a greater life, the audience can really feel for the torture, the human emotion that he has to go through.

However, the case really does seem different in many a visual novel, and Kotomi’s one such unfortunate example. As blog feedback has been indicating, Kotomi’s a sort of mixed bag: she’s one of the most adorable characters since the history of ever, but her story just doesn’t click as Jeff Lawson in one of the above posts puts it:

“I also have this gnawing feeling her story will turn out to be the weakest of the entire show. She’s hot moe infused with essence of sweet moe with a side helping of refined moe served on a dish made of moe mined in the moe mines of ancient Moetopia.”

And somehow, I can’t help but think that these two facts were linked.

For example, if you walk down to your local Moe dealership to purchase one of the latest 2008 models, you’ll be greeted with a customization list that reads off like a list of some of the biggest cliches in anime. Childhood friend? Traumatic childhood incident that caused mental impairment? Unable to make friends with anyone but one person? Check those boxes.

It’s sort of a left-brain, right-brain thing. The subjective right half eats it all up, loves the characters and their emotional ploys and the world be damned if anything come between them. But the logical left half notes that they’ve seen it all before, notes that it’s all been done to death, hates it and wishes there was something more creative.

Are these ‘moe triggers’ always cliched? Maybe that’s part of what it is – you really can’t get that sense of comfort with a character without really knowing who they are, and the easiest way to do that is to pigeonhole them into at least a partially stereotyped character. If you have a character that breaks bounds, that isn’t cut and dry, it’s admittedly harder for them to be moe. Why? Because they’re new, because they’re different, and for a lot of situations, different is scary.

This is where ef goes, in taking a different path – the characters can’t wholly be sympathized with, and they can’t wholly be hated either. Miyako’s 99 Missed Calls is a perfect example of this; you really feel sorry for the girl, for trying so hard and getting shut down, but on the other hand, you get really creeped out by her persistence and desperation.

And while this sounds like a bad thing, I enjoy this style a lot, because it really invokes a lot of thinking, really makes you consider the character more than a simple black and white portrayal.

Once again I want to hark back to Stripey’s post on fanservice in anime, and argue that moe is largely the same way. Logically, you could probably argue that moe is essentially a subset of fanservice, for a more ‘pure’ type of fan.

And it functions the same way, on a character-by-character basis. If you take a blank character as a plain ice cream sundae, and lather it in moe syrup and dip it in moe chocolate and sprinkle moe candy all over it and put sliced moe on it with a moe cherry on top, it may look tasty to the eye but the fact of the matter is you’ll probably be gagging by the second bite.

Moe functions well as a garnish, a way to accentuate an otherwise strong character. It shouldn’t replace a character’s true personality and strengths but rather add to them, show a kind of contrast.

To speak in character terms, it’s similar to the theory of why tsunderes are so widely loved by many anime viewers. If a character was only tsuntsun (cold, mean, etc) or only deredere (loving, affectionate, etc), it wouldn’t be half as effective, because the viewer would not get that feeling of ’seeing the side of a character that not everyone sees’.

Similarly, in visual-novel-type shows, having a character that’s all moe, or conversely, not moe at all, doesn’t work quite as well. If a character looks weak on the outside, but really has a strong inner drive (Nagisa), or if a character looks mean on the outside but has a soft spot inside (Tomoyo), it really works better, provided that one doesn’t overpower the other. And as you may have guessed by the parentheses there, that’s why I’m still liking Clannad, why I look forward to the arcs of the other characters. (Aside from the comedy, of course.)

And that’s probably why I still continue to idolize Kanon; even though the character structure is very weak in spots, the characters, at least some of them, do fit this concept quite well. I know I described Mai to a T last paragraph. Other characters, like Ayu, may not work quite the same, as her clumsiness, loli-ness, and uguu~power generally overwhelm her serious aspects, but deep down, they are there somewhere, so I can’t say that I could truly hate on any of the Key games. Such is the tint of the rose-colored glasses.

Kotomi, I should hope is just a holdback of the older days of visual novels, when characters were perhaps a bit weaker, a bit more stereotypical. Since a lot of her story is so cliched, so moe-engined, she lacks that ‘other side’ to her, that something that makes her more than an cute 2D (in both senses) character. Certainly I see potential in a lot of other Clannad characters to break the mold and balance the opposite scales of rational appeal and emotional appeal, so don’t count me disenchanted yet.

Sometimes, there just needs to be a bit of stepping back for a minute and seeing how this new trend for moe is and isn’t changing things…

-CCY

(Hopefully not in this direction, for one…I apologize.)

(This post should rank pretty high on the incoherency scale, the analytical articles are always tough to write. Especially when you’re arguing against every anime you’ve ever watched. I still have no regrets in liking moe characters, I’m just surprised at how much of my viewing lineup is tilting away from stereotypical moe offerings – the ef rewatch (in case you were wondering what was holding the review), Kaiji, ARIA, SZS Zoku, even KimiKiss is on the lighter side of moe)

And now for the Slowpoke news: we’re in the winter season.

I’m still stuck in the past, not because of any traumatic accidents which have permanently scarred me and/or my memory, but because the fall season is arguably a much more robust season than the winter ones, at least in terms of new shows.

Especially for a visual novel slash romance slash restricted rock-paper-scissors fan like me, there were a lot of shows that were very appealing; many of them, despite being in tried and tired genres, brought a lot of fresh concepts to the table.

And what’s interesting about this, is that unlike in the summer season, a lot of the most promising shows didn’t close out at twelve episodes. Those that did, were strong shows, no doubt, but many more than that have been promised at least 20-odd episodes, double the goodness if they can keep the pace up.

As such, the winter watchlist is turning out to be strangely familiar. There are plenty of carryover shows on the list, and those that are new shows to 2008 are mostly sequels in some way or form (Zoku SZS, Minami Okawari). Not to leave a bad impression of the winter season – but there aren’t any names of new shows that really stand out from it.

This doesn’t equate with ‘no good shows’, per se – some of my favorite fall shows have been ones that have been completely off the radar – but going off the blog reactions so far, there hasn’t been a standout show that absolutely blows people away, that came out of nowhere and delivered the awesome. Undoubtedly there probably will be, but for now I’m content with surviving off both fresh old shows, and some true classics that are burning a hole in my DVD collection. Today, I’ll take a look at what we have to expect from some of the shows coming into their second cour in 2008.

Shugo Chara!
Understandably, Shugo Chara! was a show that wasn’t exactly on my radar when the season started. Even if I was born and raised on Cardcaptor Sakura, magical girl shows aren’t always my cup of tea, and I usually rely on feedback from other blogs to pick out the subsets of this genre that would be my type. In that sense, I’m a sort of elitist for magical girls – I tend to prefer only the ones that have an appeal to both genders, those that carry ‘feminine’ traits such as romance and a lowered focus on action, yet don’t come off as too girly. I do have a pink tolerance still, despite all these years of anime watching.

Anyway, Shugo Chara! got a surprising amount of good feedback from placed that I read a lot, namely Jeff Lawson’s and Owen’s locales, and so it was an essential “here goes nothing” while I was scraping the bottom of the barrel one day. As has been detailed, the first few episodes were a bit too pink for my tastes, but contained enough interesting stuff to keep my interest, so I forged on; and man, am I glad I did.

It seems a bit pretentious to both proclaim it the next Cardcaptor Sakura or even compare it to that show at all, considering how times have changed a lot in the 21st century, but there’s no doubt that Shugo Chara! has the potential to be THE magical girl show of this decade. I can’t speak for other popular shows, such as the PreCure series or whatnot, but certainly SC seems to have the wide appeal and fanbase to make it big.

The animators seem to know this too, as the show has been slated for one of the longer continuous runs in recent memory, topping 50 episodes, and this is something that, naturally, is good and bad. The good is of course more of what we love, more of this show and it’s entertaining character dynamics. The bad is that, since there doesn’t appear to be a huge amount of content for the manga, there’s going to end up being a lot of filler in the show, ergo, not as much of the entertaining character dynamics. (Not to mention, it’d be a pain to blog.)

What, personally, deserves the most focus is the quickly-shaping romance tetrahedron of sorts, forming between Amu, Tadase, Ikuto, and Utau. Of course, saying this is a bit simplified; Amu’s torn between the goodly Tadase and the dark Ikuto, Tadase’s smitted with Amu’s transformed self, Ikuto’s busy being the guy equivalent of tsundere (Shiraishi’s “cool-dere” comes to mind), and Utau is mysteriously possesive a la Primula (that suddenly explains a lot for Stripey’s fandom of Utau), and all these facts add up to make the romance side of this story a bit more appealing than your standard ‘will-she-won’t-she’ love story.

The magical girl elements of SC are a bit overdone, personally, as Amu seems to be able to hax any X Character into submission without barely breaking a sweat, but this might just be the show’s way of deemphasizing these aspects in favor of it’s stronger romantic and slice-of-life elements.

So what’s to look for in the upcoming episodes of Shugo Chara? To be honest, I’m worried that the answer is ‘not much’ – different shows handle their mid-sections in different ways, but Shugo Chara! has a lot of time to burn, and so it might not be doing much in the way of developing character relations in the near future. Hopefully it will be like many recent shows and not delay the love confessions until the end.

Although, regarding that, what’s really keeping me interested in this anime (aside from denying cute traps) is that I can’t really decide who Amu’s going to ‘win’ at the end…presuming she does at all. Both Tadase and Ikuto have their appeals, both to Amu and to the viewer, and it’s not as clear-cut as other shows which one will end up being the ‘main’ guy. Tadase is undoubtedly the more traditional choice, being the good guy who fights along her, but Ikuto’s been getting a lot of attention recently, and being the somewhat rebellious yet soft-hearted personality he is, I can’t help but root for him.

Oh, and the mysterious evil motives of Easter, I suppose I have a little vested interest in; who knows if it will be some typical “parents vs. kids” endeavor or not. I can’t get a lock on this either.

Shakugan no Shana II
Shana II was not exactly the most popular anime around the blogosphere recently, having eschewed it’s action and love-triangle aspects for more of a repetitive drama that failed to be really engaging. But with the recent episodes having kicked the series full throttle ahead, it might be time to pick up interest in the show again.

For me, Shana II has always been a show that was sort of a bread-and-butter watch – something it would be a little painful, other times a little more intriguing, but most of the time it was relatively typical supernatural-action-romance fare, with the action part just getting into gear now. However, with some of the plot points that I think lie ahead, both involving a few Torches (accidental spoilers, whee) and the story of Pheles and the Reiji Maigo, Shana II might have an opportunity to prove itself more than that, and show that the hype for this show isn’t just irrational love for melon-bread-eating tsunderes.

In that regard, it might have actually been a wise decision in the end for the beginning parts of Shana II to be so slow; it could be considered that the animation team was merely getting the filler out of the way so that the rest of the show can be exciting from here on out. Maybe not a good business decision, but if it holds true it will be promising for the second half of Shana.

As for what will happen in what episodes remain, I don’t really know. I’m really unfamiliar with this series as a whole, and so what I can say is that there will be a lot of fighting, a few romantic scenes, and a lot of terminology spamming to come. It’s pretty cut-and-dry that Shana and Yuuji are into each other, but I can’t decide whether we’ll get true confessions and conclusion with this season, considering the retcon we got this time. If there is enough material for Shana III, that aspect might just be held back on. Kazumi doesn’t look like she has much to go on; we already know she likes Yuuji, and now she’s in that limbo between backing off and going on the attack, neither which would really suit her. As such, I think all she’s good for so far is some romantic insights, what with her virtues of patience and all.

And so my hopes for this show lie with Ike for reasons too numerous to count. He’s your glasses-sporting “just as planned” smart guy, he’s gotten shafted through the whole cultural festival arc, and he seems pretty level-headed and likable as a whole. Not to mention, he’s shooting for the moon in going after Kazumi, who even he knows prefers Yuuji; he’s effective working off a rationale of ‘well Yuuji likes Shana, so someone’s got to be there to catch Kazumi’.

I really hope he gets his fair share of screentime considering how much he’s been made fun of recently, as I think he could be a really strong character. I’m hoping they have time to fit him in among all the more standard storyline fun with the green-haired ladies.

Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji
I think I will forever tout this as the reason why blog hype is important; I would not go within a million miles of a show featuring ugly men (and no moe girls) fighting it out in rock-paper-scissors, yet undoubtedly some of the latest arcs of this show have been nothing short of stunning.

It’s funny; what makes this show work is that it’s not pure macho, nor pure mindgames, but sort of a mix of both, and then some. There are moments that make you think, there are moments that make your blood boil, and sometimes, there are even moments that make you tear up. Sometimes, there are all three at once. I mean, for the love of whatever deity I worship now, I thought Aozora was going to start playing during Ishida’s scene in episode fourteen. It was absolutely wrecking, in that way that made you contemplate the nature of man while crying manly tears and shouting “ISHIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”.

Kaiji rivals the best of the visual novel genre in having disturbingly touching insights; while those deal more with the romantic irrationality of man, Kaiji goes more into the nitty-gritty stuff. The difference between the haves and have-nots, the wants and want-nots, how everyone is selfish in being kind and kind in being selfish. (A bit of a stretch, but I heart parallelism)

And it’s a great mix of predictability and unpredictability as well. You know that Kaiji isn’t going to win millions every time soon, but you know they can’t quite kill him off either. You know that he’s going to work his way out of this hole somehow, but fall back into another. It keeps the mind racing, and to be honest, I still don’t know how the Brave Men Road is going to come out. We know he’s not doing to die. So what is he going to do to get rid of the money? I’m guessing give it all to Ishida’s wife, because there’s got to be another yakuza-sponsored game on the horizon; the other aspect that keeps it interesting. It’s that ‘what will they think of next?’, both in the fourth-wall and in the storyline sense.

It’s that strange mix of disgust and delight when you see the shoving in Brave Men Road, that puts you disturbingly close to the action, in a similar position as the ‘rich bastards’. It’s eerie in a sense, how unwittingly we are becoming like them, being the viewers watching something like this for pleasure. It ties you into the show like what nearly no other show can do, and so that’s why I can reccomend Kaiji as one of the top shows – especially if you hate moe – of the fall season.

KimiKiss Pure Rouge
For as many times as I’ve used this phrase, KimiKiss is one of the shows that I think could most fit the idea of being ‘unpredictably predictable.’ It’s a very vanilla show in a sense, one that’s refreshingly down-to-earth and real, and at first the romance seemed pretty much a straight shot. It could be easily seen how Kouichi will be with Yuumi, how Mao will end up with Mai, and how Kazuki will snag Eriko.

But, since this show is so multi-threaded, it’s easy to see how these threads will intertwine as well. The show seems to be dropping plenty of hits of possibly tying Mao and Kouichi together. Plus, it’s tough to tell whether Asuka or Eriko is the true girl for Kazuki.

Let’s go with the latter first. Eriko is probably the more likely shot – on-screen kisses aren’t taken lightly these days, and it seems all too sensible to have the romance with Kazuki be the thing to introduce Eriko to the world of emotion – I would say break her out of her shell, but Owen has another way of putting that.

Still, like in Shugo Chara’s similar dilemma, I can’t help but root for Asuka, the underdog here. It just seems wrong that the one who seems to be more passionate will lose, although I think that instead of Asuka winning here, she will just get some major development instead. She seems the strong, fiercely independent type, and she could definitely learn how to fly on her own with her love for soccer instead of Kazuki.

Mao and Kouichi’s situation is even tougher to call. Certainly it seems like it would be impossible to break the romantic bonds between Kouichi and Yuumi, given the collective amount of time they’ve stared at each other. And certainly it seems hard to split Kai and Mao, who seem the reverse of the Eriko – Kazuki situation; Kai is an interesting character, the ‘frequently misunderstood delinquent’ type that’s cold, but has a big heart.

But there still remains that possibility that Mao and Kouichi will in the end, be together; after all, she had to come back from France for a reason, and the anime has certainly dropped more than a few hints. I could see how Kai could live independently, like how Azuka could. And Yuumi could – could, the imperative word – be removed from the story with her moving away.

But that’s the catching point, that it would just seem too sad for her to be alone; she doesn’t look like she has a fallback, she seems much more emotionally invested in Kouichi. Enough to nearly clinch the ‘with enough effort, you’ll win’ romance award, but not enough to go yandere. So somehow I think Kouichi and Yuumi is the most likely combo, which will probably set Mao up with Kai. I wonder, if maybe Mao will be the one who has to understand who her true feelings are for.

(Oh, and don’t leave Hiiragi and Mamiko Noto out of the picture, either.)

There’s a lot to think about for such a simple-looking show, which is why KimiKiss is one of the strongest romances running so far. I look forward to seeing how it can do so much with so little in the future.

Clannad
Visual novels are probably the toughest shows to predict for, which is why I enjoy them so much. Others may not be as fond of the wild, rampant plot twists and overly idealized characters that these shows frequently make use of, but this is probably an issue of cliche more than anything else.

The visual novel genre is full of them, with childhood friends left and right throwing themselves at some undoubtedly bland guy. That’s probably part of the reason why I’ve always been a fan of the Key shows – AIR, Kanon, and now Clannad – because they do things differently.

Yeah, a lot of things are the same. Everyone’s still love-love toward one guy, and most of them have a history with him, but it’s not always about that. Clannad is a show that feels more balanced – it’s not just romance, but it’s comedy, it’s not just about the girls, it’s about Tomoya as well, and when it is about the girls, it’s more about them discovering themselves rather than their affections for Tomoya. In that sense it really is a show that anybody can enjoy.

The beginning episodes and the Fuuko arc were a great representation of this; people left and right both enjoyed the comedy, and when it came down to things, spouted fountains of tears at her story. Despite its somewhat derivate roots of Ayu, Fuuko’s arc managed to work well because it wasn’t just straight Tomoya – Fuuko interaction, but since it also involved Nagisa both helping them and helping herself.

Nagisa’s probably the reason why Clannad works, in that despite her soft, pushover personality she’s a very strong character all her own, and a great complement to Tomoya. She’s not one-tenth as adorable as Kotomi or Ryou, but that might be exactly the reason why: she’s more of a real character, with real thoughts and emotions, instead of a cardboard moe cutout. Yet she doesn’t renounce those roots either.

Recently I think the anime has slumped a bit with Kotomi’s arc – I love her character, her story’s interesting and all, but it’s just so typical. I think any visual novel anime could pull the ‘reclusive childhood friend with dead parents’ concept off, since it just seems so perfect storm, the sort of dream that any lonely guy would wish to have, to be the only one there for a girl like that. Clannad needs to be different.

Luckily, I think we’re getting into the best parts of the show, with what arcs we have left. Despite not knowing anything about the show, I have high hopes that Fuuko and Kotomi, as interesting as their arcs may be, will be utterly shamed by the powers of the three (four) girls remaining.

Tomoyo’s always been a riot in character, and she looks to have the story to back it up, if it involves her trying to change the way she’s seen, like it sounds so far. It’s definitely potential for her to develop a lot on her own, into a strong person.

Kyou and Ryou are perhaps a more typical bunch but one I’m much more willing to fall for than Kotomi. Kyou is a great personality, with her light-hearted, flirtatious attiude absolutely captivating, combined with more of a sisterly love for Ryou, equaling something fierce. Ryou, well, she’s a mix of Shiori and Tsukasa, and that I’m willing to overcome any sense of logic for. I just wonder what their story could be about, and that’s what really interests me.

And of course, we’ll close with Nagisa, where it really could go any way in the world. Whether they expand more on her story or Tomoya’s story, them or their parents, the real world or the imaginary one, time can only tell. I can only hope it will be legendary like everyone is making it out to be – right now, it is a good show, but the potential astounds me.

-CCY

Looking forward…

In all seriousness though this season’s crop of anime is looking very promising for any harem/visual novel show lovers, with at least four shows out there that look to impress.

In the four corners we’ve got:
Clannad, the 500 Pound Moe Gorilla,
Da Capo II, the Never-Dying,
Myself;Youself, the Newcomer,
and ef, a.k.a. Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Film (because it hasn’t been subbed yet).

Luckily the subs for the shows have been very speedy as well so I can offer first impressions on the first three of this batch, and if there’s one thing I can say about them it’s that, despite all technically being visual novel anime, they all feel like they have a different approach to the genre.

It’s not the world-upside-down approach to the harem genre like School Days, by any regards, but certainly each show has a different feel and creates different expectations. It looks like the next 3 months or so will have a lot of tense spamming-refresh-waiting-for-subs moments…

(No spoilers for anything past the first episodes ahead but I might hint vaguely at past anime of the same genre)

Da Capo II was one of the first shows of the fall season to hit the ground, and it hit the ground running…for about five seconds. It uses the perhaps seen-before but still highly awesome premise of “let’s start with a confession,” which I find a great way to kick-start a series in gear. Perhaps it’s because I dislike it when a show takes too long to beat around the bush.

Which, to be honest, is kind of what DCII does for the next 23 minutes; it’s a very introductory episode with every Important Character getting at least a scene as we dash about the cultural festival in the typical fashion.

Watching anime girls stumble over themselves and blush the color of a tomato has never been one of those things I could really call adorable for more than 5 seconds, and considering that Koko’s character essentially consists of that for the first episode it was almost a painful episode to watch.

As I always say though, other characters again swoop in to save the day. Yoshiyuki, the protagonist, seems mostly the typical naive, pushed-around harem lead but at the end of the episode where he accepted Koko’s confession with a smile (despite, perhaps, not loving her in the same way) one can really begin to like the accepting and friendly personality that the Asakura bloodline has passed down to him. (At least, I assume he is such, being the male protagonist)

As one who has watched the first two Da Capo seasons I can also enjoy the other hints of characters from the past, whether it be the now double-trouble siscon incest pair, another Shirakawa, or just mysteriously-exactly-the-same-but-still-entertaining Suginami.

The D.C. series has never struck me as a fast moving series, as the first episodes of each season have been less than impressive and so in that regard D.C. II is right on track; although I expect it to move faster if it really is a 12-episode series.

Another thing I’ve enjoyed the series for is the lesser amount of focus on just one confession; frequently the relationships are taken care of ahead of time, with a bigger conflict at the end that’s more of a test for the already paired lovers. Koko getting “with” Yoshiyuki certainly looks to breed some interesting conflicts (cause, y’know, it’s a harem show) in the following episodes, to that regard.

And, finally, D.C. II does seem to continue the trend of being a very unpredictable show, harem-wise, as I am unable to find the winner out of the crowd, unlike many more obvious harem shows. Koko’s got the disadvantage of being a childhood friend and getting the first strike, Nanaka has the Shirakawa name working against her, and even if we nail the contenders down to the two sisters, which one at the moment seems like a toss-up. So I hope that D.C. II will remain fairly interesting in that regard.

Myself; Yourself was the second show up, and being based on a as-yet-unreleased visual novel it has the clear advantage of a unspoilerable show. While watchers of the other three shows may be tainted by prior knowledge and focus more on What Path Are They Going to Take, Myself; Yourself works with a blank slate.

This of course means that it has to work a bit harder to establish a devoted audience, but the first episode seems to be a solid intro to the show.

Admittedly, Myself; Yourself is a bit by-the-numbers as far as harem/VN shows go. There’s one standard-issue harem lead, a bunch of moe girls, and a large time gap. However, this somewhat-cliche setup can still run a bunch of paths, anywhere from Kanon’s sad-in-snow-fest to Shuffle!’s boxcutter-frenzy, so don’t count this show out just yet.

And it does seem to have a couple of tweaks on the normal formula as well. The support male is actually from the childhood friend era as well. The lead female (Nanaka) seems to have undergone an interesting personality change – many call her a tsundere over five years (all dere before, all tsun now; how ’bout it) , which may be a stretch, but certainly she’s been doing some brooding.

And Sana, the lead male, certainly seems to have a balanced personality. While he makes no pretenses that he’s a guy (sizing up Aoi and Nanaka) he isn’t overly perverted or overly spineless, which makes him what could seem to be a realistic character.

Some interesting points, some new and some old, are raised as well. Why did Sana move back, and why does he seem to have such a rocky relationship with his parents? What did his friend (the support male) yell to him when he was leaving on the train? How have all the characters changed in the last five years?

…And there’s a couple sticky points in the OP too (awesome song, I must add); the guy in the flame background right before the concert scene, the clock stuck at 11:59 with the two twins leaning on it, Nanaka playing the violin, depressed Sana in the middle of the street, all sorts of things to think about.

One last point on the characters; the voices really throw me off, like they do a lot of people, but it’s less the squeakiness and more the previous roles. To see Sakura (D.C.) and Chiyo (Azumanga) voice characters with a physical appearance in the double-digits for once is really kind of strange, but it’s not really that bad. It’ll just take getting used to.

One complaint of mine about the characters though is that Aoi, as awesome as she may be, seems too manufactured. She’s moe to the ninth power, yes, but it almost seems like she was made that way rather than just happening to be that way. Think about it; megane, energetic, likes books, large chest, easily blushing, loli voice… it seems to hit a lot of demographics, which almost seems like too much of a perfect storm, so to speak.

Other than that, though, I like the cast of Myself; Yourself so far.

The direction of the show is wonderfully ambiguous as so far it has mixed some light fanservice with a bit of heavy plot, so it’s anyone’s guess whether it will be more D.C. or more Key. The main girl seems to be pretty guaranteed Nanaka, but there definitely will be a large fanbase and hopefully plot built up for Aoi or…uh…the other one, so we’ll see just how this turns out.

Not a lot of complaints so far, which might remain my biggest worry; a show that starts strong has a lot more pressure to stay strong.

And to that regard Clannad is going to be one of the toughest-judged anime in the history of mankind, given that it’s from a highly reputable studio (KyoAni) adapting a highly-reputed viusal novel work (from Key).

The amount of hype that this show has recieved is immensely huge, and even I’ll admit that this was my big-ticket show for the season.

And, what can I say? It’s lived up to the expectations so far.

Perhaps it’s just because I am partial to the Key storytelling of “Rend mind first, ask questions later” but the first episode introduces a lot of really likable characters and really burning questions.

What appeals to me about the Clannad cast is that it’s a different balance than usual. While most anime have one strong guy and perhaps a tsun girl, Clannad is bursting at the seams with badassery.

Tomoya, the main lead, is striking of Yukito from AIR, a character who doesn’t take any crap yet is kind of a softie at the core. Nagisa’s father is hilarious in his macho parentitude; take his consideration of Tomoya as 1) the ungrateful rice-cracker-pan-hater, 2) potential boyfriend (yes, no, and maybe), and 3) Tomoya ETHANOL. Oh yes.

Meanwhile, on the female side, we have the tsun + dere twin pair of Kyou and Ryou. Ryou’s strange mix of Shiori, Tsukasa, and maybe Mikuru seems to be a win of the ages for those who like shy characters (and I’ll admit her off-kilter fortune telling was funny as well). I don’t find Kyou too appealing yet but I like the different factor in that she’s more cocky and up-front than an already cocky and up-front delinquent character; most normal harem shows wouldn’t have characters with half these guts.

Oh yeah, the other fighting character: Tomoyo. Wow. Real impressive fighting skills, and I look forward to learning more about just how she’s like that.

Nagisa, the final remaining main heroine (aside from the Phoenix Wright pose underclassman who hasn’t been introduced) seems to be the main heroine from all the attention she’s got, and to be honest I’m not a huge fan of her character. To do more comparing, she’s like Shiori (with the sickness and whatnot) but without that great combo of shyness and boldness. She’s just sort of a quiet, antisocial pushover at this point. Almost like Misuzu as well, but again, less bright.

Which is great. I’m sure she appeals to a bunch of people out there who feel they are in the same situation, to the loners and the shy ones, but really her character just doesn’t really strike me as something entertaining, or, realistic to be honest. Only in visual novels, kiddies.

Still, even if Nagisa isn’t strong yet and even if she is The Chosen One (which I can’t say 100%), there’s a bunch of episodes between now and the end, and the strength of Key anime has always been the focus on the characters instead of the relationships. Perhaps it’s missing the point to say “I’m looking forward to crying manly tears,” especially considering the very amusing and light nature of Clannad so far, but at the very least I imagine that a lot of the characters have some secrets to tell, especially starting with Nagisa and the mysterious world at about 6:00 in.

Not to mention, Nagisa and what my anime companion called the “hooker speech” at the end of the episode. Seriously, standing under a streetlight at night, promising to make dreams come true…naive as ever, Nagisa.

Don’t feel ashamed, I laughed at it too.

Oh yes, and the animation was sexy as ever. Just take the mysterious world sequence and the dull-tone/color flashing in the beginning as proof.

To sum it up, D.C. II is the only show so far that I feel mildly let down by, but it will get by on it’s track record of starting slow and ending strong. Myself; Yourself has a decent start and I can only hope that it keeps the pace up. And Clannad? I’m afraid it’s everything I imagined it would be at this point. Fanboyism is a dangerous thing like that.

All we have left at this point is the ef subs to complete the quartet…

-CCY