Clannad is a visual-novel by the famous company Key, turned anime by the famous animators Kyoto Animation. It’s a mix of the same tear-jerking emotion typical of this company and genre, and a large amount of humor that rivals the best comedies, making Clannad a good combination of genres. In this story, we follow nice-guy delinquent Tomoya Okazaki as he becomes friends with Nagisa Furukawa, a soft-spoken but strong girl, and many other interesting characters in his school. These include Fuuko, a strange and small girl who always seems to be at school, Tomoyo, a strong fighter who just wants to be seen as a girl, Kotomi, a socially inept genius with a taste for the violin, and the ever-appealing twins Ryou and Kyou. What secrets do they all hide, starting with Tomoya himself…?
1/26/08: Episode 15
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It’s war!
It was amusing here to see, both in this episode and the next episode preview, all the girls going on the attack for Tomoya. It’s almost like a typical harem show, but I hold my breath anyway to see just how KyoAni and Key pull it off.
It started in this episode, with Nagisa scoring some key emotional heartstring pulls - some say this was a sign of the “Nagisa flag” being tripped, only to be cut off by Kyou, screaming something about “putting your own priorities first.” I can’t help but think Kyou believes those words all too well in this scene.
Plus, Tomoyo looks to be at least casually interested in Tomoya, Ryou’s a Shiori/Tsukasa moe machine waiting to jump (and by jump I mean melt all over) Tomoya, and hey, Sunohara ending.
Of course, as proven by Sunohara’s scene in the end of this episode, Tomoya is all Nagisa’s, but I think I can elect Kyou now as the Nayuki Of The Year; even after this episode, she’s a fun character.
Not to mention, the hidden world, as they say, will likely play a role in the story soon, and I look forward to see where that goes as well; Kurogane made an apt observation that it’s similar to The Dandelion Girl as well…
1/20/08: Episode 14
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Every passing episode of Clannad only confirms that I’m a heartless bastard.
I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I watch with friends, so I joke more during the show, but I’ve really yet to get really emotional during Clannad. Fuuko got me on the verge but I was essentially cracking wise throughout the whole of Kotomi’s arc.
My sentiments are pretty much the same as most on Kotomi: she’s a drop-dead moe character, but her story isn’t up to scratch. I can’t help but think these two are related somehow.
The closure to her arc continued a bit of the ridiculousness, with her parents throwing away the future of science for their daughter and her teddy bear. Sweet, yes, but touching, no. As a rational person, I just can’t see why.
There were still some good moments, definitely, and it turned out better than I hoped it would (in the end, the party was kind of superfluous), but it just didn’t reach me. I think it was put well by DS over at Daijoubu in that it was a good arc, but one that wasn’t really emotional.
Next episode looks very interesting though, as it’s either Tomoya or Nagisa centric. I can’t help but feel that the preview implies some sort of confession, romantic or otherwise, from Tomoya to Nagisa, and that has my interest peaked. On that note, I hope that they go back into Tomoya’s backstory soon; they’ve been ignoring his father a bit too easily for the last arc or two.
P.S. Kotomi would make a lousy model on Deal or No Deal.
Click here for more information on Track Two.
-CCY
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