(Part of a 12-day series fondly remembering some of the best moments in anime this year. Participants include: lolikitsune, lelangir, Owen S, FuyuMaiden, IKnight, Zeroblade, Nazarielle, ghostlightning, TheBigN, ETERNAL, Mike, A Day Without Me, digitalboy, Josh, otou-san, Culchann and Pontifus, IcyStorm, Cokematic,
koneko-chan, and miz, and you’re welcome to join too!)

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