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Studio : Kyoto Animation
Licenced by : ADV Films
Length : 24 Episodes
Year : 2007
Genre : Romance - Drama
Synopsis :
Tomoya hates this town, it's full of memories he wishes to forget. Everyday is the same; go to school - which teaches you nothing, and going home - a place he doesn't want to go to. He wants something different, he wants a change.
His perspective changes when he sees a girl eating alone at lunch; her name is Nagisa. Tomoya asks Nagisa why she's by herself, and she tells him that because she has a weak body, she was held back a grade, and thus all her friends have graduated. Nagisa really appreciates her life, but regrets that embracing this life won't last forever - a thought very unlike that of Tomoya.
Additional Notes: This series ranked #3 in Anime-Source's Best of 2007 poll.
Added : 2007-10-05
Synopsis by : Himitsu
Last update : 2008-10-01
Last update details : Modify info
Score : 8
Number of reviews : 20
Link(s) :
Official #1 : TBS' Clannad TV Website (Japanese)
A-Source #1 : Spotlight Preview by xenocrisis0153
Song(s) :
Opening #1 : eufonius - Megumeru ~cuckool mix 2007~
Ending #1 : Chata - Dango Daikazoku
Release(s) :
2009-07-07 -- Episode(s) 25 by Static-Subs & Eclipse. BT Link
2009-07-07 -- Episode(s) 25 by Static-Subs & Eclipse. BT Link
2008-07-24 -- Episode(s) 24 by Static-Subs & Eclipse. BT Link
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Hits : 35969
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Posted by : fellcleave
Posted on : 2010-05-12 
Clannad greatly exemplifies tragedy, love, friendship, and comedy in one wonderfully constructed anime. By far it is the best anime I've seen, and I've seen just about every (romance) anime out there. If I made a top 10 list of my favorite anime series, this would come second, only to Clannad After Story (which is just slightly better in my opinion).
Plot: 10
Wonderfully developed plot, and an example of how absolutely confusing Key can make an anime. Half of this anime I just sat there completely stupified as to what the hell was going on. This was only to some of the deeper parts of the anime however. Definetly an anime that takes a lot of analysis and disection to completely figure out. Luckily the main story is easier to understand, so it's no real drawback if you can't understand the more abstruse essence of the series. As for the comedy, it's one of the few anime that had my family members come into the room to ask if I was either laughing too hard or choking.
Characters: 10
Each character had their own unique personality and past that was explored and delved in with exruciating detail. By the end of the anime, I felt like I've known each character for years.
Animation: 10
Love it. Every character was well designed and had a unique face that was clear to distinguish. The backgrounds and school layout was well drawn and easy to watch, no qualms in this section.
Music: 10
While lacking compared to the other aspects of this anime, the opening and closing songs were easy to listen to and were memorable. Every so often I look up the opening and remember everything I love about this anime. The BGM is great, although I didn't really notice it that much...which makes it even better in my opinion, it should blend into the scene either way.
Overall: 10
An amazingly constructed anime with a broad storyline and intriguing character development. Strong animation and music make the anime easy to watch and will have you stay up late watching it instead of writing your essays (cough cough). A great watch, and its sequel, Clannad After Story is even better.
Posted by : joem20 
Posted on : 2009-09-22 
I always read good reviews for this one, but still did not manage to try this until one of my friends insisted me to watch it. It turns out great and not regrettable.
Story: 8/10
It is full of good stories in each arc especially the Fuko and Kotomi arc. I feel bad that the ‘we are assembling a theater club’ plot is not that strong to stand as the main plot but somehow, it was great and well organized.
Animation: 8/10
The average type of animation. The movements are constant and the characters do not have distorting faces. They also add 3D effects in some scenes that results to a funnier and more convincing scenes.
Characters: 9/10
This anime has a great cast of characters. The girls are really cute and very funny especially when Okazaki is making fun of Sunohara. I can’t give it a 10 because almost all the girls have same hair color and it is confusing.
Music: 10/10
One of the strengths of this anime is their great BGMs. It adds impact in every scenes especially when there is drama. I also love the Opening and Ending Songs.
Overall: 8.5/10
It is a good refresher if you are tired of watching animes. Cute girls and very funny punchlines, what’s more you can ask for? Totally a great piece of work.
Posted by : Stragus
Posted on : 2009-09-07
God, liked this one. Tt was somewhat peaceful and relaxing experience though I have to say I don't really remember too much about the plot. But what I do remember about is that it wasn't really anything special. However anime like this doesn't even need a plot to be good to begin with. It looked and felt very much like Kanon 2006 or Air but I liked this one even more.
Animation: Well this was a KyoAni anime so... But even with their standards it was realy beautiful. 10/10
Music: My words can't descripe how good the music was. To my mind this has one of the best sound tracks ever. And the VA cast was good too. 10/10
Story: Well... it was there but I wasn't really interested about it. Not that it was bad, but it was just unnecessary. This anime was just so much fun to look and listen to. 7/10
Characters: Many very good characters but to be honest they were a bit arctypes. Still, characters were loveable and in a anime like this it all that mathers. 8/10
Overall: I loved it and love cannot be explained so... 10/10
Posted by : darkslayerryuu
Posted on : 2009-04-15 
My god... is what I said after watching this anime. I can't believe I wasted my time watching it.
First I want to say that the anime seemed like a Kanon wanna-be because of the fact that the characters were similar and they went through all the arcs of the characters. However here's the main difference: Clannad lacks any interesting plot elements and is extremely predictable. Kanon goes into a lot of character arcs but has an interesting supernatural element and has a thought provoking end. Another thing I found annoying about Clannad was the fact that Fuko after they already passed her arc up keeps re-appearing randomly. It takes away any hope for dramatic effect. I think that the ending of Clannad was actually the worst part - way too predictable, it made me want to vomit.
Plot- There was really a plot at all. The anime just goes through pretty much goes through all the characters with their own mini-stories (arcs). There were maybe 1 or 2 parts in it that were interesting to me but they either were trivialized or just not fully explained. Just when I thought something interesting was going to happen I was disappointed. The "plot" was generic and too ordinary. Heck, if a kid wrote a story about an average everyday high school life it would probably just about as good as this (seeing as it really doesn't make for an interesting story).
Art: Very well done, as to be expected from key.
Music: It was decent but the dango family song creeped me out...
Characters: The only strong point of the anime(other than art). They had some good depth to them but the anime seemed sadly to be driven only by the characters and NOTHING else.
Overall I greatly regret wasting my time on this anime. It's almost a complete and total failure. Don't make the same mistake I did. If you want to watch an anime that's perfect in pretty much every way watch "Air". It's your decision, so only watch "Clannad" it if you dare.
Posted by : Veld
Posted on : 2009-04-08
The Good:
The plot seems pretty well thought out and fairly interesting. By itself, the plot should have been able to keep me watching.
The animation is very well done. There were some very amazing effects that really stood out as very intricate and beautiful.
The Bad:
Unfortunately, the characters do not seem enough for me. It's not that they are undeveloped, but I just don't care about them. If a character has been around for ten episodes with a very important and developed plot in the story, I should really care about that character. The only thing is, I didn't. None of the characters meant anything to me. If one was to die off, it didn't really make me sad or anything. I just thought, 'Meh, oh well.'
I have seen many anime that only one episode or so in a character that you hardly know is tragically killed and I feel really sad and sometimes I'm even brought to tears, but Clannad's characters were just not important to me at all. So much so that the saddest parts of plot that I have almost ever seen written have been made to be really uninteresting and not moving at all. I really feel bad that the plot of Clannad was wasted here.
------------------------------------------
Overall, this had the potential to be an amazing anime, but something just made me not care about the characters. Almost every anime I have seen done by Kyoto Animation has seemed quite whimsical and detached enough to make me not think about the characters.
There was a lot of thought and work that went into this anime. This should have been a truly amazing and touching story, and I don't know if it's the way it was presented, but I just could not keep an interest in the characters.
This could have been great, but I just could care less about the characters altogether and it made me just really dislike the series. 5/10.
Posted by : cong11
Posted on : 2009-03-08
Introduction: "I hate this city, it's full of memories I want to forget. Go to school and chat with friends everyday, then go back to home I don't even want to. Will a day come where something will change?" Those were the thoughts of Ookazaki Tomoya when he is walking to school. On the way, he saw a girl who is talking to herself. Her name is Furukawa Nagisa, she is trying to encourage herself to enjoy a new life. During lunch time, Tomoya saw Nagisa being alone and approached her. He finds out that she was actually held back 1 year of school because she has weak body, now when school starts, her friends graduated and she knew nobody. Tomoya helped, her and Nagisa formed a threatre club, trying to recruit members and finally get to know some nice people as friends etc.
Plot: 40%
The main attraction of this series is comedy. The story start off well with mysteries like the "girl who always stays at school" and "tragic incident of the library girl". After that, it shifts to a romance and drama anime for the rest of the series.
Animation Graphics: 100%
As expected from Kyoto Animation, their animation graphics is always fantastic! To tell the truth, it was the graphics that first attracted me to watch it. The screen shots say it all.
Music: 60%
I love the opening song, and ending song was cute. The BGM of the show was quite appropriate for different kind of scenes. By the BGM itself, you can feel when to be serious, sad or laugh out loud.
Character: 90%
It is a romance drama, of course there is a strong emphasis on the development of characters. You can get to see and feel how the characters overcome life obstacles, the friendship and love.
Personal overall rating: 50%
OK, the overall scores seems quite high so why 50%? As mentioned earlier, the story ONLY starts off very well, that's all to it. After that, the show is very boring to me and I was clicking the anime, not watching it. The show is TOO NORMAL, maybe that's why it is called a drama?
Then you might as well watch drama on the tv with real actors and actresses. The main reason why anime is preferred more than real life shows is because it allows us to have things that can't be accomplished in real shows! A real life show with too many CG is not attractive, that's why there is anime. Secondly, anime is all about achieving the impossibles in real life, however Clannad is too close to real life, which many have had enough of it already.
Posted by : AJtheFourth
Posted on : 2009-02-06
Maybe it's because this was the first of the 'holy trinity' of Key/Visual Arts and Kyoto Animation projects that I watched, but 'Clannad' was by far my favorite over 'Kanon' and 'Air.'
Animation: 'Clannad,' like 'Air' and 'Kanon' before, is animated very well. Where 'Air' was straightforward and bright, reflecting summer, and 'Kanon' was dark and sharp, reflecting winter, 'Clannad' is animated with bright colors, but softer edges. (Maybe reflecting the 'spring' season?) It's amazing how KyoAni animates so perfectly to the story that is being told. 10/10
Story: Like those aforementioned series, 'Clannad' is a revolving harem plot, involving several girls and Tomoya. Tomoya I found more interesting as a character than the protagonists of 'Air' and 'Kanon.' 'Clannad' also relies a lot more on humor. The humor itself is hilarious, and it also serves to make the dramatic parts that much more touching. You can be crying one moment and laughing your butt off the next, which sometimes leads to that weird sniffling, snorting thing where you find yourself unattractively choking on snot. Grossness aside, the one-two punch of comedy and drama is what makes this series. Unfortunately, there are a few hiccups. We never really learn who the girl from Nagisa's story is, or her purpose. Obviously she has a deeper meaning to the story, but those viewers who have never played the game or seen the movie, of which I am one, could be confused by her frequent appearances. 9/10
Characters: Tomoya aside, 'Clannad' also sets itself apart by setting up the primary romantic interest pretty much from the first episode. This allows for the 'family' feeling to really seep in, as the girls not only become friends with Tomoya, but friends with each other.
Sunohara is also a welcome character, almost a further development of Kitagawa from 'Kanon,' who provides not only humor but a genuine male friend. Fuuko is an acquired taste, and although her story arc itself served to further Tomoya and Nagisa's relationship while making me sob like a baby, she is mishandled later on in the series by her random appearances. 9/10
Music: The opening theme by efonius was perfect for 'Clannad,' and an amazing song in general. 'Big Dango Family' ending is cute and repeated throughout the series. There's not much to say except that once again, the music was chosen well. 10/10
Overall: Many may disagree, but 'Clannad' is one of my favorite anime series, period. It brings humor, drama, lovable characters, and ties them all together very, very well. 10/10
Posted by : ErwinRommel
Posted on : 2009-02-01
The humor is the main attraction of this anime; the drama....not so much. It's not to say that Clannad is poorly done but on the contrary this show satisfies the expectations one would expect of Kyoto Animation. Clannad's main fault is that Kyoto Animation is very conservative about innovation. The story and characters are made from the same mold originating in the studio's previous works. Therefore this anime is good but hardly groundbreaking.
As said before Clannad is good mainly because of the humor. The gags are patiently set up and the results are unexpected albeit hilarious. From Kotomi's serenades to Kyou's graceful entrance the show is a fount of laughter. It really would be spoiling the fun but just look forward to Sunohara and his "interactions" with the various girls (my favorite involves a dazed girl, her artwork, and Sunohara's face).
Clannad does not tread new grounds when it comes to the story. The show is separated into multiple chapters but they have more or less the same plot. Tomoya, our protagonist, discovers a problem that, only through his efforts, can be solved, thus earning him the affection of a girl. Secondly, Clannad seems to throw in all these very mundane plot devices that works on your emotions like the way an onion affects your eyes when you chop it. For example one of the chapters involves a briefcase that seems to have traveled the world and back again. Its use was to make the audience cry tears of joy when it actually makes the chapter very saccharine or just sweet to the point of making me a diabetic. The anime really tries too hard to be emotional and uses very corny methods when subtle ones are more appropriate.
Outwardly, all the characters are different simply because the anime tells us so. But the actions each character takes are ultimately the same. The interaction Tomoya has with each of the girls elicits the same type of response. If Tomoya supports them they give him his love. In Nagisa you see her blush; Tomoyo will look down bashfully; Kyou and Ryou will do the same reactions yet all four have wildly different personalities. This makes the chemistry very boring. When Tomoya finally picked his girl, one has to wonder what he even sees in her since that one girl reacts no differently then the others.
Clannad has beautifully drawn characters but the emotions and relationships that are formed seems forced. The characters don't exude any sense of love for each other. The story follows a predictable pattern but is adequate enough. Something has to be said of the finale. It is inexplicable except that it serves as a fine example of when an OVA is much more appropriate. Lastly, the humor is the saving grace of this anime and makes it thoroughly entertaining. I cannot stress this enough because the comedy is why I give this show an 8/10 and not 6/10. It is that good.
Hence 8/10
Posted by : kannagisai
Posted on : 2008-10-18
I watched Clannad in its entirety as it was released last year and have been meaning to post a review for some time. Strangely enough, each time I decided to compile my thoughts in sum, I came to a different conclusion. That thought process, in essence, is somewhat similar to what most viewers will come away feeling after watching this show. It strikes virtually each individual in a dissimilar way. That's not really a bad thing I guess.
The first thing that impressed me about Clannad was the art. I am a true lover of great art and animation within an anime. It's what got me into the medium, and Clannad is equally as lovely as any of the other Kyoto productions (Air, Kanon, Melancholy, etc.). In fact, one character in particular (Kyou) has my vote for the most beautifully designed anime female of all time - seriously. All the subtle nuances of each individual article of clothing and strand of hair on virtually every character are so precisely thought out and perfectly executed that I must applaud the designers and give them my utmost praise. This attention to detail, as I mentioned, reaches its absolute zenith in the composition of Kyou. It's really that good. I suppose it's what makes me look forward to all of Kyoto's productions, and what often makes me overlook some of the flaws - and there are many.
The draw of so many shows after the art is the actual story and the viewer's interest in each individual character, or possibly just one in many cases, within that story. It is in this regard that Clannad almost falls flat. I can say with some conviction that most people will like the two main protagonists here. Nagisa and Tomoya are slightly different than the cookie-cutter male/females we have become accustomed to but the story is entirely too vague to really like them that much. The support characters are almost all stereotyped though and some are downright horrible (Okazaki). I won't even get into Fuko..... why???
Overall, I can't recommend this show to give anyone the kind of emotional lift that say, Kanon did, but I won't argue that it's worth watching for just a few of the reasons I mentioned earlier. You will probably watch it until the end. You may get a bit tired of it during the middle episodes. You may also feel there are some elements that SHOULDN'T have been included and, possibly, you might actually like it. I can't say that with conviction.....
Posted by : Master_M2K
Posted on : 2008-08-27
Story - 9/10
Characters - 10/10
Animation - 10/10
Sound - 8/10
Enjoyment - 10/10
Clannad is the 3rd in the line of Harem, Romance anime based of Key’s Visual Novel (dating sim) and with the bar set pretty high, this anime is able to reach the expectations of its fans.
The series begins as a usual high school anime, with no defined plot or storyline but just introduces the male protagonist and the girls that the series revolves around. From the first couple of episodes it is easy to pin point the obvious similarities it has with its predecessor (Kanon) but the major difference is the level of comedy. The comedy of Clannad is on a completely different level, as it manages to turn anything to do with games (RPGs) or romance anime into a hilarious joke. However during the girl's various stories the comedy is somewhat replaced with some heartfelt drama, which adds depth to the series but it lacks a bit of substance. It doesn’t seem to matter much though, as this once again proves to be a winning combination.
The characters are an important aspect of this "winning combination", as you will grow to care about some of the characters so much that you may even shed a tear. The girls are the major part of the story and even though their personalities are a little clichéd, they each get their own moment to shine. However the length of the series did negatively affect the girls during the 2nd half of the series. The male protagonist (Tomoya) is surprisingly well developed, as he intermingles between the girls various stories and of course, brings most of the comedy.
The quality of the animation is nothing short of wonderful, with beautifully drawn girls, dynamic backgrounds completely fluid movements that would put many shows to shame. I’ve probably said this same thing to a lot of other anime series but if you know anything about "Kyoto Animation" then you’ll know the sort of standard you are going to get, from watching this masterpiece.
Unlike the music in a lot of other KyoAni shows, the music plays an important role in Clannad and I’m not only talking about the catchy OP and ED theme (dango). Each of the main characters gets their own theme tunes that go well with their personalities, adding a sort of personal touch to the main girls. Nonetheless it does get a bit repetitive, listening to the same tunes over and over.
Overall Clannad has proven to be one of the best Harem, Romance anime of our time. It is really hard to find a flaw in this amazing series, because it has superb visuals, a great story and some of the best characters. Even with a lot of parallels with its predecessors, Clannad still manages to break free and become a show of its own. Of course it is riddled with clichés and cheesy moments but you wouldn’t mind, due to the many hilarious and touching moments.
You don’t need to be a harem anime fan to enjoy Clannad, you just need a heart.
^_^
Posted by : MrSentimental
Posted on : 2008-05-29
Things started out good enough as I got interested in the cute and likable enough characters. The plot didn't really grab me big-time at any point here, but the neat characters had my attention. I got a kick out of the blonde guy getting socked around on a regular basis. He was likable enough too, but I can't remember the last time I had such fun watching a particular character getting whomped on (except for the Seto No Hanayome guy). BwaHaHaaa!
But, as things went on, I gradually started to lose interest and was hitting the fast-forward button and wanting for the series to end, which is never a good sign. Again, the characters were very very cute and likable, but neither the characters or storyline were really compelling. I didn't get the feel that I simply "had" to watch this show. It was like the cuteness wore off, and then there wasn't much left.
I liked the artwork style. Again, very very cute. The music was... (you guessed it) ... very very cute, and fit things well. Again, nothing that really grabbed me.
I'm feeling that this review is very subjective on my part. I guess what I found out about myself is that, while I can appreciate these kind of very very cute Anime shows, I can really just appreciate them in smaller dosages. 3 STARS. 6 out of 10 Rating.
Posted by : SleepyLafiel
Posted on : 2008-05-17
Wilford Brimley better stay far away from this one; the disgustingly sweet content of Clannad will cause his "diabeetus" to send him to his grave. Although, being so watered down, maybe it won't kill him if he only takes a little bit of it before he realizes it's just not worth his time.
Three year old internet memes aside, Clannad was an incredible disappointment. I wasn't expecting Spielberg or Shakespeare, but this wasn't even Michael Bay (quite a statement considering he made Transformers); there was a void where an identity should be, being little more than a clone of previous better works. Given the production company, it's almost shocking that they would put out something so mundane and aimless, even though the fanboys/girls will probably still eat up everything that's Key + KyoAni.
2007 was not a good year for KyoAni; instead of creating top notch productions with unique and gripping stories (Air, FMP3, Kanon 2k6, Melancholy; their first four series productions), they made Lucky Star and this, two forgettable rehashes of unsubstantial genres. For the first half of Clannad, I thought I was watching the Makoto arc of Kanon again, just significantly less mature and even more improbable. The character's complete exclusion from the rest of the story further highlights the utter pointlessness of 4 hours wasted. The second half was a paint-by-numbers porn game harem style affair, with the main character going through each girl in their own little three episode arcs before settling, without any tension as to who he'd choose, for the one that features most prominently on the cover. I am a big fan of Kanon, but having the same exact male character go through roughly the exact same situations (except weaker considering how much of a cop out everything was) was a waste of time; I don't need deja vu so soon after watching a great series, my memory isn't that bad.
It really is a shame, because Clannad's overall story, at least from what I've garnered from the movie and game outline, is not bad at all. A modern day tragedy that isn't afraid of dealing with deeper issues like depression, death, and abandonment; it had no shortage of genuinely emotional moments, a far cry from the canned feeling that persisted throughout this anime adaptation. Had the production not wasted so much time on the terrible and overdone Fuko arc, they could have put in the After Story without needing an OVA (which are akin to videogame patches, which is why this is a review of the series and not the series + OVA; no one counts the Kenshin OVA as part of the Kenshin anime, even if they are in the same universe) and made the overall feel and impact of the story incalculably better. Without it, all that's left is a criminally standard romance anime without any emotional impact. Still, you can't question that KyoAni can choose good licenses; it's what they do with the licenses that makes or breaks the production, and it broke here.
There are just so many questionable choices made with the construction of the storyline. Were they trying for a more general audience with their saccharine sweet plot where no one gets hurt? What about all the deeper things that happen (daddy issues and such), and why were they just brushed under a rug like so much dirt? The conflicts just didn't feel real; a girl that goes emo because she's loved too much? This is considered good drama nowadays? Everything just felt too easily resolved, as if one moment of exposition from a male character with a memory problem can fix the years and years of depression and issues. I don't know, it just felt like they weren't trying. Even with Kanon and Air, the conflicts felt much more real, with a stronger sense of urgency throughout. Here, not so much.
And because of the shoddy plot, the characters suffer. Don't get me wrong, they are likable, and was one of the primary reasons why I stuck until the end. But goodness, what a waste. They build each one up in very likable, albeit generic and unoriginal, ways, but then what? Nothing, nada, everything gets resolved in exactly the way any fan of anime would expect it to. There's not even a surprise, unlike Kanon's "Tree + Coma." Why even bother; what resulted was no better than a slap to the face after being strung along a tasty bread crumb road. The aforementioned three episode arcs solved by a soliloquy/screamfest from the main character further cheapens what little is left. Why, when KyoAni proved that they could do great characterizations with Kanon and Air, did something like this turn out? Complacency from a successful studio, perhaps? A tragedy.
Although the production values are solid, it doesn't do anything new. The characters are almost exact clones of Kanon/Air (a given considering it's all by Key) with just haircuts being switched around. There's really not much to animate here except for the occasional petals falling, but really, if I have to see another sequence of cherry blossoms falling while two characters look in each others eyes... I'm just grumble and sit through it. The music isn't bad, but it feels completely incidental; nothing stands out, except maybe the annoying and irrelevant "Dango Family" song. Just like the rest of the series, nothing new or remarkable is being done here.
I suppose my ultimate take on Clannad is something I say time and time again: It could have been SO MUCH MORE. Instead, it does little to distinguish itself from the detritus that floats on the current sea of poorly made anime, settling for something that a thoroughbred like KyoAni should never have to settle for; mediocrity. Although at parts, it felt like a direct copy and paste of recent hits, it fails to connect truly with the audience, leaving a mostly hollow experience in its wake. It's all been done before, and arguably, it's been done better. Skip it and watch the movie instead.
Plot: C-
Characters: C
Production Values: B
Enjoyment: C-
Overall: C
Posted by : du5k
Posted on : 2008-05-08
I know, I know... many people regarded this as one of the best series of 2007, but I guess I;m gonna be shot for my opinions. I do think that Clannad is pretty disappointing. But in no way I think it's a bad production, of course. I just like to touch on the bad aspects of a production instead of the good ones.
After seeing KyoAni’s (the short form of the production studio’s name) magic on Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu, Lucky Star and Kanon, I hoped that Clannad would be something amazing. But then, Clannad fell short of "amazing"; in fact, I think it was pretty far off. It wasn't as unique as MoSH, it wasn’t as touching as Kanon and it wasn't as funny as Lucky Star. It'll be good if it was a good combination of each, but it isn't. I've got to admit there are many worthy jokes though. (Nandeyanen?) But these quickly die out in the second half of the series when the mood got more serious.
First off, the characters. Only late in the series do the character's personalities became distinctive because Ryou, Nagisa, Kotomi, Fuuko are too similar in their "dumb cute naïve" traits, and Kyou and Tomoyo are in their "tsuntsun powerful outspoken girl turn deredere" traits.
Fuuko is a love-it-or-hate-it character. For me, it's a latter. Her arc was irritating, there was too many parts which I find INCREDIBLY lame and in very unrealistic situations. The climax of her arc and her overall story wasn't very interesting, and the ending... well, simply removing her from the picture isn't a very creative ending. The worst part is, she kept popping up later in the series with an incredibly lame dance/pose/whatever and made some stupid pointless comments, then leaves. I know it’s suppose to be comedic, but I can’t help but find it annoying and too much about "satisfying Fuuko’s fans".
Kotomi's arc is OK, she had very good character development but her story is seriously lacking in many ways. The lack of depth and predictable development soften the impact of her climax (plot climax, you perverts). The ending wasn't very satisfying, and her remaining role as a sideline character is plain disappointing.
Kyou and Tomoyo’s arc… they have some developments, moments that gets interesting and comedic, but seeing Nagisa’s development it already became obvious that their fate with Tomoya is gone, along with part of the interest for that arc. Apart from the Tomoyo's success, there is no real ending for the either of them. I got to admit though, Kyou and Ryou’s crying scene was the best and the most touching scenes of the whole story.
Nagisa had wonderful development throughout the series... well, not much I can say other than just being happy to see her around. I still have to say that her own development in her own arc isn't very interesting. There was no turning point or twist in her story.
Ushio's story, or the story from the girl in the illusionary world, although she serves an important role in the visual novel, her existence in the anime serves no purpose than to show off the amazing animation in those scenes. If they're not going to include the after story arc in this season, they might as well do away with these scenes than to waste screen time. People who’ve seen the visual novel might like these scenes, but it's pointless to those who haven't.
And Sunohara Youhei. His role in the series is a comic relief and a supporting character in some parts. In the visual novel, he has his own little story behind to give him a bit more depth, that's it, but it’s hardly shown in the series. Unfortunately most of his antics just serve to annoy me.
Animation wise, it was the KyoAni quality that made this series enjoyable. I like plenty of Eufonius's songs, but I only find the OP average. I think too much screen time is used on showing the main girls of the series, which is just them posing and showing a few scenes of them in the background. The ED is a fitting song, but I wasn't really interested in the Dango.
Although I find that they tried too hard to made this funny, it't the comedic factor other than the animation quality that allowed me to enjoy this series. I'll say that most people will enjoy this... but not for me.
Plot-wise: 6
Story Style: 7
Animation: 10
Music: 8
Value: 8
Posted by : kelly_lim_92
Posted on : 2008-05-02
As expected from KEY's production, producer of anime like Air and Kanon, it never failed me.
This anime is touching, bringing tears to the audience. All the different arcs are well done, though I think that the producers may be too focused on Fuko's arc, leading to the other arcs being unable to develop to their full extent. This is so especially for Kyou's arc where I think is too short. Nonetheless, It is still a great anime.
In this anime you can find yourself liking a lot of the characters, each of them is unique in their own way. The story manages to develop the characters smoothly, especially the main protagonist. The comedy in between is cute and funny, such as Tomoyo's super kick and Fuko's random appearance.
The animation and the music is what made me watch this anime at first. I like the first episode's first scene where the scene is in the dark and other dull colours. The colour starts to slowly fill in with the accurate timing of the music matching in with the animation. This is my first impression of the anime: it is beautiful.
Besides that, songs like Ana and others are absolutely one of my favourites. It brings in the mood of that time successfully.
Clannad is very well done and deserves a perfect score of 10. I only wish that I can see more of the relationship development between Nagisa and Tomoya.
Posted by : NatureDragon
Posted on : 2008-05-01
Storyline/Plot: 10/10
The storyline of Clannad consists of each individual characters' story arcs. These story arcs were linked prefectly and enabled the whole plot to flow smoothly. By breaking up the storyline into smaller story arcs also enable the anime to focus on the supporting characters, and thus gives us a better understanding on every character.
Each character's arc were touching (a little sad at times). Like previous KEY's production (Air and Kanon), the story contains bits of supernatural content and every of the female leads' story are all linked to Tomoya Okazaki (main protagonist).
Nagisa's arc seems a little too short. If only more time were dedicated to Tomoya and Nagisa's relationship, the story would have been even better.
Character Development: 9/10
Each story arc manages to give enough time for each character to show their uniqueness. However, too many episodes were dedicated to Fuuko's arc which costed characters such as Ryou and Kyou, Tomoyo to have less screen time and thus lack character development. Nonetheless, every character have been made to be extremely likeable and kawaii.
Animation/Graphics: 10/10
One thing I like about Kyoto Animation productions are their vivid enviroment sceneries and their lovely character designs. Their facial emotions were also life-like. The overall animation quality is just wonderful.
Songs/Music: 10/10
"Megumeru ~cuckool mix 2007~ (メグメル～cuckool mix 2007～)" by eufonius was a nice opening theme. "Dango Daikazoku (�?�ん�?�大家�?)" by Chata was kawaii. The BGM follows closely to the events in the anime and were appropriate .
Overall: 10/10
I love Clannad as the story manages to make me feel rather emotional and at the same time manages to make me laugh. (Fuko moments were extremely funny. I love how Tomoya make fun of Fuuko all the time). Tomoya's cold, sarcastic yet caring behaviour is also pretty cool. Nagisa's parents and Sunohara are also very funny.
If you have loved Air and Kanon, you would really love Clannad.
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