Clannad

 

Clannad, Clannad After Story and the Another World Kyou and Tomoyo chapters have been around for some time. Since the translation for the manga has been on hold for about a year now, and no one’s picked it up, I was getting kind of antsy about seeing the story end. In what seems to be Key’s standard for their stories, it brings you to the deepeset point of despair and finishes in what is an uncertain decent end. Other stories/VN’s be Key are Kanon and AIR (the titles are purchase links). These were animated long before Clannad and also rip your heart out, before giving you any simblance of peace. The two episodes of Another World weren’t any better in that regard. I was quite capable of handling the show’s events all the way until episode 18 of After Story were I couldn’t take it anymore and broke out my stock of tissues and blubbered like a baby for the next/last 5 episodes. They’re a neccessity for watching the Key franchise animes. Clannad being the longest of them of course dragged the tragedy on and giving them plenty of time to escalate it into despair. Seriously, how much suffering can one human go through before he mentally breaks. Lucky we’re saved from seeing something like that but the fact of hitting rock bottom definitely happens and that’s why the tissues are needed. These stories are definitely not for the weak hearted so be prepared if you choose to watch them.

 

All of the characters of this show have had very difficult experiences in their past and that’s what made their personalities the way they are. Although the protagonist is considered a dilinquent, in truth he’s a very kind person who’s just awkward and clumsy. The story tells of Tomoya and Nagisa, who met at the foot of the hill heading to school, where Nagisa was trying to decide if going was the right thing to do. Tomoya awkwardly talks to her about it, and that’s where their story starts. Between the two seasons the story tells from the start of their senior year of high school, to marriage and on to having a child. There’s another story inside of the story and it is what makes this tale not only hard, but also heartwarming and beautiful. It may contain all elements from Romance, Drama, Tragedy, Comedy and Slice of Life, but it all comes together in a very wonderful story that I’m glad I got around to experiencing.

 

The Clannad seasons are not available on Blu-Ray here yet, as of this posting. But Clannad and Clannad After Story can be found here on DVD to buy. Just click the titles. There’s also a movie but it’s just a telling of the first season. I didn’t bother with it since going through the season gave much more meaning, emotion and character building than the movie was capable of. I’m not saying the movie was bad, it just didn’t give the same fulfilling feeling that experiencing everything from the show did.