I ended up watching Clannad anime during the school year, obsessively instead of, you
know, doing my homework.
Whenever the next day rolled around I would spend a
good 90% of my P.E. class raving to a friend about the episodes I'd watched (Clannad Crunchyroll).
Tomoya Okazaki is in his senior year of high school, with no plans to go
much of anywhere in his life.
As he is walking to school one morning he meets Nagisa Furukawa, a girl who
should have graduated the previous year; she is repeating, however, because
she is sickly and missed too many days of school.
The two become friends as he helps her to restart the drama club, something
she very much wants to do.
Clannad Anime Review
As mentioned in my review of Kanon from a few days ago, this series also
revolves around a single male lead and his interactions with the girls
around him. But unlike Yuuichi, Tomoya hasn't forgotten a million different girls.
Instead he's either known them for awhile, or he's just meeting them (with
one exception there is one memory failure involved with this series).
Of the stories Key has given us, Clannad is probably the most heart-warming. It does have its depressing moments, but in comparison to Kanon and Air,
this is as upbeat as they come.
The Characters: Clannad
Most of the time in series where there is one boy surrounded by a number of
girls, most of whom either openly want to date him or don't even realise
they want to do so, I sit and wonder why they're so into him. With Tomoya,
that thought never happened.
He's seriously amazing. He looks down on himself as a slacker, but he goes
to serious lengths for the girls in his life. And the girls? Oh, they're completely lovable.
I know someone out there
disagrees with this (if you read this, you know who you are), but I think
Nagisa is adorable and sweet and there's no better girl than her.
Then there's the sister Ryou and Kyou Fujibayashi, both of whom are clearly
into Tomoya, but one is trying to help the other go out with him. Not that they have a real arc.
The other primary girls are Tomoyo Sakagami,
someone with a very impressive goal and admirable reasoning, Kotomi
Ichinose, a bookworm with a serious shell, and Fuko Ibuki, who is
just...probably the most depressing yet cute thing I've ever seen in my
life:
The other primary characters include Tomoya's best friend, who is awesome,
but also something of a douche...just every once in awhile.
Then there are
Nagisa's parents, Sanae and Akio, who are the greatest parents in the
history of parents. Especially Akio.
The Art: Clannad
I'm sorry, it's Key, it's a miracle I didn't do this section for Kanon.
Of
all of the art I've ever seen from anime...sure, a lot of it's pretty, a lot
of it is well-done and I enjoy looking at it, but Key has a very clear of
understanding of the word gorgeous.
The second time I watched Clannad Crunchyroll, I paid more attention to just staring than
doing anything else.
Clannad review is basically a springtime series, so the setting is always lush and
green.
The character designs are lovely and individual (though if you watch
Clannad, Kanon and Air, yes there are characters who look basically
identical with different hair colours, but they're so pretty that it's hard
to mind). Key is just ingenious when it comes to art, I swear by it.
Conclusion?
If you're looking to watch something by Key, but you don't want to watch the
sort of thing which turns into a blubbering mess for the next week of your
life, Clannad is probably your best choice.
It's got all of the beauty of their work, it's got the great storyline and
great characters, but the amount of tears involved is kept to a minimum.
Sure, it's still likely to make you cry a bit, but for the most part it
actually manages to be pretty happy.
My rating: 10/10
The fact is, Clannad is my second favourite anime series of all time. It
gave me the most perfect combination of laughing and crying, and the
characters are some of my favourites, and there's not a thing I don't adore
here.
Clannad | |
| Episodes | 23 |
|---|---|
| Genre | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance, School, Slice of Life, Supernatural |
| Aired | October 4, 2007 to March 27, 2008 |
| Directed by | Tatsuya Ishihara |
| Producers | Kyoto Animation, Pony Canyon |
| Opening Theme | Megumeru ~Cuckool Mix 2007~ by Eufonius |
| Closing Theme | Dango Daikazoku by Chata |
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