A Big Dango Family!
Click for massive spoilers
Beautiful snow scene.
The art was top notch the entire series. Sometimes during a series, there are a few episodes that are less that stellar, like someone on second staff took over for the day. But Clannad had great art the entire series…season I should say now. I do think that three girls with purple hair was bit much, a little variety would have been nicer in that aspect. But they made slightly difference in the twins color verses Kotomi’s. I also enjoyed how the main character boys were not drawn 2 feet taller and 5 years more mature than the girls. Some of the minor characters were (especially the sport males), but the main boys looked like typical high school boys: awkward and still growing. The school uniforms were drawn in a manner that allowed the girls to look desirable, but not downright skanky. Their eyes were pretty large, as it is in most animes, but they seem to shine with real emotions at moments, I was very overwhelmed at times!
One of the most moving things about the show were the moments when Tomoya cried. I can’t remember the last time I have seen a male cry that many times in an anime show, yet not come across as a cry baby. Those moments moved me almost to letting out the tears I was holding at bay. Sure the girls cried a lot too, but it was more moving when HE cried. Speaking as a girl, I know I cry a lot and sometimes over stupid stuff. But when this boy cried, it felt like it meant something and it conveyed that emotion strongly to me. Tomoya crying in front of other people didn’t make him any less of a man, it made him feel more real. Boys can cry too people!!! Don’t be afraid to express your true emotions men! I love how this sort of evened the playing field, not making girls look like weak people who cry all the time. Thank you Tomoya, your scenes were beyond touching.
If this doesn't move you, you have no soul!
Well Nagisa and Yukine, you are not dead mystery girl in some other universe. I was actually not quite sure to make of the Girl from the Illusionary World and her pal robot man. It turns out the only way to know what the other world is about is to play the game, as I had to search several websites to find out the answer. If you were just watching the anime with no prior knowledge to this series, there would be no way to fully understand what is going on. With the promise of season two on the horizon, perhaps that will give more answers than the first series. With my limited knowledge just based on the series, this other world almost would be a dream one of the characters is taking part in, had it not been for the fact that one person said that this sounded familiar. Sometimes it seems as if the other world could represent that lonely feelings the other characters are having. The lights in the other world appeared a few times in the real world, as if they were connected. The girl seems to be okay with being in this lonely world, as if she is knows the soul in the robot will eventually come. The scene with the robot building another robot was both sad and confusing. :( I am not sure his reason behind making another robot were, since he had the other girl as a friend. But it was sad watching the other robot get buried in the field. Of course, with the knowledge from the game, it is obvious what the robot was trying to do, but that information is not available in the show. I would wonder why we would have several episodes without the other world, and then it would come back with a little bit more information. The events in the real world are affecting the other world and it seems to do so in a positive way. I will admit, when Nagisa put on the play about the robot and the girl, I was a little upset that she might have made this whole scenario up in her head back when she was lonely with no friends. I wanted it to be deeper than oh, she had no friends and had to make up a world in her head she could go to. The truth about the other world is much better than that possibility, so play the game if you want to know the entire ending.
Sad robot man and the girl.
Kyou and Ryou have no real sad back story or past to make the viewer feel sorry for them. However, you get pretty early on in the series that Ryou never has a chance. I got the feeling that Tomoya knew she had feelings for him (considering all the blushing and stammering she did around him), but being a guy, he does not know how to convey that he's just not that into her. She really is a secondary character, despite the amount of air time she gets. Even thought her sister Kyou is trying to get other girls away from Tomoya so Ryou can have a chance, deep down, Kyou is in love with Tomoya too. Perhaps she is trying to deny her feelings at first and decides to put all her energy into helping Ryou out, but it still does not hide how she really feels. She is a loud, violent girl who constantly puts down Tomoya, but she loves him anyway. She was even willing to lose her virginity to him with no commitment AT ALL! (Of course, instead of mumbling about how slutty teenagers can be, I found the situation amusing instead). She put up a good fight at the breakfast/feeding Tomoya, but at the end of the episode, she and her sister realize that Tomoya has already chosen Nagisa to be his love. The twins crying was not as sad as other moments in the show, but I was glad they still continued to be his friend and help Nagisa out knowing they lost to her. The twins are there to provide a little love competition and comic relief.
See the great love between them?
Here, have some magical girl!
I actually did not find Fuko’s story the saddest, but she comes in a close second. She is in fact the ghost the students are talking about. I really do not know HOW her “ghostness” works, as she can touch people and objects, yet she becomes invisible after episode 9 except for a few key moments. So was she only visible because she was doing better in the hospital or is Tomoya just that special he can see ghosts? Whatever the reason, for the first few episodes, she was PURE crack. She is not the brightest crayon in the box with her juvenile antics and naive nature. Tomoya treats Fuko more like a younger sister rather than a serious love interest. Her obsession with starfish is almost scary and I did not quite get what makes a carved starfish appropriate for a wedding. The thought of having complete strangers at my wedding is also a scary thought. But Fuko is a real sweet heart and her story is touching, even Tomoya cries (his crying was almost the sadness part). The sad part of her story is that she knows she is somewhere else and that she might never come back. She is just working hard so her sister can move on. When all the kids started to forget Fuko, it tore at my heart. People knew that they were forgetting her and it caused them great distress. It felt so cruel for Nagisa and Tomoya to remember Fuko just to forget her again. She did leave a last impression however, as they seem to know her when she randomly shows up to help them…and fails big time. Hopefully we will see her walking around and being conscious in season two!
Have a star!!!
:( She can't see her!
Still trying to help her friends out..
My favorite girl was Tomoyo. I liked how she had a rough background, but was trying to make amends for it by being a better student. Her back story more typical I suppose than the others one, but her brother was very extreme in his decision to keep his family together. Instead of being angry at his bone head decision, she is trying to save the sakura trees he first saw after a stay in the hospital. She had a similar past of being a delinquent, so I think she related to Tomoya very well. She tried to encourage him to better person and motivates him. When she realizes that he has chosen Nagisa, she is sad like the twins, but is mature enough to keep a smile on her face. Her superhuman strength was usually used against Tomoya’s best friend, but Tomoya seems to encourage the beating up of his blond hair pal. I like Tomoyo during her own arc (sadly that was only one episode). She is the kind of girl we all would want to be/date: she is nice, smart, loving, and supportive. She wants to be with Tomoya, even when he declares he is not good enough for her. That last episode of the series was a real tear jerker. Their relationship, even though rushed into one episode, showed how Tomoya’s life would be with another girl and he seemed very happy. Not everyone is going to make it big in this world. Sometimes you will just work a simple 9-5 job and come home to simple town to be with your love one.
They make such a cute couple!
Look at that glance back!
Kotomi's back story is the saddest one. She had a nice family situation, even if she had no friends for a while. She met Tomoya due to a butterfly hunt and her life was looking a little brighter. An airplane crash killed both of her parents and she blamed herself, as her last words to her parents were of an angry child who wanted to spend her birthday with her family. In her grief, Kotomi decide to burn down her parent's study and destroy the paper about the hidden world, the reason why her parents left in the first place. Kotomi has been living under the assumption she has destroyed some important piece of paper all these years, that the world could be a better place had she not been so upset. Kotomi was socially awkward to begin with, but when Tomoya failed to show up to her birthday party, it seems to seal her fate as being a loner. Her past explained most of her weird mannerism, such as cutting up articles mentioning her parents, her inability to talk to her peers in a casual manner, and her great love of teddy bears. Her breakdown at the bus stop was quite moving and heartbreaking to watch. Unable to deal with the pain, Kotomi was going to run away from the house that brought her such sad memories. When Kotomi got that bear from her parents years after the fact, she realized they rather save her gift and make her happy than save that piece of paper (I am glad that their hidden world had nothing to do with this mystery world). It was a moment of sorrow, but it was also a moment of closure. Her tears seem to mean more, as she was first introduced as solely a studious and out there kind of character.
Their first meeting.
This moment made me laugh :P
Such a liar :O
Tomoya saving the day!
See how romantic he is?!
Nagisa is the main girl of the story and she is the classic girl in need. She does not come across as annoying as some “helpless klutzy girls”, she comes across more genuine and understanding that she does need help. It is sad to be the only one in school, after all her friends have graduated. She wants to act, even if it is all by herself on the stage. She does not see Tomoya as this knight in shining armor all the time, she knows he can be mean and sarcastic, yet she cares for him anyway. She knows she imposes on people, but she cannot help it because of her condition. She is even feels responsible for “ruining” her parent’s dreams. She cries a lot and has small pity parties for herself, but I never felt annoyed with her. She truly is a light that drew everyone close to her. She is the kind of person you would want to help. All the girls were fighting for Tomoya, yet they still were willing to help out their rival. She manages to pull Tomoya out of his gloomy world and create her own little dango family. Without Nagisa, Tomoya would have never become a person who would go so far to help open a club, help a ghost girl find her own closure, and help a girl run for student council to save some trees. She loved Tomoya long before Tomoya released his own feelings and it was amusing watching her dad tease her about their relationship. She is weak in some areas and strong in others. I would have never had to courage to go on stage and perform by myself, but that was her plan the entire time. Sure she has some over sensitive moments, but all the girls suffer from that in this show. Watching her and Tomoya mature a little bit by just knowing each other was a treat to watch.
:( so sad..
AHH! A blinding love!
This show has a lot of sad moments, so to balance out these feelings they had to provide a lot of laughs. The biggest source of laughs throughout the show were the moments with Nagisa's family. The running joke is that Sanae, Nagisa's mother, can never make bread that tastes well and there are tons of leftovers at the end of the day (not recommended when one runs a bakery). Even though it is often Akio, her husband, often mentioning the fact her bread sucks, he runs after his wife in a dramatic way stating he loves her bread! Her father usually says something kind to Tomoya, then goes off on a crazy tirade about how Tomoya is a bad person based on HIS (Akio's) own comments. I found the potty training chair pure moments of funny crack. Her father came off as overbearing, but still likeable while the mother came off as ditzy, but caring. Sometimes her parents seem a little TOO trusting as they invite anyone to spend the night, but that usually leads to more moments of crack and further drives the point home of the big dongo family.
He often runs around like that...
For the record, Tomoya was not talking about toilets.
Why yes she is :)
Another source of crack for this show were the yaoi scenes. Now before you run off to find out all these scenes you apparently missed, it was the sarcastic yaoi scenes that never happened in which I am referring to. Tomoya lies a great deal of the time for some reason (of course his lies about it being 100 years in the future was great as well) and when he lies to Nagisa and says that Youhei is in love with him. Her love scenario was a great laugh and the confusion of the scene was grand. Tomoya also has a misunderstanding later with Mei's plan on romance which leads to a very odd yaoi scenario in his head (which I might add, was much better than the incest scenario that planned just prior to this). It was a great comic relief part of the show...and gave yaoi fans a little bit of material for their fanfictions. :)
He lies so well!
Much better than the incest scene!
Two boys, sharing their love on the beach!
There are some many other great things I could talk about with this show, but I think I have gone on quite a bit! This show was a very well done romance and coming of age type anime. Tomoya’s journey from a bitter young man to a person who brought all these people together was charming to watch. I would not pass it off as just another high school romance anime, it was much more than that. The next season of this show is set to air soon, so I watched Clannad just in time. Hopefully it answers more of the story of the other world and can show Tomoya’s relationships with the other girls in another light. Have a box of tissues at hand and tons of spare time, as this show will make you want to watch all 24 episodes straight.
The random Nintendo moments were amusing.
Fuko is so special.
Yes, he put that up her nose!
Please don't go!!!
Thanks for reading.
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