Clannad ~After Story~ [ep 9]

I take back what I said, KyoAni; looks like Clannad is still awesome after all. After going through a multitude of side arcs, some of which were great (and others, not so much), it appears as if it’s finally rabu-rabu time. And knowing me, that can only mean one thing: it’s time to start eagerly anticipating the release of each week’s subs again.

Instant K.O. (for me, not Tomoya)

Interesting fact. I hope I remember to celebrate her birthday this year ^^;

Copypasta.

*mental image* …enough said.

Yeah, she’d make a great Kindergarten teacher…

Ah…moments like this are what keep me watching anime.

She seems like the type to not get all of the candles on her first try. Oddly enough, the same thing used to happen to me.

Clannad: the only visual novel that can make celebrating Christmas with the family heartwarming instead of boring.

Quite an interesting point to bring up. Sunohara was discussed in much greater detail during his arc, but I suppose it really is true that they’re similar, in more ways than one. Once more, congrats to Key for writing a stereotypical harem lead’s friend that’s actually not a half bad character. And who has a moelicious sister.

Real men don’t fight, they cry.

TWO hand-holding scenes in a single episode?! Whomever directed this episode/wrote this story now officially wins at life.

One of the most pleasing conclusions to an After Story episode that I’ve seen, aesthetically or otherwise. Also, the instrumental version of the OP is amazing.

Ah…where to begin? After teasing us with bits and pieces of the love story between Tomoya and Nagisa ever since the first season (at which point in time I distinctly recall thinking that I would keep watching even if it turned into a shoujo about said pairing), it looks like we’re finally hitting some solid material. I enjoyed this episode from beginning to end, though partially due to my bias toward the current story, and it looks like we have good things in store for us in the future. (And for what it’s worth, it’s almost contradictory to say that you’re writing about your thoughts on an episode and you’re not including your own bias.)

Aside from the high quanity of Nagisa in this ep – which was a huge part of my enjoyment, I assure you – probably the biggest highlight of this one was the fact that we got a first-hand look at her relationship with Tomoya. We already knew that they were going out, but seeing them together for most of the episode really drove the point home; they’re a couple, and I could never get tired of watching them. I would seriously watch an entire spinoff dedicated to those two, as long as the quality is up to par.

Otherwise, the tearjerking kinda kicks in with the graduation and the fact that Nagisa was left behind (even a normal graduation scene would make me sad), but the heartwarming family themes seem to overpower it in the end. I actually think that this is a good thing, especially since AIR was a pure tragedy and Kanon was just an emotional rollercoaster from beginning to end; I labeled Clannad as the healing, heartwarming member of the Key family while watching the first season in the spring, and it looks like it’s holding true to that name. Regardless of what tragedies strike – Nagisa’s illness or Fuuko’s “death” – there always seems to be something, somewhere, that gives you that warm, fuzzy feeling and makes you want to keep on watching until you fall asleep. It’s a rare thing to find in anime, where watching a single 22 minute episode is enough to disintegrate a week’s worth of worry and stress, but that’s precisely why people (myself included) enjoy it; because it does something different to our emotions than making us cry.

In the end, the (somewhat out-of-place) ED played after a highly satisfying scene between Tomoya and Nagisa, leaving me with more than enough energy to last until the next ep (which looks great by the way). In the end, I don’t think there’s anything particularly deep or dramatic about Clannad, and even the tragic moments probably can’t compare to other similar stories, but in my eyes, that isn’t what the show is about. It’s about the stuff like this, the stuff that simultaneously invigorates you to write a post about it and go tell the world, and to lie down in bed and drift away to the sound of the OP. It’s a rare thing, and it’s an amazing thing.

~ ETERNAL
つづく