Clannad: the viusal novel about family. We’ve all at least heard of it, many of us are watching it, and a few of us had the pleasure of playing the original 50+ hours VN. By this point, it’s hard for one to call Clannad cliche, or to accuse it of being a stereotypical Key story – the community, from the forums of AnimeSuki to the blogosphere, has already proven otherwise, with countless debates and predictions about the development of the plot and the constant themes throughout the story. More importantly, however, the show has spoken for itself, declaring subtly yet proudly that it’s only a male-targeted fantasy on the outside, and that in reality it holds a much deeper story about the relationships we have with the people around us and the way those relationships make us stronger.
However, even knowing this, it took me this long to come to a conclusion that I should have come to long ago. Clannad is not truly a visual novel, nor was it written by Key; and it’s about as far from generic harem as a show can ever get. Clannad is closer to being a shoujo than anything else, presenting a heartwarming slice-of-life/romance story more than worthy of the best in the genre, and if you’ll give me a moment, I’m prepared to defend that statement.
To begin, let me take a moment and return to the beginning of the series, where Tomoya was the harem lead and Nagisa was the main character.
Clannad begins with the simple story of a delinquent boy with no direction in life and a lonely, introverted girl that had trouble making friends. Their meeting was one of chance, but it was something that changed both of them; Nagisa’s kindheartedness and innocence showed Tomoya but a few of the joys of life, and in turn, his mental strength and constant encouragement helped her overcome her fears.
Meanwhile, the friends they made on the way there each shared their own unique problems. Fuuko was separated from her family but nevertheless wanted her sister to be happy in her married life; Kotomi was a genius that grew up under unusual circumstances, and was very cut off from her parents; Kyou faced the problem of having feelings for her sister’s crush; Tomoyo’s family had to overcome the issue of divorce, resulting a form of solace that she could only find through family; and finally, Nagisa’s loving parents did their best to help her cope with her weaknesses, even if it meant giving up their dreams in the past. On top of that, we have the stories of the Sunohara siblings, Yoshino and his crushed dream of being a rock star, and countless other miniature arcs that serve as a small yet integral part of the whole.
And now, After Story is reaping the benefits of its predecessor: utilizing the season-and-a-half’s worth of character development and forging a relationship that is both heartwarming and believable.
You know a visual novel is good when even the male characters get their own pictures.
When I began to look at Clannad this way, my opinion of the show changed. It isn’t a question of whether or not I liked it, because as I probably mentioned before, I knew I would love the show the moment I saw Nagisa in episode one. The change I’m talking about is something far deeper, far more profound, not unlike the moment you realize that ef is more than an epic love story and Ghost in the Shell is more than cool cyborgs fighting one another. If you allow yourself to forget about the show’s routes for a moment – forget about Key, about the harem lead, and if you’re male, forget about your favourite girl as well – forget everything that we train ourselves to look at as fans, and instead focus only on the story. I think you’ll see where I’m coming from.
Clannad is ultimately a gender-neutral slice-of-life/romance anime, and I daresay it’s one of the best of its kind. With each character bringing a new personality to the table, be it humorous or entertaining or even thought provoking, the lives of the characters in the story quickly become real to the viewer, far more so than any other genre can achieve. When watching Hidamari Sketch/Aria/etc., didn’t you feel as if the characters possessed real personalities? Didn’t their situations – and in the case of romance like Honey and Clover, problems – seem real to you? Speaking from personal experience, my favourite aspect of the whole slice-of-life/romance genre is that the characters are believable, and that is why, ultimately, I would prefer a “perfect” slice of life story over a “perfect” visual novel. A VN can have a good plot and a heart-wrenching conclusion, but rarely can it be believable.
This is where Clannad differs drastically from its kin, and where it has made its impact on me: the show is, quite simply, believable.
A mysterious, bare-footed genius sleeping alone in the library, with a book on her lap and the sunset softly highlighting her delicate features…it sounds like a daydream, and it takes a work of genius to make it believable.
The lack of fanservice, the constant presence of comedy that remains practical (i.e. doesn’t involve crazy adventures and said fanservice), the bonds the characters make as they try to help one another with their problems, and ultimately, the romantic development between Tomoya and Nagisa – all of these things illustrate the point clearly. The fact that Tomoya faces his own problems is the final nail in the stereotype’s coffin: not only are the main girl’s parents relevant, not only does the harem lead’s “useless” friend play a role in the plot (not to mention his dorm keeper), but you, the personification of the person playing the game, also faces his own problems. The player’s avatar serves as one of the main characters, with a believable personality and his own share of weaknesses, and no one who has seen After Story up until now can contradict this. Frankly, Clannad is so unstereotypical that I almost wonder why it appeals to otaku to begin with.
…On second thoughts, maybe that’s why.
Finally, with the premise of the story already set, I would like to draw attention to the recent episodes of AS; specifically, the episodes that brought me to this conclusion at long last.
With the cast of characters effectively reduced to two, the themes of the story are able to shine their strongest. Tomoya’s problems with his father, his apathy toward the world, and his general lack of conviction; Nagisa’s reserved nature and her fear of stepping forward; the two main characters, in their newfound relationship, are able to overcome their trials. When it comes down to it, Tomoya isn’t truly a slacker at all, nor is he uninterested in the world: he simply faced a series of bad experiences, and had no particular reason to have faith in a world that seemed so dull. Likewise, Nagisa was never truly weak, mentally speaking: she simply found it difficult to move forward by herself, and faced with her physical illness, she felt as if the world was moving too fast for her to keep up with it.
That’s why, when these two met, everything fell into place.
If I were a girl, I’d probably be in fangirl-mode by now.
Nagisa rekindles the light in Tomoya’s eyes, teaching him the joy of everyday life and inviting him into the loving family that he never had – likewise, he was able to give her that last push that she needed, helping her climb the hill and reach for her dreams. Alone, they would have never overcome their problems, but together, they can become whole.
Perhaps it was this realization that led to their confession in the twelfth episode and subsequent marriage in the thirteenth. The two characters, while incomplete by themselves, were able to give new meaning to the word “happiness” when they were together. Maybe this is what marriage is supposed to be about? I’m not sure, but what I do know is that none of us in the real world can be defined as “complete” – if we were, then we would have no need for social contact. No man is an island, right? The necessities of life can keep us alive as organisms, but we need a deeper form of nourishment – psychological nourishment – if we hope to survive as humans. This is but one of the many ways in which Clannad, and any slice of life story, breaches the boundary between 2D and 3D: the characters face the same problems that real humans face.
And through their relationship, often bittersweet but always beautiful, Tomoya and Nagisa reached the point that they realized that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. They both matured along the way, facing the hardships of adult life and overcoming those hardships with one another’s support, and in the end, they realized the depth of their love for one another. The topic can be expounded upon with essays and essays, or simply stated in a single sentence, but the truth remains just as simple, as powerful: they love each other. Just as how real humans hopefully meet someone, fall in love, and decide to spend the rest of their lives together, the characters in Clannad have finally realized that their feelings transcend mere teenaged infatuations, and they made the decision of their lives. It’s such a simple, straightforward truth, something that even a child could understand – and yet, sometimes the most obvious answers can be hidden behind the locker room scenes and the godly OP.
Clannad Daikazoku.
At the end of the day, this is much a plea to the fans of Clannad to look beyond what meets the eye – or technically, the exact opposite – as it is an explanation of my love for this show. Honey and Clover still stands as my favourite anime of all time for its painfully realistic depiction of life, and the rest of my favourites list is filled with ef and Key and the like, with their heart-wrenching drama and well-written moe that sets the viewer up for an emotional rollercoaster rather than pandering in the hopes of selling more figures. Clannad is the perfect combination of these things, appearing at first as yet another male-targeted love story yet actually telling a tale of friendship, family, and romance that bloomed between the two most unlikely people that just so happened to be perfectly fit for one another. It’s an idealistic story, in a sense, but it’s also believable – or at least one that I’d like to believe in.
So if you’ve already come to the same conclusion as me, then congratulations! It means that you beat me to understanding arguably one of the best visual novel adaptations ever made, and that you got slightly more out of the show than I did. On the other hand, if you haven’t thought about this before, then I request you ponder on it for a bit while watching the next episode. I’m not going to tell you what to think, nor will I force you to do it, but in this torrent of opinions known as the blogosphere, I felt the need to stand up and make my voice heard: to state that Clannad is far more than just another KeyAni show, and to state that I love it because of that.
~ ETERNAL
つづく
Clannad – Why I Love It, and why it’s probably more than you think
Clannad: the viusal novel about family. We’ve all at least heard of it, many of us are watching it, and a few of us had the pleasure of playing the original 50+ hours VN. By this point, it’s hard for one to call Clannad cliche, or to accuse it of being a stereotypical Key story – the community, from the forums of AnimeSuki to the blogosphere, has already proven otherwise, with countless debates and predictions about the development of the plot and the constant themes throughout the story. More importantly, however, the show has spoken for itself, declaring subtly yet proudly that it’s only a male-targeted fantasy on the outside, and that in reality it holds a much deeper story about the relationships we have with the people around us and the way those relationships make us stronger.
However, even knowing this, it took me this long to come to a conclusion that I should have come to long ago. Clannad is not truly a visual novel, nor was it written by Key; and it’s about as far from generic harem as a show can ever get. Clannad is closer to being a shoujo than anything else, presenting a heartwarming slice-of-life/romance story more than worthy of the best in the genre, and if you’ll give me a moment, I’m prepared to defend that statement.
To begin, let me take a moment and return to the beginning of the series, where Tomoya was the harem lead and Nagisa was the main character.
Clannad begins with the simple story of a delinquent boy with no direction in life and a lonely, introverted girl that had trouble making friends. Their meeting was one of chance, but it was something that changed both of them; Nagisa’s kindheartedness and innocence showed Tomoya but a few of the joys of life, and in turn, his mental strength and constant encouragement helped her overcome her fears.
Meanwhile, the friends they made on the way there each shared their own unique problems. Fuuko was separated from her family but nevertheless wanted her sister to be happy in her married life; Kotomi was a genius that grew up under unusual circumstances, and was very cut off from her parents; Kyou faced the problem of having feelings for her sister’s crush; Tomoyo’s family had to overcome the issue of divorce, resulting a form of solace that she could only find through family; and finally, Nagisa’s loving parents did their best to help her cope with her weaknesses, even if it meant giving up their dreams in the past. On top of that, we have the stories of the Sunohara siblings, Yoshino and his crushed dream of being a rock star, and countless other miniature arcs that serve as a small yet integral part of the whole.
And now, After Story is reaping the benefits of its predecessor: utilizing the season-and-a-half’s worth of character development and forging a relationship that is both heartwarming and believable.
You know a visual novel is good when even the male characters get their own pictures.
When I began to look at Clannad this way, my opinion of the show changed. It isn’t a question of whether or not I liked it, because as I probably mentioned before, I knew I would love the show the moment I saw Nagisa in episode one. The change I’m talking about is something far deeper, far more profound, not unlike the moment you realize that ef is more than an epic love story and Ghost in the Shell is more than cool cyborgs fighting one another. If you allow yourself to forget about the show’s routes for a moment – forget about Key, about the harem lead, and if you’re male, forget about your favourite girl as well – forget everything that we train ourselves to look at as fans, and instead focus only on the story. I think you’ll see where I’m coming from.
Clannad is ultimately a gender-neutral slice-of-life/romance anime, and I daresay it’s one of the best of its kind. With each character bringing a new personality to the table, be it humorous or entertaining or even thought provoking, the lives of the characters in the story quickly become real to the viewer, far more so than any other genre can achieve. When watching Hidamari Sketch/Aria/etc., didn’t you feel as if the characters possessed real personalities? Didn’t their situations – and in the case of romance like Honey and Clover, problems – seem real to you? Speaking from personal experience, my favourite aspect of the whole slice-of-life/romance genre is that the characters are believable, and that is why, ultimately, I would prefer a “perfect” slice of life story over a “perfect” visual novel. A VN can have a good plot and a heart-wrenching conclusion, but rarely can it be believable.
This is where Clannad differs drastically from its kin, and where it has made its impact on me: the show is, quite simply, believable.
A mysterious, bare-footed genius sleeping alone in the library, with a book on her lap and the sunset softly highlighting her delicate features…it sounds like a daydream, and it takes a work of genius to make it believable.
The lack of fanservice, the constant presence of comedy that remains practical (i.e. doesn’t involve crazy adventures and said fanservice), the bonds the characters make as they try to help one another with their problems, and ultimately, the romantic development between Tomoya and Nagisa – all of these things illustrate the point clearly. The fact that Tomoya faces his own problems is the final nail in the stereotype’s coffin: not only are the main girl’s parents relevant, not only does the harem lead’s “useless” friend play a role in the plot (not to mention his dorm keeper), but you, the personification of the person playing the game, also faces his own problems. The player’s avatar serves as one of the main characters, with a believable personality and his own share of weaknesses, and no one who has seen After Story up until now can contradict this. Frankly, Clannad is so unstereotypical that I almost wonder why it appeals to otaku to begin with.
…On second thoughts, maybe that’s why.
Finally, with the premise of the story already set, I would like to draw attention to the recent episodes of AS; specifically, the episodes that brought me to this conclusion at long last.
With the cast of characters effectively reduced to two, the themes of the story are able to shine their strongest. Tomoya’s problems with his father, his apathy toward the world, and his general lack of conviction; Nagisa’s reserved nature and her fear of stepping forward; the two main characters, in their newfound relationship, are able to overcome their trials. When it comes down to it, Tomoya isn’t truly a slacker at all, nor is he uninterested in the world: he simply faced a series of bad experiences, and had no particular reason to have faith in a world that seemed so dull. Likewise, Nagisa was never truly weak, mentally speaking: she simply found it difficult to move forward by herself, and faced with her physical illness, she felt as if the world was moving too fast for her to keep up with it.
That’s why, when these two met, everything fell into place.
If I were a girl, I’d probably be in fangirl-mode by now.
Nagisa rekindles the light in Tomoya’s eyes, teaching him the joy of everyday life and inviting him into the loving family that he never had – likewise, he was able to give her that last push that she needed, helping her climb the hill and reach for her dreams. Alone, they would have never overcome their problems, but together, they can become whole.
Perhaps it was this realization that led to their confession in the twelfth episode and subsequent marriage in the thirteenth. The two characters, while incomplete by themselves, were able to give new meaning to the word “happiness” when they were together. Maybe this is what marriage is supposed to be about? I’m not sure, but what I do know is that none of us in the real world can be defined as “complete” – if we were, then we would have no need for social contact. No man is an island, right? The necessities of life can keep us alive as organisms, but we need a deeper form of nourishment – psychological nourishment – if we hope to survive as humans. This is but one of the many ways in which Clannad, and any slice of life story, breaches the boundary between 2D and 3D: the characters face the same problems that real humans face.
And through their relationship, often bittersweet but always beautiful, Tomoya and Nagisa reached the point that they realized that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together. They both matured along the way, facing the hardships of adult life and overcoming those hardships with one another’s support, and in the end, they realized the depth of their love for one another. The topic can be expounded upon with essays and essays, or simply stated in a single sentence, but the truth remains just as simple, as powerful: they love each other. Just as how real humans hopefully meet someone, fall in love, and decide to spend the rest of their lives together, the characters in Clannad have finally realized that their feelings transcend mere teenaged infatuations, and they made the decision of their lives. It’s such a simple, straightforward truth, something that even a child could understand – and yet, sometimes the most obvious answers can be hidden behind the locker room scenes and the godly OP.
Clannad Daikazoku.
At the end of the day, this is much a plea to the fans of Clannad to look beyond what meets the eye – or technically, the exact opposite – as it is an explanation of my love for this show. Honey and Clover still stands as my favourite anime of all time for its painfully realistic depiction of life, and the rest of my favourites list is filled with ef and Key and the like, with their heart-wrenching drama and well-written moe that sets the viewer up for an emotional rollercoaster rather than pandering in the hopes of selling more figures. Clannad is the perfect combination of these things, appearing at first as yet another male-targeted love story yet actually telling a tale of friendship, family, and romance that bloomed between the two most unlikely people that just so happened to be perfectly fit for one another. It’s an idealistic story, in a sense, but it’s also believable – or at least one that I’d like to believe in.
So if you’ve already come to the same conclusion as me, then congratulations! It means that you beat me to understanding arguably one of the best visual novel adaptations ever made, and that you got slightly more out of the show than I did. On the other hand, if you haven’t thought about this before, then I request you ponder on it for a bit while watching the next episode. I’m not going to tell you what to think, nor will I force you to do it, but in this torrent of opinions known as the blogosphere, I felt the need to stand up and make my voice heard: to state that Clannad is far more than just another KeyAni show, and to state that I love it because of that.
~ ETERNAL
つづく