Oh please, we only watched Clannad for the hot Kyou on Ryou action. Tomoya and Nagisa agree with me. Look at the smile on their faces.

http://53rg10.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/clannad12-06resized.png

But to me the most endearing thing about Clannad is that it just didn’t end with Tomoya’s and Nagisa’s declaration of love, or their graduation from high school. So many slice of life, romance, and harem anime end at the declaration of love or at high school graduation, that’s it, end of the ball game, life stops there, there’s nothing beyond high school.

Real life continues past well past this point, the high school years are just the training wheels for life, and Clannad shows what comes after those brief years. We get to watch Nagisa and Tomoya move their relationship from a high school love to a more mature adult love, a love that has to deal with issues of work, money, living together, marriage, and having children. While Clannad like most anime of it’s type has a lot of over the top melodrama, I find it’s emotional ups and downs, and it’s triumphs and tragedies refreshing when compared to most anime of it’s genre.

@ Martin: It’s nice to know that I converted someone :P
But in all seriousness, thanks for reading, and I’m glad the post was able to help show you that. Just make sure to keep watching ;P

@ IKnight: Well, on a slightly unrelated topic based on what you said, I definitely agree with the notion that these stories generally appeal more to young adults. It isn’t a rule or anything, but especially when you’re talking about not only a show but also a blog post, it’s no wonder that much of my praise is due to the fact that the show covers issues that are just out of a teenager’s reach, but still close enough to be relateable: I admit that a large portion of my fandom for this show (and romance in general) is due to the fact that I fit the target demographic. That’s also why I haven’t watched LoGH yet.

But with that said, I agree that “slice-of-life” can mean much more than what one would think. Indeed, some stories target many of life’s more difficult aspects that a wider range of viewers can relate to, and I acknowledge that objectively shows like Clannad aren’t necessarily the epitome of “realistic”. But regardless, as far as opinion is concerned, mine is pretty much set in stone.

(also, I like how you singled out that line about how they “love” each other – logically, your point makes sense, but in my eyes it looks just a bit too cynical to believe in. I guess it just goes to show how diverse the demographics of the ‘sphere can be, and how these things make their way into your writing without the writer even noticing it…but that’s a post for another day :P)

@ FlameStrike: I don’t believe the patch has been officially released (and I don’t think After Story was translated in the leaked version), but I’ll definitely play it when the translation is out. Assuming that I manage to finish Fate/stay night, that is; the game is huge, and I think Clannad is even longer.

@ M12: Tomoya’s development is easily one of my favourite parts of the story as well. Back during season one, I unofficially named him as the “greatest harem lead ever”, but now I think it would be an insult to even compare him to the other harem leads. He’s a full-fledged character, and his development is more believable than any onlooker who hasn’t seen the show would believe.

@ tai: Well, the trick with slice-of-life is that it’s very hit or miss. For example (and I know this would be considered blasphemy to many), but even after three seasons and an OVA of Aria, I still couldn’t get into it. I had the same problem with Hidamari Sketch: the adventures were too plain to be interesting, and they were severely lacking in comedy, so the shows wound up being boring in my eyes. On the other hand, H&C struck me as beautiful because the characters felt far deeper than any other anime characters that I’d seen, and their problems in life were problems that I could actually understand and relate to (unlike falling for a perfect childhood friend, etc etc).

That said, I’m sure many people could tell me the same thing about Aria – about how the main character’s way of tackling life with a smile can be used as a deep, philosophical statement or something of the sort – and even then, I still wouldn’t understand. I hate discouraging discussion with “let’s agree to disagree” statements, but sometimes, it’s the only thing you can do. After all, we wouldn’t make much of a community if we agreed on everything, and clashing one subjective opinion against another rarely yields any results.

@ tflops: I definitely agree with that whole “warmhearted feeling” idea – I always end up feeling like that when watching the show, even just from the OP. I’m not sure how they do it. It probably has something to do with the skillful writing and directing, but sometimes, I find it easier to be a n00b and simply say “it’s the magic of good anime” :P

(that has to be the longest comment I’ve ever written…I think it’s time to start looking into threaded comments ^^;)

Also, I like the way the director directs every episode, and every single episode, declares a good story which has good outcomes and warmhearted feeling. All of the anime I’ve watched from the genre slice-of-life, the preview of the next episode outstands me far more greater expectations and want to watch it more.

Except, yeah, I understand what tai’s talking about the Honey & Clover series, it’s way too predictable. I’m sorry they have no chemistry at all. I like Honey and Clover but not as much that I love more of Clannad.

tflopss last blog post..Staffs for New Full Metal Alchemist Anime

It was totally believable, totally imaginable, in fact when I watched Honey and Clover I thought “there is probably a group of people in exactly the same situation feeling exactly the same thing”. And to put it simply, that’s exactly why the show can’t become a part of my favourites.

On the other hand, Clannad is still within the bounds of believability but is definitely trying to push its way out. Individually, each of the characters have a strong, realistic story; they are all exceptional cases yet still have believable histories. But when we put them together it’s clearly a big coincidence.

However, as much of a coincidence as it is, I argue that that is a good thing. In Honey and Clover, we see how otherwise normal students interact and live with each other. I see that every day, why would I want to watch it? I would rather go out and experience it myself; in fact, I do experience it myself. And, strangely or not, it bothers me that I’m watching a story I have already started creating with my own life.

I am somehow reminded of these lyrics from the Kannagi OP theme: “madamada jimidane, kiss mo jimidane” meaning “It’s still plain, even a kiss is plain”
and that’s exactly how I feel about Honey and Clover.

But when it comes to Clannad, I’m forced to think. The believable characters have gathered in the extra-ordinary fashion; how are they going to interact as a group? How is their strange history going to affect their relationships between each other? The limit of my commonplace social analysis has been exceeded, and the new connections I have to make or understand is exactly why I love Clannad. Without these unusual circumstances I would never be able to feel for myself such contrasting emotions, like juxtaposition of pain and relief the Fujibayashi sisters felt during the tennis match in Episode 18. I loved that scene very much in particular, because that was when everything from the previous seventeen episodes fell together and the characters finally came to realize their own place in the Clannad family.

tais last blog post..Nagisa Furukawa vs. Teletha Testarossa

I haven’t studied Clannad as well as you have. To be honest, during the first season, I nearly dropped it! But as the episodes progressed, I got to see the characters become friends, and doing stupid things together. As their bonds strengthened, I became fond of them, too.

And yeah, overall, the story’s very nice. Tomoyo’s backstory moved me a lot. I enjoyed the love triangle deal between Ryou, Kyou and Tomoyoa. Well, I only experienced it in the audio drama. It’s my favourite one out of the audio drama series.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Nagisa a lot. I have a figurine of her, so yeah. Having said that, her history reminded me of characters from old school anime. You know, “a sick girl who’s trying her best”. It didn’t appeal to me a lot. Hey, perhaps that’s retro, which is cool. Anyway, I tried to dive a little deeper, but to be honest, I haven’t found much more.

Then we have the After Story. I remember Sunohara’s arc. Sunohara fought Tomoya in the rain. Is that supposed to be GAR? Why were so many people impressed? I don’t understand. Also, I hoped for more character development from Youhei. I don’t feel like he’s really changed.

Next we have Yukine’s arc. Nagisa fed everyone the rainbow pan. As a result, Tomoya has to fight that other guy. How can a joke influence the plot so much? It felt very absurd to me.

Having said that, I like how AS is progressing now. The story between Nagisa and Okazaki’s good stuff. I love it how Tomoya acts very mature now. It’s really special, because it reminds me of what I’ve been through in high school. You know, when you’re a teenager, you act very immature, etc. So, Tomoyo’s change is very realistic. I appreciate it.

M12_Vinjas last blog post..Departure 3koma – 1

Oh yeah, if you haven’t read the Clannad VN I STRONGLY suggest you check it out. I bet you’ll love it.