Master Presentations: “Clannad” (Written Review; Part 2)

Please consider supporting these articles on Patreon.

Read Part 1.

As mentioned before, there are a lot of characters in “Clannad”, or rather, a lot of characters that are relevant to this diegesis to some degree, whether for just moving the plot forward, further developing its context or for more unpredictable reasons. Taking the time to fully analyse them all would be too much of a hassle, therefore, for the sake of a slightly less threatening wall of text, I’m just going to focus on some of the main players. First of all, in the first two episodes we are fully introduced to the not-so generic protagonist, Tomoya, a cool and slightly jerkish guy that hides a greater sorrow behind his “carefree delinquent” attitude. His deadbeat, constantly drunk father accidentally injured him at a younger age, basically destroying his dream of becoming a basketball player; as such he has nothing but loathe for the tragically undignified old man, to the point that he would often spend the night to his best buddy’s room or Nagisa’s home, later on in the show.

Youhei Sunohara was Tomoya’s first real friend and, while he’s mostly treated like a complete buffoon and gets either beat up or made fun of on a regular basis (half the time deservingly), his role in this piece is far more pro-active than his “earlier version” appearing in “Kanon” ever was - because there is a Youhei in every Key game and show, apparently.

Tomoya’s other friends range from the twin sisters, Kyou and Ryou Fujibayashi, both of whom have an affection for the boy that they will try to pursue in their own unique way, Kotomi Ichinose, a genius student with severely-lacking social skills that just happened to be his childhood acquaintance (because of course she was!), and Tomoyo Sakagami, a former ruler of the streets now turned into a model student in order to achieve her ambitions; incidentally, her favourite hobby is to lock Youhei into inescapable Super Ultra Combos - I’m not even kidding.

Finally, when describing the character of Nagisa, it’s impossible not to consider the (very, very) important role her parents play in both the shaping of her own background and her current, strong-willed yet physically-compromised condition. Unfortunately, any further delving into that argument would inevitably lead us into dangerous spoiler territory. Suffice to say that her outstanding, loving, utterly devoted and extremely cool (not to mention, ludicrously young-looking) relatives represent at least 50% of the reasons why the entire two seasons-long main story works so well - especially the father, Akio Furugawa. They primarily act as motivators for both their daughter and their “spiritual” son, Tomoya, while helping them out in surprisingly effectual ways during the course of their growth and the evolution of their mutual relationship. In the specific case of Akio, his presence will be necessary for the positive resolution of Nagisa’s arc by the end of the first series.

Speaking or arcs, at some point in this review I might have implied that “Clannad” was basically a better done “Kanon” (although it’s much more than that) and in the curious case of Fuko Ibuki, that subtle statement ends up bumping onto my face with a certain amount of violence. Fuko’s character is a complete rehearsal of Ayu Tsukimiya from said previous game/animation but with one fundamental twist that significantly changes the entire perspective of the event, leading the audience to their first relentless sobbing session of the show - the first of many.

Admittedly, the obligatory un-explainable super-natural elements (because there are un-explainable super-natural elements in this anime as well) aren’t properly introduced or implemented in the narrative as competently as “Kanon” did - but only at first. The occasional mentioning of an “Another World” and the conceptual idea of the city itself being alive and ever-changing along with its inhabitants, are incredibly fascinating themes that get barely introduced and touched upon in this first season; they will eventually serve a greater purpose in the subsequent follow-up, the misleadingly-titled “After Story.” Speaking of the great importance that lies in the Unknown, every once in a while (usually at the beginning of every arc), we are shown a well-animated short sequence depicting a strange, post-apocalyptic fantasy realm inhabited by a lonely little girl and the steam-punk looking mechanical teddy bear she built out of scrap. It’s pretty much at this point that the show goes from being just a refreshingly well-written tale about the passage between adolescence and adulthood to a fully brows-held-high parable about the human condition and Life in general. Again, a full analysis about said parable would require too much text; let’s just say that this peculiar “story within the story” serves at least three major purposes: it portrays the events of the main narrative (and various “side-quests” if you will) under the light of a meta-referential parallelism (just like that comic book about pirates in “Watchmen” did, for example), it functions as an unmistakably ominous element of Epic Foreshadowing for impending tragedies to come (and they will come, believe me) and it will eventually turn into a plot point by the end of “After Story”, the second season. As for season one, that metaphor will end up having a much more humble and predictable role.



In conclusion, “Clannad” isn’t the full story, it’s just part of it, or rather, it’s the prologue that takes upon itself to properly introduce the characters and their setting in preparation of bigger things to come in the sequel. It does a good job in defining its context and situations, family and sentimental bonds and the more visual novel-like scenarios. Even with a few holes here and there, it would still work perfectly as a stand-alone feature with a genuinely hopeful and more than deserved comeuppance for our beloved protagonists… but unfortunately that was not the case, as “After Story” made abundantly clear. If you’re planning to watch this series in its entirety, let me give you one small piece of advice: get a pair of brand new tear ducts. You’re going to need them.



As always, this has been Madhog thy Master. Thank you for reading.

