Follow Through: Clannad Fever, I'm infected!

Anime Review: GAME! September 2009 issue

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Buíoch as cara is clann (Appreciating friends and family)
The wonderful world of Clannad
By Melissa Silvestre

“You rolling thunder.... KAH!” – Sunohara.

A statement so random, it becomes epic. Whatever he meant- if thunder does roll, we’ll never know. That is one of the lines that you’ll encounter in this supposed anime filled with drama, inspired by love and driven by comical antics as such.

Clannad is a romantic comedy produced by Kyoto Animation, an acclaimed animation studio which boasts amazing works; such as, The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi and Lucky Star. It was among the adaptations from a visual novel by Key, following Kanon and Air.

What started out as a game, evolved into an anime series that run for two seasons, a movie and even a PS2 game. Though most of you may frown at its genre, I say it’s still worth checking out. I’m not a big fan of Love and Drama combined, but the anime is like a roller coaster of emotions that will keep you hanging in your seats- you’ll laugh, frown and cry, but surely you’ll be entertained.

Clannad has an appeal of deviating from the stereotypical. To be quite honest, I’m tired of the same old cliché where the lead character takes all the glory, gets all the girls and solves all the world’s problems. Here, the main character isn’t the one who solves all the problems on his own. Though he does play a vital role, it’s either another character who ends up saving the damsel in distress, or the combination of all the characters altogether. The synergy of their friendship is quite astounding.

This particular anime is not like most mainstream harems. The usual two or more girls (in this case, five) go ga ga over the protagonist and almost every female character falls in love with the main character at one point or another. Coincidentally, things don’t always work out between the two, which causes break ups. What’s interesting is each of these girls has their own peculiar personality and seeing it evolve throughout the story will keep your eyes peeled for more. And for a drama- it’s unbelievably funny.

Clannad follows the life of Okazaki Tomoya and the people around him. The first episode introduces you to the lead character, narrating how miserable his life is. He studies at a local high school and often skips class with his hilarious partner-in-crime Sunohara Youhei.

The story then focuses on Tomoya and Nagisa, the two runs on each other on the way to school, which jumpstarts their extraordinary tale. Along the way, they hang out with interesting characters from school such as the school representative twins, a genius who desperately wants to play the violin and an ex-fighter who beats up delinquents.

Though some claim that KyoAni wasn’t able to capture each of the character’s arc completely, that they could have given more details and fuller stories of each of the characters, instead of being sub-plots to the Tomoya – Nagisa tandem.

The graphics, as expected, is exceptional. The music helped a lot in developing the emotions of the characters and in building the mood of a particular scene. While the anime also has its flaws, there are elements that have been carried out exceptionally well. Albeit the drama is not as intense as the previous visual novel adaptations, the continuous character development that the two leads go through makes up for it.

If you’re tired of complicated sword fights and incessant battle-oriented animes, then this one might just do you good. Clannad is a good and meaningful watch, asserting the significance of having friends and family. If you’re looking for something different from the traditional, be moved and at the same time laugh, then better try this out. You never know, those tissues might be handy.

The characters:

Okazaki Tomoya – The male protagonist, considered as a delinquent. His mom died in a car accident when he was young and had been living with his drunkard father who argues with him almost all the time.

Nagisa Furukawa – the main heroine. A year older than Tomoya, she had to repeat her junior year after a mysterious illness that lasted for nine months. She dreams of joining the drama club, but after learning that it was disbanded, she aimed to re-establish it. She tends to mutter the names of food that she wants to eat and she also likes a group mascot known as "Dango Daikazoku”.

Sunohara Youhei - a comic relief, who almost always get disciplined by others due to his antics. Also a delinquent, he is the only student with a higher absence rate than Tomoya. He and Tomoya are known as the "Dirty Pair" in school.

Fujibayashi Kyou - is an aggressive girl who is good in cooking. She is the older twin sister of Ryou and is the class representative of her class. She throws dictionaries towards anyone she’s infuriated with.

Fujibayashi Ryou - is Tomoya's classmate and also a class representative. She is enthusiastic about fortune telling, but her predictions aren’t really accurate.

Ichinose Kotomi - A very quiet girl. She is in the top ten for every subject throughout the whole country and wants to play the violin, though she’s not any good at it.