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CLANNAD - The Movie is an alternate retelling of the Key story animated by Toei. I have to admit after having seen Toei’s previous attempts at Key stories I much prefer Kyoto Animation’s format. Reserving judgement until after having seen the film in it’s entirety I embarked on an alternative journey into the world of CLANNAD.

The one thing that struck me besides the animation design differences, Toei has a much simpler approach to animation and the distinctive use of lens glare which personally I am not a fan of, was the alternate telling of the story. There is a greater use of back story in the movie with the reasons behind Tomoya and Sunohara’s lack of motivation and school participation being explained in detail. Sunohara also has a much larger role than the in the TV series. The other female characters have very much been left on the sidelines and Tomoyo and Kyou have been relegated to the villains of the movie (Considering they are my two favourite characters I am not amused), later I admit they are redeemed but possibly too late in my eyes. I had always hoped for a Tomoyo, Kyou tag team but not in this way, early in the film they literally come across as school bullies. What is made extremely clear is that this is Nagisa and Tomoya’s story. The relationship between the pair is sweet, The character of Nagisa actually reminds me a lot of Misuzu she’s very kawaii at times and has the distinctive giggle I remember so well from Air. Tomoya appears to be less sarcastic and definitely is more depressed this time around. The ‘other world’ is gone into greater detail but I personally dislike the alternative ‘body’ Tomoya inhabits, it’s slightly too clown like for my own personal tastes.

I did enjoy the greater use of back story, I believe that is one thing the other adaptation lacked was an explanation as to why the characters are in their current situations. I really missed the humour from the other show and I hate to compare as much as I am but it is difficult when a company attempts to animate something that is so well done by someone else. With the added crime that Fuuko is nowhere to be seen, I miss the starfish, Kotomi makes 2 brief appearances and Botan is non existent not to mention Ryou, I really struggled to enjoy the movie. The movie lacks the distinct charm of the TV series and without that in my eyes it’s just another anime adaptation of a visual novel. In the movie’s defence it does venture into ‘After Story’ Territory but everything just seems overly rushed for 1 ½ hours and due to this I really struggled to be moved by the ending but it was sweet to see Ushio with her dango just like her mummy. Give the film a whirl if you want an alternate retelling and a bit of fleshed out back story but if you want real drama and beautiful animation stick with CLANNAD-TV.

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