Kyoto Animation’s CLANNAD was in my eyes the show that made Fall season. I don’t think I could sing the praises of this show higher, possibly with the exception of wanting the second series right now! Most people have already heard of CLANNAD by now, the supernatural, high school, comical drama that needs no introduction. After all having been made by Kyoto Animation I never doubted this show’s greatness, the initial worry was more would it live up to it’s predecessors which to me it did. Possibly not quite as moving as Kanon or Air and for once with a happy ending, for now anyway.
What shone in CLANNAD was the humour, some of the scenarios put together were on par with the best comedy shows. Whilst watching the same episode you could be falling of your chair with laughter one moment and then sobbing your heart out the next. This show represented what makes both Key and KyoAni the current masters of story telling they know just how to tweak human emotions. The animation is beautiful to behold, one thing that always amazes with KyoAni’s work is I can never spot filler drawings, everything is drawn with the same attention to detail, it is often truly astounding that they manage to keep this standard of work up with every series they produce.
The story arcs of each of the girls are each thought provoking and emotion filled. No girl is unlovable but each has a special charm and individual personality that makes you root for each one in turn to win over Tomoya, but also hope they find what they are each are searching for due to their tragic past’s. KyoAni did a great job linking KEY’s stories together, making each story arc transition flawlessly, every week I found you would welcome the girls and boys from CLANNAD into your life eagerly anticipating just what will happen next, as if you have previously seen KEY adaptations you will know anything can happen. My only disappointment was the short arcs of my favourite girls Tomoyo and Kyou, that said I am well aware that due to this being Nagisa’s show their arcs from the game would have caused confusion and contradicted the eventual route of the show.
The KyoAni heroine’s and stereotypes were out in force in this show, with each girl in CLANNAD representing the personality of a much loved girl from a previous show. Anyway this was my interpretation, I’m not sure who would agree - Nagisa (Misuzu), Fuko (Ayu), Kotomi (Sayuri), Tomoyo (Mai), Kyou (Haruhi/Kagami), Ryou (Shiori/Tsukasa), the twins also bore an amazing resemblace to the Lucky Star twins themselves. For the KyoAni fannatics amongst us there was a lot of symbolizum (almost like the hidden Mickey in Disney) to honour previous shows throughout. I recommend a second viewing to see if you can spot them all.
The only problem with CLANNAD is it is still unfinished and the ending felt very much like there was so much story left to be told thus this feels more like a mid season review. Thankfully with CLANNAD - After Story on the horizon the tale is not yet finished. Watch CLANNAD you won’t regret it, this is yet another jewel to add to KyoAni’s crown, lets just hope After Story finally completes CLANNAD successfully and makes it an even better series than Kanon, which currently is still slightly better due to feeling closer to completion. As a series CLANNAD definately delivers on almost every emotional level, humour, sadness and angst, this show is a pure joy to watch and all wrapped up with KyoAni’s beautiful animation could you honestly ask for much more besides another season?
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