Clannad ~After Story~ - Episode 10

After suggesting that episode nine of After Story dragged on a bit despite covering some important ground, I'm not really sure that I can say anything different about the series' tenth instalment - Once again, everything it shows is a necessity to moving the story forward in the direction that it needs to go, but unfortunately none of it is all that interesting above and beyond simply building up the plot.

After graduating, Tomoya is looking for a job, which he soon finds courtesy of (where else) Sanae's bakery, while the beginning of a new school year sees Nagisa fit enough to start retaking her final year for the second time. However, Tomoya knows that it's about time he tries to stand on his own two feet, so by the end of the episode he has himself a small, slightly run-down apartment (which he isn't sharing with Nagisa.... yet) and a better job, working with Yoshino for the electrical company that he's a part of, an exhausting job that involves a lot of climbing around on telegraph poles (although doubtless this is still inherently safer than dealing with any of Sanae's bread).


I would imagine that from reading that brief synopsis alone you can figure out why this isn't the most compelling of episodes to watch aside from simply moving the story along, as there's no room for either deep-running emotions or any decent humour to speak of. Thus, this is very much a "heads down, let's get on with it" instalment of After Story, that clearly has its eyes on getting to "the important stuff" without fuss. I suppose to some extent I can admire that decision, but it does make for some rather empty viewing as we're forced to go through the motions along with Tomoya and company, frustrated in the knowledge that we're still a little way short of the real meat of the series.