Clannad: Another World, Kyou Chapter OVA

I suppose before I embark on any discussion of this new Clannad OVA, I should mention two things: Firstly, the previous Tomoyo After OVA was perhaps the pinnacle of the Clannad franchise for me (yes, I am a sucker for Tomoyo) and secondly, after Nagisa's death in After Story I was really rooting for Tomoya to end up with Kyou for a short period of time. With that in mind, surely I should love the concept of this OVA?


Rather oddly given its title, Kyou doesn't feature quite as much as you might expect - Indeed, the episode opens with Kyou looking morose and staring out of the window at a rain-filled sky while her younger sister Ryou confesses to Tomoya, who is himself unsure of what to say but somewhat reluctantly accepts her feelings (if only, you feel, to see what happens).

So, Ryou and Tomoya start dating, but things start to fall apart when a chance meeting between Tomoya and Kyou almost leads to some kissing practice between the two (possibly the momst cliched thing to happen in an episode of anime ever, but never mind); the rumours which follow on at school from this lead Kyou to rashly (and falsely) confess to Sunohara, a state of affairs which inadvertently leads to Tomoya finding out Kyou's true feelings. Thus, the Kyou/Ryou/Tomoya love triangle ebbs and flows before moving on towards its inevitable happy ending for the "featured girl" of the OVA.

I have to confess that, as much as I thought the ending to this OVA was really sweet, I far preferred Tomoyo's "alternate reality" to Kyou's as an overall offering - There was a real strength to that episode that seems lacking here, leaving this OVA to go through the motions somewhat without ever stepping out of the comfort zone of the typical romantic drama that it portrays. Not that it's all bad by any means - We get to see a more rounded version of both Fujibayashi sisters than we ever saw in the Clannad series proper, with Ryou in particular exhibiting some sibling rivalry and jealousy that you might never have expected from her, while Kyou's weaker side really comes to the fore here. It's that part of the "alternate reality" here (coupled with a few beautifully realised scenes) which caught my interest the most, doing its part to raise an otherwise utterly average attempt at placating Clannad's Kyou-loving fans towards claiming a place as a worthwhile part of the franchise as a whole.

Clannad ~After Story~ - Episode 24 (Completed)

It has to be said that Clannad isn't really something that can be summed up in a single episode, and thus with that in mind After Story's attempt to pull together forty-six episodes of plot in such a manner is probably a slightly ill-conceived concept. Needless to say, it's hugely rushed, and the attempt to pull it together as a monologue from Tomoya to Ushio starts to fall apart when he gets to "and then you died and so did I but we didn't really or did we?". It's nothing against After Story as a whole, it simply doesn't work in this particular form.


Speaking of that ending and how it has succeeded in confusing some, and seeing as I don't have a lot else to say about this particular instalment, here's a diagram (not drawn up by me, I hasten to add) of a Clannad "timeline" of sorts (click for the full-sized image):


Overall, I have to admit that in many ways I preferred the care-free schooldays of Clannad to the harsh realities of adult life that After Story frequently bombarded us with as far as sheer entertainment factor goes, but that's just me I suppose. Having said that, After Story did a very good job all in all of presenting the story that it had to work with, and really brought some beautiful and emotional poignancy to its hardest moments, which is well worth some kudos if you ask me. Even given my doubts about the projected ending, I was actually quite pleased to see it when it came about, which is probably about the best thumbs up I can give After Story really.

Clannad ~After Story~ - Episode 23

I was fully expecting this to be the final episode of Clannad - After Story, but appears that there's going to be one last episode after this one (if it counts as an episode per se, it's only going to be some kind of compilation clip show of sorts). So, with the actual storyline completed in episode twenty-two, we're left with this instalment to fill, and thankfully KyoAni have decided to shy away from filling an episode with killing and resurrecting more small children and their mothers.

Instead, we travel back in time to the beginning of Tomoya and friends second year at school (or third if you're Nagisa and are repeating a year). This gives us ample opportunity to see Tomoya and Sunohara hanging around, generally misbehaving and pulling pranks aplenty, while also allowing us to see their introduction to Kyou.


Meanwhile, Nagisa is struggling to make friends in her new class, a path eased in the most unlikely manner by Tomoya, who also gives her an inadvertent life lesson when she's caught up in one of Sunohara and his pranks - Quite a cute way of tying Nagisa and Tomoya together before they actually meet properly, it has to be said.

Anyway, after often exclaiming that I prefer Clannad when it's trying to be a life hearted school series than when it gets all serious and depressing, I enjoyed the chance to make the most of one final slice of just that. Maybe it's because this is the final episode proper (compilation show aside), but Sanae's bread-related outbursts were all the funnier, and it was really just nice to see a bit more of Kyou truth be told. I can't really blame anyone who can't be bothered to watch this episode seeing as it doesn't really fit into the rest of After Story, but as a final little dose of Clannad-flavoured distraction I can't complain.

Clannad ~After Story~ - Episode 22

So here we are at last, at the "final" (bonus episode aside) instalment of Clannad - After Story that we've all been looking forward to. Or dreading, depending on your perspective on these things.

Throughout Clannad I've stated my disinterest in the whole "other world", supernatural side of the story, but by the end of the last episode and its shockingly cruel climax I was starting to wamr the idea of something, anything, that would make for a happier ending. I'm all for gritty reality, but After Story seemed ready to toss a metric tonne of grit in my eye whilst stranded in the middle of a sandstorm.


Of course, this ending to the story turns it all around via a decidedly trippy first half that really defies explanation - Somehow had clearly been hoarding a bunch of the show's animation budget for this moment though. Acid trip over, we find ourselves "rebooted" back to the point where Nagisa has just given birth, only this time there's no death or sadness, just a nice long montage of happiness for all of Clannad's major characters. Hurrah! I'm not too sure how I'd explain this whole scenario officially, so I will just assume that the town featured in Clannad is running Windows XP with System Restore enabled, and someone screwed up their PC and had to restore back from before the "oops, Nagisa died" save point. Yep, that about covers it.

The series proper ends with some cute Fuuko comedy (I really did laugh out loud at her attempts to act adult), and a very final scene that I can't really explain too well either. It's nothing to do with Windows though.

Despite being all ready to hate this cheap get-out clause of an ending... Well, I kind of liked it. Yes, of course it is a huge cheat after everything they've put us through in recent episodes, but for once I don't begrudge this series a happy ending to polish things off - Clannad was always meant to be a lovable little show rather than some kind of School Days effort, and with that in mind this ending was a pretty good fit. It was nonsense, but it was warm, fuzzy nonsense, so it is duly forgiven.

Clannad ~After Story~ - Episode 21

After the ending to the last episode of After Story, with Ushio collapsing through illness, it was pretty apparent that this wasn't going to be the most cheerful of episodes, but boy was this penultimate episode of the series proper depressing even by those standards.

As we'd half-expected, Ushio's illness is confirmed to be the same mysterious disease that afflicted Nagisa, leaving Ushio entirely bed-ridden and meaning Tomoya ends up giving up his job to care for his daughter (leaving us with a scene where I thought I was going to well up just from the exchange of screwdrivers, bizarrely).


Things really don't get any better as far as Ushio's health is concerned as the episode progresses, but the only thing she wants to do is take a trip with her Dad, a request she repeatedly makes until Tomoya finally acquieces and tries to take her on said journey. Cue one of the hardest scenes in an anime series I think I've ever had to watch, with Ushio stubbornly trying to walk alongside Tomoya despite her health failing and her breathing becoming more laboured by the step, pressing onwards despite the onset of snow until she simply has no energy left. What happens at this point to either Tomoya or her daughter isn't clear, but of course it all ties in to the goins on in that "other world", and the episode closes by returning us right back to the beginning of the series, and Tomoya deciding whether or not to talk to that crazy girl that just shouted out "anpan!" for no reason....

With just one episode proper to go (extra instalment notwithstanding) it appears that we've reached a point of climax in After Story, a world of absolute misery which can only be turned around by whatever rabbit is pulled out of a proverbial hat right at the close. I'm really not sure what ending I want out of the show now, as this particular episode has just left me feeling pretty thoroughly miserable, with not a single light-hearted or pleasant moment to show for itself. This truly was a tough one to watch, between Ushio's struggles and Tomoya's cries for Nagisa to save her - In a sense it's almost masterful in that it's left me desperate to any kind of happy ending to cling to, no matter how far fetched, something which I would wager I'm now going to get this time next week.

Clannad ~After Story~ - Episode 20

I was perhaps being a little premature in my thinking that After Story would have been better had it ended with the reconciliation of Tomoya and Ushio - Sure, this wasn't a powerful and emotional instalment like the aforementioned episode, but it did at least rekindle some of the fun times of the first series (despite its decision to put a massive dampener on the whole thing come the end of it).

There are really two major points of note for much of this episode, the first being the revelation of Kyou as Ushio's kindergarten teacher. I've always had a bit of a soft spot for her, so it was nice to see the now adult Kyou make an appearance, complete with now huge Botan.


Continuing with the blasts from the past, we also get plenty more of Fuuko this episode, as she comes to play with Ushio for a day. I know her original story arc wasn't everybody's cup of tea but I enjoyed it, so I derived a fair amount of amusement from her behaviour in this instalment, not least the suggestion of a game of Blackjack with Ushio - and why not? You may as well start 'em young...

This episode was looking likely to be almost entirely a fun and frivolous one, which is more than fine by me, but I suppose Clannad wouldn't be Clannad without some hurt and upset around the corner, and so it looks as though we're set for another rather depressing episode next time around. Not quite a tissues at the ready story I would assume, but it certainly isn't looking bright and breezy - A bit of a shame, as I really enjoyed the admittedly pointless hijinks of episode twenty.

Clannad ~After Story~ - Episode 19

If nothing else, this episode of Clannad - After Story did confirm one thing for me - Ushio really does share the voice of Chi from Chi's Sweet Home. It had been at the back of my mind for a while now, and I can finally put it to rest.

Anyhow, aside from that little personal pondering, this was very much a "clean-up" episode for Tomoya - Making his peace with Sanae and Akio for looking after his daughter, and taking her back to live with him (a move which also seemed to bring closure for them as Nagisa's parents in the process), getting to meet Fuko again, which at least brought some comic relief to the episode, and most importantly of all perhaps making peace with his father, telling him that he didn't need to worry about his son any more and leaving him free to move to the country with his mother and (with any luck) kick his boozing habits at the same time.


Although I know there would be hell to pay had they done, I found myself watching this episode almost wishing that episode eighteen had been the last - It was such a beautifully emotional reunion of father and daughter, and such a well-realised moment of clarity for Tomoya regarding both his dad and his own life that nothing was really likely to top it, in this episode at least, and so it proved to be the case. After that instalment of heightened emotion that left me crying my eyes out helplessly, this episode felt decidedly run of the mill, rather like the personal equivalent of spring cleaning. Still, I'm sure there is more to come before this series ends (although I'm still struggling to hold much interest in the whole alternate world and balls of light part of the show), so I suppose I shouldn't declare it over until a rotund woman starts singing the Big Dango Family theme tune.

Clannad ~After Story~ - Episode 18

After the previous episode brought young Ushio into the frame, so this instalment continues Tomoya and Ushio's trip, further highlighting the former's short fuse and general apathy towards his own daughter.

That is, until they reach their destination, slowly discovering just how meticulous Sanae's planning of this trip has been. Realising it looks familiar, Tomoya finds himself following a path he recognises, which leads him to meet his grandmother on his father's side. She regales him with the story of his own father, and how he moved into a poky apartment just to be with the person he loved, followed by his struggles to bring up his son once his wife had died. Of course, this brings home the intense similarities between Tomoya and his father, finally allowing him to realise that he wasn't a bad person per se, simply a man struggling alone in the world to protect the one thing important to him. This also brings home the importance of Ushio to Tomoya, bringing us a tearful union of father and daughter with a new level of understanding of her importance to him.


As someone who hasn't really warmed to After Story all that much, and somebody who has frequently longed for a return to the more humourous and carefree times of the first season of Clannad, the final few scenes of this episode hit me hard. I've rolled my eyes at the nature of Tomoya and Nagisa's relationship, shrugged off Nagisa's death despite admitting that it was well handled by the series, and not really getting any feeling for Tomoya's depression subsequent to that.

Despite all of that, the second half of this episode was simply beautiful, and beautifully realised to boot - Tomoya finally coming to understand his father was one thing, but the subsequent scenes with himself and Ushio reduced me to tears ridiculously easily. Maybe it was a little cheesy in a sense, but I suppose I just wasn't expecting this particular moment to happen either so soon or so quickly, and between Ushio's adorable behaviour and the huge burden and pain being lifted from Tomoya's shoulders, I couldn't help but break down. I may not be the biggest Clannad fan the world has ever seen, but this was one excellently delivered episode.

Clannad ~After Story~ - Episode 17

Following Nagisa's death at the end of the last episode, this instalment of was always going to be Tomoya's version of The Smiths' Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now, although thankfully the self-loathing was kept to a relative minimum here.

For starters, this episode fast forwards us five years into the future, and a world where all Tomoya does is eat, sleep and work, and when he has nothing better to do smoke and drink - Like father, like son you could say. In the meantime, young Ushio is being looked after by Akio and Sanae, so Tomoya barely sees her at all.


However, Sanae et al have clearly decided that this really isn't the way things should be moving forward, and thus Sanae draws Tomoya into a plot where he is left alone with Ushio, leaving him no choice but to care for her. Of course, he does this in a clueless, uncaring manner, just about scraping by at feeding and looking after his own daughter before the episode closes with him finally deciding to take her on the trip Sanae and Akio had intended him to take her on in the first place.

While I was more than a little relieved to find that this episode wasn't as relentlessly depressing as I was expecting, it was hard to reconcile the "new" Tomoya with the guy we've grown to love throughout Clannad up to this point - Somehow, the change from the really rather caring guy who he was into the asshole we see before us here is a little too hard to believe, even taking into account Nagisa's death. I realise his inner turmoil and hatred is supposed to be clear for all to see, and I realise that the parallels to his father are deliberate, but despite that it just doesn't quite feel believable to me. Aside from being distracted by Ushio's occasionally cute behaviour, it was this thought that bugged me somewhat throughout the episode - Perhaps I'll manage to resolve those doubts internally by next episode and perhaps I'm being too naive, but at the moment Tomoya's personality change just rings a little hollow as a step too far in that particular direction to me.

Clannad ~After Story~ - Episode 16

I would imagine that anybody who already knows there way around After Story would be well prepared mentally for what this episode brings, but whether you were ready for it or not there can be no doubt that sales of tissues must have rocketed over the past couple of days.

Episode sixteen of the series moves us forward further still, to the point where Nagisa's "bump" seems to be almost as big as she is, and the "imaginary world" gets some screen time too, keeping its tone alongside that of the main storyline.

Before we enter the sad, depressing ending to the episode, there is time for some light relief courtesy of the rest of the old crew (minus Tomoyo, which sucks) paying Nagisa and Tomoya a visit to celebrate the New Year. Kotomi in particular has plenty to day here, describing how she is now working on the alternate world theory that had parents had previously researched. This turns into a quite lengthy discussion about multiverse theory, and I was all but expecting a special guest appearance from Stephen Hawking - Oh, how I would pay good money to hear Stephen Hawking sing the Big Dango Family theme song...


Anyway, with that over, it's time for Nagisa to give birth, with the weather working against her making it to the hospital as was originally planned and leaving her to have the baby at home. To make things worse, she's already ill with a fever as she goes into labour a couple of prematurely and.... well, the rest writes itself really.

While the second half of this episode of After Story wasn't quite as tear-jerking for me as I was expecting (although my eyes were a bit damp, I must admit), Nagisa's labour and everything that came from it was excellent... no, beautifully... handled. From the dialogue and voice acting through to the use of colour, it really captured those moments for what they were, and I can only give kudos for handling such a difficult scene in a touching, sensitive yet oddly calm way - In many senses they pulled it off better than I thought possible, and my own lack of full-on blubbing to accompany it is more due to the fact that I've never felt as emotionally attached to Nagisa as I was probably supposed to be by this point. Indeed, with that in mind I almost feel a little frustrated at the series up to this point for not making more of Nagisa's character beyond the wishy-washy girl that was so often portrayed, had they brought her personality into sharper focus then I'd probably be sobbing into my pillow right now instead of writing this.

Clannad ~After Story~ - Episode 15

After the announcement of Nagisa's pregnancy last episode seemed like the unlikeliest thing since the Bible's virgin birth, I suppose it's time for me to suck up the odd relationship (in romantic terms) between Tomoya and Nagisa and get used to it.

Of course, this latest instalment of After Story afforded me plenty of time to do just this, focusing on Nagisa's pregnancy and, more importantly, the subject of her health during the entire thing. Nagisa wants a home birth but her health isn't really up to it, while Tomoya becomes more and more worried about what's going to happen to her during the birth, as the sense of foreboding regarding her future increases.


All in all, not the most cheerful of episodes of Clannad, especially for those of us who know where all this is going - Oh, how I wish for those care-free, fun and humourous early episodes yet again. I can't really fault After Story for going down this route (particularly given that it's only taking us through the game's After Story path), and in a way it's admirable to even tackle it, but Clannad at its most serious just doesn't draw me in the same way as it does when it's bright, breezy and trying to make you laugh, despite attempts to inject the odd smattering of humour into such episodes. That's not to say this was a bad episode, I suppose it's just that it isn't what drew me to the series and kept me there in the first place.

Clannad ~After Story~ - Episode 14

Life goes by pretty fast if you're Tomoya and Nagisa.... Two episodes ago Tomoya proposed, last episode they got married, and this episode Nagisa gets pregnant.

To be quite honest though, I can't really figure out how that happened. Okay, let me expound on that, I'm perfectly comfortable with the biological nuances of how it happened, but to be quite frank it seems unbelievable in the extreme given the portrayal of the pair's relationship we've seen during this series. Now, I'm not asking that the production team of After Story create some kind of Clannad version of Basic Instinct here or anything, in fact I'm not asking for anything even remotely that explicitly. What I am finding hard to grasp however is that even earlier in this very same episode, we saw Tomoya and Nagisa virtually too shy and reserved to hold hands... during Clannad as a whole we haven't really see them lavish any physical affection upon one another, we haven't seen them kiss (as I ranted about last episode), and so the sudden jump to pregnancy somehow loses its believability.


Anyhow, I'm sure I'll get over that... Aside from the whole "I want a baby" story arc, there's not a great deal to discuss... Nagisa and Tomoya are now living together (at least they did that before she got pregnant), Nagisa gets a job as a waitress, Tomoya and Akio (in disguise as a rapper... be still my cringing heart) go to see her, Tomoya gets upset at the amount of change going on in the town, and that's pretty much it. Not the stuff of legends, and a pretty average episode of anime by any stretch of the imagination, but it's plot progression I suppose, taking us on our unavoidable march to "the sad bit" which seems to be looming ever closer.

Clannad ~After Story~ - Episode 13

After a break of a couple of weeks, it's time to get back to After Story - The show where a couple who have never kissed suddenly decide to get married.

Now, I have to confess that my patience with After Story has begun to wear a little thin over recent episodes, perhaps making that fortnight long break much needed, and sure enough coming back to the series a little fresher my heart has softened to it once again. Of course, the episode begins with a ridiculous premise, where Nagisa's father refuses to listen to what Tomoya has to say to him until he manages to beat him at an impromptu game of baseball. If you're a parent and have done this to the boyfriend of your daughter, please let me know. Anyhow, after a lot of hard work and practice Tomoya finally hits a home run (or did Akio go easy on him?), and gets to spill the beans about how he wants to live with Nagisa, marry her and so on.


So, her parents accept this, and Nagisa gets to go and live with Tomoya. Have they kissed yet? Who knows, we haven't seen it. From here the episode fast forwards rather, spinning us through Christmas at a rate of knots, and taking us to Nagisa's graduation - Except she's ill, and so can't make the ceremony. Sweetie that he is, Tomoya instead organises a private graduation ceremony for Nagisa, bringing together all of the usual suspects to celebrate. Finally, to top off the "Ahhh..." factor, the episode ends with Tomoya and Nagisa getting married. BUT WE STILL HAVEN'T SEEN THEM KISS YET!!! Ahem, sorry, got a little over-excited there.

Anyway, compared to recent instalments this particular episode of After Story at least managed to bring back some of the facets of the series that I love - It was often quite sweet in its own soppy kind of way, and the scene involving a drunk Nagisa after her first taste of sake was one of the more hilarious things that Clannad has brought us, and was worth the entry fee on its own. Thus, this episode seems to have gotten Clannad: After Story back on track... Let's hope it doesn't lose its way again.

Clannad ~After Story~ - Episode 12

After all that initial hardship, things finally seem to be going well for Tomoya, with his abilities at the electrical company improving, and what's more his hard work has landed him the prospect of a promotion, hefty pay rise and all.

With these happy thoughts floating in the air, a big chunk of this episode of After Story is dedicated to the life story Yoshino, the rock star turned electrician. Far be it from me to pour scorn on his story, but... well, I'm going to pour scorn on his story. I know Clannad isn't exactly the bastion of entirely realistic and believable stories, but Yoshino's tale of working hard to reach the top of the music industry before losing his "mojo" on account of meeting some of his more needy fans, before turning to drugs and so on felt a bit trite to me, and didn't seem to have any real depth to it. Dare I say that there wasn't even much point to it, beyond its moral story of "choose your own path". Oooh, deep.


Anyway, from there we at least move on to some plausible drama (for a bit anyway), as Tomoya's father gets arrested, and as the rumours fly his promotion possibilites evaporate - A state of affairs which only deepends Tomoya's hatred and resentment towards his sorry excuse for a parent, and to be honest you can't blame him. The trouble is, reality is soon suspended once again, as Tomoya (after a bout of anger regarding his father) asks Nagisa to marry him - Not a concept completely out of leftfield I grant you, but consider this - We haven't even seen Tomoya and Nagisa kiss yet!!

Now, I have to admit that I seem to be having a bit of a "pick on Clannad - After Story" day here today, poking gentle fun at many of the things I've let slide in previous episodes, but I guess twelve episodes in (and that's ignoring the original series itself) some of these issues are starting to wear a little thin. That isn't to say that I hated this episode, or dislike the series in general (I'm still rather fond of it), but it has lost some of its lustre for me in recent instalments that I'm struggling to rediscover. At least on the positive side of things, I finally warmed to Nagisa this episode, as she actually stood up for beliefs and concerns somewhat rather than caving in to people at the first opportunity, and beyond that the story as a whole still has plenty of potential life left in it, so hopefully things will get back on track soon enough.

Clannad ~After Story~ - Episode 11

Ahh, work versus love - One of those conflicts that you can never quite balance right, at least not unless you're some kind of self-employed multi-millionaire (and there aren't many of those about).

It's exactly this conflict that ails Tomoya in this episode of After Story, as he tries to balance his new career with spending time and paying due attention to Nagisa - A balance that he fails miserably at in all honesty, from not paying attention to what she's saying (which he probably should, as the clues are obvious that Nagisa is quite the loner at school once again having had to retake her final year again) through to standing her up in the name of fixing a mistake he made at work the night before.


Thankfully, it isn't all quite so sobering this episode, as we do get a brief segment featuring Tomoya hanging out with Akio which gives us some light relief involving toy light sabers and putting a lizard down Sanae's back, but aside from that its all very... well, real. Arguably not the kind of thing you want to watch after working long hours and worrying about money and making time for your girlfriend, but oh well.

All in all this is another somewhat slow-paced episode of After Story, which continues to carefully build itself up to the bigger items on its agenda, which I wager may well start next episode. On the one hand I have a fair bit of admiration for this relatively realistic portrayal of life, work and relationships, but on the other hand it doesn't make for the most gripping of anime, and personally I still miss the lighter, funnier side of Clannad, which has always been what drew me to the series the most. I get the feeling that I'm probably in the minority on that point though, so with that in mind I have to concede that After Story is trucking along just fine.

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.

Clannad ~After Story~ - Episode 9

After taking up eight episodes to polish off the remaining story arcs that they hadn't managed to squeeze into the original series, episode nine sees the beginning of what we can generally regard as Clannad - After Story proper.

Given that last story arc this can be generally regarded as "a good thing", although be warned, After Story isn't likely to be a light-hearted and humorous tale. Indeed, give or take a couple of amusing moments (Botan's "Doll mode" being the obvious highlight), the episode as a whole plays like a one of Eastenders more depressing episodes while someone is sat on the video's fast forward button.


With time running out at school, thoughts begin to turn to graduation and what comes after that... For most of the gang at least. The exception to this rule is Tomoya, who seems to be trying to dodge the question even when it's put to his by Nagisa. If Tomoya was looking for an excuse not to think about these things, then he certainly gets it, as Nagisa falls ill once again, a mystery fever that lasts for so long that she misses the rest of the school year and will have to retake her final year yet again. So, this episode is filled with Tomoya juggling school and his worries for Nagisa, managing to graduate despite really not wanting to do so without her, bringing us to an emotional ending as his school life finally comes to an end with no clear future path in sight.

I have to confess that the ending did get me feeling a little emotional, but that aside there isn't a massive amount of note in this episode apart from the feeling that most of the main characters that have sat alongside Tomoya and Nagisa will be largely jetissoned, which is possibly (for me at least) even more upsetting than the episode's overall subject matter. Really, overall this instalment can probably be seen simply as scene setting for everything that's going to come from here, and while I can understand taking an entire episode out to show the period of time covered here I think we all got the idea within the first five minutes, which left a lot of the rest of this instalment dragging a little.

Still, the main meat of After Story is what we're all here to see, and now we're finally getting it - Time to add a bumper box of tissues to your Christmas wish-list, as chances are you may well be needing them...

Clannad ~After Story~ - Episode 8

Right, let's get this out of the way right from the off - The Yukine story arc has to be easily the weakest of Clannad ~After Story~. There, I've said it now.

After the misunderstanding last episode which caused the rival gang to thing that Sunohara was Yukine's brother, things were only ever going to get worse, and indeed this turns out to be exactly the case. Despite Yukine's attempt to mediate, the two gangs appear to be headed on a collision cause that will only end up involving the police and probably worse, although she does at least manage to tone things down to a one-off fight between her "brother" (to be "played" by Sunohara) and the leader of the rival gang.


This seems like a simple enough idea, until Nagisa turns up with some of her mum's latest invention, "rainbow bread" (thankfully not available in all good supermarkets) which knows the whole of Kazuto's gang out cold, as well as Sunohara in the process. So, Tomoya steps up to the plate to fight the rival gang leader, in a scrap which lasts a surprisingly long time considering we mostly see Tomoya getting his ass kicked. Just as all hope appears to be lost and all-out gang warfare is about to break out, so Kazuto Miyazawa appears... Or does he? Of course not, he's actually dead (which was made about as obvious as it could possibly have been last episode without explicitly saying so), and Yukine is in fact simply pretending to be her brother in a desperate last ditch attempt to stop the fighting.

I'm not sure what it is about this story arc, but the last couple of episodes of After Story have singularly failed to grip me in any way, shape or form - The whole thing seemed dull, plodding and contrived, and aside from at least getting to see a little of Tomoyo (which is always a treat) there was little in the way of redeeming features about this episode much like the previous one. Still, I remain confident that things can only get better from this point onwards, and the episode nine preview seems to hint that we'll be moving towards the real crux of the After Story plot, so with any luck we'll get some real improvement over the coming episodes after a couple of not so stellar story arcs.

Clannad ~After Story~ - Episode 7

It's time for another new Clannad - After Story arc, and this time the star of the show is the girl in charge of the reference library, Yukine. We've seen in previous Clannad episodes how Yukine helps out tough guys in distress, and if nothing else this story arc at least reveals why.


In short, Yukine is the sister of Miyazawa Kazuto, an infamous and mysterious gang leader who somehow is apparantly actually a really nice guy that keeps his gang members out of trouble aside from the odd fight or seven. They just don't make gang members like they used to... Anyway, Yukine is popular amongst both her brother's gang and their bitter rivals, forever patching them up and offering them advice, and it's for this reason she becomes the victim of a kidnapping. Well, an attempted kidnapping, by a little kid who she shrugs off simply by giving him a piggy back ride. Bless.

It turns out that the kid in question is made at Kazuto for "stealing" his sister, who has left home and joined his gang, and of course idiot that he is even before this point Sunohara has spied and snatched an opportunity at playing the 'big shot', pretending to be Yukine's sister to impress Yuu - A seemingly harmless little prank that almost costs him dearly later in this episode but for some swift ass-kicking by everyone's favourite (well, when I say everyone's I mean mine) Clannad girl Tomoyo.

That aside, we learn that Kazuto is currently hospitalised, leaving his gang members to fend for themselves - A doubtless important point for episode eight, but it's really just another little fact in a really rather tame and not particularly interesting episode as far as this particular instalment goes. I know I had similar complaints about the first half of Misae's arc before being won over in the second, but once again I found that this episode didn't do a great deal for me - It lacked the humour of some of the early After Story episodes, and at the same time didn't really have any deep emotional core to tap into, which left us with this pretty tepid offering. I'm sure the second half of this arc will have more meat to it, but a spade is a spade and this episode was plodding by any stretch of the imagination.

Clannad ~After Story~ - Episode 6

After not really getting too absorbed by the start of Misae's arc in Clannad ~After Story~, I wasn't particularly expecting to get drawn into this episode. However, Clannad does have this funny habit of pulling you into even its oddest and least compelling story lines somehow, and episode six somehow managed to do just that.

Of course, the entire focus is on Misae and Shima Katsuki, as told through a dream of Tomoya's. Even though where this whole story would end up was made obvious pretty early on, it somehow still managed to be quite enigmatic in the way it revealed itself to the viewer, blending some relatively humorous moments with much more emotional fare, and of course giving us a big, fat "Ahhhhhhhh...." ending as they all live happily ever after, be they female or feline.


So, even after feeling disappointed from watching episode five, After Story has managed to win me over once again. Although I can't really rouse the excitement to gush over this particular story arc it left me with enough of a smile and a warm, fuzzy feeling for me to feel that it did its job pretty solidly in the end, while also making my eyes a little damp at the requisite moments (although not quite reaching the depths of sobbing that the end of Clannad's Fuuko arc brought me). There really isn't much more I can ask for of the series (although I still prefer it when it takes a comedic turn in all honesty), so once again it's managed to deliver pretty well here.