Clannad: After Story「REVIEW」

Details:

Producer: Kyoto Animation

Season: Fall 2008

Episodes: 24

Genre: Slice of Life, Drama, Romance

Synopsis: Events in After Story take place immediately after the first season, following Tomoya's final semester of high school. After declaring his love to Nagisa, they begin to have a close relationship. Their life together will be faced with unexpected challenges, as the truth behind the Illusionary World and the city's legend come to light. (From MAL)

Surely by now, you've all heard how much of a tear-jerker Clannad and it's sequel are. After the disappointment that was Clannad, I wasn't expecting much from the sequel and found it difficult to get into. However, after much nagging from a friend, I gave it a try and it exceeded my expectations. I have never experienced something so monumentally heart-wrenching and beautiful as this. It is a huge step up from Clannad but the fairy-tale ending really didn't cut it for me, so this is by no means a masterpiece in any way, but it's definitely worth a watch.

What I loved about this story was that it goes beyond high school romance and tells us what happens after. It goes further than most anime dare to go and is more emotionally and content heavy than most anime ever dare to be. The premise isn't ground-breaking or original. It is simply the story of a boy just trying to do the right thing and protect what matters most to him. Nothing more; nothing less. However, it is this simplicity that makes this story so profound. There is no exaggerated drama or romance, no enemy to defeat, nor is there a need to save the world. While there are supernatural aspects in the story, for the most part it is exceptionally well written realism. The emotions I felt while watching this were absolutely indescribable. Unfortunately, a good story wasn't without its flaws in this case. The first few episodes felt reminiscent of Clannad and made me wonder whether After Story would be as good as it was made out to be. However, after the initial part of the series, it becomes and emotional roller-coaster through and through.

Although I was not a big fan of certain characters, they are easily one of the things that make After Story such a success. They are all so incredibly human and believable, and watching them - particularly Tomoya and Nagisa - grow from boys and girls to men and women, made it a little hard not to feel attached to them. The character development and the relationships between characters really went well with the overall family theme of the series. It was refreshing to see such a pure, innocent love rather than something with over-the-top drama or fanservice. On the downside, Nagisa's character was perhaps a little too perfect at times. While she epitomises quiet strength, she was a borderline Mary Sue. A little more and it would've made the entire series much less believable.

Visually, there isn't much to say. Honestly, visuals was initially the only reason I gave this a try. I'm a fan of Key's character designs and I am by no means an expert on animation but I didn't see anything odd so I guess KyoAni did a fine job with that. I absolutely loved all the background scenery, especially that of the Illusionary World. It was quite surreal and very beautiful.

The soundtrack was perhaps a little mediocre at times. The background music fit well with the situation at hand but there was nothing particularly riveting. There is, however, one aspect of the soundtrack that really didn't sit well with me at all, and that is the ending theme. As each episode tended to end on a sad note, the ED really just detracted from the emotional impact of the story. It's kind of awkward when you're sitting there in the zone with tears streaming down your face and suddenly you hear a poppy, cheerful song. It's a rather strange clash of emotions. I was always making sure of where I was up to so I could close the window before hearing the ED, in fear of an immense buzzkill.

All in all, it's not something I would watch again any time soon for fear of running out of tears but it did leave a great impression. I'm not entirely sure whether it's because After Story is such a huge step up from Clannad, or because it is simply a good story, but it is a great watch and I do highly recommend it.

Personally, I gave it a B(8) but that's rather meaningless as it depends on what you consider average.