ok can someone explain the ending

Dulonkk said:
Sure, I can explain the ending for you.

So, Clannad After Story is actually an anime adaptation of a visual novel, Clannad. Clannad has a lot of branching routes where if you complete a story arc for a character, like Fuko for example, you get an orb of light on your start screen to demarcate that you solved that character's arc. Each solved arc means that you are closer to unlocking After Story, and once you finish After Story with all of the orbs of light, you get the true ending. You ever wonder why Tomoya talked so much with Tomoyo, Kyou, his teacher, and numerous other characters? Well, that's because all of those characters have a story route to them in the visual novel where the character interacts with Tomoya, resulting in an orb when completed. I don't really remember how well the show depicts the orbs themselves exactly, like when they're shown and stuff, but I do know that both seasons show the orbs of light in them if you pay attention. I did find this example of Ushio looking at one of these orbs of light though from the show.

So, in the part of After Story where Nagisa dies of her sickness and then Ushio dies some time afterwards, that is the original ending in After Story. So, they die in the bad ending. But, because Tomoya found himself through his interactions with others, he collected all of the orbs. Remember those dream sequences with the girl and the robot? Well, that girl is a representation of Ushio and the robot is a representation of Tomoya. Tomoya is Ushio's parent, but also her spiritual guardian. Once Tomoya has all of the orbs, a miracle happens and Tomoya gets the true ending where Ushio and Nagisa are alive. Think of it like he made a wish for a second chance, and the orbs grant it to him. He gets his second chance to live out the life he wanted because he made a conscious effort to improve the lives of himself and the lives of others. I'd also like to point out that if you remember the scene where Akio and Tomoya are at the old hospital lot, Akio implies that he made similar sacrifices in his own life so Sanae could live.



Anyway, I hope this helps. It is somewhat confusing, but the show did a decent job conveying the messages and the plot from the visual novel.

Dulonkk said:
The actual ending is that everybody lives yes. Nagisa and Ushio only die in the bad ending, which the show covers until the last episode. Pretty confusing, I know, but that's just a thing which happens with visual novel anime adaptations. Steins;Gate, School Days, and Higurashi When They Cry are also visual novel anime adaptations and they have similar moments of confusion for viewers.

Eldencheese said:
man i fucking hated school days i dont get how anyone likes that show (im just ranting :) .  )

Eldencheese said:
idc about the whole dream world thing i just want to know if ushio died and i read somewhere that even tomoya died?

Eldencheese said:
idc about the whole dream world thing i just want to know if ushio died and i read somewhere that even tomoya died?

Dulonkk said:
Sure, I can explain the ending for you.

So, Clannad After Story is actually an anime adaptation of a visual novel, Clannad. Clannad has a lot of branching routes where if you complete a story arc for a character, like Fuko for example, you get an orb of light on your start screen to demarcate that you solved that character's arc. Each solved arc means that you are closer to unlocking After Story, and once you finish After Story with all of the orbs of light, you get the true ending. You ever wonder why Tomoya talked so much with Tomoyo, Kyou, his teacher, and numerous other characters? Well, that's because all of those characters have a story route to them in the visual novel where the character interacts with Tomoya, resulting in an orb when completed. I don't really remember how well the show depicts the orbs themselves exactly, like when they're shown and stuff, but I do know that both seasons show the orbs of light in them if you pay attention. I did find this example of Ushio looking at one of these orbs of light though from the show.

So, in the part of After Story where Nagisa dies of her sickness and then Ushio dies some time afterwards, that is the original ending in After Story. So, they die in the bad ending. But, because Tomoya found himself through his interactions with others, he collected all of the orbs. Remember those dream sequences with the girl and the robot? Well, that girl is a representation of Ushio and the robot is a representation of Tomoya. Tomoya is Ushio's parent, but also her spiritual guardian. Once Tomoya has all of the orbs, a miracle happens and Tomoya gets the true ending where Ushio and Nagisa are alive. Think of it like he made a wish for a second chance, and the orbs grant it to him. He gets his second chance to live out the life he wanted because he made a conscious effort to improve the lives of himself and the lives of others. I'd also like to point out that if you remember the scene where Akio and Tomoya are at the old hospital lot, Akio implies that he made similar sacrifices in his own life so Sanae could live.



Anyway, I hope this helps. It is somewhat confusing, but the show did a decent job conveying the messages and the plot from the visual novel.

Eldencheese said:
idc about the whole dream world thing i just want to know if ushio died and i read somewhere that even tomoya died?