Clannad: After Story has the reputation of an unrivaled Grandmaster Italian chef. One who flawlessly prepares delectable cuisines with seasonings so ripe that it could make one cry. However, the reality is it gets lost in the pasta sauce trying to string together vague explanations at the last minute.
I'm surprised how much of this was just following the same formula as Clannad 1. With how hyped up this specific season is, I was expecting some incredibly written plot. Instead, I got Clannad 1 tropes for 8 episodes (a show I already didn't like), a decent change of pace for episodes 9-18, and an ending
...
that falls on its head as it tries to pick up its spaghetti off the floor.
Spoilers start now:
---EPISODES 1 THROUGH 8, (AND 23 & 24)---
I won’t spend too much time talking about the first 1/3 of Clannad: After Story because they are just needless slice-of-life episodes. I found the first half of them to be incredibly annoying, and the rest somewhat boring and unnecessary. 1-4 was very unmoving as it features Tomoya and Youhei competing to see who can get angrier at each other. Then episodes 5-6 focuses on a flashback story of one of the most forgettable side characters (who remains just as forgettable afterwards). She meets a dead guy that can be seen alive for some unexplained reason then later can no longer be seen for some also unexplained reason. Also, the end of episode 6 is just throwing the spaghetti at the wall doing whatever it can to try and evoke some kind of emotion out of the audience. By episode 8, I started to realize how often both Clannad seasons have reused the same “this person was dead all along but we won’t reveal it until an episode or two later” trope. Episodes 1-8 (and episodes 23 & 24) are just the same pandering that Clannad season one did for 24 episodes. While it’s usually not *bad*, it’s very rare that anything interesting is happening.
---EPISODES 9 THROUGH 22---
I guess it wouldn’t hurt to start with some positives. My favorite thing about the series is how much has changed in terms of relationships, and it feels pretty realistic in that aspect. Something like close friends moving away after graduation and only being able to see them maybe once every few years (or not at all) is one of many reasons the process of growing up feels authentic in this anime/visual novel. The shift into adulthood and growth of our main characters’ relationship throughout episodes 9-16 is interesting to see. Refreshing in fact. Additional props to their relationship never feeling forced or cringey. That is perhaps the most well-written thing about Clannad. Also, episode 18 was really good and by far the best episode in all of Clannad. The next couple episodes following it aren’t bad either. It’s a time of redemption for Tomoya’s character as he learns to understand his father and accept his role in becoming one. This shift isn’t easy, however, as he is still healing. Glimpses of Nagisa popping up in his mind constantly even years later accurately depicts realistic grief over a loved one. It’s never easy and there’s no such thing as “getting over it”. Almost like I’m having to tread the depressing road of grieving along with him. However, the ending of After Story just kills me. By Nagisa coming back to life and still having the baby, it means nothing was lost. It negates all of Tomoya’s development over the course of episodes I was just praising. What was the point of seeing the effects of Nagisa dead if in the end she is just going to be brought back?
Also, might I add that the way Ushio’s death was handled is forced and incredibly stupid. So Tomoya took this 5-year-old on a walk through a snowstorm knowing she had a life-threatening fever? Moreover, this mysterious illness mentioned throughout the series was never explained and exposes itself to being nothing more than a plot device. This bothers me because it was one of two things I was looking forward to finding out about. The other being what is going on with those eerie dream sequences. Which after being explained, made me wish it never existed in the first place! By this point Clannad: After Story isn’t just dropping the spaghetti; it’s a full-blown spaghetti fest. Basically what we get for episodes 21-22 is "Tomoya screwed up and let his child die. Now that child's soul goes back in time and prevents her mom from dying because.. uh... she reeeally wants to!!". I know there is the “light orbs”, “the light of the town” stuff, but it’s all quite vague and only brought up at the very end. For a story that goes over 95% of its runtime without any fantasy/unrealistic elements to just pull a metaphysical magical time-reversal out of thin air rubs me the wrong way. It shows that Clannad doesn’t care about having a good story. It cares about trying to make the audience feel the most extreme negative and positive emotions possible to simulate a compelling experience.
After Story tries to have a plot showing the process of being able to move forward from the tragic effects of loss, while also being a story in which every person (including the deceased) wins at the end. It doesn’t work. Even if a well-thought-out ending were to be strung together, the worst problem still remains. Nagisa coming back to life makes all the grieving done in the past six episodes meaningless. Tomoya’s development never happened. After doing so well at displaying how the hardships of loss can affect everyone that person ever interacted with, the story massively drops the spaghetti by saying “Hey Tomoya, your life went to shit? Let’s just make it so no one ever died!” …Crushing any relatability the series has built thus far. Jee wouldn’t that power be nice in the real world. Someone you love being essentially immortal as long as you live because you can just wish for them to not die. What message is the audience even supposed to take from this? When despair strikes just make the timeline alter in which people haphazardly don’t die? If Ushio died in place of Nagisa, I could at least see some kind of sacrifice being made, but no. It’s the full spaghetti drop. No one suffers, no one should have anything bad happen to them ever. If they do, then just make a few people smile and at absolutely no expense you’ll be able to make it so none of it ever happened.
Anyways, I think I'm done for now. If I came off as thoroughly annoyed in this review, it’s because I was. I respected Clannad: After Story for being bold enough to kill off one of their main characters. It’s something that can be rare to see in most stories. Especially in SoL anime and visual novels. Of course that admiration quickly dissipated, and I became more annoyed with this than anything Clannad has ever done. This second season featured the highest points for the series, but many frustrating lows. I didn’t expect to say I disliked this more than the Clannad season one. I didn't even like the first season, but it at least had few annoying moments and a satisfying ending. I can't say the same for Clannad: After Story.
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Jun 1, 2022
Clannad: After Story
(Anime)
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Clannad: After Story has the reputation of an unrivaled Grandmaster Italian chef. One who flawlessly prepares delectable cuisines with seasonings so ripe that it could make one cry. However, the reality is it gets lost in the pasta sauce trying to string together vague explanations at the last minute.
I'm surprised how much of this was just following the same formula as Clannad 1. With how hyped up this specific season is, I was expecting some incredibly written plot. Instead, I got Clannad 1 tropes for 8 episodes (a show I already didn't like), a decent change of pace for episodes 9-18, and an ending ... |
