I love watching slice-of-life anime for the same reason I love watching sit-coms I’ve seen a thousand times before – it’s a comfort, like a warm blanket in winter, or some chicken soup when you’re not feeling very well.
Clannad, then, is a big snuggly blanket and a giant bowl of soup and twenty other soothing things all put together. It’s sweet to the point of being sickly sometimes, but that’s alright – in fact, that’s one of the reasons I love it so much.
Clannad is an anime series released between 2007-2008 in Japan, and based on the interactive visual novel of the same name. The first time I watched Clannad I was in high school, and it was recommended to me by a friend. It was actually the very first anime I ever watched (I don’t count a few random episodes of Pokemon or Dragonball Z, as I never really watched those consistently), and instantly I was in love with it. I loved the characters, I loved the storyline, I loved the animation, I just loved everything about it. Clannad got me hooked on anime, and although I’ve seen many other anime series since then that I have really enjoyed, not many have ever come close to challenging my love for this series.
Clannad follows protagonist Tomoya Okazaki (Yuichi Nakamura), a self-confessed delinquent who is just floating through life after the death of his mother. He hangs out with fellow delinquent Youhei Sunohara (Daisuke Sakaguchi), but otherwise has no real connections.
However, Tomoya’s life is changed when he meets and befriends Nagisa Furukawa (Mai Nakahara), a sweet but unconfident girl whose dream is to get the school’s drama club up and running. He is inspired to help Nagisa because of her conviction to her cause and her kindness. Whilst helping her, Tomoya becomes friends with a whole host of other characters: sisters Kyou and Ryou Fujibayashi (Ryo Hirohashi and Akemi Kanda), genius Kotomi Ichinose (Mamiko Noto), enthusiastic Fuko Ibuki (Ai Nonaka) and tough Tomoyo Sakagami (Huoko Kuwashima).
Like the interactive visual novel that preceded it, each character in Clannad has their own storyline that plays out over the course of a few episodes. These storylines involve some sort of problem that Tomoya (usually with the assistance of Nagisa) helps the character overcome.
For example, Kotomi’s storyline involves her coming to terms with the death of her parents, and Fuko’s storyline involves her being able to get enough guests for her sister’s wedding. The main storyline that ties all of the episodes together, however, is Nagisa’s – the show follows both her personal and relationship storyline through to conclusion. Nagisa’s storyline is by far the most interesting and fleshed-out, and her relationship with Tomoya is genuinely heartwarming.
There are some improvements that could have been made to the other storylines, however – Fuko’s storyline goes on way too long, which is a shame as after a while she becomes quite an annoying character. It’s also a shame that there wasn’t more of the Fujibayashi sister’s storylines, as Kyou especially is a delight – although I suppose including that would conflict too much with Nagisa’s storyline, which is the main focus of the series.
Most episodes of Clannad are pretty light-hearted, which makes the series a fun and easy watch. Sure, it can be pretty cutesy sometimes, maybe even too cutesy sometimes, but the series is also genuinely really funny (especially any scene involving perpetual idiot Sunohara). There are lots of funny cutaway gags or sarcastic responses from Tomoya, and I found myself laughing out loud more than once (which if you know me, is pretty rare when I watch television or movies).
Balancing out the light-hearted elements is the inclusion of some rather dark storylines, many involving death or illness. These storylines are never portrayed in a way that is too intense, but some of them (especially Kotomi’s storyline) can be absolutely heartbreaking. The affecting nature of the storylines are compounded by the fact that all of the characters are so fleshed-out and likeable, that you want them to succeed in their goals and not have anything bad happen to them.
Clannad has 22 episodes following the main storyline and two “extra” episodes. One of these, episode 23, follows the events of Tomoya and Nagisa’s summer vacation after the finale in episode 22, and episode 24 is set in an alternate universe where Tomoya and Tomoyo are dating instead.
I like episode 23, as I think it’s a nice little bit of bonus content (the series finale still works perfectly without it), but I don’t have strong opinions about episode 24. I don’t think Tomoya and Tomoyo are terrible as a couple, but the episode isn’t extremely interesting because without meeting Nagisa, most of the other main characters aren’t introduced either, so the episode feels a bit empty.
Finally, a quick note about what version I watched. I’m not a massive fun of dubbed anime unless it’s something with a more notable voice cast, like a Studio Ghibli film or a series like Cowboy Bebop. Often I find that dubbing can ruin the intended feel of a character, and some translations can be pretty wonky, so I usually try and avoid it. I have seen both dubbed and subbed versions of Clannad, and the dubbed version isn’t too bad. I do prefer the subbed version, though, as the original Japanese voice acting is really good and so are the subtitle translations.
Clannad is definitely a great watch, even if you aren’t a big fan of anime. If you were like me and had never seen an anime before, Clannad is a great jumping-off point. It’s not overly long, so you don’t have to make a big commitment like you would if you were watching something with a bazillion episodes (like Naruto or One Piece). The storyline is simple but effective, and you can watch a couple of episodes, take a break, then come back to it without any trouble. Finally, it’s just really nice. It’s like I said before – a big warm blanket, a giant bowl of chicken soup. Comfort in television form.
BEST BITS
- The relationships between all of the characters feel incredibly genuine.
- There are some really funny gags, executed with perfect comedic timing by the voice actors.
WORST BITS
- The Fuko storyline drags towards the end. Some episodes feel like they are just rehashing the same idea.
- Some characters (okay mainly just Nagisa) are kind of crybabies and it’s annoying.
FINAL RATING: 8/10
More like this: Should You Watch Clannad After Story?
