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Description: All it took was one glance. Another day of living an ordinary life... how drab. Life. Why do we do it? What 's so great about it anyway? It just seems so monotonous... so bleak... so tiring. It's the same thing every day: the sunrises, you go to school. You don't want to be there. The sun starts to go down. You go home. You don't want to be there, either. It's an endless circle that was never any fun to begin with. Time for a change... but how? Tomoya may be aloof, but he's really good with people. Nagisa is upfront about helping others. A genuine sweetheart. For Tomoya Okasaki, change can't come fast enough. He hates the small town he lives in, he can't stand his own father, and to him, life just seems so dreary. He forces himself to go to school each day, but he knows that each day will end the same... or so he thought. On one particular spring morning, as the sakura petals were beginning to glide peacefully to the cold ground below, a young girl he had never seen before skirted past him. In an instant, he was intrigued... mystified... enchanted. Was this the change he had been hoping for all of his life? Ryou avoids talking to others when she can. Kyou, on the other hand, loves getting in peoples' faces. If VisualArt's/Key does anything well, it's drama. But hey, this is VA/K we're talking about... the people who brought us other dating-sim-based anime like 2005's smash-hit, Air TV, and the phenom of 2006, Kanon, so you already know to expect nothing but the best in all facets of anime production. Paired up once again with industry kingpin, Kyoto Animation (makers of the afforementioned, plus the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid), CLANNAD TV was garnered with attention even before the first episode hit the airwaves. This time around, we're set for a 24-episode run guarenteed to evoke a whole range of emotions. Fuko is childish at times and wildly energetic. Tomoyo is the transfer student with a shady history. Much like most other anime series based off original dating-simulations, CLANNAD TV features a high number of female cuties circling in a rotation of attention. We follow the main guy, Tomoya, as he interacts with all sorts of gorgeous, adorable, and quirky girls. Geez... why is this guy so upset about life when he's surrounded by so many attractive and moe girls!?!?! Most viewers would kill to be in his shoes, but more on that later. Earlier I mentioned a girl who captured Tomoya's attention. That girl was Nagisa Furukawa. Because anime has decided that there is nothing cuter than a frail, sickly girl, Nagisa is a... frail... sickly... girl. Well, she was. She has an undisclosed illness that put her in the hospital for a year causing her to be held back in school. Not knowing her current classmates, she tends to herself. That is, until Tomoya befriends her and they begin to explore the school and its student together. This is what soon becomes the backbone of the main storyline. Kotomi is extremely naive, but she's a super genius. Not much is known about Yukine yet, but hopefully we will soon. Typically with the dating-sim genre anime titles, the main girls in the revolution each get equal screentime overall, but during certain episode strings, or arcs, one particular character gets more attention as the front-runner for a short while. The first character to step into the limelight is an unexpected source: Fuko Ibuki. The quiet underclassman who whiddles star-shaped wooden sculptures in the background becomes the centerpeice for the dramatic turn of events that will make up the first arc. Throughout the course of the first 9 episodes of the series, we find a slowly-developing story about a strange young girl with a mysterious hobby. There is a bit of supernatural play at hand, similar in tone and structure as it was in Air TV. What was better in this situation was the mix of light-hearted fun and dramatic pulse. Fuko started off as the childlike comic-relief who only popped in for a minute or two do carry on her bit of the humor ("duriberu!!!" LOL), then disappear into the background again to let the big kids talk, but she took stunning charge of the story's flow when the truth of who she was began to leak through. I dare not spoil anything, so you'll have to find out by watching. Youhei Sunoharo is passionate, fiesty, and certainly loves the ladies... but he genuinely cares about people, as well. The Furukawa Family... proud local bakery owners. They are a tight unit not afraid to open their home to those in need. Going back to the part about humor, a few people found the comedy a bit overbearing, but if you ask me, the humor is what makes the characters real. More importantly, it makes you WANT to take an interest in them, especially after you've reserved a place for them in your heart (hey, we like people who can make us smile). It makes them a part of us, and thus we have a greater stake in their fate encouraging us all to get immersed into the story and built up to a higher plane in measuring the love and admiration we have for them. In other words, through their humor, we take them on as a friend and when they are overjoyed, we are overjoyed. Although, the greater deal in stories like this is that when they fall hard, we feel their pain as well. And it continues on forever and forthwith. A cast that can do that gains A+ markings in my view. Ultimate devotion... she made a promise and she kept it. Comedy, brought to you by Fuko Ibuki. CLANNAD TV's cast is of a decent size. The thing is that the characters are all introduced fast, most of them will be seen by the conclusion of the second or third episode. There's Tomoya, the main male lead who we follow around. The noticable problem with Tomoya is that he's billed as the brooding tough-guy loner who doesn't get along with anyone, but even within the first episode, he seems to be engaging himself with everyone he meets. There are only small hints at his backstory as of the first few episodes, though I suspect they're saving the big stuff for the finale arc. Nagisa is much the same way. She's the main female lead as she's always with Tomoya, but little is actually known about her. She's your run-of-the-mill stock sweet girl. She's helpful, thoughtful, smart, and comes from a warm loving family. Aside from being sick and missing a year of school, there's gotta be a bigger twist to her story. Don't think I've played this fighting game before. Oh yeah, it's the one where Sunoharo gets pummeled. The rest of the cast is a mix between girls of polar opposite ends of the temperment scale. Ryou Fujibayashi is the class-representative who is meek, mild-mannered, and very polite. Joined with her is Kotomi Ichinose, the school's resident bookworm genius. She spends all her time in the library where the school has given her permission to do free-study since she's too smart for the regulated cirriculum. She's incredibly quiet, but very sweet and gentle. Think of Minagi Tohno (Air TV) with a mega-sized brain. On the opposite end of the scale are the two fighters: Kyou Fujibayashi (Ryou's twin sister) and Tomoyo Sakagami (not to be confused with Tomoya). Both are tough and never hestitant to throw a punch. Only difference is Kyou usually does it out of anger while Tomoyo does it out of necessity... usually when Tomoya's friend, Youhei Sunoharo, is giving her a hard time... another running gag of comedy used throughout the series. Fuko wants YOU to watch this anime! Ryou is shocked at how bold Fuko is being. Comedy does seem to be the big reason to keep tuning in to this series every week, if not for the cute girls and/or stunning animation. Being a KyoAni piece, solid colors and cute character designs are expected. I must say though, their selection of color-scheme is very strange. They have the typical green, purple, and brown hair colors we're used to in anime, but not the shades you would think. Like Fuko, whose hair is not grass-green, but more like dark forest green. Even the school uniforms are a yellow-orange-brown color that is both attractive and hideous at the same time. Lines are not as defined as they typically are in anime, so throughout watching this series, you see the characters and objects kind of blur in with the background. This is especially noticeable during indoor scenes, and even more so during twilight. The boys are cooking up a better way to get people to watch the show... might involve girls in awkward situations together. Nagisa and Ryou hope their plan doesn't involve anything... embarrassing. Usually I don't have much to say about music in anime, but I have a few things to say in this case. First, the opening theme is called "Megumeru ~Cuckold Mix 2007~", but for the love of Haruhi, don't ask me what it means. If it's any consolation, it's by eufonius, the group who performed the openings for Kashimashi ~ Girl Meets Girl and Shinkyou Soukai Polyphonica. I really enjoy the OP they did for CLANNAD, but the problem is that even though they use the OP from the game, they took out the techno mix from the background (you hear it in the next episode previews). So do yourself a favor and find the techno version of the song and you'll have a high-energy love song to enjoy even more. As for the ending theme, as the premiere episode neared its end, I was all geared up for something powerfully emotional (thinking I'd get something like "Farewell Song" a la Air), but instead we get something dippy and so over-the-top cheery that even the producers of Di Gi Charat would be tilting their heads with giant question marks floating above them. So though "Dango Daikazoku/Big Dango Family" by Chata (Ed. Note: who!?!?) isn't a bad song, it's far from the techno-trance stylings of Lia, KOTOKO, or Mami Kawada. I believe the song is more for story-importance later on, as the Big Dango Family is something mentioned multiple times throughout the course of the anime. Hey, no need to be forceful... having a myriad of adorable school-girls is more than enough to attract an audience. Nagisa thinks her plan of creating a new theater club for the school might be a better way of getting people to watch. So the question we ask in every spotlight preview here at anime-source.com is "who should be watching this anime and why?" In this situation, the answer is very easy, as this particular title is geared at precisely one small facet of the anime subculture: fanboys who love cute anime girls! If you're a fan of any of the aforementioned series (Air and Kanon especially), then CLANNAD was made for you. But that does not mean that ONLY those fans will enjoy this series. In fact, this is probably the perfect gateway anime for anyone new to the genre or to the anime medium itself. The blend of comedy and drama is as close to perfection as perfection could possibly be. I've laughed my ass off just as much as I've cried my eyes out, and reading through the forums discussions here and talking with people at conventions about it, I know others have felt the same effect. The comedy relies heavily on running gags, something I'm generally not a big fan of, but here, it really ties the show together and builds the comraderie crucial to a storyline of this magnitude. I still have 15 episodes left to go and already I'm afraid that it won't be enough. I'm enjoying this series so much that I know just the fact that it will be ending eventually brings me sadness. Fuko loves that idea!! Kyou and Ryou seem to agree. Why do we live? Our existances are an endless revolution of circumstance and event... is there meaning? Is there purpose? What brings us joy? What makes us get up and out of bed and immerse ourselves in an unforgiving world when we know that harsh cruelty awaits us at every turn? The breaths we take and steps we walk each bring us closer to our fate... will it be good... or will it be sad? You walk the sullen path and ponder your reasoning for being here, then a ray of hope grazes your shoulder. You know her for a moment, an instance, a fleating second, but it's all you need. The girl smiles and the sparkle in her eye tells your heart "this is all the reason you need to know." CLANNAD is the spark for all of us out there looking for a window. A window into the lives of a group of teenage high-school students trying to figure out the same stuff as the rest of us. There is no plan, there is no map, there are only moments. And when those moments come, you step forward, reach out your hand, and remind yourself: This is life. So which idea will work on you? Looks like Fuko has one last suggestion. SCORING SUMMARY: ANIMATION: 88/100... undoubtedly the best character design I've encountered in all my years of watching anime; color choices could have been better, especially with the school uniforms; backgrounds full and detailed; overall feel doesn't look particularly bad, but is certainly not on the same levels as previous KyoAni titles such as Air and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. CHARACTERS: 95/100... the shining beacon of the series, so many different archetypes to satisfy the needs of all the various fanboy-fanatics out there; development is slow, but steady; characters are true to their nature, except for Tomoya whose personality doesn't match his original set-up. MUSIC: 80/100... "Megumeru ~ Cuckold Mix 2007 ~" is my favorite song of the season, but only the techno version found in the original game; ending theme is strange and not anything I'd listen to outside the show; in-episode music needs to step up its presence, but is good when noticeable. STORY: 87/100... still too early to say where this is going; though arcs are present to give certain characters attention, it does feel like it's trying to develop a lot all at the same time; still no clue what Tomoya and Nagisa's story will be, especially considering so little is revealed about their pasts; Fuko's arc ended well, but requires a lot of afterthought to process the whole situation; powerful stuff on a metaphysical level designed to challenge your thinking and test your emotions. OVERALL: 96/100... how does the overall score rank higher than everything else? Easy... that's how good this show is. The story is confusing and downright bizarre at times, but with the combination of characters' personality and designs with the attractive art and enjoyable music, the whole series just comes together so well. There hasn't been a single moment in which I've been bored and I'm always eager to get my hands on the next episode. CLANNAD TV is the perfect way to end 2007, and the even more perfect way to begin 2008. Season one hasn't even concluded yet and I'm already clamoring for an extention! Maid Cafe, FTW!!!! Tomoya approved!! Go watch!! Thanks for readin'... Your prize: some comedy ^_____^

Tags: Clannad Nagasai Anime Cute Lovely

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