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REVIEW: Clannad After Story Blu-Ray

To be very clear: spoiler[I have absolutely no problem with the light orbs or the magical stuff. My point deals with that the light orbs could have been used to save Ushio's life. Not to take him to an alternate timeline/world/whatever just so he could live life over but now with his wife alive. Hell, when Akio went and begged at that spot for Nagisa's life to be spared I don't think he was somehow able to re-live a portion of his life. His daughter was simply miraculously brought back to life. That's all I wanted. That's all I needed. I don't fathom how that (with an epilogue) could be considered an unhappy ending.

The message should be: 'No matter what the trials in your path, they can be overcome, and you can find joy once again' but instead ended up 'No matter what trials in your path, everything will be sunshine and rainbows because magic will bring back your wife that died 3-4 years ago'. ]

amagee: I'm glad that you were able to find enjoyment via the epilogue. I just cannot do the same.

Oh, without question that's true; Clannad is the most refined form of the uber-moe save-broken-girls formula that Key has yet produced, as it takes elements from the earlier two series (also Air) and strives to make them even more efficient in their impact. I don't entirely consider that a plus, though, as it also tends to push away even harder those who don't bite on the moe aspect. Kanon is at least watchable even if you're not a moe fan, while Clannad isn't.

I'm in agreement with Meggido about the ending. It wasn't enough to ruin the show for me, but it did bump it down from being masterpiece level to just very good. As much as I loved Nagisa spoiler[I think the story would have worked much better if she had stayed dead. Heck, they could have had her spirit come and save Ushio and that would have worked for me] I also feel much the same as Meggido did with what he wrote in the spoiler section. The way they ended it really did degrade a lot of the growth that had happened.

I'm another who thinks that CAS lost its way after Tomoya's father is reunited with Tomoya's grandmother. The four episodes up to that point are exceptional with the field of flowers scene still able to reduce me to tears after many viewings.

It's pretty much all downhill after that. The spoiler[death of Ushio] is poorly written. It failed to elicit either either an emotional or intellectual response from me. It just seemed forced and melodramatic. It also completely bushwhacked the fascinating direction the franchise had been heading at that point. And then it just got sillier, even if the ending was comprehensible from the hints that had been provided throughout the two seasons.

I would have liked the series to have followed Tomoya's life as a single father supported by Akio and Sanae. The shipper in me would like to see him develop a relationship with Kyou or Tomoyo, both of whom are preferable to Nagisa. Kyou, in particular as Ushio's kindergarten teacher, could have provided a satisfactory arc to round out the series. That could have still fitted in with Tomoya been granted a wish.

The dub does have its missteps, though

...If I wanted a sad ending with hope at the end, I would have stuck with Clannad Movie or even A Walk To Remember for that...

Just to make sure I'm getting it right, you disagree with the choice of the writers to have spoiler[Ushio bite the bucket in the first place] because it seems overly cruel and unnecessary or is there something else about it in general?

Unlike Air, somebody doesn't need to pay attention and connect several different facets of the story to comprehend what happens in Kanon, because it is the most omnibus-friendly of the Key stories. That's not a bad thing, but I personally do not enjoy it as much as I do Air (my personal favorite of the Key trio) as I personally love a more involved/over-arching story.

To me, Clannad After Story with its massive cop-outs seems to enable fans to have their cake and eat it too. They get all the tragedy and drama but spoiler[everyone lives happily ever after. Reset-button endings] can and have worked in the past, but this is just egregiously bad. What's funny is that both Clannad series builds up to it, spending a lot of time with spoiler[the girl and robot] trying to lay the foundations to justify it, and it is all for naught; the ending is still a massive cop-out.

So from what I understand, spoiler[Tomoya did all those nice things for the various girls, and the town repaid his kindness by resetting things so that Nagisa didn't die, correct?]

Okay, putting aside how strange it is for spoiler[a town to have a magical will (and the magical power) to reset things, there is a bigger problem. Tomoya was in a deep depression for five years. It wasn't up to the town to sort out his life, it was up to his friends and new family (the Furukawas). I mean seriously, as it is, the message of the show is that if you do good things then the magical will of the town will make everything better. Why couldn't the message be that if you did good things, your friends and family will repay your kindness by helping you when you need it the most?]

Oh but of course, spoiler[then Nagisa would still be dead. Which would have been far more touching than just magically bringing her back to life. Clannad After Story was brave enough to show the trials and troubles of life beyond the rosy high school setting that most Romance shows confine themselves to. It was brave enough to kill off a major character and then show life after her death, namely how Tomoya reunited with Ushio and moved on. But it wasn't brave enough to make Nagisa's death permanent. And I was pretty pissed off not only at Ushio just dying like that, but then being brought back to life. Well, technically with the reset both never died at all, but you know what I mean.]

To me, Clannad After Story with its massive cop-outs seems to enable fans to have their cake and eat it too. They get all the tragedy and drama but spoiler[everyone lives happily ever after. Reset-button endings] can and have worked in the past, but this is just egregiously bad. What's funny is that both Clannad series builds up to it, spending a lot of time with spoiler[the girl and robot] trying to lay the foundations to justify it, and it is all for naught; the ending is still a massive cop-out.