Feb 14 2008
Clannad - 18
I AM SO CONFUSED! 
Please follow this post and you will discover my confusion. If you’ve already played the game, you should be just as confused as I am if not riding on a “WTF” en-route train. But let’s begin with the non-confusing parts and work our way DOWN. So anyway the arcade thing that Ryou Kyou and Tomoya were in - I think in the game it was just Ryou and Tomoya’s 2nd date. Kyou was only there for one of their dates if I recall correctly. Well looks like Ryou’s rejectinon flag is here when her match with Tomoya ends up being “friends”. Gee who didn’t see THAT one coming!
So looks like most of the episode briefly whizzed through Tomoyo’s story. They did the background with her family and her brother. They also showed her coming over to Tomoya’s house and making him dinner quite often. Which is cool if you had like been playing her story in the game and all the events that led to this, but because they suddenly shoved her in it felt like a round peg in a square hole.
The scenes of Tomoyo’s past were nicely done. I really appreciate these kinds of scenes by KyoAni and it’s this that makes me like them as a studio. All the events of Tomoya and Sunohara helping her out with the clubs to become seito kaichou were pretty good as well. I liked the tennis game (but for some reason I can’t recall it, did it happen differently or did it not happen at all?? 
)
Alright enough happy shit…let’s get down to business. 
Question: What do you do when you have 3 girls stories + 2 finished stories who are still hanging around and they ALL WANT THE MAIN CHARACTER.
Answer:
You make them have a bitch fight! Good job KyoAni!……..NOT. WHAT THE FUCK@&)(*&@*$@$ If this scene couldn’t get any worse it really went to hell not too soon after:
WHY WON’T YOU DIE!
Then if I wasn’t confused any further:
Nagisa came back. Wait what? 
Nagisa, I love you dearly, but why are you back? Where are they going with this? Where is her being sick and having to stay back 1 more year? How is she magically back? Is anybody else as confused as I am who has played the game? What’s gonna happen to Nagisa’s story now 
And if you aren’t weirded out yet take a gander at this:
Besides the fact that I’m having a hard time recalling Tomoyo’s tennis game (if it even happened, maybe it did, Tomoyo’s not my favorite character), they inserted Nagisa prominently in there. Ok yea yea I know it was supposed to show that “Look ladies, Tomoya only wants the girl with the after story” but I found it to be a poor attempt to fuse stories together. Like I said, I would have preferred them to do it the Kanon way - do a girl’s story, and then drop her for the rest of the series. I don’t care, I don’t need her involvement any longer please GO AWAY (that means you Starfish Girl.)
And for the grand finale - we have the Fujibayashi Sister Bawling Session. All of a sudden every girl fighting over Tomoya is like “Ya know what, I’m not as important as Nagisa who just magically came back so I’m going to give up.” It’s just so bizarre. It reminds me of the training seminar I went to today where before lunch the guy took it nice and slow but after lunch he realized he had so much material to cover, he rushed through it like speed racer. In the end I left unsatisfied because it was great material but it was not covered in a sufficient manner.
At this point, I have no idea where KyoAni is planning to take the story. It seems like Tomoyo also “left” as quick as she “came” into the story (that took her what like 3-4 episodes? lol) It makes no sense, why devote so much time to Kotomi and Fuuko? I almost feel like the animators are biased towards them which is why they got entire arc sections devoted to them, while everyone else gets the shaft. I like my bishoujo heroines to have equal opportunity within the harem (at least compared with each other, but still less than the main heroine.)
Kinda disappointed at this point. 
Upcoming Attractions: Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the next arc something that happened in Nagisa’s after story?
Tags: disappointment, fangirl rage, unexpected, wtf
46 Responses to “Clannad - 18”
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One question to game players; do the Tomoyo, Kyou and Nagisa stories conflict with each other? I was under the impression that this “blend” was because in the game those arcs were way too independent from each other.
That being asked, I enjoyed this episode.
Nemo> Kyou’s conflicts especially with everyone. Tomoyo’s not so much, they could have worked it around just as easy as they did Fuuko and Kotomi really.
I would imagine Ryou somehow she’ll cry for something, but when was the last time that Kyou ever cried, which I can’t imagine her being emotional?
She did cry in the game, it was part of her ending actually
As a gamer, I loved the episode. I liked how they used Fuuko to prevent the catfight scene from becoming too dark, which isn’t Clannad’s style anyway. And with Nagisa finalised as the true love, they might have time to do Misae or Yukine’s story, both of which are much better than either Kyou or Tomoyo’s stories. Yay!
They probably felt that Fuuko and Kotomi had more effective storylines than Kyou and Tomoyo, even though the latter two women are much sexier.
まだHinanoさんの約束したポストを待っているの。
bakaneko> wah I’m sorry, I wasn’t sure if you still wanted it because someone linked to Impz’ post on blog starting. Did you still want me to do it?
FF> I Loved Misae’s story it was so sad
I totally get what you mean, it’s annoying as hell to see their stories get whacked around like that, especially when theirs are just as well written as everyone else’s. Really ticked off.
On a lighter note though, since they’re doing Nagisa’s story, which isn’t too bad at all, I guess I can still look forward to some heart-wrenching drama in the upcoming episodes…Here’s to a non-shafted Nagisa ending please -_-
Oh. I missed Impz’ comment on the previous post. However, I couldn’t find those posts on his site. Anyway, I would also appreciate it from your experience and insights.
Of course, don’t feel obligated to do this. Posting should be fun. So, just do it when you’re feeling up for it. ずっとまっているよ。
my hope is getting higher for a great ending from clannad =X cause let’s see…. guys guys.. when was the last time u saw a extream emotional + godly wondful ending from an anime??? ans: none!!!!
Tomoya: “She’s mine you prick. Don’t touch her.” lol
Meh, I don’t get why everyone is freaking about Kyoani taking their own direction in all of this. It’s not like it’s the first time anyone’s gone away from the source material. Not having played the game, I’m pretty satisfied. I don’t think anyone should be worried about the team taking this in a bad direction or anything… =)
Looks like Clannad is kind of in the middle between the two spectrums.
You have Air which was pretty dry and could have had so much more stuff and then you have Kanon which was really well done. Clannad seems really well done but doesn’t seem to have enough stuff from the actual source material. I could be wrong though since I’ve never check into the visual novel and the anime isn’t really helping to build interest.
This feels, I think, like when you see the Harry Potter movies after reading the books! I mean it sucks when you know whats going to happen and it doesn’t happen the way its supposed to. But for the people that didn’t read the books, the movies were awesome. I didn’t play the game, maybe that’s why I don’t mind the plot. But u know that nothing is better than the original.
\o/ why is the fuuko idiot still alive? She ALWAYS spoils my viewing experience by appearing. It’s like they are trying to randomly milk her for the people who love the retard. Oh well, it makes me hate starfish now.
To bakaneko: give me an email at that@animeblogger.net and i can give you a comprehensive list of guides if you want. I do not want to spoil hinano’s blog.
BACK TO CLANNAD, flame on the fuuko, hinano X_X
I personally think they actually did a good job working in some of the stuff I’ve seen in the game. Originally, Nagisa was supposed to slip when they were running from the teachers after the basketball match, and have Tomoya carrying her away after saying “She’s my girlfriend.” I believe that the part where Nagisa gets hurt during the Tennis part is KyoAni’s way of putting that scene into the anime (sans the girlfriend part). I’m guessing the Ryou+Kyou crying is sort of a way of “finishing” their story. Hinano is right about the Kyou not being with Tomoya and Ryou during the fortune telling, she’s never there for the fortune telling. Also, I believe Nagisa being sick was an extra few days of sickness KyoAni threw into the anime to free up a little time for other characters. As for Tomoyo, haven’t played her arc yet so no comments.
Two comments in a row = blargh. Watched the preview for the next episode after my first comment…
Anyway, I shall correct you because you are wrong! After watching the next episode preview, I can tell you that it is not her after story. In fact, it’s still storyline before you even find out about the play Nagisa wants to do.
I dunno if I’ve even seen her after story yet… all I’ve seen up to is just after Tomoya graduates.
I think having Nagisa fall sick for a few days also serves as foreshadowing when she gets REALLY sick near the end of the series. Otherwise if she were to suddenly collapse after all the girls’ arcs are completed, people would be like OMGWTFBBQ SUDDEN PLOT TWIST, which I thought at first when playing through Nagisa’s route in the game near the end.
It reminds the viewers that Nagisa ain’t the healthiest among the girls (she already got hold back a year) and that she may (or rather, *will*) fall sick again, but this time it’s more serious.
Ah for once our opinions are similar. RUSHING to finish with the three best characters is a meh thing to do. However they’re running out of time so it’s forgivable. The episode as a whole was pretty enjoyable though. For the refrence, I don’t recall Tomoyo doing a tennis match either.
btw I support the Nagisa end so
The verdict is:
Shuffle! did a better job connecting five storylines. Sia is the official game ending if I recall.
I guess everyone expects K-animation to be teh win all the time. Fortunately, I have no such delusions. Either their scriptwriting is deteriorating or they are playing with their blowup dolls.
Now to pick up true tears or not…
Di Gi Kazune@ Yeah, I agree. Shuffle is top tier when it comes to interesting eroge to anime adaptions.
di gi> good point me mucker! shuffle was good cus it did a superb job in giving all girls a chance plus they made the one girl who was most suited to rin and had the least chance win! thats how a harem show should be!
true tears is superb espically with its cliffhangers and on the spot scenes(like the aiko/nobuse sweater scene, he looked like a deer caught in the headlights when he found out the sweater wasn’t for him)
clannad has gone downhill constantly since the fuuko arc and still is!
you don’t need to play the game like me to see that bad is bad and the fanboys/girls need to accept this!
just the sisters crying was …. ‘`wtf?`
but well, they do give you hints of what`s going to happen so. i can deal with that XD
i`m kinda getting used by now… not being able to see the ending i want XDDDD
i guess i must learn kanjis and stuff and play myself some kanon, clannad and some other eroge ehauehauehuae
maybe if kyoani starts doing like 51 or so episodes hehehe we can get some fillers / more complete stories.
we`re up to 19 right now. if they dont kill kyou
they wont make a nice ending =(
ryou and tomoyo never had much screen time anyway. so the only real regret here is how they killed kyou =(
offtopic> weird, i kinda felt the eyes were kinda off… tenis animation also.. low budget =(
@Di Gi Kazune
Shuffle doesn’t have the same restrictions that Clannad does. The whole point of the show is all the girls competing for him openly so going down their routes really isn’t a problem. And when they went down one route they often ignored everyone else. KyoAni is trying to mesh things together differently here, and for what they are trying to do they did fine for me.
>>Original post- anyway the arcade thing that Ryou Kyou and Tomoya were in - I think in the game it was just Ryou and Tomoya’s 2nd date. Kyou was only there for one of their dates if I recall correctly.
In the game they went on two dates, the first time you do the fortune thing you do pick friends, it’s the second time you do lovers on that route.
>>You make them have a bitch fight! Good job KyoAni!……..NOT. WHAT THE FUCK@&)(*&@*$@$ If this scene couldn’t get any worse it really went to hell not too soon after
I actually found this scene pretty funny, although yes it was nowhere in the game. I don’t have the massive hate for Fuko that a lot of people is, and Impz I can’t believe you just told her to die. That’s pretty fucked up…
>>Nagisa came back. Wait what?
Nagisa, I love you dearly, but why are you back? Where are they going with this? Where is her being sick and having to stay back 1 more year? How is she magically back? Is anybody else as confused as I am who has played the game? What’s gonna happen to Nagisa’s story now 
Well they had to find a way to get the other girls in there, and she’s sick a lot anyways. I think you are thinking ahead in her arc, next episode is when the teacher wants to see Okazaki’s father and then he brings her to the house (this is all in the preview) and the next episode is entitled “New Lifestyle” if that kind of gives a hint as to what’s next. Her getting sick again comes after this, a bit later on in her arc. I hope that’s not too spoily for the people who haven’t played.
>>Besides the fact that I’m having a hard time recalling Tomoyo’s tennis game (if it even happened, maybe it did, Tomoyo’s not my favorite character), they inserted Nagisa prominently in there.
There was no tennis game but originally in the basketball game she got hurt and he took her to the nurse’s office, this was their way of I guess putting it in since they delayed them going out. Plus this was a way to shut off the other heroines stories.
>>At this point, I have no idea where KyoAni is planning to take the story. It seems like Tomoyo also “left” as quick as she “came” into the story (that took her what like 3-4 episodes? lol) It makes no sense, why devote so much time to Kotomi and Fuuko?
Well Kotomi and Fuko had really easy, standalone stories that had like no conflicts with anything else and could involve all of the other characters. That’s why they put them in early and gave them each 4 episodes. Kyou and Tomoyo’s arcs are pretty much one character and it’s hard to integrate. I think they really wanted to fuse stuff together more than they did in Kanon, that was the overarching goal of it. I wouldn’t say it’s amazing, but I think it was still good. I think those of us who have played the game kind of feel shafted because there was so much out there. But really, they only have 24 episodes and that’s nowhere near enough time to cover it all. They had to pick and choose, and people will dispute their choices for obvious reasons.
>>Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the next arc something that happened in Nagisa’s after story?
Nah, see the response a couple of places up. Man I was in a mood to write today, see what happens when I have a day off and I’m not blogging Clannad myself. I just go around writing essays on other people’s blogs…
Its all good Calawain xD I stll think Tomoyo’s story coulda been done a little better. Kyou is the only one that I’ll let them slide on because it was pretty difficult to insert in the first place.
Yeah Tomoyo’s story I think could have been better, it was doable with the romantic parts removed, at least to do in like three episodes. But I don’t think it would have been emotional as the two standalones (Fuko, Kotomi) so they picked those instead. It’s unfortunate though because Kyou and Tomoyo are generally the two most popular characters, heh. But think of it this way, at least they saved time to be able to do the After Story so we can be crying for a week after.
By the way during the last scene I was singing “Heartbreaker” to myself. It’s rare in anime to see so many of a main character’s love interests get abruptly denied at once. I was like oh shit son he just crushed those girls.
Er but wasn’t the whole point of Tomoyo’s route the romance between them causing conflict? It would be pretty boring/pointless otherwise. Kyoani pretty much did what they could with parts that could have the romantic parts removed. Without the romance it would be like picking the “I was just killing time” with her option in the game.
Spoiler:
Oh yeah any info on the lights? I’m resonable sure Nagisa dies without them.
I’m not sure what they’re going with the lights? I don’t even recall any in these episodes. Ironically in the game you had to get a good end with every girl to gets some lights so Kyo and Tomoyo getting rejected isn’t exactly a good end on their part
They can mesh/blend/butcher all they want because I don’t watch this. Nor will I want to. IMHO the best route they could have done is…
-drumroll-
The Nice Boat route. That would be so kewl.
Where’s Kappei?
never played the game nor hv i seen the ova… but just from watching the anime… i didnt find the events too sudden… or out of nowhere… or perhaps i just hv bad judgement = = but… i thought this was a nice ep =/ and i could understand the sisters’ crying… after tomoya’s quite “obvious” expression of “dont touch my toy”! reaction…
I have to say I think Kyoani picked it up again.
Yes the catfight scene was a huge WTF but at least for once it doesn’t seem like Fuuko’s wasting time (since the scene doesn’t make sense from the start).
I see in this episode a very nice way to wrap up Tomoyo and Kyou’s route. There was no tennis match, the carrying away is from the basketball (though I prefered the game, but they aren’t going out right now so it’s ok).
And for once Kyoani didn’t rush a famous scene but went through it properly (Tomoyo’s family talk). What I really had problems with previous episodes was Kyoani messing up many famous scenes. But they didn’t mess up any in this one
For those who don’t know the Fujibayashi sisters crying scene, Ryou told Kyou in the game that if Kyou gets rejected they can cry together. So Kyoani just took that (she got rejected, so they cry together).
Some very minor things that I don’t really care 1) I don’t think Kyou went fortune-telling with them, 2) I am pretty sure Takafumi ran into the highway and got hit by a car, not jumping off the bridge.
They are going to start (judging from the preview) focusing on Nagisa’s route, and they are doing it at about the minimum time I estimated they need to have a good coverage, which is good. Using Tomoya’s confession (through action) is also a good way to reject all the other girls I think (of course if they had used the actual basketball one I’d like better). And Tomoya still got to help Tomoyo out.
So overall I think Kyoani did the best job they could (after messing up 3 episodes) in tying together Tomoyo route and Kyou route. This episode is generally quite enjoyable.
Everyone should go play Tomoyo After. Actually go buy the CS edition. To me the CS edition is better than Clannad (with PC edition slightly worse). Tomoyo is definately my favourite female character in all VN after playing Tomoyo After (though no doubt Nagisa is still #1 in Clannad)
And yes where is my Kappei Hiiragi
Parallel> Yea I coulda sworn he got hit by a car too. Thanks for the reminder.
KyoAni is providing good drama for people who have played the game. What’s the point of watching when you already know the story?
Wow i’m surprised you wasnt satisfied with this episode Hinano
. i felt that in the scene where tomoyo realized nagisa was the shoujo who wanted to form the drama club, and Ryou, and Kyou bawling like idiots made me feel like “ok so are they all going to back off? Woot!more nagis and tomoya screen time!” I dont know i never played the game just looked at snippets,and reviews,but it seems the way they made this episode left a nice touch,and a promising ending.
Hm yeah Hinano is being too critical. What’s so bad about the cat fight secene? It was pretty funny heh. You’re too “OMG THEY DIDN’T PUT THIS IN AND PUT THIS OTHER THING IN INSTEAD WTF?!?! U SUX KYO ANI FOR NOT DOING THINGS LIKE I WANT!!!” in your reviews. Moar Tomoyo and Kyou is never a bad thing, but time constraints suck. It looks to me as if Kyoani is trying to fuse the stories together, but it’s not a “poor attempt” by any means.
KyoAni should have gotten the same SUV (Akiko jam) to drive through Takafumi. The-jumping-into-the-river-to-reconcile-the-family-attempt seems lame…
I just don’t like seeing characters who have nothing to do with each other all of a sudden fighting over Tomoya who was never a “harem leader” that much in the game to begin with if you think about the way he runs through each of the girls’ stories.
I don’t either. The straight, non-harem Tomoya getting swarmed is not a good thing on my list. But it’s good I saw Tomoya reject them all.
Is the Clannad visual novel set up any differently that they couldn’t do it like what they did with Kanon? I’ve finally watched episode 17 and 18 and this is just ridiculous where they’re going with this. Personally, I think their version of Kanon is the best of the 3 Key anime they’ve done.
@Koji Oe: That’s because CLANNAD is not romance-centered unlike Kanon. They are not in the same caliber. If you want romance drama, you should watch something like True Tears.
CLANNAD is about family, as the title would tell you. Kyou/Ryou and Tomoyo story is extremely light on that aspect and is too heavily based on romance, which doesn’t fit with CLANNAD’s main theme.
That’s so true (though I still like Tomoyo and Kyou/Ryou route a lot. Especially you can get family (and love) in Tomoyo After)
I’m here listening to “Place where wishes are granted II” the BGM, it’s the BGM just after Tomoya’s grandmother explained to him what his father had been through, and he finally decided once and for all to take back Ushio, and then in my mind this scene gets linked to him telling Ushio the story of Nagisa…and the more I listen to this BGM and the more I think about those 2 scenes the more I want to cry…definately one of the best scenes in the game.
You know…
Despite whats been said, if your one of the people who hasn’t played the games.
This show rocks the freakin’ world.
However even though I haven’t played the games, even I thought the Nagisa wins everyone dies was incredibly abrupt.
And it made me sorta angry. Nay, I was angry plain and simple.
Typical, bad planning… they should just divide up the number of episodes by number of girls, with odd episodes going to main heroine arc… wait this would be like , counting sisters as 1 arc, 4 episodes per girl… and 14 episodes has been gone to Fuuko and Kotomi. I like Kotomi and dont hate fuuko, but serious imbalance here…
Can’t be done due to the nature of Tomoyo’s story and Kyou’s story.
I’m playing through the Kyou path now. Unfortunately I messed up somewhere and didn’t get the right ending. x.x Need to start over.
Tomoya and Ryou went to the arcade multiple times actually, and I don’t think Kyou was ever there (unless I played it -that- incorrectly). Oh well, I’ll keep trying!
Thanks for your comparisons all through these ending episodes. I’m starting to understand why you feel the way you do about the anime. Not that it wasn’t great, but the game is just so huge… o.o