CLANNAD

I wasn’t sure what to review this week. So I decided I would do something a bit different. I am going to review one of my new favorite anime series. As a quick definition, anime is simplistically described as Japanese animation/cartoons. As I believe I have mentioned before, just because they are animated doesn’t mean they are all suitable for children. The anime I want to review is called CLANNAD. I had seen previews for it for several years and I finally got around to seeing it. (Though we haven’t watched the AFTER STORY yet. It is next in our Netflix queue.)

CLANNAD follows Okazaki Tomoya a delinquent senior. He doesn’t get along with his father, and doesn’t enjoy school. On his first day of school he sees a girl talking to herself. He runs into her several times and learns she wants to be part of the drama club. Her name is Furukawa Nagisa. She is weak and had to be held back her senior year because she was so sick. He decides to help her resurrect the drama club which has been on hiatus. Tomoya enlists the help of those around him so that Nagisa can fulfill her dream of performing at the school festival. Though there are only two main male characters and five female characters, even Moose enjoyed watching it with me. The AFTER STORY takes place when Tomoya is an adult and his decisions with his family. (Or so I think from what I’ve seen. I haven’t done too much research because I don’t want to ruin anything.)

I knew this show was going to make me cry. Even the brief previews I’ve seen of it make me cry. What I didn’t expect was how much I would laugh. Tomoya in particular is a straight forward fellow who speaks his mind, and enjoys a good joke. Though he is a delinquent he is a lot deeper than first expected. The other characters also have depth and aren’t just straw men. I really came to care about all of them and what they were doing. The anime is suitable for any age, though it might be a bit serious for a young audience. It is an anime I will own.