Otakuism

Since, you know, there’s still actually two more episodes left, though how relevant those episodes will be is up to question. Way to shoot yourself in the foot with artificial episode counts Kyoani. I’m really starting to hate this increase in DVD only episodes, but I digress. So how does Clannad end? Sadly not with Dangoes but the most last minute love confession in history. Yes, Tomoya confesses to Nagisa with one minute left on the clock. It’s like Kyoani remembered there was suppose to be a relationship in there somewhere. For me, love confessions are not the end of a relationship; often it is what happens afterwards that is the most interesting, and which sadly most anime tend to ignore. I love how love confessions in anime dictate that the characters are going to be married for life when they haven’t even dated yet, but again I digress.

The best part of the ending was Nagisa’s play, and by play I mean the part where Akio comes in acting all manly. Nagisa does not pull off emo well, especially when the answer to her problem was so obvious. Everybody knows (good) parents care more about their kid’s dreams than their own. Just look at all the rabid soccer moms. Nagisa’s whole emotional breakdown appears forced when held up to common sense, and fortunately Akio saves the audience, both fictional and real, from more crying Nagisa with his fiery words. More shows need hot blooded dads; they save everyone from needless melodrama.

The most interesting things I noticed about Akio, however, was what play he was acting in in high school. From all the little evidence - mentioning of Thebes, the Sphinx’s riddle, Apollo, and the blood streaming down Akio’s face - I bet that’s Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex. A very interesting reference for Kyoani, since when looked at one way Oedipus Rex is all about the destruction of a family by lies and secrets. Similarly, Nagisa’s family, in her eyes, risks destruction from the the secrets of her parents. Fortunately familial love comes through to save the day and Nagisa doesn’t need to claw her eyes out.

For Clannad as a whole, I’ll give it credit for doing a few things right. The comedy was often excellent, whether low-key and sarcastic or pure slapstick. A lot of this strength came from the strong cast, with a lot of the comedy also coming from Sunohara; best male sidekick ever. Most of the characters fortunately managed to grow and change as the series when on, particularly Nagisa and Tomoya. Nagisa’s change from a waifish outcast to an inspiring leader makes her character all that much more endearing; indeed, she’s my favorite of the cast. Tomoya’s shift in cynic attitude was also handled well, I just wish the show would of showed his complete change. Which leads us to the main problem of Clannad: pacing. Even more so than AIR Clannad has terrible pacing. Between six to seven episodes were spent on Fuuko and Kotomi each, while Nagisa, Kyou, and Tomoyo probably got half that amount. I don’t care if Kyou and Tomoyo’s routes are incompatible with the larger plot, they still should of been worked in some way.

Then there’s the girl with the robot, which was never really developed at all. I get the connection to the play, but that’s such a tenuous connection at best. If the girl was so important, shouldn’t she of shown up more instead of disappearing and reappearing every few episodes? I know from spoilers that the girl really is a part of the After story, which of course isn’t in the show. It’s like the whole show is working up to this dramatic story at the end that doesn’t happen. Many people are hoping Kyoani will animate the After story, but I’m not holding my breath for that. What other ero-adaption, aside from Da Capo, has ever gotten a sequel to cover unanimated material? In the end I have to rate Clannad has one of Kyoani’s lesser works. I’m not sure how it compares to AIR, but I definitely know Kanon was done better. The characters and humor for Clannad are good, but when it comes to telling a good story the show just falls apart.

After the multi-arc “epics” of Fuuko and Kotomi, Keyani chooses to blow through Kyou/Ryou’s and Tomoyo’s arcs in one episode. I’m left with the feeling of “what the hell did I just watch here?” First there’s the tragic cutting of Tomoyo’s story, which is tragic mainly because Tomoyo is one awesome character who can make any scene she’s in better. And her back story actually makes plausible sense! It’s still the same kind of trite Key melodrama, but I feel like if her brother’s story got proper development it really could of been something, instead of the actual, you know, five minutes we got on him. The whole way Tomoyo’s back story was handled was atrocious. Tomoyo was just like “oh, I haven’t told you my tragic emotional back story that drives me. Silly me.” It was all so artificial and “tragedy” for tragedies sake. At least her bowing out of the race for Tomoya’s heart was handled with some grace, the kind of silent recognition that lets her move on.

In the mind of Sunohara: “I wonder if I can get some sympathy sex here?”

What an amazing contrast that is to the Fujibayashi sisters, who really let the waterworks loose this episode. Ever since the end of the Kotomi arc Kyou and Ryou have been there in the background, Kyou working her magic to get Tomoya with Ryou. The whole time I was thinking “this is nice, but it will be better when the main story focuses on them.” Then this episode comes along and all of a sudden both girls are out. What the hell was their purpose? Why did Ryou like Tomoya, why did Kyou feel like she needed to play matchmaker, and why did she like Tomoya? Keyani decides to wash away all those little inconsistencies in the most cliche manner possible: a lot of crying. I have no idea what the importance of these girls was suppose to be, and it looks like the story doesn’t care either as it moves on with Nagisa. Fine with me; let’s just hope her story actually remains coherent.

Or, to be more accurate, comatose. As surreally funny as these random Fuuko moments are, they really need to stop. They just further erode the emotional impact of Fuuko’s story. If Kyoani wants to have so much fun with Fuuko just give her her own show already. She could be a henshin heroine fighting evil octopuses who threaten the kingdom of starfish. Hell, I’d watch that. Though, that can also sound like one weird eroge *shudder*. I think I’ve gotten my point across.

So, that’s it. I’m feeling awfully underwhelmed here. It’s not like the ending was bad, it was very functional, which is the problem, almost too perfect and too concise. It was blatantly obvious here Keyani is trying to get us to turn on the waterworks, if only for the fact it’s Key and that’s what’s supposed to happen. The whole thing would of been better without the suitcase randomly appearing. One, the idea of random people trading a suitcase around the world requires way too much suspension of disbelief. If the Ichinose’s were such famous people couldn’t someone just mail it to Japan? What else is google supposed to be used for? Two, it robs Kotomi of her own personal closure. Having Kotomi come to terms with her parents and her past by herself, with the help of some friends, is a far stronger story than the suitcase deus ex machina. But I guess a tale of quiet triumph wouldn’t get make us cry as much as a heartbreaking letter from the dead. Though, again, the mind wanders to how did Kotomi’s parents have time to write that letter and put the bear in the suitcase when they apparently died from a fiery explosion.

It’s not that Kotomi’s a bad character, far from it. She’s weird for sure, but her humor and earnestness make her a very likable character. It’s hard to deny her cute design, too. The problem with Kotomi’s story is that it’s not driven by her, but all caused by outside events. The suitcase is the most obvious aspect of this, but Tomoya’s mysterious friendship is also circumspect. Do we really need Kotomi to be the forgotten childhood character? Couldn’t her past work just as well told completely from her perspective? If Tomoya doesn’t remember he was Kotomi’s friend until after he befriended her anew, then does it really matter if his past friendship existed or not? The whole thing feels thrown in just for the required amounts of Keyches. Kotomi’s story is very lowkey and poignant, but marred by a plot that wants to be more emotionally epic than it actually is. Which seems to be the pattern with Clannad, great characters trapped in tiredly overused plots. Hopefully further stories will be entertaining while trying to move away from this point, but I doubt it.

Keyches (n.) - Common plot devices found in Key games. For example: childhood friends that are forgotten, disembodied apparitions, weird psychic powers, moeblobs with the IQ of a three year old, sarcastic male protagonists, and heart-breaking tales about sad girls that will inevitably make you cry.

Never thought I would see the occult incantations of Lovecraft in Clannad. You’ve really surprised me this time Kyoani. Though, personally, I think Kotomi would make a wonderful dark queen of blasphemous nether horrors from beyond time. Nothing would be able to defy her violin playing, and that’s a fact.

Clannad just got a thousand times better. Kyou x Kotomi ftw! I hope they get to “know each other” very well.