Clannad 22 [End] …except, not really
March 21st, 2008 by Shirukii
That’s it…?
Where’s the implied sex, offspring, and bittersweet end?! You promised me a BAAWfest KyoAni, WHERE’S MY BAAWfest?!
I’m not satisfied with how Clannad “ended” but I’m almost certain that we’ll see another season or an OVA covering Nagisa’s After Story, so I’ll reserve judgment for now and refrain from saying anything that will come back to bite me down the road.
The day of the festival has arrived and things aren’t looking so great, pathetic fallacy shows us that’s we’re in for a rough day. As expected, Nagisa hasn’t recovered from the shock of discovering her parents’ old diary along with the realization that she was responsible for diverting their lives. Tomoya tries to cheer her, reminding her that she is an individual with her own dreams that others have worked hard to make a reality. Besides, Akio and Sanae are still happy, even now, but as there’s no denying that they did give up their dreams because of Nagisa, she can’t stop blaming herself.
Everyone gathers in the drama room where they notice Nagisa acting a little strange, Sunohara tries to help out by teaching her the charm where you write the character for “person” on your hand three times and swallow it, but even the resulting hilarity fails to cheer up Nagisa. She and Tomoya head out to wander the festival for a while since their play isn’t until the afternoon, Nagisa tries her best to get her spirits up, but it’s clear she can’t stop thinking about her parents. Lost in thought, Nagisa and Tomoya get separated.
Nagisa ends up at the reference library where she asks Yukine if she could see some past school play performances. By the time Tomoya finds her, the situation is degrading fast, Nagisa found a video of an acting contest Akio participated in long ago, while accepting the award for first place he voiced his love for plays and his dreams to become a professional actor. Tomoya can do nothing but repeat himself, Nagisa is her own self and has to do what she can in the present instead of dwelling on the past. So he’s said, but standing on the stage, moments before the curtain rises, Nagisa isn’t looking any better.
Staring out at the sea of people, Nagisa begins to replay her father’s words in her head: “I love plays!”, “I’ll continue to stand on stage with all my heart!” “I’ll definitely go pro!”. Nagisa can’t keep it together and breaks down in tears on stage. Just as Tomoya is about to lower the curtains, Akio appears at the back of the theater and cries out to Nagisa telling her to realize her own dreams, that they never gave up, her dreams became their dreams, that’s what it is to be a parent, that’s what it is to be a family, and if she falls here, it will all be for naught. Sanae also stands up and cheers her on, and with Tomoya’s final push, that she bears the burden of his and Sunohara’s failed dreams as well, Nagisa pulls herself together and the play begins.
The play goes well and ends in applause, despite Nagisa singing Dango Daikazoku at the play’s climax, Tomoya congratulates her on a job well done. As the two sit outside and talk, Tomoya’s father approaches them, apparently Nagisa invited him to the play and to talk to Tomoya afterwards. They’re not exactly on the best of terms just yet, but Tomoya does show some concern for his dad, muttering under his breath telling him not to drink too much. Thanking Nagisa, he asks if she wants to go on a date the next day.
Kyou interrupts them and drags them back to the club room where they have a celebration party, afterwards they go to the closing bonfire of the school festival where Tomoya and Nagisa dance. The next day they go on their date and end off in the drama club room, where it all began, there, Tomoya finally cements their relationship, confessing and asking Nagisa out, Nagisa’s tears of happiness making the answer clear.
Thoughts
And that’s it. Yep, no epilogue, no indication of what happens after, no closure for any of the other girls (ie. no Fuko). Contrast to other Key adaptations where everything got tied up to a satisfactory point, Clannad just kinda cut off at the confession. There’s still the two OVA episodes though, so we’re not through just yet. Whether they’ll be inserts that show intermediate events during the story or more of a “where are they now” epilogue remains to be seen. But I maintain that this isn’t the last we’ll see of Clannad, even after the OVAs, there’s no way they can just stop before the Nagisa After, it’s widely recognized as the best part of Clannad.
Not that this episode was particularly bad though, it was lacking as a finale, but otherwise not bad at all. There was a lot of angsting, which can get annoying really quick, but given Nagisa’s situation it was justified enough that it didn’t bug me too much. The montage at the end seemed like it was supposed to be cathartic, but didn’t really have that impact, it left me feeling nice inside, but didn’t suffice in being the series tie up that it should have been. The theme of family was very nicely wrapped up though…
BELIEVE IN YOURSELF AND BELIEVE IN ME, WHO BELIEVES IN YOU
Akio was awesome, this scene was by far the best of the episode. This is what needed to be said to Nagisa all along, it’s only natural that parents will settle down and seek stability once they have a child, Nagisa had no reason to blame herself for that. Having a family means having to make sacrifices, but most parents are happy to do so to see their kid happy. Akio’s speech encompassed that well and as expected from someone who used to do drama, his presentation was powerful. Words can’t do justice, you have to watch it yourself. Akio is GAR.
The play itself was a little weak though. I stalled on the visual novel so I still don’t understand the symbolism of it all, people have kept telling me throughout the series that, in hindsight, the play would serve as a parallel to the events of the series. Not that I’m saying they’re wrong, but it didn’t. We didn’t even get to see its conclusion, Nagisa was just like: “Oh, they lived happily ever after and then sang a song. The End. ^_^”. So much for the symbolic and thought provoking analog that it was supposed to serve as.
Heh, well I said I wasn’t going to rant only to regret it later, but I ended up doing quite a bit of ranting. Oh well. I’m confident that it won’t end here, it CAN’T end here. Clannad was supposed to trump Kanon in its ability to reduce people to tearing up like a five year old girl, and even rival AIR. It must deliver. (And hey, if it doesn’t, there’s always the visual novel =D)
Next week: Be My Only Sunohara Forever. Surprise GAY END?
Pedobear Tomoyo, because I couldn’t find a decent shot of Kyou
~ Shirukii ~
23 Responses to “Clannad 22 [End] …except, not really”
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Wow, I am so disappointed.
Well……..my first comment =p
pretty dissapointing…..not even close to the impact of Kanon(2006)
but still……wanna see the OVAs ^^
But Nagisa’s father was somehow the highlight for me ind this episode……..right after okazaki confessing =p
Well thats it from me ^^
cya Thermo
Mmmm the play/illusionary world comes back and gets really explained in the After Story (at least in the VN), so don’t be too disheartened by the weak resolution of it here.
You will BAWWWW like nothing else during the After Story (I was a wreck for a day or two), so the ending will wrap up eventually. It just seemed really anti-climactic the way they ended this season. I guess it is sort of the only way they thought they could do it but I’m not sure. They ended this season before the end of the regular Nagisa arc in the game, I think it would have been better to finish off the standard arc in this season personally. To me it felt like they dragged this part out a bit too much, Nagisa’s angst was too long lasting.
Here’s to hoping it all recovers next season =)
P.S. Sunohara ending would be win, at least a tribute to it~
“I’m not satisfied with how Clannad “ended” but I’m almost certain that we’ll see another season or an OVA covering Nagisa’s After Story, so I’ll reserve judgment for now and refrain from saying anything that will come back to bite me down the road.”
Smart call, unlike so many others.
God, I hope I’m not forced to play the visual novel in order to get the proper story, because if there is anything more boring than a visual novel, I have yet to encounter it.
no baawfest 2008…
Anyone watch the Clannad Movie?
@ Servbot - Yup, their ending was one of the things that made me cry…along with my sorrow that the animation is inferior to KyoAni. Also, Ushio. ^_^
Akio says “Igiari!” to BAAAAAW-fests. That’s why there was none.
And you know, I don’t think it was absolutely necessary to put Dango Daikozoku as the end theme, especially since the piece playing during the confession seemed to end so well…oh well, enough of my bitching at insignificant things.
So, we should expect Clannad Season 2 in about 2 years eh? Or maybe even longer, I’m going with a philosophy that however long it will take Haruhi Season 2 to be made will be the amount of time Clannad will be.
To be honest though, I’m quite glad the story is ending like this, since as said, the After Story part is the best part of Clannad, and it would be a shame if they had to cut bits and pieces of it to try and fit a 20-ish episode season. This way, they can start fresh and deal with it in another season. (I’ve said season a lot haven’t I? Season, season, season.)
And again, I’m thinking the illusionary world will still play a big part, especially since it’s come to my belief that Show ▼
Today’s episode made me question that belief, but I’m sticking to it for now.
Shirukii, you’ll cover the OVAs as well then?
Oh, and RandomC brought up a good point in his review. Just like Kanon announced Clannad at it’s end, it’d be nice to assume KyoAni will announce something next week at the end of the summer OVA. Might just be Haruhi again, but who knows? Maybe they’ll surprise and announce Tomoyo After? ^^;
Looks like I wasn’t the only one who drew the obvious Gurren parallel. GAR indeed.
Why is everyone considering this the end! There’s like 2 eps left and a couple very important things left to cover!
Also, the Clannad movie doesn’t exist (to me). T.T
There are more important things to cover? Other than Tomoya’s sexuality, I can’t think of any…
And come on, the movie wasn’t that bad. Go ahead and tell me that the “Papa!” at the end didn’t tug on your heartstrings even a little.
This wasn’t the greatest arc for Kyoani. I mean, I like Fuko and Kotomi arc little more (since we don’t really have Kyou and Tomoyo arc), but Nagisa’s arc wasn’t that bad either. When Nagisa said “You’re the same, Okazaki san. In order to achieve your own dream, you’re using up everyone else’s time.” I thought that was kinda mean coming from Nagisa but I guess she was so depressed I’ll let that pass by. When Akio shouted at Nagisa, I thought that was probably the best scene of the whole episode. I thought the play should show me something more dramatic but I guess it wasn’t. The confession was OK. Overall, I’ll still gonna put Clannad as my top 5 favorite because of Kyou and Tomoyo XD. Unless, True Tears ending is just beyond superb then I’ll replace with True Tears instead. I still think that the ending was different because Kyoani don’t want to have the same ending as Clannad movie from Toei. They may announce more OVA for Clannad or other series like Haruhi 2 from the next two episodes. I’ll see about that.
Indeed.
Well from the opinion of somebody who has read the VN - working with whatever source material they had - this ending was probably about the best they could fit in. The real beef of Nagisa’s story lies within the After Story, which really should see the light someday… because with no After Story, the most important part is left out. You could say that this is more like character development for her in a way.
Slight spoiler… well, not really:
Show ▼
“I’m not satisfied with how Clannad “ended” but I’m almost certain that we’ll see another season or an OVA covering Nagisa’s After Story, so I’ll reserve judgment for now and refrain from saying anything that will come back to bite me down the road.”
It’s good that you mention that as to not jump to conclusions like many others, because most people that do often try to compare it to Kanon, or another drama where the story is more-or-less left complete; in Clannad this is far from the case.
Hey, are you sure episode 22 is the end ? I think I heard that it is going to be 26 episode long ?
The game is several GBs big, so I expect it to be a really long, may be enough story for 52 episodes.
Is there going to be Second Season ?
Btw I had made an anime groups, an I hope you guys can join in. It seems that there is not enough boys in the group.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/animefreezone/join
Btw do someone miss something ?
AKIO IS WIN!
I actually started crying at that entire scene with his speech and Nagisa crying on stage.
The confession at the end was just so damned cute, I melted! Dammit, if only he freaking kissed her, I would be set. ^-^ Not bad end, I hope for more in OVA form.
@ Kaelyn: Indeed, but there’s still more to come, at least two OVA eps, and probably still more after that.
@ Thermonuclear: Sweet, another lurker comes out to comment =D
I thought Tomoya’s confession scene wasn’t as great as it could have been. Akio’s scene was awesome though.
@ Calawain: Is the after story in the VN translated yet? Last I heard it wasn’t, and that was what was really holding me back from going through the whole thing.
@ RmX: Yep, I like to cover my ass like that sometimes, haha.
@ ItAintEazy: Whaaa? What’s wrong with visual novels, it’s more or less like reading a book except with sound effects and still frames to break the monotony.
@ Servbot: Nope, not yet, though I have a good idea of what happens in it.
@ RJ: Yea I’ll definitely cover the OVAs, I cover anything and everything Key related.
*dodges spoiler*
I hope Clannad S2 comes before Haruhi S2, I find myself hating the Haruhi franchise more and more as time passes. The bandwagon for that show was ridiculous, it’s a petty reason to hate it, but it really irritates me. But at the least it gave us Kyonko, who is awesome and a half.
But before all that, KyoAni, WHERE’S MY FMP S4?!
@ Totali: Akio’s voice in that scene was so awesome, he was straining it so hard you could hear it shaking when he screamed “TEME!”
And yea there’s be two more episodes, but they will not be going much deeper into Tomoya/Nagisa. But you might still have your Fuko closure yet.
@ kenshin514: I can’t really pick a favourite arc, my fav character remains Kyou, but as you said, she didn’t really have an arc per se. I liked Nagisa’s arc and it’s departure from the harem mechanics, Kotomi’s was the only one that had me anywhere close to tears though.
But in my top 5? I wouldn’t say so, neither Clannad nor True Tears is THAT good. Harems don’t usually make it into my higher ranks. But I’ve never really thought about what a top 5 or top 10 list would be like for me anyways.
@ Espydon: Exactly. But hey, it’s not like we didn’t know that there wouldn’t be an After Story. It was pretty obvious that with the remaining time that they had left, covering the After Story would be as unlikely as a Kyou End.
I haven’t read a lot of other Clannad 22 posts, are that many people really bitching about the end?
@ orichalc: 24 episodes, there are 2 more episodes that will be OVA style, so they probably won’t add much to the main story.
There’s no confirmation of a second season yet, but I think it’s highly likely that there will be one, as do many others.
@ Kari: I got shivers up my spine during the Akio scene. He had always been a very outspoken person, but jokingly so, to see him so serious was shockingly awesome.
Agreed, end scene should have had a kiss. I mean, even Ayu and Yuuichi kissed!
I dont know how amazing the After Story is but i am looking forward to it. It has been said clearly in this episode that there is something more about the illusionary world which is Tomoya try to figure out the rest. I believe KyoAni wont left it behind like this.
So no one is missing something ?
Like what you said Shirukii this as an ending was not good at all but it was a fine episode.
” Akio’s voice in that scene was so awesome, he was straining it so hard you could hear it shaking when he screamed “TEME!” ”
Same hear. I’m happy it was Akio who started to get Nagisa out of her sadness it really gets the seriousness of his character in the open.
and Akio as Oedipus was the most unexpected thing for me. But HE PLAYS A GOOD OEDIPUS.
“Agreed, end scene should have had a kiss. I mean, even Ayu and Yuuichi kissed”
Atleast the confession was alright. Kanon’s confession wasn’t really a confession (though it wasn’t bad).
“The play itself was a little weak though. I stalled on the visual novel so I still don’t understand the symbolism of it all, people have kept telling me throughout the series that, in hindsight, the play would serve as a parallel to the events of the series. Not that I’m saying they’re wrong, but it didn’t.”
Way I see it: The story of the girl and the doll is just representation of Tomoya’s search for someone (Nagisa) whilst being empty. It doesn’t really apply to anything else other than that.
“But before all that, KyoAni, WHERE’S MY FMP S4?!”
I want Little Busters!
Kenshin514: “I thought that was kinda mean coming from Nagisa but I guess she was so depressed I’ll let that pass by”
Same here
Aww, I cried during Aiko’s speech. I can’t believe it took Nagisa that long to realize parents sacrifice for their children, and that their children’s dream is their dream. Isn’t that obvious, at least for her family status? Probably not the same for Tomoya, in which I’m still waiting for proper family closure. He’s not seriously going to live with Nagisa’s family forever, is he?
I don’t know about this Nagisa After Story thing, but here’s hoping for something more. And I second FMP S4. I want it. Now.
And Kenshin514, Nagisa wasn’t saying Tomoya used up everyone’s time for his own dream. She was referring to herself and how she was using Tomoya’s and everyone else’s time for her own dream.
5 bucks says Nagisa dies in the next 2 episodes.
If you’re looking for the BAWWWWWWWWWWWW Fest its in the Nagisa After Story told in the (new) Clannad movie :)
and if you don’t cry, then I’m pretty sure you have no soul
the series itself ended kinda crappy, but the old man’s speech was good :D……Now off to watch True Tears :D
SURPRISE GAY END?
DO WANT!
…Reminds me of Show ▼
I’d watch this series if it had that end LOL
tx for sharing , ^^ , cant wait for the extra ep , i had watch the movie….but i prefer the series more…the movie was…Show ▼
The Clannad After Story promo was just subbed by Sprocket and The Waffle House. I plan to watch it soon =x And enjoy all…..30 seconds of it.