Haha, I kid.

houkoholic’s point is valid and in the grand scheme of things, correct. It’s weird that I didn’t remember the whole Clannad = family thing, I’ve read the wiki article too, haha, not to mention played a bit of the game. I guess I got caught up in how good the character interaction between Nagisa and Tomoya was and how everything else paled in comparison. Writing my part of the entry in the wee hours of the morning probably had something to do with my oversight.

In any case, I realize now why the sub arcs are important, but I stand by my point that they’re execution is seemingly far too removed from the main plot to be enjoyable.

Clannad, in indirect translation, means family, or clan, from it’s Irish roots. I agree that the path towards the inevitable end could have been different, and seemingly changed to better situate Tomoya and Nagisa, but it wouldn’t have been the same if we were to leave out the rest of the people they know. Also, although Kyou, Ryou, Tomoyo, and Kotomi are all female leads themselves, it was important to note the importance of the lights which happened to appear earlier in the series by tying it in with a few current scenarios (i.e. Yukine, specifically).

Although both of you are correct, I feel more strongly towards agreeing with houkoholic because of his insistence towards believing in how KyoAni decided to do things. Don’t hurt me =)

Edit: Thanks for the post, Jay!