Clannad After Story

[roriconfan]

Originally Posted by Funkgun

would you actually recommend the show or not?
There is a certain satisfaction in the thumbs up thumbs down approach to rating a series.
There is but a few titles I recommend sheerly on the fact they have significance to the genre

Thumbs down it is. But I do admit it is important to the genre as it is surely a lot more variable than those retro romances of the 80's. A 100 episodes of slice of life with no plot gets to your nerves fast. I would also recommend NANA over Clannad AF as a downright more realistic and interesting romance.

[hoffstyle]

I just trudged through this the last two days, all I have to say is this:

Although there are some moments that are touching and painful, I really don't get what all the fuss was about. You could see the conclusion coming a mile away. Just my two cents.

2.5/5

[DontStay]

I thought it was sad. It was sad. Not as sad as Nana sad though. :D

Sad..

Still, it's a worthy watch and it's ranked #7 on this site.

[Pidjiken]

It's still shit and should be avoided.

[hoffstyle]

Originally Posted by DontStay

I thought it was sad. It was sad. Not as sad as Nana sad though. :D

Sad..

Still, it's a worthy watch and it's ranked #7 on this site.

Not to argue, but it wasn't really. Nothing sad at all about an anime that

Spends all of its time telling you that something bad is going to happen in order for everyone to be happy together in the power of family and friendship at the very end. It had no emotional punch to it because of this. There was no journey, and all of the actions leading to the lolreset were largely glossed over.

Just my opinion. This series was an example of how to not do forced drama.

[Bradalee]

My favourite anime ever.

And it's the only anime i've ever gotten properly sad at, and i've seen series that people say are sadder. I haven't seen Nana though.

[fallenangel]

Extremely well written series from start to finish; dose heartstrings :'( A solid 5/5

[FireWalker]

Originally Posted by hoffstyle

Not to argue, but it wasn't really. Nothing sad at all about an anime that

Spends all of its time telling you that something bad is going to happen in order for everyone to be happy together in the power of family and friendship at the very end. It had no emotional punch to it because of this. There was no journey, and all of the actions leading to the lolreset were largely glossed over.

Just my opinion. This series was an example of how to not do forced drama.

I partly agree with the last sentence but not the first.

There's been a lot written about this before, particularly by Pidjiken, and I can see the merit in a lot of his points.

The series takes a long time on side characters and side plots that don't relate to the main arc marked by the two deaths. (Although I really liked the first couple of episodes for what they showed to cement our view of Nagisa and Tomoya as a loving couple finding their way in life.)
And then the resolution is quick and magical, lessening the impact (but probably relieving the burden on suicide hotlines in Japan when it first aired ...)
So, the buildup was too drawn out and too often tangential, and the ending was too quick. In that sense, I agree that it was a bad way to do forced drama. But when the Ushio arc was being told, I was riveted, and I remember expecting a more realistic bittersweet ending with Kyou (reminiscent of David Copperfield - the first love is gone and won't be forgotten, but life goes on.) So for me, that part of the drama was real, it was sad, and there are few anime that achieve even that much emotional intensity.
There were also some very poignant moments surrounding those events - Sena's tears, Tomoya's reconnection with Ushio, meeting his grandmother, Nagisa's graduation ...
I can see that if somebody spoiled it, or if you guessed that it would all be undone, it would lose that impact, and that would be a shame.

[hoffstyle]

There was one moment I found sad

Ushio losing the toy. Yes, that got to me a bit. But to me, the concept of forced drama is made that much more contrived when the story tells you what is going to happen. That was my biggest problem with the whole thing. Not so much the spoilers via the fanbase than the writers themselves slapping you with clues at every turn.

But again, that's just me. Not trying to change anyone's mind about it.

[tootalls]

Originally Posted by hoffstyle

Not to argue, but it wasn't really. Nothing sad at all about an anime that

Spends all of its time telling you that something bad is going to happen in order for everyone to be happy together in the power of family and friendship at the very end. It had no emotional punch to it because of this. There was no journey, and all of the actions leading to the lolreset were largely glossed over.

Just my opinion. This series was an example of how to not do forced drama.

Just one question, did you watch "clannad" the first season or did you just skip that and start from the beginning of afterstory?