Customer Ratings & Reviews

So Clannad is the third major installment of a quartet of visual novels turned into Anime by the Japanese production agency Key / Visual Arts. The first two being Air and Kanon. Clannad is quite a bit longer than it’s predecessors being 49 episodes across two seasons. If you’ve seen any of the Key’s releases you know all too well to expect drama and tragedy. Clannad is a little slower (just on the length of the series) to get there, but it delivers that emotional knock-out blow that is a Key trademark. Now the first thing to address is YES you can afford to buy it. At an average cost of $30 per set and 12 episodes on 2 discs in each set, this series is a GOOD DEAL. For the story you’re getting, I liken it to thievery. Alright, some background: The story follows the life of a senior in high school named Tomoya Okazaki. He’s a delinquent and a jerk. He hates school, hates this town, often on the wrong end of trouble, and due to circumstances has a rather poor outlook on family as well. He lives his life just “going thru the motions” with no direction or plan. However his life changes the moment he meets Nagisa Furukawa. She is his polar opposite; shy, frail, and a good student. Unlike Tomoya, she loves this town and her school…she feels a deep connection to them both. She wants to express her love and passion for these things so her goal is to revive the drama club. Normally Tomoya wouldn’t be bothered with something as silly as this however when he sees her standing in the twilight performing a scene from her solo play, it jogs a faint memory of a story that he feels he knows well. A nostalgic memory that is nothing more than haze to him now. This memory of a Girl, all alone in a world that is coming to an end. Trust me, it’s fantastic! Along the way he’ll tighten bonds with his friends and make new ones. His friend since his freshman year is another good for nothing that does have one redeeming quality. He cares for those around him; however Youhei Sunohara tends to express this in odd ways that usually end with him taking a rather blunt blow from one of the female characters. Kyou Fujibayashi being one such girl delivering Youhei’s punishment. She’s bright, strong, and rather popular. For some strange reason she’s also showing an interest in our two delinquents. Ryou is her twin sister; much more reserved than her outgoing sister, she’ll also end up in this tangled mess. Kotomi Ichinose is the most brilliant girl in school. A frequent top ranker in national tests, she doesn’t even have to attend classes. Instead she spends her time reading books about quantum physics in the school library. But this feeds her nature as a total anti-social “shut-in.” Tomoyo Sakagami is a Junior and a new transfer student, whose smile and beauty belies the truth that she is Titan among men. She has a reputation as the strongest fighter in town, but this only serves against her in her simple and singular purpose for transferring into this school. And of course we’ll be introduced to several other characters as well: the mysterious girl who appears in classrooms after hours carving scraps of wood, the quiet and reserved girl who oversees the “second library”, the dorm mother of Yohei’s dorm, and of course Nagisa’s EXCENTRIC parents who never seem to have two feet firmly planted on Earth. Alright so a little plot summary: Disc 1…obviously we meet Nagisa and Tomoya just about the time their meeting each other. The first few episodes are spent exploring each of the main characters and their personalities. The first of the secondary story arcs begins later in the disc exploring the mysterious girl Fuko. Disc 2 continues Fuko’s story and sees it to it dramatic conclusion. It also opens Kotomi’s fun and dramatic story. In the midst of all this, we’re introduced to the “Girl from the world that has ended” which serves as plot mirror for the entire series.

The series is well done but like the other two series produced by the same people, it has a wide cast but fails to give the main characters the screen time they deserve. This allows less developement that should be present especially for the relationship between the two main characters. Other than that the comedy is great and if not for that detail i would rate it better than kannon. This series does not have as many supernatural factors. I still highly recommend seeing this series.

Sentai Filmworks greatest ever anime in my opinion. Made by Kyoto Animation like the animes Kanon and Air TV, I found Clannad to be similiar to Kanon but with a lot of humor. Rated TV PG so pretty much anyone can enjoy this anime. Widescreen 16:9

The story behind Clannad is very deep and has alot of twists and turns. This show is so deep that it iis impossable to understand some parts without the after story, It is alot like Kanon and a little like Shuffle. There is no adult material however there is some violence but it is unrealistic and is only there for comic releif (like Love Hina or almost any other anime). The so called ""eternal victim" known as Youhet Sunohara" plays a fairly important role later in the series and should not be dismissed so lightly. Sunohara's beatings would only be considered disturbing is if you have something aginst a guy getting beaten by a girl for comic releif. Its a good show and it only gets better with the After Story

I have been following this anime since its first days in Japan and I love it. The artwork, the story, the characters you name and I love it. I HIGHLY recomend this series if a anime or non anime fan alike!

BUYER BEWARE. This series contains an "eternal victim" known as Youhet Sunohara; a character whose sole purpose is to get beaten up, no matter what he does, merely for the sake of laughs. He, and the companies who created the "visual novel" before another company animated it, are the sole reason why a lot of the anime from Japan are not worth your hard earned money. And the only people who would enjoy a title like this are those who enjoy seeing people get their rear ends handed to them without fighting back.