Clannad
Visual Novels are interactive fictional video games that feature text-based stories that blend literary narrative with interactivity. The storytelling is aided by static or sprite-based visuals, which typically appear in anime-style art and are essentially mixed-media novels. Now and then, a Visual Novel gets adapted into an anime series. Like most games that get their own anime adaptations, whether it ends well or not depends on too many factors. Among the hits and misses, there was a spectacular hit that invoked tears across countless audiences.
Clannad is infamous. This TV series spanned 23 episodes, airing from the 5th of October 2007 until the 28th of March 2008, primarily as a Fall 2007 title. It was produced by Pony Canyon, TBS, Movic, and Animation Do, licensed by Sentai Filmworks, and brought to life by Studio Kyoto Animation. The primary staff behind it are Hatta Youko as Producer, Ishihara Tatsuya as Director, Episode Director, and Storyboard; Nakamura Shinichi as Producer; and Tsuruoka Youta as Sound Director. It featured Comedy, Drama, Romance, School, Slice of Life, and Supernatural, and received a PG-13 rating for teenagers 13 years or older.
Clannad is the anime adaptation of the visual novel of the same title developed by KEY for Windows PCs back in 2004. It was later ported to PlayStation consoles and the Xbox 360. The game achieved remarkable success, emerging as the top-selling PC game of 2004 and consistently charting in the National Top 50 Rankings. Following this massive success, Clannad was adapted into four manga, an animated film, two anime series, two OVAs, comic anthologies, light novels, and art books. Sentai Filmworks in North America licensed both the anime series and OVAs back in 2009. The Anime’s first season received mainly mixed reviews, while the second season gained wide critical acclaim.
The three main Manga adaptations are titled “Clannad (For You Not),” “Clannad: Hikaru Mimamoru Sakamichi de," and “Clannad” with stories by KEY and Maeda Jun. The Clannad Movie aired in September 2007 by Toei Animation as an Alternate version. Two alternative setting special episodes were released as well: “Clannad: Mou Hitotsu no Sekai, Tomoyo-hen” and “Clannad: After Story - Mou Hitotsu no Sekai, Kyou-hen.” The second season was released under the title “Clannad: After Story” in Fall 2008.
Protagonist Tomoya Okazaki is essentially a delinquent who thinks life is dull and firmly believes he will never amount to anything. Thus, along with his friend Youhei Sunohara, he spends his days skipping school and idly wasting away. His grandiose plans will not go far, as one day, while walking to school, he passes a peculiar young girl muttering to herself. She suddenly exclaims, "Anpan!" without warning, catching his attention. He soon learns that the girl's name is Nagisa Furukawa and that she has a habit of exclaiming aloud what she likes to motivate herself. Out of nowhere, she suddenly claims that they are now friends, to which he responds by simply walking away, thinking nothing of the fateful encounter. One way or another, Tomoya soon finds himself noticing Nagisa more and more around school. Eventually, he accepts defeat, befriends her, and learns that she had been held back a school year due to a severe illness. Even so, she dreams of reviving the school's drama club somehow, and Tomoya, under the guise of “not having anything better to do,” decides to help her achieve this goal. Joining the two are four other girls. Soon, he finds himself spending more and more time with these girls, gradually learning about them and their problems. Thus begins his unexpected school life, where he attempts to help each girl overcome her obstacle and soon realizes his life isn't as dull as he thought.
While After Story is a masterpiece, this prequel series has quite a few flaws, which have led to mixed reviews. It is undisputed that Clannad is a timeless classic with much to be felt while watching, but the sequel is what truly makes the franchise shine. The Story of Clannad has little to work with, as it simply follows the Visual Novel’s original plot. Most of the plot elements seem outlandish and emotionally manipulative, thereby weakening what could have been a sweet story. In terms of romance, the characters feel highly one-dimensional, except for maybe two. In terms of drama, the starting arc is annoying to most and builds almost no emotional premise. In the present, most viewers will find it a complete failure as a story, but as an average slice-of-life anime, the plot just passes. The comedy is pretty decent, too.
Clannad’s greatest weakness is the characters. This, too, can be credited to the source material. Even so, some characters receive beneficial development as the series progresses. At their core, they were either tsundere, quirky, sweet, or similar. They are far too childish and insecure, even for their age, early in the series, and make for unrealistic characters whom viewers cannot care about or relate to. Tomoya's motivations remain unclear from the outset, and he comes across as relatively bland. It never becomes clear why he even bothers to help Nagisa, given his initial determination to laze his days away. The female characters seem to lack many things that could potentially attract a guy like Tomoya. Nagisa continues to act like a preschooler and does not develop. Tomoya and Sunohara are pretty fun to watch, though. The rest of the characters ultimately feel unimportant and pointless.
The Art and Animation of Clannad are good. This anime had a high budget, great production values, and art direction, so it is to be expected. The character designs are mostly “moe”- type and may not appeal to every audience, but they are expected to be considered alongside the themes and production time. The eye art, in particular, could be disrupting to some viewers, all except for Okazaki's. The Sounds and Music of Clannad are decent at best. The OSTs are evocative without sounding too overdramatic. As for Voice acting, all the female characters sound like toddlers. The Opening theme is "Megumeru ~cuckool mix 2007~" by eufonius, and the Ending theme is "Dango Daikazoku" by Chata, both of which are okay.
Overall, Clannad is a good anime for fans of the genres looking for a very casual watch. This is definitely not a series to invest any brainpower in, so just watch it as it is. If you’re looking for realistic female characters you can relate to, this is not your anime. The series could’ve been better if they hadn’t tried so hard to make a significant emotional impact, only to mess it up in the process. Regardless, it has some heartwarming moments and adorable scenes. At the end of the day, Clannad feels contrived, heavy-handed, and unrealistic, and falls flat. If you’re looking to watch the series for its unyielding legacy, go ahead and simply breeze through this prequel before you get to the much better After Story. In honor of the Clannad franchise, this anime is recommended, but prepare yourself for what's aforementioned.
The article was first published on August 31, 2021. The article was updated on February 18, 2026, incorporating refreshed images while maintaining the original review structure.
