But Clannad Sucks! Did I Miss Something?
Posted by 0rion on December 4th, 2007 - 12:30 am
Dear Reader,
I am in the midst of a deep conundrum. I faithfully watched Clannad up until episode 9, the conclusion of Fuuko’s story arc. And I hated it.
I was too busy rolling my eyes to be able to shed any tears. Yet the rest of the blogosphere has been filled with nothing but “FU-CHAN BAAAAAAAAAAAW!!” and endless praise for the story. At first I passed it off as the Key fanboys doing their usual thing, but even Martin over at Concrete Badger, a true man’s man whose opinion I value, gave Clannad a favorable review.
Did I miss something? Am I doing it wrong? I feel like the characters in the story - as though I’m missing something important, but don’t know what it is. Quite honestly, I just don’t see what everyone else seems to be seeing.
To be fair, the whole memory thematic element is an excellent one, and that aspect of the story was very well executed. The fear of others forgetting us and of losing our own memories are both powerful thematic elements because they resonate with everybody. Everyone wants to be remembered, to feel that they contributed something positive to the world. Many are even content to face death when their time comes, content in the knowledge that they impacted the world, that their memory and work will live on after them. Likewise, losing your memory is a terrifying thing; essentially losing your mind, losing what makes you you. And that just makes me all the more frustrated that Clannad’s story was so badly mishandled.
Fuuko’s entire story just felt way too contrived. Perhaps I’m just jaded and cynical from seeing this same kind of story played out so many times before.
Below I’ve listed a few of the things that I felt detracted from the overall viewing experience and made the show unenjoyable for me:
1. Fuuko is a pretty boring 1-dimensional character. Yes, she wants her sister to be happy. That’s pretty much all we know about her, really. There’s nothing in her character that makes the viewer empathize with her. Or at least, if there is it passed me by.
2. The entire concept of inviting complete strangers to come to the wedding of someone they don’t know at all seemed pretty weird. If someone I didn’t know gave me a hand carved starfish and said, “Please come to my sister’s wedding,” my reaction would be “WTF?!” This was one of the first things that stretched my suspension of disbelief and pulled me away from immersion in the story.
3. The way everyone’s selective memory loss worked seemed really odd and illogical, as well. The typical dialogues of…
“Man I feel like I’m forgetting something!”
“Yes, you’re forgetting Fuuko! Come on, remember! See, she’s right there!”
“Fuuko…hmm, that sounds really familiar. Oh well, I give up!”
…just don’t make sense. It doesn’t feel real at all. If someone told you that you had forgotten about a person you know, a mutual friend, and you had this nagging feeling that they were right, wouldn’t you pursue the matter a lot more seriously? I would be questioning what was wrong with me that I had forgotten, or asking for more details from this person who seemed to remember everything.
On top of that, Fuuko, the person who is most directly impacted by the lost memories, doesn’t really say anything or react in a way that would build empathy or emotional impact. She pretty much just stands there, cute and mute, same as always. These are also examples of things that broke my suspension of disbelief and pulled me out of the story.
4. My biggest complaint is the way they essentially tried to make up for mediocre storytelling by forcefeeding the plot development to the viewer. In typical Key fashion, instead of progressing naturally, all the scenes seemed terribly contrived. I felt like the scriptwriters were beating me over the head with the script going, “See?! See?! Get it?! Get it? Look, everyone forgot about her! It’s sad! Really sad! Now cry!”
I just hate this kind of hand holding, as if the writers assume you won’t “see what they did there” unless they make it completely, painfully obvious. Of course, this is certainly nothing new for Key. It’s always been their style to manipulate the viewer through their contrived emotional rollercoaster. Perhaps it’s exactly because this story had a great deal of potential that I hated the way they handled it.
Now if you want a REAL story about the pain of lost memories and forgotten loved ones, go watch Mushishi episode 16 - the Dawn Snake. The episode accomplishes, in 20 minutes, the task of making me believe in the characters, empathize with their plight, and feel the pain of their loss, and does it far better than what Clannad tried to do over the course of 5+ episodes.
OK, but seriously folks. What am I missing here? For the record, I liked Kanon; I cried for Uguu~. But somehow Clannad just isn’t doing anything for me.
I’m not seeing what’s so great about Clannad either.
I hated this arc. Well, it was okay at first, but they dragged it on for too long. The contents could, at most, hold up for one or two episodes and still be good. Instead, they dragged it out to 5-6. There just isn’t enough substance, and Fuko is annoying.
Don’t whine. Live with it.
You’re a soulless fiend. That’s why.
I’m going to try to rebutt point-by-point, but feel free to disagree, we all have our own opinions after all.
1. One-dimensional? Well, she is one-minded in her desire for her sister to be happy, but you conveniently forgot the whole other subplot of Fuuko realising that she was always alone, and that she desired both a normal high school life and friends to share the experience with, a wish that was cut short by the accident and part of which was fulfilled by the efforts of Tomoya, Nagisa and co. We know she’s more astute than she lets on through her appreciation of the Tomoya-Nagisa dynamic and the classroom scene where she tried to advance their relationship with the name-calling incident. She’s playful though not the best with strangers trying to be intimate. She’s relatively static in terms of her personality, but I’ll suggest that is because she starts as a strong character and continues to be strong enough not to require any interventional “development” to her character. So yes, one-minded but not really one-dimensional.
2. Well, wasn’t that the reaction of most of the characters at the start? With people like Tomoya, Sunohara and some of the nameless people at first. It was through her persistence that her message got through - and in a way you could say people didn’t come to the wedding because of wanting to be at the wedding itself, it was more a case of wanting to respond to Fuuko’s wish. As for why a starfish (instead of say a bird, or a rabbit), do you know what the starfish can symbolise in Japanese? KyoAni took the special liberty of putting in a clue for the viewer in about episode 6 in one of the festival scenes. It’s quite important, because it’s a symbol/theme that will be revisited throughout each and every one of Clannad’s characters’ stories.
3. There were enough clues with the various conversations to suggest that the “forgetting” process is an ongoing thing - even if one were to be told of Fuuko’s existence, the force of reality would eliminate that memory immediately. This caused immense distress to the recalling person in question (particularly Akio and Sunohara), so Tomoya was the one who told Sunohara that “it’s enough,” freeing him of the obligation of continuing to try to recall and of the associated pain. Likely he didn’t even remember that Tomoya had asked him questions afterwards.
3.5 She didn’t say anything, but you could tell what she felt by the changes in her facial expressions, which has been a real strength of KyoAni in this series. We know from her response both to her sister’s appearance at the festa and from her response to people forgetting about her that she is sad, but accepting of the these truths. It’s apparent that she’s quite strong emotionally (unlike Nagisa and arguably Tomoya). She also does her best to not cause distress to others by not showing her feelings overtly, a certain sign of a kind person at heart, even if I personally disagree with this method.
4. This one I can’t really argue with because it boils down to a subjective sense of how you think the story is presented. Needless to say I think Clannad’s story so far is very emotionally restrained, and the total opposite of the “Now cry” vibe that is present in a decent chunk of other works. In fact, I’ll suggest that there was a lot of subtleties in the presentation of Fuuko’s story that would have been missed by almost all viewers precisely because they are so subtle and hard to get. In truth this was a feature of Air as well, though definitely not Kanon.
Finally, I want to emphasize that Clannad is not a story about loss, even though there may be occasions when loss will occur to various characters. The core essence of Clannad is hope, warmth, a “I’m glad that xxx happened” kind of sadness, and change, including both the aspects of wanting things to change and wanting things not to change.
I haven’t watched Clannad (yet) but I know what you mean. There are plenty of shows I can’t get into that it seems everyone else is drooling over (off the top of my head, Bleach, when it first came out). Just add it up to different tastes and forget about it. ^_^
I would like to add from DW’s post here:
#1 One of the thing I like is how Fuuko coped with the situation. She could cried and whine. She could become vengeful. She didn’t. She took it head-on, trying to accomplished something for a person she care most for you-know-how-much time she had left.
#2 I think Fuuko tried to accomplished two things here. (1) Something memorable for her sister, and (2) a proof to here sister that she is doing okay at school. Since she didn’t really have that much time, she only did what she know best, silly to us that it was.
#3 In a sense, Fuuko we saw wasn’t real. She wasn’t suppose to be there. “Real” Fuuko is comatose in hospital. Hence, reality, like a big mushi enforcing what’s supposed to be real and what’s not, corrected itself by erasing her from people’s memories. Some people tried to resist. Sunohara was one. Sanae-san was another. When Sanae-san learned about “real” Fuuko, even if she tried so hard, she still couldn’t see “illusionary” Fuuko anymore.
#4 Oddly enough, I didn’t feel forced to cry on ep. 9, yet I did. Maybe if you’re peeved of by earlier elements already, that might seems forced to you.
Thanks Deranged Wraith and FortMan for the great replies! Excellent food for thought. First a couple of quicks thoughts in response…
#1 Good points raised. I think in part I probably just missed some of the subtleties of her character because I was already pissed off by that point. Negative bias, if you will. On second inspection, I see the more interesting character aspects you guys mentioned. On the other hand, after all that time that was spent portraying Fuuko as the typical cute, co-dependent, and kind of slow moe stereotype girl, I have a really hard time swallowing the “she’s actually very strong” switch up.
#2 Yeah, I agree. I mainly brought it up because it was the first thing that pulled me away from immersion in the story. When characters don’t behave in a manner that I find sufficiently “believable” it breaks the suspension of disbelief, and I start to see the puppetmaster pulling all the strings from the back.
#3 I see what you guys are saying, I just feel it wasn’t well executed, and it made the whole experience very hard to take seriously.
#3.5 Now that’s a good point. As someone who lived in Japan, I know all about people concealing their true feelings and putting on a strong face. It makes sense, but again, all the moe pandering in earlier episodes made it that much harder for me to really identify with Fuuko and take her seriously.
#4 Yeah, definitely very subjective - it’s hard to debate since it’s about whether the scene “worked” for you. I just feel that so many films and TV shows these days try to cater to the lowest common denominator, essentially treating you like you’re a kind and won’t understand unless they walk you through the plot step by step.
A show like Darker than Black or Mushishi, on the other hand, is filled with rich symbolism and powerful themes, but it’s all hidden just below the surface. You have to dig a little to find it; it engages your mind, and I like that. Mindless entertainment is fine too, but I think shows like Clannad try too hard to have their cake and eat it too, and it just doesn’t blend very well. (in before “the cake is a lie”)
@ Hidoshi
Ah yes, that explains everything. Why didn’t I notice before.
<— me
Hehe, I feel almost sorry for the people who “don’t get it” … I guess I should be thankful I “do” get it
(Then again, I don’t get those who liked Lain … one of the most boring anime I’ve ever watched … do people actually like that or do people pretend to be smart by claiming to like such lifeless “symbolism”?)
- T
See, I said basically everything the other people said, but I kept it succinct.
Therefore, I am awesome.
Gimme cookies.
Emergency! I must search for Orion’s lost soul!
I think you and Orion need to search for cookies to give me first.
I don’t really care much about fuuko as well, so I can see where you are going. I guess it’s my own bias in terms of retarded moe. I just don’t like fuuko, even though i must say that the last episode saved Clannad from a rather awful arc.
It was interesting, since initially Fuuko as a character annoyed me very much. She’s still not a character that I like, but I grew to accept her more as the episodes went on with the silly things that went on, so when her arc ended, I didn’t get that “NOW CRY DAMMIT” vibe that I got from AIR and that others have said is present in Kanon. For that, I’d have to say that CLANNAD is better than it’s compatriots in that sense.
I think it also helped that Nonaka Ai voiced Fuuko. :3
HAHA FUUKO IS A PROJECTION SO SHE IS ACTUALLY NOT 3D!
You’re over thinking an anime made from a KEY game. Disengage your brain and watch the cute girls struggle with stupid problems. If you can’t do that then just watch something else and try not to dwell on it.
I was also disappointed with Fuko’s arc. I dislike the ‘clueless loli’ archetype. She was stupid, annoying and behaved like a 5-year-old. (This is also why I can’t stand Yuuichi’s choice of Ayu in Kanon).
I didn’t empathyze with Fuko at all, so I didn’t feel sad for her disappearance. Instead I felt sorry for Tomoya and Nagisa because they were attached to her.
Well, good thing that this arc is over, let’s get to the interesting girls now.
I think it comes down to a matter of perspective (another overused line) which is why I really like anime. There are enough genres in anime for everyone’s tastes. There is also enough room for multiple levels of viewing anime. You can treat anime as a form of simple entertainment or dissect the sucker until you have enough for a doctorate dissertation (just look at all the posts on ef). And that can be simply said based on all the one-line vs. multiple-page comments that are already on this post. For me, it really depends on what I’m feeling on any given night. I’ve been lately sprinkling a bit of minami-ke for every two episodes of ef.
As for Clannad, I like the series so far and this was a solid episode. But, I’m not making major judgment until the series is actually done and I can get a rewatch. Also, it doesn’t help that they start off with a character I don’t personally like as much. Gimme moar Kyou plz…
I pretty much agree with everything you say. Contrived seems to be the main theme for any Key story. That said I still enjoyed Kanon and I’m enjoying Clannad a lot, mostly for the cute and the funny though. Like Popo said, I think you’re expecting too much.
Oh, and comparing anything to Mushishi is simply not fair.
Any point you’re trying to make with the comparision will disappear in the blinding awesomeness that Mushishi is.
You are a brave man. Just make sure Fuuko doesn’t come to haunt you!
Sir, it’s like you’ve read my mind like an open book. “Contrived,” “YOU CRY NOW!” and “Clannad just isn’t doing it for me” are *the* three things that come immediately to mind right now when I think about the Fuuko arc. I loved Air, really enjoyed Kanon, and really like the funny bits in Clannad, but Clannad seems to go even further with the in-your-face forced emotional stuff than either of the other two shows, and that’s bugging the hell out of me. I really hope KyoAni scales things back a bit for the next arc so I don’t have to roll my eyes and look skyward again like I did while watching episode 9.
To simplify things to a point where I can cram them into the space of one comment, I think the crucial element required to appreciate those episodes is that suspension of disbelief. Without it, you really will wonder what the fuss was about…which is probably why I haven’t bothered with any Key stuff before (I guess I’ve lost all my credibility now, eh?
).
I wouldn’t say you’re jaded or anything but there’s probably something akin to a ’seen it all before’ element at work too…if something doesn’t work for you there’s not much you can do about it really. If nothing else, it’s refreshing to read a well-explained alternative view compared with many of us (myself included) who enjoyed it.
And you’re right, that Mushishi episode was one of the best of the lot; perhaps beaten to the pinch in the tragedy stakes by the One Night Bridge episode.
I wonder what hurts more: telling someone who hates something that what they hate is good, or telling someone who loves something that what they love sucks? Something to consider.
Another thing is the issue of subtlety. Like nearly all words that are misused by so many people, it’s a neutral word that isn’t really good in it of itself. You can criticize a show for not being subtle as if this were required of all shows. Mushishi utilizes subtlety well, it is true, but Clannad is telling a different story entirely. To apply the identical criteria is to blind yourself to differences in genre and style, which seems pretty irresponsible to me. But of course, there are plenty of subtleties in Clannad, as many before me have stated. That’s why I found your third and fourth points to be rather ironic; you complain that it’s too obvious, yet pass over subtleties like Fuuko’s body language, as if speech were the only way a show can convey some message to you. But it’s very dangerous to say that a show lacks subtlety at all, unless you’re absolutely confident that you have adequately examined it, and not just going with a predisposed agenda.
@ Son Gohan
I think that’s really what my complaint boils down to. They tried to give her some legitimate character development later on, but after having already wrung every possible drop of moe out of her it just seemed kind of tacked on.
@ Matte
Haha, my bad. I guess I should know better than trying to hold a Key game adaptation up to Mushishi level standards.
@ DS
If she does, I’ll just tell her to give me a high five.
@ Martin
Yeah, another great example of memory and loss. Although if it’s just tragedy you’re talking about, I think episode 14 - Kago no Naka, In the Cradle (the bamboo forest one) - was the most powerful. Really though, we could probably say this kind of stuff about just about every episode.
@ Mirrinus
I think the idea of subtlety is always important in as far as the story is trying to legitimately engage me emotionally. Tugging at my heartstrings doesn’t work when I can see the strings and it’s plainly obvious that I’m being emotionally manipulated. Especially when the story does it in a way that kind of insults my intelligence.
Gurren Lagann isn’t exactly known for its subtlety, but it also isn’t heavy handed with the more emotional plot elements. Sure, it lays it on thick when it’s about GIANT ROBOTS and MANLY FIGHTING ACTION, but when it comes to parts that require a bit of a lighter touch - death scenes, Simon’s inner battle for confidence, etc - they don’t needlessly play up the drama. It’s perfectly effective precisely because they don’t try to unnecessarily call attention to it.
That’s where I feel Clannad fails. They had a perfectly viable story going with very strong emotional elements, but they tried SO HARD to make sure you “got it” that it just ended up pushing me away.
Oh well, here’s hoping the later arcs will be better.
Sweet moses, when did the floodgates of all “t3h intarwebz” unload upon our humble abode? I checked this early this morning there was virtually nothing. Now I return from class to find a whole slew (perhaps even two whole slews) of discussion. Great stuff.
Tis’ interesting to think about though. We were talking about some of the, shall we say, inadequacies of the plot development in this story arc last night, and I couldn’t help but think of the film “Smokin’ Aces.” For those of you who aren’t familiar with the movie (and might I stress that this is a good thing) it’s a caper flick concerning multiple hired assassins all pursuing the same take simultaneously for some ridiculous sum of money. Think “It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad World,” but replace the wacky slapstick hijinks with frenetic shotgun action.
Should be fun right? But no…they failed.
You’d think a story with such an enticing premise would write itself on pure enjoyment. But no…they had to be certain, they had to know beyond any shadow of a doubt that you (the audience) would “SEE WHAT THEY DID THERE.”
Now this type of film can be executed in a sublime manner. Insert Guy Ritchie.
Everything that Guy Ritchie pulled off flawlessly and seamlessly in films like “Snatch,” and “Lock, Stock, and two Smoking Barrels,” was horribly fumbled and incontrovertibly mismanaged in “Smokin’ Aces.”
Every clever montage or sequence was replaced with mindless monologuing. (By Ben Afleck to add to the horror) Every chance for subtle character revelation was replaced by “oh I’m just too cool for school,” one liners that did nothing to further the story. Every opportune moment to show tension or distrust was replaced by nonsensical fan-service and tired “ethnic jokes.”
(You can probably see where I’m going with this)
The terminals of the plot were sluggish, the film started painfully slow and ended in awkward ambiguity.
Imagine someone stumbling on stage during a musical while looking for the restroom. To save face, they try their best to sing along so as not to appear ridiculous. It may work for a bit but then the scene changes and the poor sap has nowhere to turn and is forced to awkwardly leap into the orchestra pit injuring the tuba player.
All this rambling is to say the concept behind Clannad is intriguing but I don’t like having the story leap out and say, “it’s sad…see look, lookatit, lookatit, lookatit, see what we did? Cry, cry now and purchase our figurines.” That ruins the story; the plot isn’t’ bad it’s just poorly managed. “Smokin’ Aces,” could’ve been marvelously fun and clever but instead was a train wreck.
Sigh* At any rate if you haven’t seen Snatch or Lock Stock, please do. And cross your fingers that the next Clannad story arc won’t feel so…forced.
Again, it’s entirely possible that I’ve missed the boat and all its niceties but I can’t seem to get into Clannad. And yes…I did see what they did there.
I can’t believe we’re arguing in such detail over a Key product. It’s a moé franchise people.
But anyhow. For me, Fuuko’s arc was pretty damned sad. I may not generally like Fuuko’s personality, but I do like the story surrounding her. I think her story is very touching, and the effort she makes to celebrate her sister’s happiness is something that resonates in me. The setup is a little awkward, but I think it’s still meaningful on an emotional level.
I pretty much bawled my eyes out when Sanae was talking to empty space. There’s something awful about that. Sanae is such a good person that she’ll try her hardest. While she’s ordinarily melodramatic comic relief, the scene defined her as a character — earnest and deeply emotional. She wants to see Fuuko and help her, even when she knows she can’t.
That sort of experience resonates in me because of my own trials. It’s when you have a friend that you wish you could talk to about their problems, someone you wish you could help, but you’re cut off from them and unable to. Maybe they don’t want to listen, or you just don’t know how to tell them what’s going on. It eats at you.
Additionally, I think I resonate with Fuuko herself in her effort. I’ve always worked hard for my friends, even when it seems everything is doomed to failure. I’ve had to be the drive and spirit in a lot of bad situations, and I try to lead by example. If you give up, people give up too. And working for another person’s happiness is noble, if nothing else.
Now, granted you might be able to find these things in another series, but I feel Key puts them across very, very well. I’ll admit, you do have to turn off your brain for some things, suspend your disbelief and all, but we shouldn’t be so hard-wired to material logic that we can’t appreciate the tropes of a mild fantasy, especially when it comes across with so much emotion.
Just my two cents dude.
In other news, you know you’ve really succeeded when Hidoshi trolls your comment section.
Hmm…now that the Fuuko arc is finished, I think it’s relatively safe to explain this. No real spoilers I guess, though it might qualify as a “pseudo-spoiler” for other arcs. It is about one of the subtleties that 99% of game players (including myself) failed to “get.” I said above that KyoAni made it slightly easier with an extra clue in one of the festival scenes, specifically the meido scene. It’s still very obscure though. It relates to the one of the core themes of the Clannad story.
Pseudo-spoilers below. Scroll on past the roll of smilies at the end if you don’t want to read it.
Haven’t you wondered why a starfish and not something else? Oh, there was a segment in ep 7 showing Fuuko playing with a starfish at the beach, but that’s not the important bit. The important bit is that starfish is read “hitote” in Japanese, and is a representative symbol of the synonym for “hitote.”
Hitote = “Hito” (Human) “Te” (Hand).
What do you do when you first meet someone? You greet them, and you shake their hand. What do you do when someone is crying? You pet them on the head, or shoulder, or back. What do you do to be intimate with your partner? Well, many things, but one of the first and most basic things is you hold their hand. When do you do when you score in sport and you want to celebrate with your teammates? You give them high-fives.
The human hand is a powerful tool used to communicate wishes/ideas, and used to establish a “link” between people. Both of these aspects were touched upon in Fuuko’s arc, the former both in a general sense that the starfish was a physical representation of Fuuko’s desire for her sister to be happy, and in more specific cases when Fuuko tried to comfort the sad Nagisa by presenting a starfish to her in ep 6, or thanking Sunohara for his help in ep 8. The latter’s role is seen when the people looked at the starfish, recall it as a link to “someone” and hence came to the wedding, and subsequently serve as a reminder that there is “someone” they are waiting for…
I give this just as one refuting example, there are other themes and symbols that have been presented in the story thus far, but I mention this one because it’s one of the most important ones that will have one or both of its aspects be visited upon in the stories of each and every one of the characters.
I agree that a certain amount of suspension of disbelief is necessary to enjoy Clannad, but if you turn off your brain to the theme/symbol/images that abound in Clannad, you’ll miss out on a lot of the enjoyment and the underlying messages that Key/KyoAni is trying to get across too.
@ Orion
Jerk.
Fuuko shows a Japanese stoicism which is in line with the concept of the “Nobility of Failure”: she will carry on her task in spite of the odds against it. Except in Fuuko’s case the miracle occurs and her wish is granted. Clannad, like Kanon, is imbued with a sense of the miraculous–it’s a miracle for Fuuko, like Ayu and Makoto, to exist at all.
And there’s also the Japanese concept of the fleetingness of moments of time–the briefness of time that Fuuko has to exist and achieve her goals and for the friends to have together.
Also, boldly declaring that Clannad sucks is a sure way to get attention by being a bit of a troll yourself! http://www.epicwin.org/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_twisted.gif
@Guff: Point taken with Smoking Aces - I’ll make a point of avoiding it. I really enjoyed Lock, Stock… and Snatch too. Shame that. Back o/t, I guess this is what happens when you criticise something popular. In this case you’re lucky enough to get valid arguments from both sides that are all worth reading, rather than the trolling and levels of animosity usually reserved for Gainax endings that comes with bold-titled posts like this. This is why I love anime bloggers!
I can only reiterate how stuff like Fuuko’s arc either resonates with you or it doesn’t…I wonder what Key’s anime output would be like if they didn’t restrict themselves to visual novels as much. Maybe you’d appreciate Clannad better if you put the “it’s a visual novel adaptation” to one side…I don’t know. It’s an interesting question that’s occured to me many times during the series so far.
holy crap.
I need to write controversial posts against the majority so people will visit my blog too!
@ korosora
Haha, oh yes! Stirring the hornets nest is always a lot of fun.
To be fair, though, I really was interested in figuring out what people saw in that story arc that made them rave about it so much, and a number of the replies were quite helpful in that regard. Maybe I should do a follow-up post.
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I like Clannad, but it’s not for everyone.
INIVISIBLE FUUKO
(Sorry, this arc totally screamed for that.)
Completely agree with you right there. At some point i felt that Clannad was waaay over-hyped (considering the fact that it has already established a whole battalion of fans for the past few months). But hey, likes and dislikes are not related to anything but personal taste. So yeah, everyone’s different.
[…] Fuuko’s arc worked for me so we won’t go into the details about why Fuuko supposedly sucks since this works under the premise that, as shocking as it may seem, Fuuko as a character actually […]
Wow I guess if you didn’t like Clannad I sort of have to take back the studio-bias comment from the awards. It takes serious guts to admit something like this at the height of a series popularity with it’s fanbase. I guess you guys really really just liked Lucky Star that much and it’s not studio bias.
I find Clannad has it’s charm, but it was definitely overhyped and isn’t as good as people said it would be.
I know I’m way too late to participate in an actual discussion here, but I stumbled across your entry and I just have to say one thing: Don’t give up on Clannad, just yet.
The thing is, I can fully relate to all the points you’re making here, despite not being immediately turned off by Fuko’s personality as some are, and catching the subtle(?) portrayals of Fuko’s changing state of mind etc. I enjoyed all the humor, but neither in Fuko’s nor even in the following Kotomi’s arc did I find the overwhelming drama that Clannad was supposed to deliver.
So I decided to try the game, and having just finished it, I can say with some confidence that you’ll find it worth your while if you sit through the remaining eps with an open mindset (all this under the assumption that KyoAni WILL animate the After Story arc PROPERLY). The overall story IS as..Warm.. as promised, and warm doesn’t necessarily signify tear-jerker here. Plus it’s even got some surprisingly deep points to make. This’s some very very rich material, I assure you.
Yes, KyoAni’s presentation of the Fuko and Kotomi arcs was, arguably, less than satisfactory, but we’ve all seen what KyoAni CAN do, and that said, there’s really so much left to see that I’d very much hate to see you leave disillusioned halfway through the show, especially since you seem to be a particularly discerning viewer.
P.S. I want you to know that Clannad is the first ever game of its type (dating-sim, Eroge..whatever) that I’ve tried, that the genre in itself still doesn’t interest me, and that incidentally moe is not my thing.. whatever. You can rest assured that this isn’t just another Key-fanboy rambling.. but an average friendly passerby contributing his 2 cents.
just go with it. i dont even remember, and im steel watching.
Clannad sucks.
End of story.
Retarded characters don’t make good drama.
I’m gonna have to agree with Orion on this one, and also go onto say that I’m always disappointed with the girl who ends up with the guy at the end. Kanon, Clannad, etc. I always watch the introduction and see that one girl who gets a little extra time at the end, and I just know, “damn, she’s the one who’s gonna get the guy.” I don’t know if that mentality makes me bias against her already, but when I started to watch these shows, I always feel like the other female characters are more interesting.
Take Nagisa for instance
(I will not mention Fuko because as some people have pointed out she is a very flat character, and I just don’t see any way to get around that through facial expression analysis, especially in such a dialog heavy story) 
she’s just this quiet, shy girl, who doesn’t jump out at me at all as interesting. I suppose the concept of her own play was unique, but that is her only redeeming quality.
Tomoyo, Kotomi, Kyou…all three of those are much rounder characters than the two previously mentioned girls. Great backgrounds, more believable motives that justify their behaviors…just good character design overall. I really wish Tomoya would have ended up with any of these three.
Maybe the Japanese definition of the most desirable girl is the quiet, physically weak, illness-ridden, shy ones like Nagisa and Ayu from Kanon? I like the fiery ones more though, personally. I should just stick to Lupin movies/specials, lol.
Different people with different point of view, i like clannad most out of the kanon 2006 and air , well maybe you could say im too emotional but yet , it touch me greatly , how i watch anime for so long , i am using my heart to understand the situation the writer try to show me his or her story , watching anime without a heart is meaningless don’t ya think ? ^^ its all about feelings . . .
You can’t get Clannad because it’s just another shitty moe drama. The only people who actually enjoy this insipid crap are the smelly otaku who live in the basement eating dinner with their 2D anime girlfriends.
It’s really discouraging to see the continued whoring out of anime to schoolyard, drama emo-fests when you know that anime has the potential to be so much more. Please, Clannad fans, graduate to some more intellectually stimulating anime.
In response to VEnus comment, I will say that, I dont think anyone really watches this without a heart, but i feel its the animes duty to provoke emotion and Clannad did a very shitty job, I repeat.. a very shitty job. Aside from the comments everyone made about the 1 dimensional characters, I also find the whole concept of High Schoolers that act like theyre 12 have the emotional maturity of an 10 year old, and look like theyre 8 , is a huge turnoff.
I will say though it was more entertaining than AIR , Seriously, Im amazed how boring they managed to make this.
Also maybe its just me but, i found sunohara had a sadder story then fuko, guys got 1 friend, and he treats him like shit. thats pretty sad.
Fuko’s arc was pretty annoying. I could not understand what everyone saw in her. First off I didn’t see a point in streching her arc out for so long. It could of easily been covered in three of four episodes. Second the “comic relief” that was found through not only this arc but the entire series was not needed. The drama wasn’t intense enough for “comic relief.”
Clannad is one of the worst drama series ever. The Characters are one dimensional cardboard-cutouts, the females are all dumb and/or boring and play their “bento making, girly laughing, feel good romance”-routines out with professional routine, without trying ANYTHING original. While I would appreciate these things in lets say, hentai, in this case (since this is supposed to be drama- at least I think so), I don’t. But of course differentiating between this drama and a random hentai is, for most people, already hard enough, since both play on the same intellectual level.
And this Nagisa girl was REALLY ticking me off. I am unable to describe the huge amount of hatred I have built up for her, so i’ll just say one thing: ANNOYING. “Buhuhuhuhu, buhuhuhuhuh”, for crying out loud, stop crying! Which leads me to my next point:
Maybe if the setting was in Kindergarten, i’d accept these youngsters crying over every little thing that doesn’t go right, but they are in High School, damnit! The only exception being Fuuko, and her accepting fate seemed more mature than anything else the other sock puppet crew could possibly muster up.
In summary: I’d rather have my dick slammed in between two concrete pillars, than to watch this moe-fest again.
So THIS is where the Clannad haters gather. Well….you stay here and keep talking about how shitty it is, like the impotent jerks you are, and we will enjoy our second season of this show that is made because of very high selling DVDs.
>> Well….you stay here and keep talking about how shitty it is
Don’t mind if we do.
I’d imagine the Clannad hate train has dropped its passengers off at this blog because 0rion and Guff aren’t nearly as vapid as the rest of the anime blogging community, and actually have worthwhile things to say. Things that attract a more critical readership, who can see Clannad for what it really is: KyoAni cashing in on their success with the Kanon remake (which was flawed, but good) by adapting an inferior story because they know people will gobble it up no matter how messy it is.
Now, I may or may not be an “impotent” jerk, but if I am, it’s certainly not because I filed Clannad into the “pretty-looking junk” category, where it belongs.
A story doesnt have to appeal to every one, its a fact that a story wont have the same impact on any two people because everyone is different, having experienced their own life until this moment. Those personal experiences are what develop a persons understanding of a story and consequently, the story is then uniquely interpretted by that individual.
Understanding this, a story can’t appeal to everyone.
Clannad is an excellent story, and looking beyond the face characteristics that build it, such as the characters and their personalities, which the first half of the first series was building before getting to the main theme, the idea it self is very intruiging and the way it is presented is heartfelt.
Saying this, having watched all of the anime and played the visual novels, its simply a very sad story. If you didnt feel that, then you must be one of those lucky ppl not to have endured some great heartache, hardship, or you’re not a very empathic person.
Put yourself in tomoya’s shoes, and follow the story with that thought.
Its rather intruiging when you think of it like that.
…Hippie.
I like Clannad, but it’s not for everyone.
Sloppy’s Post is true…. I mean if you don’t get it and simply get irritated that it gave you the ” OMG!!! Most of the people who watched this cried!!! must i cry too?! ” feeling then move on man!!!!
If you don’t like it fine….. If you Liked the story then fine also…
Personally i liked the story… And i didn’t get the ” You must cry coz we gonna make her fade away ” feeling… It has set the Hardworking Atmosphere itself
Yes it was Sad… But feeling sad doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to contribute to the people who cried… its enough that you felt and understand what was going….
@Saceria - Tomoya gets mostly ignored… She has the Extra Ending…
@ Prince~kun: “@Saceria - Tomoya gets mostly ignored… She has the Extra Ending…”
Eh, I think you mean Tomoyo. Tomoya is the main character…or whatever you call him.
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Look, there’s more to Clannad than what your thinking. Your’e just saying that because you haven’t watched the 2 whole seasons of Clannad. And to be frank, the words you mentioned are really hurtful for all those loving Clannad so much, like me. I’m sorry but, before you watch a series like Clannad, you better go out and make friends first. This anime may be too emotional, and you may not have yet experienced the suffering that they went through…
You know what? I really liked the whole story. I thought it was really good, and hilarious at times, but still serious where it needed to be. I never shed any tears, of course, but did I really need to?
I didn’t like the Fuuko arc that much, really. I liked Fuuko the character a lot, but I wish that she was brought into the story in a different way. A way that didn’t involve spirits or ghosts or whatever the hell it was all about.
I think that you should have kept watching, maybe you would have liked it, but who knows?
Overall:
The Fuuko arc was when the story was at it’s WORST for me.
read the manga
you’ll feel better about it!
@Prince-Kun: no i was talking about tomoya, since its the story from his perspective.
side note, anyone getting into the 2nd season?
I don’t see what’s so popular about these type of shows. The design hurts to look at,especially with the big bug eyes. It’s hard to believe that many guys like these type of shows when I’ve seen animes that are much more better than this in terms of romance/drama.
“OMG!1 Doe eyed harem girls!!1I luffs it!”
Rofl. Seriously.
^2
>.<
I found Clannad very good. I don’t have seen the end, but the 19 first episodes.
I think that everyone can say what he want, but for me it’s some best Anime, because he is very emotional and i have cry, when i see the last episode with Fuko.
The episodes are all sweet and emotional, that’s what i’m thinking about it.
The art from Clannad is very sweet. The big and colorful eyes are very good.
Sorry, but i’m from germany and not good in english =(
Clannad is AMAZING!!! And the people who explained Fuuko’s arc were very good at pointing out important facts!!! So thank you for doing that. The thing is, if you hate Fuuko’s arc here, please understand that Clannad has more stories to share!!! If you thought Clannad wasn’t emotional at all and didn’t like the story, well listen up! There’s a second season:Clannad After Story!!! The story is much sadder than the first season! And you’ll witness the ending “miracle”, and see the ending, so maybe you’ll be a little more caring for that! Btw, Fuuko has a different ending. And wait, keep reading!!!
If you thought that Fuuko’s character was totally stupid, I’m not stopping you to think that way (although I’d be happier if you did)! But Fuuko’s character is SUPPOSED to be like that! She is very childish, but she REALLY cares for everyone she loves! That’s why she hands out wooden starfish to people! It might be weird if she does that, but she tries her very best, does’t she? Even when people didn’t accept it, she DID feel sad, but still tried hard again later on! She was just trying to fulfill her wish of fulfilling her sister’s wish. And she also only wants to have a lot of friends, due to the fact she got in a car accident on her way to the first year of high school, which she promised her sister to actually try to make friends since she didn’t at all in her previous years.
If you didn’t understand at all and still hate Fuuko, FINE!!! I don’t explain very well, so….. I very much like Kanon too, and the story was very sad, but for me, this is just my opinion, but I LLLOOOVVVEEE Clannad and thinks it’s sadder and better! But I’m still in love with that ‘Uguu’, ‘Nyu’, ‘Auuu’, and ‘Nihaha’! >.