This: http://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Clannad_Another_Story:Another_Story16 (Side stories spoilers)
Ooooh, I seeee. That does help explain exactly what Ushio was doing there in that place, to an extent. At least, it confirms that it is Ushio there, rather than the illusionary girl.
100% agree.
Thank you for bringing this up.
I canât believe I forgot to mention this.
From being in the anime/manga/LN/VN scene for a substantial amount of time, a lot of people complain and criticise writing that uses time resets "because they render everything that happened useless."
Because of how famous the series is, CLANNAD is a regular victim to thisâŚ
Personally I beleive that point of critique, at least pertaining to CLANNAD, is a cop out statement which has become a common place bandwagon.
2 questions I wanted to ask to everyone isâŚ
Was Nagisaâs ressurection even a proper time reset?
And if you interpret as being a time resetâŚ
Does it truly erase the meaning of Tomoyaâs experience after her death?
I feel like a lot of people naively pass off the âmiracleâ as being a cheap time reset without truly thnking about it. When you sit and think about it, Tomoya,and Nagisa retained all of their memories of everything which transpired. Or well⌠itâs pretty heavily implied, at the very least.
Can it really be argued that the impact of everything that happened becomes useless? Our main characters know what they experienced. That hasnât been wiped off their memories. The trials and tribulations they faced, are theoretical still in standing.
My point being⌠Just because theyâve technically âgone back in timeâ, doesnât mean everything that happened to Tomoya up to the time period they returned to means nothing anymore.
If anything I beleive it solidifies Tomoyaâs love for his own family and the town even further than what was already established in Ushioâs chapter.
It was labelled a miracle for a reason.
1 Like
I think youâre still stuck thinking in terms of the anime. There was nothing in the VN to suggest that they kept their memories (this wouldnât make sense anyway, as Iâm about to explain). In the anime itâs presented as one continuous timeline, hence âresetâ. But that word doesnât apply here. You donât âresetâ every time you click new game or load game; all that signifies is the reader choosing to explore a new possibility for Tomoyaâs life.
When you finish Ushioâs arc, it takes you back to the title screen; we donât see any more of what happens after. Itâs then up to you as the reader to seek out the remaining light orbs and go back to Ushioâs birth, where the scene changes. How is that a reset? All weâre doing is exploring another possibility, one where Nagisa survives. That doesnât mean the Ushio arc was erased; that all happened too, and would have continued on after we were pushed back to the title screen. People are just quick to reject that ending since itâs a bad ending.
1 Like
IâŚ
Iâm with @Kanon. This is the best Key novel.
Iâll save the details for a time when I donât have to be at work in a half an hour and am not sulking in how much I hate myself.
Iâll hold LB! near and dear forever- But this novel is simply marvelous. Everything plays to this finale. Never have I read something so sincerely sewn with invaluable life lessons, trials and tribulations. Speak what you will of the anime but to me that felt like⌠Like something visual, like I grasped a story with characters I felt deeply for- And it was great- But this novel speaks TO me. Not once did I not feel like I was taking in the passion its creators put into it. The emotion isnât the story, which is what I felt from cramming in anime⌠Itâs peopleâs joys and sorrows of life taken shape, and itâs beautiful and horrifying all the same. Perhaps my perception has changed greatly, that much is true, but⌠This is just what I have to say for now.
Words will never be enough for an experience like this.
3 Likes
Tomoya remembered Shima.
Huh? What?
Wake up Bonecuss, In Tomoyoâs route, Tomoya vaguely remembers Shimaâs wish and tells Misae. The same kind of thing happens with Fuko.
2 Likes
Tomoya definitely kept vague memories of other timelines, this much is certain. Whether those memories were enough to shape his emotions and have him actually âlearnâ from them is another story entirely
1 Like
Iâm talking specifically about Tomoya keeping his memories of Ushioâs arc in the final ending.
It just occurred to me that nobody rated this Route! I was gonna do some analysis of the ratings for each route but nobody bothered to rate after story! Come on guys, I need some ratings!
@Kanon @Bizkitdoh @ZakM @Karifean @Inuconandoyle @Totoro_Futaki @Naoki_Saten @kyuketsukimiyu @Sonic112003 @ThePlasticSpork @Zander1995
I was probably too mad at Tomoya to give him the satisfaction of my 5. Now rated 
Sorry, I forgot to rate even after I had finished After Story a year ago. I would rate it a 5 because this route delivered so many feelings and I think Tomoya had changed for the better despite circumstances that had fallen upon him and yet Nagisa was there by his side to keep him going. The other routes such as Sanae, Yoshino, and Akio were just as fulfilling as they were struggling to face those hardships and each of them had to decide to give up on their dreams and pursue the more important things in life. Ushio is by far the most adorable character ever and Tomoya had to face those hardships with great difficulty in taking care of her. The ending was what really got me into emotional tearjerking as âChiisana Tenohiraâ was playing and it was worth seeing all of the characters that you had completed through their routes as it finally comes to a close. 
1 Like
Definately, a 5/5 for me.
The premise sets up a lot of character developments, also showing the emotional attachment that Sanae and Akio had for Ushio. Ushio was the one thing that kept them going, staying strong, even though Nagisaâs tragedy, poisoned their hearts.
There was a great father-daughter bond that was showed, which was great for both parties. Tomoya found the 1 thing he could protect, and Ushio found the love that Tomoya had for her, deep inside, in his shut-out-caved heart.
The sunflower scene was definitely gorgeous, and probably one of the most beautiful scenes/tearjerking scenes in Key history.
I think the thing that I love about CLANNAD is that because of its length (along with LB and Rewrite), makes us love the main group of characters. Kyou, Tomoyo, Kotomi, Fuko, Nagisa, Yukine, Yohei, Tomoya, etc. Seeing all of them going towards their dreams in After Story was fantastic, because they achieved their dreams, but it was also a little sad, because youâve realized that the group of friends you saw playing around and goofing in high school, were now all separated and going towards their dreams.
But for sure, I gained a new respect for Kyou in After Story. That bully that almost broke your head by throwing a shuriken book, now taking care of your child. She talked about how she and the others were planning to visit Tomoya back when he was still depressed, but considered the fact that he may have not wanted that because of his depression. Very glad that they expanded on Kyouâs character. Definitely a great character.
And then, the tragedy beyond the tragedy strikes. Ushio becomes sick. She later dies in her fathers arms in the cold, white snow. That scene was just heart breaking to watch. The one thing Tomoya could protect, gone, again. It was just unfair. But thankfully, the reset happened.
The ending was beautiful. I loved how it showed all those CGâs that expanded on the life with the 3-member family, and giving closure to Tomoya and Nagisa. As for the anime, I also loved the ending. The beautiful dango song being sung by Tomoya and Nagisa with Ushio in the middle, then building up to Chiisana Tenohira. Nagisa is talking in the background, saying things about life and miracles. It was definitely a good closure. Then the final scene with Tomoya and his father at the sunflowers⌠That scene was just the perfect way to close the story, and it did it perfectly. Too bad Fuko starts taking afterwards though. But a very funny scene at least. FUKO SMELLS SOMETHING CUTE :fukowa:
After Story was such a roller coaster. I enjoyed every second of it. From the character development, to the characters who were used, to the tragedies, and the finale, it was well-put and just beautiful.
Akio and Sanae are for sure, one of the greatest Key parents in history. Actually, one of the greatest parents in anime/visual novel history.
I hope Ushio marries someone nice. She deserves the best. She is 16-17 right now. Sheâs probably doing finals.
3 Likes
Assume 5 for everyone.
Not miyu!
1 Like
After 112 hours (according to Steam), the end of Tomoyaâs journey is finally here.
CLANNAD was the first Key work I experienced, and it was during a time in my life when I felt torn about who I wanted to be. I was in a prestigious dual-credit collegiate high school, but my grades were just barely average because I spent more time goofing off than working on the mountains of homework they expected me to finish. I wanted to be a game designer, but I had little resources or time to work with. I neglected exercise more often than I should have. I wasnât a bad student; I did attend classes on time and I sincerely tried my hardest to stay at the top of my game, but I was faltering. I started watching anime in the hopes of easing the stress off my brain.
My siblings despised CLANNAD, but everyone else I knew praised it. I wanted to see who was right, which is why I started watching. The anime was a captivating experience, probably not life-changing, but it did change my opinion on what anime was truly capable of as a storytelling medium. Upon completing After Story, I fell into a deep depression that lasted roughly two weeks. An unsteady change of heart was taking place in me. I wanted more, so after a while, I jumped into Kanon 2006. The rest is history.
Reading the visual novel four years later, it almost felt like a new experience for me. I say almost because I still had a vague recollection of the animeâs plot, so while many things felt familiar, others still felt new. Routes like Kyou and Kappei, Koumura and Misae, and even some of the character arcs in After Story were all completely new to me. They opened my eyes to some of the pieces of the puzzle I was missing before when I watched the anime, and I thought they were good at worst. CLANNAD certainly has a lot of stellar routes in it to make up for its not-so-great ones.
Iâm sure everyone agrees, however, that After Story is the real meat of CLANNAD. Like AIR before it and Refrain after it, it tells the story that I feel Maeda intended to tell from the beginning. What sets apart After Story from the aforementioned routes, however, is its overall mood, pacing and structure. (AIR route and Refrain spoilers) AIR is a straightforward route with small choices that either serve to give the player bad endings or progress the story. The overall mood is fairly ominous with a ton of drama surrounding Misuzu and her curse, as well as Harukoâs struggle to become the mother Misuzu never had. Refrain, on the other hand, is much darker in tone due to the seeming helplessness Riki has thrown himself and everyone else into. Itâs also pretty straightforward until the very end, when the player is asked, âIs it enough?â After Story features several branching stories that all tie in to the main story of Tomoya and Nagisaâs relationship and development as characters, some of which are obtained through specific choices in Nagisaâs route but are required to complete the story. I imagine itâs impossible to fully experience CLANNAD without resorting to a walkthrough for this very reason, but I digress. After Story strikes such a fair balance of lighthearted humor and crippling drama that, in addition to its length, it actually feels like its own standalone story.
It also manages to minimize the one complaint I usually have with final routes like this: repetition. Most of After Story is original writing, using only a few scenes to call back to Nagisaâs route and other events to emphasize a point Tomoyaâs internal monologue makes. This helped the pacing of the route overall for me, and the quality of Maedaâs writing does a lot to help make this a memorable route.
Iâve already mentioned in previous character threads how excellent each of the character arcs are, so Iâll instead talk specifically about Tomoyaâs development. At the beginning, Tomoya had a very difficult time finding a reason to like anyone or anything. He despised living because his life was crap, and he could only wish that his life would change in some significant way. Nagisa started him on the path towards finding that happiness, even if it meant getting to know others who disagreed with him, hated him, or wanted nothing to do with him. Through his courage and devotion, he grew to understand that he had to supply happiness to others in order to achieve what he ultimately wanted.
After Story expands on this line of thinking by establishing parallels between himself and the residents of the town he comes across. He comes to understand that he is more like the people he meets than he thought himself to be, and if he isnât careful, he may end up making the same mistakes they once did. Tomoya then comes to realize that even though his own life was never fair, that didnât mean others had to suffer the same as him. This especially held true to Ushio, who to him was the most precious thing in the world to him other than his own life. Thatâs why, when the both of them died in the snow, Tomoya followed her into the Illusionary World and began the endless cycle of retrieving light orbs for the sake of changing the fate of the people he loved.
If I had to condense how I feel about this route in a single paragraph, I would say that it is perhaps the best-written final route Iâve read. It was entertaining, thought-provoking and deeply involving, and it almost brought me to tears at one point. I feel like I understand quite a bit more about it than I did watching the anime four years ago, when I hardly knew about Key or the themes their stories had. I feel the importance of family in this route serves to drive the true moral behind CLANNAD: that you are not more important than everyone else, and true happiness comes from helping others find that happiness.
I would like to thank everyone who has invested in and showed their support during my journey through this fantastic visual novel. Special thanks to @Mogaoscar for gifting me the game in the first place, admins @Pepe and @Aspirety for the insanely helpful walkthrough on the main website, and @Karifean for helpful input and the contributions he made to my next CLANNAD-related journey. You guys are all amazing, and Iâm glad I can call you all my friends/family here at Kazamatsuri. See you all in the CLANNAD Side Stories discussion! o/
12 Likes
To me, After Story is what I bought from steam. CLANNADâs school arc was a free add-on that came with it and helped make you understand the characters appearing in After Story more so that you could enjoy After Story to its fullest.
Not much more to say. You already said it all. Perhaps Iâll add that I found very curious having both Tomoyaâs and Nagisaâs families here. CLANNAD, means family. Many people, when they watch the anime, they remember a love story with a sad ending and a miraculous reencounter between Tomoya and Nagisa. The true value of After Story is in depicting how different families can be and how they overcome their issues. Not only Tomoya and Nagisa. Both Akio and Sanae and Nayuki and his mother play a huge role in this final journey.
If you are done. Iâd recommend you @EisenKoubu to leave CLANNAD aside for a week. Let yourself rest and meditate about its messages.
Itâs OK bud, you may cry now.
3 Likes
So yeah, Clannad After Story and by extension Clannad as a whole. First of, I really liked it. It really is more than just a story for me, it is an experience. One that makes you think, and I canât completely put it into words as to how it makes me think, itâs so much that I canât even really say about what it makes me think. Maybe just kind of all of it?
Nevertheless, I also have some thoughts about the stuff that was discussed here, namely the whole Illusionary World thing and Nagisaâs survival in the true end. Me personally, I actually took the lights over the city after that scene as a sign that the Illusionary World and the Town itself kind of merged together again, although I donât quite know how to go from there to then explain the survival. Some further food for thought I guess.
Really, Nagisaâs illness is quite interesting. After After Story, I also think that itâs in some way connected to the town, but before, I actually thought that itâs some kind of psychological thing, basically her having such little confidence that she actually becomes ill, something that can happen, as far as I know.
I also have something I want to complain about, but thatâs really a minor thing, like really minor. I was disappointed, that the Dango Daikazoku Song was not actually sung by the characters when Ushio was growing inside Nagisa. Thanks to that, I made the connection that the track âNagisaâ and that song are basically the same only at the end of the Ushio Arc (technically the last Illusionary World scene but whatever). That is a question I had since the 11th May in Nagisaâs route, and it could have been answered a bit earlier, if the characters had actually sung the song, or really any song, during that time. But maybe that was something that Maeda wanted to only be solved at that last scene, thatâs also possible, now that I think about it. And for that, it would have been needed for the text saying they sung, but the voice actors actually kind of only saying the lyrics.
Oh, and for claritys sake, while playing, I didnât know the song, so I couldnât have known it before through the Anime or whatnot.
1 Like
Incoming bizarre theorycrafting again
Several months after the bookclub, something crossed my mind⌠Because the lore of Clannad is so vague and infuriating sometimes⌠Or all the time⌠And yet I still try to make sense of it despite itâs lack of clarity time after time.
Anyway In regards to the strange epilogue after the credits.
Iâm not sure if someone mentioned it earlier but the thought crossed my mind that perhaps Fuuko was drawn to the tree beside the hospital to where Ushio was laying down because of her technically being a smaller part of the miracle drawn from Tomoyaâs wish?
Think about it this way.
Earlier in the VN during Nagisa (or I think Koumura?) route, you end up sacrificing one of your light orbs for Fuuko, henceforth the only reason she technically is no longer in a coma is because of that fragment of Tomoyaâs accumulated good will bestowed upon her.
When the epilogue is chronologically set is still up in the air. But the epilogue itself felt like a cheerful nod to close the story for me. The 3 people that needed âsavingâ as it were, all hypothetically drawn together in one key area.
âOur fun⌠Has only just begunâ
Aaand⌠You know what. Screw chronology. I think Iâm going to stick with that as a little head canon from now on.
Clannadâs epilogue has always confused me, but I guess some things donât need to make sense so uniformly to be meaningful.
3 Likes
