Thanks Aspirety
Well I still enjoy slapstick/juvenile humour so that appealed to me with Sunohara as buttmonkey , Akio and Kyou are just so much fun too so there was that, but it was really the Kotomi story that got to me emotionally, perhaps I can say more in that discussion (not sure how to do spoiler tag here yet!). Plus you have the mystery element so that it became more than just “questing” for objects and winning or making the good ends. The VA too is outstanding even though I know little more than a few words of Japanese, plus some great tunes ( “Country Lane” just gives me a huge lift!)
If anyone remembers a turn of the century TV show called "Roswell (High) " that is another story that sounded very unappealing to me but with a similar background of High School kids on the cusp of adulthood trying to find out who they really are and reach their goals while dealing with many issues. There is a little synchonicity with Max (wants to use his powers for good) and Michael (delinquent with a good heart) from that show and Tomoya. I grew to love it so it could be that background which made CLANNAD interesting for me after all, despite being animated rather than real actors or photo-realistic character art. The characters do become like friends you can care about; and, er I had something in my eyes a few times
As for other titles, well I could put Rewrite+ on my shopping list when the official English version comes out…