CLANNAD - Tomoya Okazaki Character Discussion

Key Discussion
#1

Tomoya.jpg1920×1080 128 KB

Discussion of Tomoya’s character in Clannad.
This discussion will contain information from all of the Clannad Visual Novel including After Story. If you have yet to complete After Story, you should refrain from reading this topic.
If you want to talk about his character in spin-offs such as Tomoyo After, make sure to use spoiler tags.
Also add a spoiler tag when discussing other Visual Novels for comparisons.

Tomoya Okazaki is probably one of the most memorable Key protagonists. Clannad is the story of his life.
Do you like Tomoya as a character? Can you relate to him? Which of his numerous decisions do you agree with, which ones do you not? And what would you say about his growth throughout the game?

3 Likes
CLANNAD - After Story Arc Discussion
Tomoyo After: ～It's a Wonderful Life～ General Discussion
CLANNAD - General Discussion
CLANNAD - General Discussion
#2

The fuck are you guys not posting in here for.

Yeah Tomoya is a great character, as much as I love Yuuichi, Tomoya is the first one who was really a character in the story and not the eyes watching it. His character growth is wonderful and pretty much my favorite part of After Story, it’s great to see him change, see how the Furukawa changed him.

It’s just a shame he was replaced with some weird imposter in Tomoyo After.

4 Likes
#3

I think Tomoya is a character with a huge amount of depth. You can’t assign a specific character trope to him, nor can you describe him easily. His personality is quite complex and it consists of many layers.
And it really needs to, because Clannad is a story of pretty much his entire life, not just a fraction of it.

Tomoya used to have a fulfilled life in his teens. He had a hobby and he was good at it.
But it all fell apart when he got into a fight with his drunk father and sustained an injury that would leave him with a permanent disability. Both his family life and his school life were destroyed. He quit basketball. He couldn’t forgive his father. Even worse, he couldn’t stand being in the same house as his father, so he just killed time somewhere else all day and only returned home late at night. That, in turn, caused him to sleep in every day. He was constantly late to school and he was too sleepy to concentrate properly during class. So he fell behind and was labeled a delinquent. And he didn’t even care. He even started hating the town he lived in.

Only by interacting with other people, finding new friends and a lover and expanding his social circle did he slowly start to enjoy his life again. Not only that, he also found new strength. It was the strength that he needed in order to overcome future trials, for fate was by no means kind to him.

He isn’t an actual delinquent, but he would give people a nasty glare or even get violent if need be. He’s kind and dependable, but on the other hand, he’s also somewhat of a mean jerk, especially towards Sunohara. And he’s really funny.

I think Tomoya’s biggest fault was his stubbornness about everything concerning his father. He was generally very reluctant to adress his personal problems, but this is an especially heavy case. It took him way too much time and a staged encounter to finally forgive his father and reconcile with him.
Let’s try and remember. Didn’t it seem like Tomoya got punished specifically for still distancing himself from his father when he lost his chance to get promoted due to Naoyuki’s imprisonment? He could’ve easily prevented that.

As far as decisions, go, apart from the already mentioned father problem, I wish he’d prioritized the safety of Nagisa and Ushio more. He should’ve made Nagisa stay at the hospital when she was pregnant instead of ignoring the risks in favor of some additional happiness. Similarly, he should’ve swallowed his pride and accepted Akio’s money and help. I’m not saying that he could’ve avoided tragedy completely, but those decisions did strike me as quite careless.

What I liked most about Tomoya was his… humanness. He’s easily one of the most believable characters I’ve ever seen. He was by no means perfect. In fact, he was full of flaws. Yet he also had the merits to balance it all out.
What I also appreciated was to see his development. He started off as an unsocial delinquent, but he became a hard-working and respected member of society despite everything that’s happened to him.

5 Likes
#4

I like that Tomoya i snot the kind of person it is just not him if he was an actual delinquent.

2 Likes
#5

I havent talked to like anyone about it, but I always related to Tomoya in some sense. There was a time, when I was taking school not seriously at all and I loved how he overcame all that by that one fateful encounter. I wish I had something like that too. I actually also have slight problems with my shoulder, it’s not as bad as Tomoya though and I hurt myself while practicing Kendo. So, all in all I love Tomoya and he is someone that really helped me back then to get on my own two feet.

Not much After Story talk from me, since that’s where things went a completly different path, and really liked to see how Tomoya overcame all his problems, even the one with his dad and how he went back to live a normal happy life.

#6

Won’t put in my full thoughts/analysis until I finish the VN, but one thing I’ve always really liked about the Tomoya was that I could relate to his emotions and actions despite not being in any situation even close to his. I’ve never had any problems at school, I have plenty of good friends, and no girl has ever needed me to help them solve some kind of life problem. But I have always felt like I could understand his experiences. And he’s just a cool kind of guy when he’s not in forced delinquent mode.

2 Likes
#7

I guess that’s just a testament to how well written a character he is! It proves that you don’t need to be LIKE someone to EMPATHISE with them. I think that’s a common misconception people have when it comes to fiction.

1 Like
#8

[quote=“EisenKoubu, post:10, topic:33”]
It’s too long? Maybe I was right in picking Little Busters…
[/quote]It feels kinda long and repetitive at some points because it has so many routes. But that doesn’t really make it bad. It was still the right choice to go with LitBus! though.

[quote=“Takafumi, post:11, topic:33”]
It had less routes than Clannad, but Clannad’s routes were all pretty much better than Little Busters!'s
[/quote] That is very much so a matter of opinion. One that I just don’t agree with.

Please by careful in listening to Taka, @EisenKoubu. His opinions can be very insightful, but also tend to be outliers. Not that no one agrees with him (I do on several things), just make sure to get others’ opinions as well.

[quote=“EisenKoubu, post:12, topic:33”]
I bought the vanilla version
[/quote]Pah. Bad move in my opinion. Especially with the EX/ME patch supposedly being done soon. I’ve heard from many sources that Saya’s route is second best only to Refrain.

[quote=“EisenKoubu, post:12, topic:33”]
unlike Tomoya, who pretty much stayed static throughout the anime. It’s not good to have a weak main character in a story full of interesting and extremely likeable major characters.
[/quote]HOLD UP. There are two things very wrong with what you just said.

First, I don’t know what anime you watched, but Tomoya changed a ton. There is absolutely no way you could look at the Tomoya at the beginning of the first season and tell me he’s the same as the Tomoya at the beginning of After Story. And even more so is that Tomoya different from Tomoya at the end of After Story. The whole story is about him learning about family.

Second, go read Little Busters!, and then go read the Riki discussion here (particularly my post), and then try and tell me you have something against weak characters. Please. I dare you.

3 Likes
#9

I don’t think that’s the best comparison. Riki was objectively strong. Tomoya could be considered strong, but he’s quick to give up on anything and everything. That’s why I prefer Naoyuki over Tomoya.

#10

  1. I wasn’t comparing Riki to Tomoya. They’re lives leading up to the start of the VNs are pretty much the opposite (Riki was alone at first, and then has a bunch of friends who support him by the beginning of the VN; Tomoya has family and friends at first, but is slowly growing more and more alone when the VN starts).

  2. I’m not really sure how you could say Riki is objectively strong for the majority of the game.

  3. Unless you as the reader chose to ignore people or give up on them (which applies to Riki too of course), I don’t remember Tomoya giving up on anything except for after Nagisa died, and his dad, which I wouldn’t call quick: he’d hated his father for two years by the time the story starts, and he hadn’t really been on the best of terms with him for years before that since his mom died.

In fact, the anime pretty much portrays him as literally not giving up on anything, since it has him help almost everybody.

1 Like
#11

Better cover those spoilers.

Riki is objectively strong, but not when your spoiler tag says. This isn’t a Litbus discussion, but you should know what I mean when I say he is strong.

Cite examples where Tomoya DIDN’T give up when solely tasked with something. I can’t think of any. It’s been years since I read it, but I should be able to remember at least one instance of him being “strong.” We’re talking good ends here btw. There’s a reason that people say the Tomoya in Tomoyo After isn’t the Tomoya in Clannad. The Tomoya in TA doesn’t give up.

#12

[quote=“Takafumi, post:16, topic:33”]
Cite examples where Tomoya DIDN’T give up when solely tasked with something.
[/quote]OK

He doesn’t stop trying to convince Kappei to get the surgery when Kappei himself has decided he just wants to die.

He doesn’t stop helping Fuko handing out starfish and convincing people to come to Kouko’s wedding.

He doesn’t leave Kotomi alone, even when she hides and tells him she doesn’t need him.

He doesn’t stop helping Mei with Sunohara, even if it means fighting the soccer club, even if it means fighting Sunohara himself.

He doesn’t stop visiting Yukine, even when her friends tell him to leave her alone (VN) or when he has to fight the other gang himself (anime).

And he doesn’t quit the drama club, even when Nagisa herself wants to quit.

Though now that I think about it, I will concede that he gave up in Tomoyo’s and Kyou’s/Ryou routes. And he didn’t really do anything in Misae’s except talk to her…

2 Likes
#13

Did I unintentionally start an argument? 0_0

[quote=“yerian98, post:13, topic:33”]
First, I don’t know what anime you watched, but Tomoya changed a ton. There is absolutely no way you could look at the Tomoya at the beginning of the first season and tell me he’s the same as the Tomoya at the beginning of After Story. And even more so is that Tomoya different from Tomoya at the end of After Story. The whole story is about him learning about family.
[/quote] It’s been a while since I watched CLANNAD from beginning to end, so I don’t remember Tomoya changing all that much. If he has, my bad.

[quote=“yerian98, post:13, topic:33”]
Second, go read Little Busters!, and then go read the Riki discussion here (particularly my post), and then try and tell me you have something against weak characters. Please. I dare you.
[/quote]I don’t have anything against weak characters. But I’ve been hearing so many people’s opinions and going through so many visual novels that I don’t know what to consider strong or weak anymore. I’m not an expert in writing. I want to be one, but as I stand right now, I am nowhere near that point. I’m sorry to offend you. And please be patient. SAL seems to be taking forever with my package.

[quote=“yerian98, post:13, topic:33”]
Pah. Bad move in my opinion. Especially with the EX/ME patch supposedly being done soon. I’ve heard from many sources that Saya’s route is second best only to Refrain.
[/quote]I am not rich either.

[quote=“yerian98, post:13, topic:33”]
Please by careful in listening to Taka, @EisenKoubu. His opinions can be very insightful, but also tend to be outliers. Not that no one agrees with him (I do on several things), just make sure to get others’ opinions as well.
[/quote]So you’re telling me to take everything he says with a grain of salt? And how am I supposed to get others’ opinions? I can’t will people to answer my questions. I might as well just shut up and not ask at all.

#14

I appreciate your patience. For a moment, I felt a little uncertain about my ability to speak my mind in a positive light.

[quote=“yerian98, post:19, topic:33”]
This is just how Taka and I talk to each other.
[/quote] Such a strange way of conversing…

[quote=“yerian98, post:19, topic:33”]
Because of me, theres kind of a running gag here now about people who haven’t read LB!.
[/quote] I understand that kind of situation, but it still kind of hurts to be on the receiving end. And how old is this forum, anyways?

[quote=“yerian98, post:19, topic:33”]
Chronic problem of art lovers.
[/quote]Are all art lovers unemployed, living with their parents and still trying to graduate from community college? XD

[quote=“yerian98, post:19, topic:33”]
But he’s often that one guy who hates something everyone else loves.
[/quote]There’s always one guy. I’ve got some of my own unpopular opinions, too. For example, I said in the Kanon discussion that I don’t like Shoujo no Ori as much as everyone else because it’s a tad repetitive.

Anyway, I appreciate your understanding, @yerian98. You’re a cool person. :slight_smile:

2 Likes
#15

I think that on an individual level, Tomoya’s character can be viewed as weak. He is far distant from any resemblance of the Nietzschean Übermensch, throughout the series establishing himself among dependent relationship. We see the relapse of his nihilistic lifestyle once Nagisa passes and only after his epiphany, realising his negligence, begins to invest in Ushio, gaining some sort of direction in life. A similar theme to what is presented to us in the prologue, when he first meets Nagisa, telling her to find new fun and happy things. Whether to credit this new-found strength to Tomoya or his relations with others is up for debate. Although, it can be argued that having the foundations of one’s motivation be based on something so fickle can also be seen an weak and unreliable.

#16

That doesn’t take much effort.

Group work. He had a whole family helping him.

Same as Kappei. The only one putting in real effort is the person the route focuses on.

Actually, that’s my favorite moment in the VN. Surprised I forgot that one. He did it out of frustration, so I’m not sure it counts, but I’ll give you it.

I don’t remember that happening in the anime, but VN-wise he didn’t do much that route.

Again, that’s not much effort. All he has to do to fulfill his “goal” in that situation is motivate her… something he’s done accidentally in the past.

Unless I present something specifically as a fact, it’s aaaalll my opinion! So yeah, take opinions with a grain of salt. You like different things to me of course~ The problems I have with stuff might not mean much to you, and vice-versa~

Discussion! It’s not often we have a Clannad topic active.

Does everyone else love you? Because I don’t hate you

It’s good. Definitely worth a purchase. I just think it gets over-hyped on Kazamatsuri.

Have you met @Kanon? He communicates through a strange pattern of insults and badly-disguised innuendo.

A year since closed beta almost.

BLASPHEMY. It’s actually because the track is around 1 1/2 minutes long, but it usually ends up looping in scenes.

Well, you can’t hedge your bets on a single thing. My partner is in a similar situation to Nagisa physically. I just have to accept that her life might not hold out for as long as I wish. Sounds cruel, but she doesn’t want me to be sad~ Tomoya had it good despite the bad stuff.

1 Like
#17

Takafumi:
Everything you just said in reply to me because I have the same response to all of them

My point wasn’t that he worked really hard to help all those people. Indeed he did have a lot of help from other people (especially depending on other decisions you make concerning other people earlier), and a lot of them it seemed like they helped him more than he helped them. Like I said, the story is really about Tomoya learning about family, etc. and growing up.

My only point was that (even if it was something he just did naturally, on accident, didn’t work hard for) he didn’t give up, at least not to the extent that you were proposing.

I would love to hear at what points you felt like he always gave up so quickly.

[quote=“Takafumi, post:22, topic:33”]
Does everyone else love you? Because I don’t hate you
[/quote]Love you too, Taka no homo

#18

You’ve already mentioned the big ones. Ushio, Tomoyo, Kyou/Ryou, Naoyuki, school overall, and a bunch of small things. Compared to Riki, Tomoya is the weak one in my mind.

#19

I have a question about Tomoya. I know I’m bringing back old news, but it’s in my mind. Does Jun Maeda/Key choose who voices Tomoya in the anime, or does the animation studio choose ? I know Tomoya had 2 different voice actors for the movie, and the series, so I’m just wondering,

#20

Jun Maeda is a scenario writer of the visual novel; he has very little influence on the production of adaptations of his work. I doubt he has much influence on the choice of voice actors for the visual novel, but he might have some say. Regardless, Tomoya was an unvoiced protagonist in the original game, so I’m sure it was up to the anime production teams to decide who would voice him.