I think I am the only one here who thinks that Tomoyo was acting like she didn’t understood because she didn’t wanted to admit that she can’t manage everything, I mean, the excuses she made to avoid breaking up were just to pathetic considering her intellect, and at the end, after completing her main objective she came back to Tomoya by her own initiative without anyone explaining to her why they broke up.
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Finished this! I liked it, I thought it was sweet, but neither the romance or the character clicked with me that well, I guess. Not saying I dislike her, I respect her drive and how open and honest she can be, but she’s a bit too overbearing and mothering for a romance story for me. She’d be more like a good friend, I guess.
With that being said, one part that really got to me was when Tomoya was talking about feeling like a burden. I constantly feel like that in my relationship (I have some baggage and things) and I always feel like I’m holding him back and he could do better without me, despite what he says. So I could certainly relate to that bit.
I sadly could not get the 64 hit combo! Maybe one day
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Yeah don’t worry, we’ll all be coming back to the 64-hit combo later 
But wow, you’re really speeding through these routes! Don’t forget to check out our podcasts!
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I will! And yeah, combination of fast reader and winter vacation is giving me a lot of free time for this. I am hoping to catch up with the bookclub before classes start back up again
I know that many people can relate to that sort of situation, so that makes me really wish that the writers gave a better message to overcoming that sort of situation as opposed to just “let’s break up” :x
[quote=“octoberpumpkin, post:103, topic:1934”]
I sadly could not get the 64 hit combo! Maybe one day
[/quote]
Don’t worry, it’s impossible to get without finishing Koumura’s route first, anyway 
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I know I’m a bit late to the party, but there it is:
Tomoyo’s route was my favorite so far. I found the love story between her and Tomoya to be a bit idealistic, but it charmed me nonetheless. The classic forbidden love between a Successful beauty and a Ruffian, like in the old stories, with the Key touch to differentiate themselves from other story tellers. I found the character of Tomoyo to be interesting and fairly original. The dialogues between her and Tomoya were some times a bit hard to follow, which is to be expected when two people make small talks, which really pleased me. my favorite moment of the route was probably when Tomoya confesses his family problems to Tomoyo, after she makes breakfast for him and his father. The atmosphere created was terrific
The route went well all in all, but the ending was more devastating than expected. After Reading through Misae’s route, I did expect some sad and emotional moments, but my expectations were quite mild. Manly tears were almost dripped many times, during her talk about her family, when you are separated, and especially when you are reunited. The way the story ended really pleased me, meeting her little brother after graduating was a good way to conclude this story.
Another good thing that came out of this route for me (other than my love for Tomoyo’s character) was rediscovering Sunohara. I just saw him as a stupid comic relief, but now I can see his importance in Clannad and his role as a “bro”. Seeing his comic scenes in smaller amount and the dialogues between him and Tomoya about Tomoyo opened my eyes about the real relationship between the two guys.
A remark I would like to make, and ask other people if they felt the same thing.
I’ve noticed both in Misae and Tomoyo’s path that, at some very emotional scenes, the dramatic music will just switch to some jolly tune and ruin the atmosphere. Does anyone else feel that way?
After reading such a wonderful route, i am febrile about the rest of Clannad, but at the same time, I am scared to be disappointed by the other characters. I’ll catch up as soon as possible.
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I honestly never felt that, no. Sure it would change to a jolly tune after the dramatic scene, but that’s only after everything is over. I really felt like the music was well-placed in what I’ve re-read of the VN so far
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I’m thinking of a specific scene right now during tomoyo’s route, you just dumb her and there’s Shionari II playing in the background, you go to Sunohara’s and talk and then boom. It switches to Kochi like nothing happened, without a pause in the middle or anything. I found it very anticlimactic, but maybe it’s just me.
Ah Tomoyo, my most favorite heroine in CLANNAD. And oh, I’m based this on VN part not Anime. Anime shows but piss poor representation of relationship between Tomoyo x Tomoya.
While there’s a big ANNOYANCE from me for stupid situation in this route, most particularly because of Tomoya’s stupidity, I can still say I quite like the route as a whole.
Let’s bring the fact that Tomoya is a guy. A man. A boy. Whatever. While boy is definitely more apt, but Tomoya is a guy. A man. A goddamn man doesn’t act like crap like Tomoya is doing here. GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
…
…
Ok rant aside, I gotta say that the two main characters here are very underdeveloped in this route. No matter how you look at it, Tomoyo’s characteristics have been established so strongly from the beginning. She’s strong, both physically and mentally, has dedication (that results in her good grades for example) and set her sight on the goals she wanted (preserving the Sakura trees). Of course over time, her interaction with Tomoya means she also has set another new goal on top of her previous one, that’s it, to be together with the man she loves. If she were real girl, I’d definitely try my best to get her. Maybe… if I can survive her kicking or something.
Now for Tomoya, my rage aside, he’s far too pathetic. He has girlfriend he needs to support, but instead doing that, he leaves her. That’s so cowardice behavior in my eyes. It’s true that Tomoya does drag Tomoyo down in almost everything, but he has shown he can support Tomoyo already. The result of her being chosen as Student Council President is mostly because of Tomoya’s ideas of challenging clubs around and by staying beside her the whole time.
So does leaving someone mean you support that someone? In some realities, it might be true. I also can’t explain each and every possibilities. In this particular Arc, however, it is arguable. If we argue that Tomoya is required to break up with her in order for the latter to preserve the Sakura Trees, then why can’t they do some crazy backstreet? They break up in front of everyone but keep being together behind everyone. This is just one example to solve the problem. That way, nobody gets hurt. Neither Tomoya nor Tomoyo has to endure being separated for eight months. The fact that in Tomoyo After it is shown that Tomoyo leaves the Student Council means that upholding the title means so little for Tomoyo after she manages to preserve the Sakura trees. Or maybe how about Tomoya tries to improve himself? Sure he’s delinquent, but people can try to fix their mistakes. Well his personal shoulder injury does prevent him to get back to sports of which he excels at, but he can improve his attendances in school which he is capable of as shown during his date with Tomoyo. And let’s not stop that, he can also tries to improve his grades to manageable level. But no, damn no, he chooses the easiest way out. Man…
I can’t deny though that that ‘easiest way out’ in the end successfully make this route more dramatic and meaningful. I just say I can’t like how Tomoya approaches the problem.
And did I say Tomoyo After? Crap I just reopened my own deep wound in my heart. Totally heartbroken playing that VN.
I always get a bit iffy when people are quick to blame Tomoya for the problems of this route… I am very much of the opinion that Tomoya did nothing wrong! and I want to give a bit of defense for that.
See, the reason why Tomoya separated with Tomoyo was anchored specifically on the strain that society put on him: “You are a delinquent, and you are limiting Tomoyo’s own potential”. And, wouldn’t you know, he believed it. Problem here was, the only person limiting Tomoyo’s own potential was herself because she, despite knowing the risks and responsibilities, forced time off to get to meet with Tomoya.
Whether or not Tomoya was aware of the real problem is still arguable, but he was sure that breaking up with her would straighten her up. And it did! And you can be sure it was not the easiest way out as it cause him his own mental strain in the long run.
Now, let’s assume for arguments sake, that he straightened up his act and stopped being a delinquent. What do you think would happen? Tomoyo would still shirk her own responsibilities to meet with him, and society would still blame him for bringing her down, and there would still be that chance that Tomoyo would not save those cherry trees.
So no matter what kind of support Tomoya could have given her, unless Tomoyo stopped being dense and society stopped being blind, only then could they be able to maintain a relationship throughout Tomoya’s school life. But hey, it ended on a good note, and just proved that their love was genuine and able to survive those many months away from each other.
Not communicating in your relationship is still something wrong. It makes sense for his character that he wouldn’t, but that doesn’t stop the right choice to have been having a good conversation with Tomoyo.
My conclusion at this point is that Tomoyo, Tomoya, all contributed to the problem, and like a lot of relationships that fall on hard times pointing to “one” person or thing does little to shed light on the problem and ends up being more of a blame game.
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Well I didn’t mean it as he did literally nothing wrong; just that he wasn’t causing the problems with Tomoyo in the way that everyone else in the story seemed to be thinking.
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This is another of those routes where I don’t have a whole lot to say initially. I mean, what can I say? This route feels both familiar and unexpected, even though it’s been so long since I watched the anime.
Tomoyo is a character I cared little for in the anime, and in hindsight I think it’s a crying shame that a lot of the development from the VN was stripped away for the anime. She’s one of the more complex Key characters I’ve seen, taking great care of her own self-image as well as being considerate of others’ feelings. She has admirable goals and is responsible to a fault, which sometimes gets in the way of her own selfish desires. The chemistry between TomoyaKotori and Tomoyo is also among the best I’ve seen in Key novels, developing naturally from formal strangers to casual (if unsteady) friends to young, inexperienced lovers. Maeda took considerable care developing the relationship into something worthwhile, if only to drive in the point that he meant to make with this story.
I mean, what other Key routes do I know of that begin with the main couple breaking up? It’s a novel wrench in the works, and it creates real drama that makes me realize how much I care about Kotori and Tomoyo as a couple. What makes this route even more heartwrenching is the feelings Kotori displays and the actions he(?) takes to bring his life back to the way it was before Tomoyo entered his(?) life. It practically destroys all the development that took place beforehand, save the lingering feelings he(?) harbors for her. Even Sunohara points out how boring life has become since Tomoyo stopped hanging out with them.
The ending is proof of how their relationship went beyond just youthful, inexperienced infatuation with one another. Although Kotori was able to move past his(?) relationship with Tomoyo and find a path of his(?) own, Tomoyo found herself stuck with those lingering feelings despite the technical freedom from his(?) influence. She pressed on as best she could, waiting for a moment when the freedom to accommodate such a relationship would be available to her. By then, they both matured somewhat, and their feelings were rekindled in the cold of winter into a more consummate relationship.
Routes like these are, in my opinion, what define the classic era of Key. There is a focus on the mundane, but dynamic relationship between the main characters, while also portraying a realistic, relatable and naturally-paced dilemma. It may be the largest departure for Maeda from his usual magic realism I’ve seen, and it may be the only one I ever will see. Who knows? Maybe I might be surprised in the next few routes. Up next is Yukine! 
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I disagree; I don’t find Tomoyo perfect at all. She is quite flawed and her flaws make her deplorable in my eyes The fact that she’s so pushy whenever she believes in something and fails to see things from others perspectives is something I cannot accept from people.
And while (tomoyo after spoilers) Tomoyo After does definitely look into this negative aspect of hers, they approach it more from the aspect of “you’re wrong” instead of “the way you’re thinking is wrong” thus while putting a bit of perspective in her eyes, doesn’t necessarily solve the problem. Although I haven’t exactly finished TA quite yet so everything I have said just now could be bullshit
I don’t think Tomoyo is a goody two shoes. If she was I don’t think she would have fallen for Tomoya in the first place. If she really was Little Miss Perfect she would have taken one look at Tomoya and dismiss him as a bum.
I don’t think anybody here claimed her to be… The wording used was “mary sue” which, frankly, is much too vague a label to use for any character
On a side note, has anyone here been able to trigger the variants of the events on the 17th (Where you accompany Sunohara to fight Tomoyo) in which Sunohara’s face is disfigured? Most walkthroughs I’ve found say to trigger it, you need to complete After Story, but I’ve done that and haven’t successfully triggered it…
oh yeah I got that! You gotta complete after story and I think you also have to have completed the 64-hit combo?
That’s the odd thing. I’ve also completed the 64 hit combo before. Do you think I have to do it again now that I’ve completed After Story to trigger it?
Edit: Looks like it worked after doing the 64 hit combo again.
It felt like they spent way more time in this route than in the other routes.
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