Now that I have rewatched Yukine’s story arc, I can say that I liked Yukine a lot more than before (I liked her before too) and now she has become my third favorite girl in the series. I think Biz said it best when he said she’s a heartful kind-hearted sweetheart cause that’s what she is. She is very kind, friendly and sweet and you can’t help but feel happy whenever she’s around. Plus her story was really good and the climax shocked me back then and it still shocks me today. The music that plays when she’s around is fantastic and oh I just liked Yukine a lot. Nothing more needs to be said. <3
Yes that’s true. She was supposed to be the sixth heroine (one of the Clannad game covers shows this PS2 I think) but the creators thought her story didn’t live up to high standards…labeling it as just “heartwarming” instead of powerful, emotional tearjerkers like Nagisa, Fuko…Kotomi…etc
no way! The gang wars thing was so dumb. Chilling in the reference room with Sunohara being an idiot is way better.
Yukine is my favourite character in Clannad. So perfect.
The gang thing did make sense though for what was shown. The most touching moment of her route in the anime, was when she started praying to her brother, then “Shining in the sky” started playing when the gang members put their hands together to join Yukine in praying. That was just beautiful imo
I personally liked the anime version of Miyazawa’s route better than the VN. The gang-war was really far-fetched but it was a nice shoutout to Tomoyo After imo
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Bookclub discussion begins from this post onward!
Not sure how many people have experimented with getting locked in the gym storage with different characters in her route but I just did Akio’s and it was great apparently he’s a gang member but he’s keeping it a secret from his family?.
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Just finished Yukine’s route. Honestly, I actually got into her route by accident, thought I was going into Fuko’s route. But anyway, I was expecting that Tomoya would have to fight the gangster head like he did in the anime. But I guess that was an anime only. Probably would’ve been fun to see though..
Either way, I felt her Yukine’s route was a bit on the short side. (Around the same length as Kud’s route from LB!). And nothing really special about it. I remember from wiki that the writers didn’t really know how to make her route more interesting so I guess this was the result.
But as a character, Yukine is definitely up there, but below Nagisa for me.
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I can’t stress just how easy it is to get into Yukine’s route. All you really have to do is talk to her a bit and not unlock other characters’ flags, and poof, you’re in!
The same goes for Mei, assuming you haven’t gotten locked into Yukine’s route yet 
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Thats… not really true. The story goes that she was originally supposed to be a “main heroine”… but whoever gets to decide that kind of stuff decided he didnt like her route as much as the other 5, so she got turned a “side route” instead.
As for what’s “special” about it, I think you’ll find as you read the rest of the routes that there actually is something very special about it. Something thats really awesome about CLANNAD is that while the routes all have similar themes, each focuses on a different aspect.
For me at least, there is something very calming about Yukine and the reference room; I can see why so many people visit her. Her route is too the VN just like the reference room is to the rest of the school and life: its a little oasis that really just gives you time to think, have a little fun, without drama or stress.
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@Yerian The reference room is kinda like a cafe you go to after a long day right? With Yukine as your waitress. That’s the kind of vibe I get from this route. And yeah, you’re right. It is quite calming and I did enjoy it.
When I say it wasn’t special, I probably set my standard a bit too high when I said that because I’ve always known Key to have over the top dramatic or exciting stories lasting 30 minutes or more even with Ctrl even for the minor heroines. Or probably, that’s just my experience from LB!
I probably made a mistake in going for her route first. But as I put earlier, it was an accident!! 
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Heh, there’s a reason we didnt put her very first when making the walkthrough I guess XP
Yeah, several of the CLANNAD routes arent the typical melodrama you might expect from Key (although many of them still are XD). So I guess you might be surprised if thats what you were expecting. Lots of them really focus just on helping and getting to know people instead of some major extraordinary struggle.
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I just finished Yukine’s route.
I love it even more than I already did.
I also spotted quite a big problem in the anime adaptation, because a certain couple of lines were omitted from the source material it created a huge plot convenience in the anime and takes away some very important elements in the greater story.
I’ll post my thoughts when we get to this route in the bookclub (or After Story) since I’d prefer to focus on the bookclub order of discussion, and it’s big spoiler territory… Guess I’ll have to have patience… But this is going to be bugging me for weeks until I get it off my chest.
Nonetheless, love Yukine, best girl. <3
Don’t misunderstand. The Bookclub is here so you can discuss whatever routes you want whenever you want, only the podcasts are following a schedule. Please, share your thoughts now! Don’t wait for the podcast to catch up to you.
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Okay so I spotted something which;
- Made me appreciate this VN + this route a hell of a lot more.
- Is something I believe to be hugely concerning with the anime adaptation.
- The part I’m about to talk about… For some bizarre reason can only be read once in Yukine’s route, and you can’t acess the text again if you’ve cleared it already.
For anyone that has seen the anime… There is a particular issue in the adaptation I spotted which is making me kind of salty, yet now reading this VN has allowed me to understand the greater plot of Clannad much better. So to begin;
In the VN, at the end of Yukine’s route Tomoya makes mention of the mysterious light orb that he was able to see when Yukine experienced her moment of happiness at the climax of her story. (And the end of every subsequent route, reasons explained ahead)
In this scene Yukine brings up the story passed down in folklore in the town of Hikarizaka.
As much as I wanted to copy out the text of the conversation… I can’t access the scene any more, because for some weird reason, the VN locks you out of that particular bit of text after you’ve read Yukine’s route once. If you go back… The conversation is cut, and you get redirected to the title screen after the comic relief moment between Tomoya and Sunohara.
But luckily I took some screenshots, so I can attempt to paraphrase what was said in that scene.
Yukine explains to Tomoya that nobody truly knows what the light orbs are, but they are taken as symbols of happiness. The second aspect is that if one collects one of these orbs of light, any one wish can be granted.
In this scenario we learn that Tomoya is the only person who can see the light orbs. Sunohara saw Tomoya reach his hand out to grab something, but he couldn’t see the light orb. And Tomoya said that when he grasped it, he could almost feel the happiness that was experienced at that moment.
Yukine explains that maybe Tomoya could see it because he is special
She immediately explains that at some point in the past (Not specified how long ago) everybody was/is special and used to be able to see the orbs of light. Highlighting that perhaps the reason no one can see them any more is due to a change in people’s hearts.
Here is the most important part.
Yukine implies that being able to see the orbs of light requires someone with a heart that truly cares about the town and its people, and that people used to live in society deeply connected to the town which is perhaps why everyone used to be able to see the orbs of light.
But now they can’t because people have grown egotistical and only live for themselves, having forgotten what it means to live connected to the town that nurtures them. Forgotten that the town is like one big family, and to appreciate the value of togetherness.
This is bringing to attention how and why Tomoya can see the orbs of light.
Tomoya is constantly exclaiming that he hates the town. The first line he utters in the VN is “I hate this town”
But if what Yukine says is really true, then surely Tomoya is lying?
What this one scene illustrates for me is that despite Tomoya saying that he hates the town… With each route. With each light orb he collects, he is slowly becoming a less egotistical person. He is learning to love the people. He feels their happiness when he collects the orbs of light and realising the value of helping others. While doing so he grows to love the town. He may start from the beginning of every route stating otherwise, but gradually helping people one after another, it made me realise the way Tomoya was being portrayed, and as a reader just how strongly yet subtly the theme of the greater story was being plugged in here. -After Story intensifies-
I genuinely feel this highlights the key themes of egotism in direct contrast to family and togetherness in regards to not only Tomoya’s character. But every character in the entire series. Which I would argue is partly one of the main social criticisms of contemporary society that Maeda was targeting with Clannad.
This one short scene has so much meaning and subtlety to the greater plot of Clannad (Which I won’t spoil here) which was written so remarkably, that I instantly fell in love with the way this very short segment was executed.
And you know what… Favourite route. By far.
The problem with the anime adaptation is… KyoAni omitted Yukine’s lines explaining why Tomoya is special, about the people of the past outlining the issue of egotism. And this I feel this stripped away one of the most crucial plot devices of the story, and made it come across as a huge plot convenience that only VN readers would understand.
Many people in the past have criticised the anime for little emphasis on how the light orbs worked and why only Tomoya can see them and nobody else can. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone clarify this, so I feel reassured having read this VN route because I understand the greater plot devices of Clannad much better now.
And it only took a 3 minute scene with a couple of lines to do it… I guess this shows just how important small pieces of detail can be in the big picture.
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It’s a pretty common opinion that yukine’s route does give a good insight into the light orbs, and since the anime cut that out, it made the ending feel more like an asspull. But you know what? I read that scene 5 years ago, and I read the vn before the anime, and I still felt like it was an asspull. That’s just me, though.
Like you said, it is just a 3 minute dialogue, which isn’t even related to her story. And for that reason, I don’t consider it part of her story, which is why despite it being an important piece of dialogue, I can’t use it to justify the quality of her route.
But you do raise a good point with the Tomoya thing. I don’t think he’s lying when he says he hates the town however… There’s a certain kind of care needed to say that you hate a thing. I found it weird that he said he hates the town, despite the fact that the town had nothing to do with his bad experiences; it was mostly his father. And I think he says it because he genuinely does care about the town, and wants it to be something that mattered to him. Perhaps he received a sense of betrayal from the town, thus making him hate it, but he still cares for it unlike others who are simply indifferent.
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Yukine ended up as my third route. I really liked it for three reasons:
First and foremost: the intimacy. That was really sweet. Even though there wasn’t any big drama or anything and regardless of its short length, her reliance on Tomoya and their budding intimacy was quite adorable.
Second: Yukine herself has good interactions with Tomoya. I enjoyed their relaxing time together.
Third: I actually liked how the heroine didn’t have a huge, desperate need for something to be fixed, like a lot of heroines do. She didn’t really have any problems; she had already found peace, and that peace helped save others. So Tomoya’s relationship with her wasn’t some rollercoaster; instead, it was just a steady life of love, just like she’s been trying to live. Quite sweet indeed.
Since it was short, I can’t rank it too high, as there wasn’t as much time as I would have liked. But I did enjoy it while it lasted.
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I was really skeptical of this route early on. Yukine is cute and fun, but I just didn’t feel really into it until probably after you get to the part where the clock drops off.
I think part of my objection to the route early on was that it just felt like escapism for Tomoya. Yukine was just kind of nice girl who cooked for him, and he did not really have to think about her or himself too hard.But the way they kind of slowly introduced Tomoya becoming attentive to her and her starting to lean on him was really well done and sweet. Dependable people really do need the one person to fall back on more than anyone. In someways this was the least “random” feeling romance of the routes so far.
Yukine herself is a great character. The story of how she kind of went from “normal” girl to being a pillar of support for all of her brother’s friends was believable and touching, and I really like that you feel that Yukine never lost part of herself - she just became more wise to the ways of the world.
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No, the anime does mention about the light orbs near the end of the arc but I guess the VN gives more of an insight about them.
He was referring to the issue I raised with the anime cutting out details elaborating how and why the light orbs work in the way that they do.
The issue I had was that the light orbs aren’t explained in the anime very well at all.
We weren’t told why Tomoya is the only person that can see them, as well the background information on the people of Hikarizaka becoming egotistic wasn’t mentioned either.
At the end of Yukine’s route here in the VN it gave a nod to the upcoming events in After Story to foreshadow the ending, by explaining those things. Most likely so that when it comes to it, it wont come across as a huge asspull.
