CLANNAD ~AFTER STORY~ – 09
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Summary:
In the illusionary world, the robot and the girl have started to build a vehicle that can fly so that they can leave their world for a more lively one. The robot, however, knows that the girl won’t be able to move if it becomes cold, so they have to hurry. Back in the real world, Nagisa is considering getting a job after graduation because she doesn’t have anything she wants to study in college. Tomoya, on the other hand, avoids the topic of what he’s going to do and succeeds in distracting Nagisa with talk about giving her a present. From this, he finds out from this that her birthday is on Christmas Eve, so he proposes a date instead. He manages to escape having to talk about his future with Nagisa, but it stays on his mind, so he discusses it with Sunohara. As it turns out, Sunohara is planning on becoming a model. His other friends are pursuing a variety of different paths, including Ryou going to nursing school, Kyou studying to becoming a kindergarten teacher, and Kotomi going to study in America. This leaves Tomoya as the only one who hasn’t decided on something, but later on during that day when the others ask him about it, a more pressing matter comes up: Nagisa comes down with a fever. Nagisa’s sickness causes her to start to miss school again, and Tomoya is quite worried for her. Having to take care of Botan during class for Kyou and Ryou takes his mind off of it for a while, but his friends can tell that he’s feeling down.
An entire month passes by, and Nagisa doesn’t get any better. On the one day she was doing alright, she tried to go to school, but her fever went back up along the way. Tomoya stays by Nagisa’s bedside whenever he can, and he tells her that he’s waiting for the day when he can walk hand-in-hand with her. Autumn soon turns to winter, and with Nagisa still sick, her parents talk to Tomoya about the likelihood that she will be held back a year in school. Tomoya is against this because he wants to graduate alongside her, and he doesn’t want to graduate if she doesn’t. This causes Akio to call Tomoya a child because doing that will just cause Nagisa more pain, and Tomoya acknowledges to himself that he is a child. November then becomes December, and the group decides to hold a party for Nagisa. In that time, Sunohara has been rejected from a modeling agency and has opted to find a job instead. For Nagisa’s birthday, Tomoya gives her a dango-shaped doll, and when she almost cries after seeing everyone gathered for her, they make her understand that they’re all friends and family, and that her happiness is their happiness. Unfortunately, this was also the time that the decision to hold Nagisa back another year was made.
Tomoya stays by Nagisa’s side through the rest of the winter, and spring and graduation time eventually comes around. On the day of the ceremony, Tomoya considers breaking some windows to get held back, but Sunohara convinces him that it’d be pointless since he’d just expelled. The two happen to run into Koumura who congratulates them on their graduation and reveals that he’s retiring. Sunohara knows that it’s thanks to Koumura that the two of them didn’t get into more trouble and expelled, and Tomoya suspects that Koumura intentionally had them meet so that they’d be friends and wouldn’t quit school so easily. Koumura claims not to remember, but Tomoya and Sunohara bow to him in respect regardless. As everyone else is later taking pictures to commemorate graduation, Tomoya speaks briefly with Yukine and Tomoyo, both of whom will now be the same year as Nagisa, and they tell him not to worry and to do his best. He then heads home by himself and thinks about all the experiences he’s had with Nagisa, from their first meeting until now. He’s surprised to find her waiting outside of the bakery for him, and she explains that she wanted to see him the final time he’d be wearing his school uniform.
After Nagisa congratulates him on graduating, Tomoya can no longer hold back the tears as he recounts how he hated school but was willing to be there forever if he was with her. He feels that he should have held himself back a year to stay with her, but she tells him that he can’t stop moving forward like that. She promises to do her best for another year, and for now, she wants to walk hand in hand with him for a little while. As they do so, Tomoya thinks about how he wants to walk with her without stopping, on the endless hill, just the two of them.
Preview
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Ah, I got a little teary-eyed at the end there. Actually, this was such a good ending (to the school part of the story) that it left me wondering why they didn’t try to end the first series at this point. It was a much stronger way to show how much Nagisa and Tomoya love each other and belong together than the confession scene. Of course I understand that the reason they probably didn’t use this is because there was too much material prior to this point to get through in only 22 episodes, but if not for that, then this spot would have been perfect to end the first series with.
In any case, now that the school stuff is over, how much is left in the story? My sense of time for this series is messed up because they sped through multiple months and seasons in this one episode (and because I’m not familiar with the game timeline). I know that AFTER STORY is going to be ~24 total episodes, but is there enough material for 15 more? I assume it’s not going to be one huge arc because no single arc so far has gone longer than five episodes, so I’m curious to see how the story will break down and what the conflicts will be (if this episode was any indicator, Nagisa’s poor health will probably be one of them). For the time being though, it looks like Tomoya’s going to be working at the bakery and thinking of moving out.
November 28, 2008 at 3:43 amNaakay
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After Story is considered the second half of the game, and it really is that long. I’m very excited that we’re finally getting into the main story, and I cannot wait for the next ~2 or so episodes.
November 28, 2008 at 3:49 amZange
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OMG *cries* such a fantastic anime <333
November 28, 2008 at 3:53 amgame8910
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finally we can get into the actual good stuff
November 28, 2008 at 3:55 amEliteF22
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Looks touching, but Nagisa still isn’t my favorite girl. Several of the others make far more interesting options.
November 28, 2008 at 3:56 amtomoyosuki
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nagisa final=tomoyo after story?¿??????????? psssssssssssssssssssssss
November 28, 2008 at 3:56 amGundam maniac
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NU I DUN WUN CLANNAD TO END IN 15 EPS D: SOB SOB SOB
November 28, 2008 at 3:57 amblank space
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3 mini arcs + 2 major arcs = After Story
Or at least in the VN it was. Converting it into episodes, im estimating it to be about 13 episodes to include everything important.
November 28, 2008 at 4:30 amQuen
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Loved the episode, and I too wish for Clannad not to reach its ending =(
November 28, 2008 at 4:32 amAmiena
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awww that was such a sweet ending… ^.^
November 28, 2008 at 5:13 amChimasternmay
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hell yea, tat was a good episode, nice to see more of the mains. yeah
November 28, 2008 at 5:15 amtolitz
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I’m also guessing it’s probably gonna be only 13 episodes total for this one… there is absolutely no way they can stretch the purported ending into 15 episodes, unless it’s mega-fillers the likes of which even Bleach has never seen…
November 28, 2008 at 6:20 amDunno
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Nagisa! Please dont cry!!
November 28, 2008 at 6:24 amblank space
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@tolitz
The After Story content alone is 13+ episodes worth. And it finally starts (the real After Story)next episode.
November 28, 2008 at 6:33 amBroth3R @ Law
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I’M NOT EVEN STARTED THE SEASON 2 YEEEEEEEET!!!!!
Will they get married? Or was it my imagination for a fav art? Or maybe not a fav art?
http://randomc.net/image/CLANNAD/CLANNAD%20~AFTER%20STORY~%20-%2009%20-%20Large%2035.jpg
November 28, 2008 at 6:37 ambakawolf
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Naoyuki Arc
Sanae Arc
Yoshino Arc
Akio Arc
Ushio Arc
Nagisa True End
yup… there’s still more
if they are done 3 eps each or some 2 eps, that would definately fit to 15 episodes
of course… still hoping for a Kyou Arc in the end
November 28, 2008 at 8:57 ampaul
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now the depressing part starts
November 28, 2008 at 9:23 amlinkinstreet
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*SOBS*
Well I do hope that KyoAni choose the “Good” end for the couple. And remember, it’s not JUST about love. But it’s also about Tomoya realising about what a family truly is and how to treasure it. That’s was the main focus and IMO, of all the characters Nagisa is the one that fit perfectly in that role.
Need moar Ryou dammit!
November 28, 2008 at 10:17 amSoldaT
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Such a beatiful episode. After Story impressing me more, more… Especially art/animation all after story had great animation/art. But this episode is above top notch. 9 episodes had been aired and all this episodes have great animation/art this is just TOO AWESOME. If this continue like this After Story probably will be 2008 best animation/art. Probably After Story will continue with great animation/art to the end of after story. Very high budget anime.
I love you Kyoto Animation. :)
November 28, 2008 at 10:52 amMira
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I really hope that, unlike the movie, they’ll stick a good ending into this one. This anime has great emotional feed, much more so than any of the current dramas. So Kyoto animation had better understand the fact that if they stick the movie ending into this suicide rates could possibly go up from all nagisa fans lol, like me. Then again, in this anime even good endings are depressing… wow this anime is too powerful….
November 28, 2008 at 12:49 pmwoahm4gawd
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I’ll enjoy hearing about the mass-suicide if Nagisa dies.
November 28, 2008 at 2:04 pmelodie
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can anyone describe me the good and bad ending of course ” spoiler tag it”
November 28, 2008 at 4:28 pmexia
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woooo after story is actually starting foreall now. this is the part i want to see the most! waited like half a year cuz i never played the vn. sucks people just shout out spoilers n stuff. i wonder what ending it will be like
November 28, 2008 at 4:46 pmMagi
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elodie:
I haven’t played the game, but from what I understand, the “bad” end is Show Spoiler ▼
, and the “good” or “true” end is Show Spoiler ▼
. I’m sure there’s someone who can give you a more detailed description, though.
November 28, 2008 at 4:59 pmShadow_Strider
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WARNING After Story SPOILERS as requested DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU WANT THE ANIME ENDING SPOILED FOR YOU Show Spoiler ▼
November 28, 2008 at 5:07 pmMegas
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Sometimes I think I don’t even have a human soul. I loved Air, Kanon, & now Clannad but I didn’t show any kind of emotion while watching any of them. Even the Clannad movie left me with my usual stoic face. I’ve even tried thinking like the anime characters when they’re balling but that was to no avail. Anyway I’ve given it up completely. I really do envy you ppl that can ‘feel’ for stuff like this. However I still know that this is some good stuff.
I did play the game & I have no idea how they’re going to work this. They still have plenty of arcs left but a few of them can be wrapped up in 2 or less episodes. Maybe they’re leaving the “true end” for 3 or 4 episodes. They can definitely stretch that a bit.
November 28, 2008 at 5:44 pmSteelman
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Yes! Finally the real After Story begins!
@ OMNI: I do agree that this is a much better conclusion to the School arc. As a matter of fact, it is the ending of Nagisa’s school arc in the VN. But they had to end the first season after the school festival to be able to fit this season’s school side stories before Nagisa fell ill. Oh, and I actually think they have quite enough material to fill the remaining episodes. As bakawolf pointed out, there are several side stories in the after story as well.
@ elodie: I find this “good” and “bad” ending stuff to be quite misleading. The story really has a single conclusion, the “true” ending. Without spoiling much, there will be an event connected with the light orbs and the illusionary world (I guess everybody guessed this by now) that in term of VN mechanisms requires you to play two different sections in the game. The “good” and “bad” endings are just the endings to these two sections, but only the ending to the second section is the “true” one (I won’t tell if it actually is the “good” or “bad” one). In practice Kyonani does not have to separate the two sections like in the game, so anime viewers probably won’t even perceive this supposed difference in the endings.
November 28, 2008 at 9:17 pmFlameStrike
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Heh that was pretty good. If they left the very last scene a bit more like the original it would have been a lot better, but hey it’s still great on it’s own. A little rushed but it gets the point across.
My main concern is how they’ll handle the VERY end. With all the eps left I know they’ll cover all the mini arcs in the HUGE grand scheme of AS, but the very end has me worried. I loved it but the part with the Light Orbs might create some citicism lol.
November 28, 2008 at 9:49 pmYukiruchan
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Oh finally, I am going to start watching CLANNAD again after I put it on break after Tomoyo’s arc.
I haven’t really been interested in Yukine’s /Misae’s /Tomoya’s friend’s arcs.
But yeah finally finally things are looking good.
I can imagine the flow of the story until the end already.
But I have a feeling Kyoto Animation is going to exceed my expectations.
So watch it I will!
November 28, 2008 at 11:17 pmX
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@bakawolf: was there a sanae arc? I thought she was just part of akio’s arc, didnt know there was actually an arc for her.
Naoyuki Arc
Yoshino Arc
Akio Arc
Ushio Arc
Nagisa True End
But still with these remaining arc left to cover, it will be enough material to cover 15 episodes easy.
November 28, 2008 at 11:40 pmexia
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ah the true face of after story is unraveling
November 29, 2008 at 12:57 amjho
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Can’t wait for the real part of after story to begin.
November 29, 2008 at 2:52 amreal13
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Wow.. I’m no tear jerker but damn that almost did the job. Can this series actually make me shed a few tears? I have hopes of that. So far there are only a few shows that made me shed a tear a little.
Gundam Seed(Just one magnificent part of this series, even though it’s english dubbed it did it’s job)
H20 ~footprints in the sand(just because of the best episode they made)
Air(No need to explain just watch it.)
Somehow I do remember the painful thing they did with ZnT season 2. Very swift mood swings. It almost made me cry then I was so frustrated when they ruined the atmosphere.
There’s been only one thing that made me bawl(or even the show that made me cry like crazy for the firt time.. It’s a jdrama titled “Proposal Daisakusen.” I’m all praise for how they did this. Hands down…
I’m looking forward for the next episodes. I have high hopes for this!
November 29, 2008 at 7:14 amKyaura
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I just really hope Nagisa doesn’t die like she did in the movie.
But at the same time I really want to see Tomoya with someone other then Nagisa.
Hmmm..
November 29, 2008 at 8:14 amlinkinstreet
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@Kyaura: Nagisa has more of an impact on Tomoya’s life than you think. Altho she might seem like a docile and mild mannered compared to Kyou or Tomoyo, she was the only one that fully tried to understood him for what he truly was, and gave him his first family-like environment.
November 29, 2008 at 8:57 amAndrew
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doesn’t fuko still have to appear?
I almost thought Nagisa was gonna die so many times :D good thing she didn’t.
November 29, 2008 at 10:36 amRandom muser
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This would have definitely been a better way to round off the first series instead of those random ova episodes. After having seen the material they had to get through to get to this point, it irks me that KyoAni could have planned the pacing of the series better (such as evening out the story arcs between main characters rather than butchering Tomoyo/Kyou/Ryou). They really should have sneaked some of these smaller arcs in instead of wasted episodes which really dragged the first series down imo. The reason for this is it would have created a greater focus between episodes rather than jumping around abruptly for the sake of cutting Nagisa’s story at ep. 22.
Unfortunately people forget that the so called “magic” of anime enables the shortening of periods and story telling (exemplified via this episode). So I feel that these last 15 episodes could potentially drag unnecessarily especially if last year’s Clannad is anything to go by. You may be thinking more time will allow the studio to do things properly, but that’s not always the case with Kyoto Animation; who have a history of faulty pacing in their series.
November 29, 2008 at 12:34 pmawesomeness
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Apparently the After Story itself has a few subplots and is quite long (almost a separate game). I’m sure it won’t drag on.
+ why would you complain about more Clannad
Even filler episodes are good.
November 29, 2008 at 3:13 pmJoeDX
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Finally, this is the kind of episode I’ve been waiting for 8 weeks ago…
November 29, 2008 at 3:27 pmDarknessheal
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ahh so sad
November 29, 2008 at 4:27 pmThe letter T
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They get married and have 2 kids, 1 boy and 1 girl
and it will be a happy enging!!!!
… at least I hope
November 29, 2008 at 4:28 pmThe letter T again
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wow. sorry bad spelling, if you can spot it in a sec
November 30, 2008 at 2:24 amxau
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google for the Clannad translation if you want to read ahead..
This episode was rushed but enjoyable. End scene was awesome…
November 30, 2008 at 10:54 pmeyecon1219
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if there was boyfriends like Tomoya..there honestly would not be any complaints ! i absolutely love this anime ! Nagisa and Tomoya are the cutest couple ! even though they don’t show much lovey-dovey scenes, there scenes like this that make it all worth it ! thank you for sharing !
December 2, 2008 at 5:54 pmDan
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Well this does sum up the nagisa sickness section pretty well. Looking foreward to the next couple of episodes too.
I wonder… will they Show Spoiler ▼
by the way it’ll be funny to see the mass suicides just so that they would Show Spoiler ▼
So glad to see we have moved past the whole “school life” arc finally and moved into the good stuff. Though I laughed hard when sunohara said “and a toilet seat cover”
August 25, 2009 at 9:02 pmstarss
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Oh my goodness.
This is one of the best Clannad episodes in BOTH seasons! I almost felt just like Tomoya in that last scene.