Summary:

Okazaki Tomoya hates the town that he lives in because it’s the place where the memories he wants to forget were ingrained. Going to school every day, talking with friends, going home when you don’t want to go home – he wonders if any of these will change eventually and if the day of change will come. It is on this morning that he encounters a girl on his way to school who appears to be asking an invisible someone if he or she likes the school. She admits to personally liking the school a lot, but she also notes that it’s hard for everything not to change. Tomoya thinks that this unknown girl is probably talking to someone inside her mind, but he continues listening as the girl wonders if the person she’s talking to can like this place even if it’s hard for all the joyful and happy things not to change. Tomoya then surprises her by suggesting that she find the next joyful and happy things, and at his urging, she heads with him to school. Thinking to himself, Tomoya feels that they’ve started climbing a long, long, steep path.

Later that day, he finds his friend Sunohara getting beat up by the rugby team, though the dorm mother Sagara Misae scares them away. Unfortunately for Sunohara, he lives right next door to the rugby players, and Tomoya intentionally curses the rugby team loudly to get Sunohara in trouble. As he teases his friend further, Tomoya thinks that today is going to be another day where change didn’t happen, and he feels that he doesn’t have an objective – something to put his heart into. He later experiences a vision of a bare room which a young version of himself explaining that this is a world that has ended. Nothing is born here, nothing dies, and even passing time doesn’t exist. If he were to search for a place to be born, he thought that he couldn’t choose this world. Appearing in the vision is a young girl, and he wonders if she can see him since he wasn’t born in this world. He knows that she’s living alone in this world, and for some reason, he’s worried about her.

The following morning, Tomoya heads to school again and hears his classmates talking about him. A girl named Fujibayashi Ryou points out that he was late again today and proposes that he attend regularly. This causes him to say that she talks as if she’s the class representative with the irony being that she is the class representative, and the other guys in the class tease Tomoya about making her cry. When Tomoya promises to come tomorrow depending on his mood, Ryou offers to tell his fortune since it’s her hobby. She manages to spill her deck of cards on the floor, but from those, she is able to say that he’ll be late tomorrow again because he’ll have a romantic meeting with a gentle girl and lose track of time. Suddenly, a book comes flying towards Tomoya’s head, and he barely dodges it in time. The person who threw it was Ryou’s old sister Kyou who thinks that Tomoya is bullying Ryou. After they clear things up, Kyou notices the cards on the floor, so Tomoya explains the fortune he got. This brings a smirk to Kyou’s face and she urges Tomoya to do his best before leaving.

During lunchtime, Tomoya passes by a group of guys talking about the ghost of a female student who was in a traffic accident. Outside, he finds the girl from earlier eating by herself. He decides to join her, and when she finally finishes eating, he questions why she’s there alone. Asking him if he likes this school, the girl says that she really likes it and recounts how she had a lot of friends and got along well with the teachers. However, she took a break from school for a long period of time last year, so she got held back. Everyone she knew graduated, and she feels kind of like Urashima Tarou. She actually wants to join the drama club, but she thinks that she can’t act properly due to her body being weak. Tomoya tells her that it’s fine for her to participate by doing what she can and recommends that she go to the drama club after school. He then points to a pair of girl standing on the roof of the school and explains that she can’t make friends with a disheartened face. On his suggestion, she waves to those girls with a smile, but the two girls never notice her and walk off instead.

Tomoya then hears the sound of motorcycles from the nearby practice field, and when he gets there, Sunohara explains that these are riders from another school. Moving out to confront them is a long-haired girl, and Tomoya takes off his jacket to go help her, but her friends claim that there’s nothing to worry about. They explain that this girl is Sakagami Tomoyo, a second-year transfer student, and she quickly proves her strength by jumping and using a quick series of kicks to defeat her opponents. Afterwards, Tomoya points out to the girl from earlier how Tomoyo is in a similar situation as her, but is popular, so it’s really up to the person. Lunchtime is soon over, so Tomoya formally introduces himself, and the girl tells him that her name is Furukawa Nagisa. Later that afternoon, Sunohara drags Tomoya to go see Tomoyo so that he can accuse her of staging the entire biker thing to make herself popular. Sunohara doesn’t think that a girl can beat a guy, and she decides to let him try to attack her. Right as Sunohara lunges at Tomoyo, Tomoya remembers that there was a rumor of an incredibly strong girl that fits her perfectly, but by the time he gets around to saying it, Sunohara is already on the floor thanks to one of her kicks.

After school, Tomoya heads upstairs and finds Nagisa standing outside the drama club door. After saying the word “hamburger” to herself, she opens the door, but she realizes something and doesn’t go in. Walking up to the room, Tomoya sees no one inside and everything packed away in boxes, so he pats Nagisa on the head. He had forgotten that the drama club ceased activities earlier this year, though he tells Nagisa that she can still restart those activities. When he offers to help, Nagisa asks him why he’s being so kind to her since they’ve just met, but Tomoya isn’t sure exactly why. The two then walk home together until they have to go their separate ways, and Nagisa invites him to come over sometime to her bakery home. Though he doesn’t go right away, Tomoya wanders around town for a while before deciding to head there after all. He initially finds no one inside, but Nagisa’s mother soon appears and introduces him to one of their new breads which has a piece of senbei inside. However, she is shocked when Tomoya calls it a failure, and she ends up running out crying.

Tomoya is then cornered by Nagisa’s father who has a baseball bat and thinks that Tomoya should have ate the bread without complaining. Her father eventually realizes that Tomoya is wearing the same uniform style as Nagisa, so he must be her friend. This leads to Tomoya getting invited for dinner, and Nagisa’s parents are thrilled to have him there. Her mother even goes as far as to suggest that he could be Nagisa’s boyfriend. Upon hearing Tomoya’s name, Nagisa’s father decides that it should be Daiuchuu Ginga instead, and her mother’s suggestion of Okazaki Tomoya Eternal isn’t much better. In any case, Tomoya has an eventful evening with them, and before he goes home, he tells Nagisa that he found it strange that there was a family out there that got along so well. Nagisa had thought that this was normal, but she hadn’t been aware of Tomoya’s own family conditions. Returning home, Tomoya finds his father passed out in the living room, but when he wakes him to get him to lie down properly, he quickly becomes disgusted at his father and runs out. Tomoya’s mother isn’t around because she died in a car accident when he was young, and as a result, his father had drowned in alcohol and gambling.

By the time Tomoya stops running, he finds himself back at the bakery, and he sees Nagisa across the street. To his surprise, she asks him if he wants to be taken to the place where the wishes of this town are granted.

Preview:

First things first, I’m not going to bother uploading the OP/ED since I already did so with the Invitation DVD. The broadcast version’s just in 4:3 and has credits. I will say though that I still love the ED and have been listening to it on and off all week long.

CLANNAD is finally here, and it met pretty much all my expectations. It all started with a beautiful opening scene transition from monochromatic to color, made even better because they used an instrumental version of the ending song (which I now know is actually from the original soundtrack). Tomoyo and Sunohara made the episode seem a lot faster paced than Kanon, and that’s not really a bad thing since it kept the episode interesting. The one thing that bothered me a little was that some of the scene transitions made the episode feel a bit choppy at spots. I wasn’t too fond of the Powerpoint-style slides transition, and the way a couple of the scenes visually jumped ahead while a conversation was still going on threw me off a little when I first watched it. That’s mostly a minor complaint though, and everything else looked great.

If I loved the opening scene for its technical value, I loved the scene with Nagisa’s parents for its depiction of a warm family and for all the laughs I got out of it. Daiuchuu Ginga and Okazaki Tomoya Eternal just cracked me up, and the former conjured fond memories of the recently-ended Gurren Lagann. Story-wise though, it’s clear that we’ve only scratched the surface. Patrik pointed out to me that Yajima Akiko voiced what sounded like young Tomoya in this scene, and the credits list her as playing the part of 「僕の声」 (Boku no Koe – My Voice). That gives at least a little perspective of what’s going on in that scene since we don’t have a shot equivalent to that of Yuuichi lying in bed after a dream as we did in Kanon.

This episode did a good job getting me excited about seeing the rest of the series, and it looks like from the preview that next week will introduce Nonaka Ai and Noto Mamiko‘s characters.

111 Comments

  1. uhh yet another romance anime without any point…I guess we will see something like “Clannad 2017 Remake” when 2017 comes >.>. It is really sad that 70% of new anime are romance comedies with lolis…(Romance is ok, but please, i beg you, get rid of lolis >.>)

    Eventhough it brings up an attention to itself, i won’t try to watch it…From screenshots it looks too fluffy >.>

    Unknown Voice
  2. @Unknown voice

    From your reply, it seems that you haven’t even given the series a chance. If you knew the back story, you wouldn’t be calling it a pointless romance. (Most of the main story revolves around family.)

    @Kaioshin

    I know how you hate Kyoani fanboys because they were stalk/flaming you and everything…but is it really necessary to be picking fights like this?

    Dmo
  3. @Unknown Voice: STFU and GTFO then. There are plenty of other new series that have started airing or will air soon; go watch something else instead of complaining. Fscking troll. Oh, and ‘>.>’.

    WeepingAngel
  4. //wow… this looks like the exact replica of Kanon… so sick of these generic character designs//

    How can one consider Clannad an ‘exact replica of Kanon’? It isn’t even snowing….

    //I know how you hate Kyoani fanboys because they were stalk/flaming you and everything…but is it really necessary to be picking fights like this?//

    Some folks just like to be attention whores unfortunately. Why else would anyone bait folks into hating them?

    mikemil828
  5. Awesome 1st episode.
    Every second oozes perfection, from the gripping suspense to the overbearing guilt, from the precise fanservice to the impeccably timed BGM. Clannad is the zenith in the evolving formula of generic moe shit, and has set a new standard which all subsequent shows will be compared to.

    kyoani waiwaidokidoki^^
  6. As excited as I am that this is airing, the decision to air it in 4:3 was such a bad one, in my opinion. Not gonna stop me from watching it, and hopefully someone will sub the widescreen ones when they air.

    Kyouji
  7. Yes another show waiting for so long, can’t wait to see Nagisa’s mother reation when Tomoya give comment about her bread(there’s rice cracker inside strange indeed). Damn 2 great show in 1 day what more could happen 😀

    setsuke
  8. Indeed, the focus for CLANNAD (as much as Sad Girls in Snow were for KANON) is family.

    I will be following this casually (in between Sketchbook and Shana), since I never played the game.

    Oh, and to those who don’t like anything that KyoAni makes, it’s simple: Don’t watch it. Picking fights is not cool, especially since some of us are not raving KyoAni fans but casual watchers.

    Myssa Rei
  9. //why do the main girl character(the one who has de most theme song time) by KEY always have short hair?come on you know it’s true. -death glare non believers-//

    It isn’t true, look at Misuzu (AIR), she has rather long hair.

    mikemil828
  10. The thing that puts me off about shows like these, they introduce a great cast of girls, but the actual love interest seems to have already been decided at the beginning. Of course, I know next to nothing about Clannad. I’m just tired of being teased with six great girls, who’re all prime girlfriend candidates, only to find that the guy has chosen choice number seven, who really isn’t that appealing. One thing that interests me though, is that the guy isn’t living on his own and his father seems to be a social failure. That’s the only thing that’s hooked me so far about this anime, because I’d like to see how such a family environment will effect the main char.

    Remy
  11. @Remy

    True. But this is anime so you cannot choose the scenario/girl that you like. Maybe the main character can choose all the girls, lol. That will end up in ‘Nice Boat’ scenario.

    AvexMode
  12. As TensaiOtaku tried to hook himself with Kotonoha and got his head severed, I am not able to find his post in one of the first batch of posts here in CLANNAD blog…

    CLANNAD is the new Kanon…

    moondoggiebuiscuit
  13. Hmmm… *clikity clakity type type* Wikipedia… Clannad… Characters… *scroll…+

    Misae… Huh… So, well-endowed blue-haired chick with mop in pics 5 and 6 is voiced by Satsuki Yukino…

    *scroll…* And the MILF about 3/4 way through is voiced by Kikuko Inoue…

    And I know I saw Mamiko Noto somewhere on the ANN page… *clikity clakity* Yep.

    Okay, I’m in. Someone hurry up and sub this…

    quigonkenny
  14. Someone please tell me, is this gonna be one of those sad animes again? Hearts broken, someone dies, bittersweet ending? Cuz the artwork certainly reminds me of some shows that I stopped watching in the past. And after watching the first ep, I LOVE it…the art, the cast,…etc etc.

    But still, nothing can compare to a show that’s too emotional with too much drama (for me, that is). Hence, wanna know if this show is for me, whether I should continue watching or not.

    Jayars
  15. Jayars : I’ve never played to Clannad, but I heard that is sadder than Air and Kanon.

    For me it means that I’m going to become depressive if I watch this anime. But of course, I will, because I LOVE KeyxKyoani animes *__*

    Nagisa’s parents remind me Yukito and Misuzu ~~

    Katua
  16. ya this is a good anime

    last time i got watch kanon i like that anime

    this one might be dont have super natural things but sure got good story line

    the ending song so cute haha but really can feel it is very gentle songs

    FlyAngel
  17. Are we sure MBS is going to be airing it in widescreen? I haven’t heard anything specifically that suggests that. MBS’s past record indicates that it’s open to both 16:9 (Shana II, DtB) and 4:3 (GEASS, Ayakashi Ayashi).

    Zara
  18. @PockyJin: Because she is NOT. The only thing I can tell you (if you haven’t played the game) is that she’s very important to the whole story. BTW, Tomoya is the guy with a blue hair.

    All I can say is, it’s about damn time!! I could hardly care if it’s in 4:3 – this is a must see. And although it does have some romance, that’s not the main theme of this anime. It’s about family. So I really have to suggest that you keep watching this. Trust me on this.

    solgae
  19. Incredible animation quality. Best so far for the new season that i’ve seen. Now for the stroy i can’t tell, but to put so many laughs, sad moments, and possible romance in just one episode is quite a feat in itself.

    Lets hope for the best (i want a happy ending!)

    Peysh
  20. @solgae =
    in terms of that particular train of logic.
    their usage is not commonplace, but neither is it unheard of for family to still use suffixes like -san, -kun, or -chan.
    its a little atypical, but is does happen without the relationship being something strained or distant.

    anonymous
  21. I’ve noticed Nagisa’s mom looks a lot like Kamio MIsuzu. And Nagisa is a very intersting character since she speaks unusual stuff like Misuzu. I can’t wait for the next episode!

    raimaru2880
  22. This anime is weak in all points.im not found of the shitty supernatural loly-dovey stories.what i hated the most while watching this anime was that every girls had the same fucking face even Nagisa mom, there is nothing special physically speaking that characterize one from other.there are a lot of bad points that i could back fire on the poorest animes that came out but i dont have the words to express them.the only thing to say is : NOT TO LOOSE UR TIME DL ANOTHER EPISODE!!!!

    Neos
  23. You know, I think Clannad is the only show I can recall in which I’m actually rooting for the “main girl”

    Quotes since I don’t know if she’s actually the main girl or not. I mean…Shuffle threw me for a loop, so I don’t know.

    When she says she needs to retake the class…Favorite part of the episode :3. Just sounds so cute.

    Kuya
  24. As expected from Key / Visual Arts, very good production. Seems fun but I hope that it won’t be so depressing as Kanon or Air.

    There is a big difference between Fujibayashi sisters, just like day and night and their voices are super cute. That makes Clannad even more interesting. I’ll be glued to this just like to Kanon and Air.

    As for the part when Tomoya is invited for dinner by Nagisa’s parents, when her mother suggested name ‘Okazaki Tomoya Eternal’ (etaanaru), what her father said afterwards? (etanoru)? for etanol/alcohol? This is the only part I’m confused about…

    fake
  25. Okay in all due seriousness, upon viewing this episode I’m given a been there done that sort of feeling. All these Kyoani/Key series despite their pretty visuals are really and truly starting to come down to the same thing, cute girls being cute, popular seiyuu voicing said cute girls, and slapstick one liner comedy, followed much later by forced and empty drama (generally because of a lack of established character depth in the players involved) to attempt to tug at the viewers emotions. Where’s the vision in all this. For a production by a studio that everybody thinks is so phenomenally perfect in every way, it just feels like more of the same Moe antics without much variation, that’s not to say it’s bad, just not outstanding. And knowing this particular series is ultimately just going to try and pull the usual Key doom and gloom stuff later on doesn’t really excite me. I guess you have to be a hardcore Kyoani/Key fan to really get into Clannad.

  26. I’ve downloaded the opening song and I’ve watched it again and again for about twenty times now. I really want to know where this story goes concidering what happens in the game. I just hope it doesn’t end up like school days. God please don’t.

    raimaru2880
  27. Hey, Kaioshin, its quite obvious you’re going to have a been-there-done-that kind of feeling, since Clannad is not only animated by the same company, but the original story is made by the same company as well!

    So if you don’t like it, why are you still watching it?!

    Pyro

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