CLANNAD / First Impressions

Summary:

After Tomoya finds out from Nagisa that the student council is forbidding her from recruiting using posters because the drama club has technically suspended its activities, he urges her not to give up since there has to be another way. Sunohara sees the two of them together, and he starts thinking that Tomoya got involved with the drama club because he’s going out with Nagisa. Tomoya, however, tells Sunohara that the reason is because Nagisa’s mother makes great bread at their bakery, and becoming friends with Nagisa means that he can eat all he wants of that bread. Sunohara’s main focus remains on Tomoyo though, and the following day he tries to trick her into admitting that her breasts are removable, but this invariably leads to him getting beat up again. Afterwards, he and Tomoya are walking through the halls when they encounter Fuuko who calls Tomoya a strange person. She actually finds Sunohara strange too, but that’s mainly because his hair is unnaturally colored whereas she thinks Tomoya’s existence itself is strange.

The reason Fuuko wants to talk to Tomoya is because her sister is getting married soon to Yuusuke, and she wants Tomoya to go celebrate this at the marriage ceremony in exchange for the star-shaped present she gave him. It seems that her sister was an art teacher at the school until three years ago, and Fuuko has been giving out these presents so that everyone can celebrate her sister’s wedding. After hearing this, Tomoya points out that none of the current students would be acquainted with her sister if she worked here three years ago, and no one would go to a stranger’s wedding. Fuuko nevertheless remains resolute in her goal of getting everyone to celebrate the wedding. Later that day, Sunohara takes Tomoya with him to confront Tomoyo again, and though he manages – after she feels bad for reflexively kicking him – to momentarily catch her off guard by leading her into the men’s bathroom, she promptly responds with another kick that sends him flying out the window. When Tomoya informs her that Sunohara wanted to confirm if she was a girl because he thinks she might be a guy based on her strength, Tomoyo is actually a bit shocked. She had thought that she was able to behave like a normal girl at this school and admits that she is trying to change herself.

At lunchtime, Tomoya is discussing with Nagisa about how to recruit people when Sunohara comes into the room after having overheard their conversation. Sunohara’s first suggestion is to beat up the student council president behind the school since it’s the student council that’s getting in the way, but Nagisa rejects turning to violence. He then proposes that they discuss this with someone else, and the three go to see Ryou who would know about the school regulations since she’s their class representative. Ryou is with her sister though, and to separate them, Tomoya has Sunohara pretend that there’s someone who wants to confess to Ryou. Unfortunately, when they do manage to get just Ryou, she thinks that it’s Nagisa who wants to confess, and so she misconstrues everything Nagisa ends up saying. It all gets cleared up once Nagisa actually asks Ryou to help her establish the drama club, though Kyou – who was eavesdropping – nearly strangles Tomoya and Sunohara for making fun of her sister. Kyou then suggests that Nagisa become friends with her and her sister instead of the guys, but Nagisa doesn’t want to leave them behind since they’ve been helping her up until now.

As for the school regulations, Ryou explains that a club that has suspended activities first needs at least three members and a staff adviser. Kyou thinks that there are enough people if they include Tomoya and Sunohara with Nagisa, but both guys reject the idea. The next day has Sunohara going after Tomoyo again, this time with Tomoya supposedly helping him talk with her, but Tomoya just has Sunohara do some embarrassing things, and Sunohara ends up trying to attack Tomoya anyway. After Tomoyo beats Sunohara up yet again (with Tomoya helping her combo), Tomoya asks if she’s interested in joining the drama club. She tells him that she is, but she doesn’t have time for a club because of the upcoming student council president elections. Tomoya then goes to the library to try to talk to Kotomi about joining the club. She only notices him after he calls her Kotomi-chan, and she doesn’t express a specific interest in theater, so Tomoya leaves her to let her think about it. Nagisa hasn’t had much luck either, and the only other person Tomoya can think of to ask is Fuuko.

However, when they go see her, Fuuko tells them that she’s too busy because she’s working on her star-shaped presents all day long. The strange thing is that Fuuko claims to be at school all day and never goes home, though she isn’t sure why she’s always there. She only remembers that she almost got hit by a car on the way home from the school’s opening ceremony, and she then found herself at school. When Nagisa learns that Fuuko’s family name is Ibuki, she realizes that Fuuko is the younger sister of the art teacher who was around when Nagisa was in her first year. However, Nagisa privately tells Tomoya that she heard that the art teacher’s younger sister was in a traffic accident and has been hospitalized for a long time. Fuuko’s sister had come to Nagisa’s family bakery after visiting the hospital yesterday, and all this reminds Nagisa of the rumor of the ghost of the girl who got into a traffic accident.

Preview:

There was again a lot of humor this week – like Tomoya helping Tomoyo combo or the rooftop confession scene between Ryou and Nagisa – but by the end of the episode, I got the feeling that the show was finally starting to focus the story a little more. Part of it might be that Fuuko’s story is the first one other than Nagisa’s that we’ve delved deeper into, and part of it might be that the mention of Yuusuke being Fuuko’s sister’s fiancé ties his appearance last episode into this story. There was also a lack of a scene from the other world, which has in the past has always left me a little confused. Anyway, Fuuko’s background reminds me a bit of Ayu’s from Kanon, but the fact that Nagisa knows and mentions the accident and hospital stuff so quickly makes me think that there’s a lot more to it than that. If she really is a ghost though, then I guess her unfinished business is getting everyone to celebrate her sister’s marriage, though that by itself lacks an emotional oomph, so I’m expecting something more.

65 Comments

  18. Not a bad episode, but I do wonder if KyoAni has really figured out what to do with Sunohara other than comic relief? Given his role in a couple of tracks in the game, I kind of hoped they would do more with him than what they’ve done the last couple of episodes…

    NaweG
    Reply

  20. @Mikemil828: Sure, around the same time that the pointless complaining over Gundam 00 eases up, which is probably around….never.

    My point is every studio is going to have it’s critics and they’ll have a right to speak their mind. Now if you want to know something I thought was a little clever (not ZOMG 10/10! Clever, not even extra props clever, but interesting to note clever), if you look at the 14th picture, it’s the little mock fight engine you see from Little Busters! another game by Key. Neat little bit of fanservice for Key fans.

    I’m sure somebodies going to cream their pants and call it the most clever thing that has ever happened now though. You know, the usual overboard, overkill praise stuff that happens everytime Kyoani happens to do something mildy interesting.

    Kaioshin Sama
    Reply

  24. //Sure, around the same time that the pointless complaining over Gundam 00 eases up, which is probably around….never.//

    So you are upset that some people don’t like Gundam 00 and instead of refuting their complaints, you are taking it out on the people who happen to like Clannad, well that explains a lot.

    //My point is every studio is going to have it’s critics and they’ll have a right to speak their mind.//

    There is a difference between being a critic and what you are doing. A critic goes into a show with a relatively neutral viewpoint and uses what he see to determine whether he likes it or not, you on the other hand go into the show with a negative viewpoint, and use what you see to prop up your viewpoint.

    mikemil828
    Reply

  25. Hehe, always amusing to see people who allegedly hate the show continue to watch it up to the 4th episode and probably beyond 😛

    We welcome the negative comments – we know you will continue to watch the show anyway. Enjoy!

    – T

    Tolitz
    Reply

  26. //@ Tolitz Exactly. You may noy like the show as much as other shows, but a series of considerable quality is still a show you’d watch eventually. Also, if you like Kyoani, then you’d follow this regardless because you think they are GOD.

    Also, the chicks in this one a pretty cute, not to mention the hodgepodge of events = Air/Kanon + LuckyStar…

    Shut up ~Desu.
    Reply

  33. Suhohara might become the strongest one in the other hand. I mean, he is still alive even after all the injuries he had. Pretty much the status should look like this.

    HP: 0001

    banzemanga
    Reply

  37. Although it was already confirmed last week, I’m still glad to see that Nagisa is definitely interacting with Tomoya’s classmates. I was afraid that she might be a figment of Tomoya’s imagination or a ghost that only Tomoya could see after the ghost rumor since she always seem to be alone and she never talks with anyone but Tomoya.

    Fat Cat Lim
    Reply

  38. @kiryuu: Look at where she’s going. Look at where he’s going. Put two and two together. (The little sign should be a clue.)

    @Fat Cat Lim: I still doubt that they would have inserted the ghost rumors if they weren’t going to be “used” eventually…

    cbhl
    Reply

  40. @Rembr
    We like being spoiled. Besides, they are more like the appetizer before the main course. Leave you wanting more XD.

    I’m still having a hard time figuring out how they’re going to jam every route into 24 eps and make everything work out.

    somethingleft
    Reply

  42. @ Kaioshin Sama: You’re right. People aren’t watching the show with a neutral point of view like it’s some kind of lab experiment; people are watching this show with the intent of enjoying it. Anime isn’t some chore or assignment for me; I do it because I expect to be entertained by it, and I choose to watch what I believe will most entertain me. Why else would I be watching anime?

    Mirrinus
    Reply

  46. @neans: I started the game a few monthes ago but stopped when I heard the anime was going to be aired soon. I played Kanon before watching the anime and I found it somewhat spoiled the experience for me. This time around I’m waiting until after the anime finishes before finishing the game.

    DG04
    Reply

  47. @dg04: is there an English version of the game? And reading the wiki of the game, there sure are a lot of different ways they could do the anime, although I found the Nagisa story arc quite sad.

    neans
    Reply

  49. @Mirrinus: Okay, but for me it is like a study on top of enjoying it. Call it a character flaw if you will, but I like to sort of disassemble and isolate every facet of something until I understand it completely from the top-down inside and out. It’s a thirst for knowledge. My mother says I analyze everything to death and it drives her up the while, I’m sure it drives others up the wall, but it’s something I can just quash all of a sudden. More often then not, at the end of the day I tend to adopt a critical perspective of a number of things after a certain period time. Clannad as it turns out is one of them. As to why I continue to watch….more knowledge.

    Kaioshin Sama
    Reply

  51. Gaining knowledge from an anime? Wow, that seems completely foreign to me, I mean, how in the heck does anime give you knowledge? Especially shows like this that are mostly based on romance stuff, so how the heck does that work out?

    Can’t wait to see the raws later on, it should be pretty kickass. But I gotta say, this is the very first ep of Clannad that has me interested, contrary to Kimikiss that has me hooked since the very first ep. But yeah, I’m still way more interested in Kimikiss than Clannad, unless of course they pull a fast one on us and just animate Tomoyo’s arc, then that’ll be the perfect win, but somehow, I highly doubt that will happen.

    takumi2k4
    Reply

  52. If you watch anime for the “knowledge”, then ur definitely watching the wrong medium, bub … That’s like me watching paint dry so I can grasp the subtle intricacies of chemical interaction with nature.

    Yes, it is a character flaw… you watch ur anime too seriously, so you can NEVER gain enjoyment from anything, guaranteed, coz everything is flawed and never perfect – unless you’re BS’ing us and passing prejudice against KyoAni off as being obsessive compulsive 😛

    In any case, watch National Geographic for the knowledge. Watch anime for the recreation. You’re supposed to laugh when it’s funny to you, not dissect the elements of humour as it applies to this show. Then again, what you do in your free time is up to you, just spare us the /emo and the QQ about the show 🙂

    Enjoy!

    Tolitz
    Reply

  54. kotomine’s so cute moving herself in her kneeling position XD.

    I also prefer they way KyoAni is structuring the arcs here compared to Kanon. Even when the primary focus is on one of the girl’s, the others still get screen time.

    and @neans
    there’s currently a group who has been translating the game to an english version, and so far they’ve completed 74% last month.

    kaisis
    Reply

  56. “Although it was already confirmed last week, I’m still glad to see that Nagisa is definitely interacting with Tomoya’s classmates. I was afraid that she might be a figment of Tomoya’s imagination or a ghost that only Tomoya could see after the ghost rumor since she always seem to be alone and she never talks with anyone but Tomoya.”

    Wrong character, I’ll leave it at that.

    That Guy
    Reply

  58. the combo kick things has got to go. That whole part is just so overdone by now. I don’t mind any of the characters, but they keep repeating the same thing over and over again. It was still a pretty good episode though.

    ann
    Reply

  61. Okay this is not a spoilage… Clannad has some sort of plot of course the hints where given at minimal pace every episode it is like Higurashi’s never ending 1983 whenever anyone that shouldn’t be dead, dies combined with Zero No Tsukaima or Kiba’s move to another world theme.

    arigatou
    Reply

  64. … I don’t know what to say to Wizards comment since I like the show. Maybe it’s because I checked up the Clannad Wiki and end up liking it. I love the humour in this show, Tomoya has got to be the most mishivious main charcter I’ve seen.

    This is probably one of the first anime where I laugh out loud to the humour and jokes done by the main character. Number one joker award of the year for me goes to Tomoya!

    Sora no Kaze
    Reply

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