CLANNAD / First Impressions

Summary:

Since Yukine didn’t get much sleep, she, Nagisa, and Tomoya look up a charm that suggests resting her head on someone’s lap. Yukine remembers that her brother had done this for her when she was young, and so Nagisa suggests using Tomoya instead. Yukine falls asleep as soon as she tries this, and although Nagisa is a bit envious, she recognizes how tired Yukine has been. When Yukine wakes up a little later, a battered Sudou shows up and brings news of how the rival group has mistaken Sunohara for her brother. In talking with Tomoyo about it, Tomoyo reveals that there used to be rumor that Kazuto was the one who could face her. Tomoyo also warns that there have been a lot of fights recently and that the police will get involved sooner or later, so she advises stopping this foolish fighting or else risk mutual destruction. Yukine’s brother’s group, however, wants to keep fighting, so Tomoya and Nagisa ask Yukine about when Kazuto will be discharged from the hospital so that he can settle things down. Instead of answering, Yukine tries to go alone to negotiate with the rival group. Tomoya chases after her and questions if her brother knows about what’s going on and could talk with the others over the phone. Yukine’s silence on the matter is revealing to him, and so he accompanies her to see the rival group.

Everyone in the rival group is unwilling to hear Yukine out except for their leader Sasaki. Since he can’t let things be settled like this, he proposes a one-on-one fight between the two group leaders. Yukine has no choice but to agree to this, though since Kazuto isn’t around, their group has to use a substitute. They settle on Sunohara after hearing about how he was bragging about beating up four guys at once. When the time for the fight comes, things take a turn for the worst after Nagisa feeds everyone in the group – including Sunohara – some of her mother’s bread combined with some special jam. It knocks them all out, so when Sasaki arrives to fight, the only one left to face him is Tomoya. Tomoya is at first barely able to lay a hand on Sasaki and starts getting pummeled, but he endurres, and the fight drags on until after the sun sets. Right around the time that both of them collapse from exhaustion, the knocked-out guys start to wake back up, and they rush to Tomoya’s aid. This causes the opposing side to come rushing out too, and the only thing that prevents an all-out battle is the sudden appearance of Miyazawa Kazuto. Knowing what has to be done, Sasaki and Kazuto race towards each other, but right as Sasaki punches Kazuto, he realizes that Kazuto is actually just Yukine in disguise.

Insisting that she’s Kazuto, Yukine tries to fight Sasaki, but he easily restrains her. Yuu then reveals that Yukine had earlier left the scene to go get her older brother, however Sudou already knows that there was no way that could happen. When Sasaki questions why Yukine would do this, Tomoya yells at him about how she pretended to be her brother because that was the only way to end the fighting. In tears, Yukine questions why they have to fight and pleads with everyone to put an end to it, saying that her brother would want this too. In the aftermath, everyone goes with Yukine to visit the Miyazawa family grave, and while there, she admits that she had been afraid of her brother and her brother’s friends for a long time. However, when she saw them crying at her brother’s funeral, she had wondered why she hadn’t tried to understand her brother’s way of life more. Because of this, she found the courage to get closer to her brother’s friends and get to know them, and being with them made her feel like she was laughing with her brother. Kazuto had wanted an end to the conflict, but Yukine and the others were afraid that news of his death would prompt Sasaki’s group to attack, so they kept it a secret. Yukine had just wanted to realize her brother’s dream of getting rid of conflict in their city, and after seeing everyone praying together in front of the grave, she’s sure that her brother would be happy.

At this moment, Tomoya notices a light floating in the sky, and he’s almost able to reach out and touch it. Later, after Yukine thanks him, Sunohara, and Nagisa for everything, she explains their city’s legend: when a good thing happens or there exists a moment of happiness, an orb of light appears. These lights are seen as symbols of happiness, and if obtained, a wish can be granted. This last part causes Nagisa to make the connection to what happened with Misae. Yukine then reveals that less people have been able to see this recently, and she suggests that Tomoya might be special because he was able to see one. Still, she feels that Tomoya is still himself and her friend, and she considers herself a truly fortunate person because she’s supported by so many people.

Preview

Well, this was a nice conclusion with some very funny moments (Sanae’s bread + Akiko’s jam = a hilariously deadly combo), but the story never really drew me in, so I ended up feeling that Yukine’s story was overall pretty mediocre. Her brother being dead was an interesting revelation, but not terribly surprising, and I found her desire to prevent fighting kind of stale. The logic behind keeping her brother’s death a secret didn’t really make sense to me either. Surely she could have used that in some way to convince the other side that there was no point in fighting anymore. At least the fight between Tomoya and Sasaki was pretty well done, even if it did culminate in an amusing DBZ sort of way with that giant explosion of water. I didn’t expect to see that kind of fight scene in this kind of show.

Arguably the most important thing I got out of this episode was that the light orbs are symbols of happiness and can grant wishes. That appears to tie together what Tomoya saw this episode with the light from Misae’s arc and the lights in the title screen of each episode and maybe even the lights mentioned in the illusionary world parts. The ones in the title screen have been increasing with every arc, and I assume they’ll probably come into play again. For the time being though, it looks like they might be continuing with the main story sooner than I thought since the focus next week is going back to what Tomoya plans to do with his life after high school.

55 Comments

  2. …I honestly wish they stop raping all the other routes of Clannad. Yukine’s in game storyline, though obviously not as well thought out as Nagi’s (then again, other than Fuko’s, whose is?), was one of my favorites. I also thought that they were a much better match for each other than a majority of the other girls (Tomoyo and Ryou beating her out).

    Remy
    Reply

  7. “Arguably the most important thing I got out of this was the light orbs being symbols of happiness and how they can grant wishes. That appears to tie together what Tomoya saw this episode with the light from Misae’s arc and the lights in the title screen of each episode and maybe even the lights mentioned in the illusionary world parts.”

    Show Spoiler ▼

    Btw. I like the new opening but I kind of miss the Dango Daikazoku Ending. ;O;

    Nightseer
    Reply

  10. From what I can conclude watching the first season and now After Story, they are trying to sort of play the game for us. I noticed in various arcs from the first season, there were floating orbs whenever an arc ends (see Fuuko’s arc and Kotomi’s). Now based on what the people who played the game, they’re an important piece into unlocking Nagisa’s good ending. I guess the question is, will Kyo Ani complete all the paths and get all the orbs to get the good ending or will they make it fall short and show us something we’ve seen from past Key Animations?

    zeromax
    Reply

  14. Tomoyo can’t really “fight”, she’s comic relief. Her so called “fighting” is unrealistic and is there to make a few laughs. 1000 kicks in 2 seconds? LOL, this isn’t One Piece or some other shounen fighting series where the characters have special attacks. This is why you’ve never seen her in a serious fight cause she doesn’t. That one time she was going to fight, Tomoya had to step in for her because he knew she was all talk and couldn’t fight for shit.

    If Sunohara really wanted to, he would rape her in a fight.

    Tomoya and Sunohara are the only ones that can really fight. They’re realistic.

    Anonymous
    Reply

  18. this is not right! why should there be violence in this anime? it is not entertaining watching the main character getting owned…. overall, this episode was painful to watch

    Clannad= Harem,Slice of Life,Romance

    XIX
    Reply

  19. Even though these arcs don’t really show Nagisa and Tomoya’s relationship too much as what we would expect in the second season, this arc at least shows Nagisa being jealous lol, which is quite a first. Like last episode, when Nagisa saw those girls in the gang all over Tomoya, and now Yukine sleeping on his lap. I actually want to see Nagisa in another light besides being the timid and coy, lol imagine if Kyou and Nagisa’s personalities switched! Should be quite hilarious seeing Kyou all timid and coy, and Nagisa acting tsundere.

    Shiki
    Reply

  23. k, for those who have played the game, doesn’t the title of the coming episode seem to point to the kappei/ryou arc? im merely referring to the name of the episode, seeing as how kappei’s initial “home turf” was on that hill in the game.

    saxdemigod
    Reply

  28. Kaisos: Easy there, we all know that, especially in a show like this one, there will always be die-hards who will never accept the OTP. 🙂

    And, Ryou/Kyou/Kappei next? Kind of unexpected. Will they tie this in with Nagisa’s sickness, I wonder?

    Myssa Rei
    Reply

  29. These Arcs are extremly important in the story line and it’s impossible to get the after story (The true ending of the game only unlocked by 100% completion of the routes)without them since Tomaya would not have any light orbs (needed in order for us viewers to not be really sad). Think of the arcs as the individual ingredients needed to make the After Story, you could skimp on some of them but in doing so your end result will be dissapointing (in after story’s case incredibly tragic and depressing…) so just watch the arcs I’m sure you’ll come to understand there importance eventually.

    Shadow_Strider
    Reply

  30. Actually, to tell the story, they really don’t have to do these minor arcs at all.

    I, for one, am frankly sick of them and want to get back to Nagisa and the real After Story.

    @Myssa: Yes, I know. Also, does the preview actually hint at a Kappei arc? The episode summary I read a while back seemed to be pointing at the beginning of the true AS…

    Kaisos
    Reply

  32. I found this episode just fine. I loved the grave scene. Even though the fight is eye catching, I don’t think that’s the main focus here. It’s how they would reconcile.

    @XIX

    Well when gang members are included what else could happen? 😛

    real13
    Reply

  34. I was pleasantly surprised at the fight scene was surprisingly well-done considering this is an Key game adaptation. Still, Yukine coming out and the grave scene were the actual climaxes, and well-done. Nagisa’s moe faces of concern for Okazaki were nice tho 😉

    Very nice ep.

    Quen
    Reply

  35. Next episode would probably the real start of the After Story, with all these talk about Tomoya’s plan after graduation. Only Tomoyo and Nagisa’s route emphasized it so … its probably it. The preview didnt feel Kappe’s route to me.

    Zero chance for Kyou route lol.

    blank space
    Reply

  37. I could be wrong, but it looks as though they are finally moving onto the nagisa day after section.

    By the way, the easter egg about akikos jam being mixed with sanaes bread= epic freaking win.
    I seriously did not see this little bit coming.

    By the way, I couldn’t help but to laugh guiltily at nagisas expression during tomoyas fight. the night expression reminded me too much of her facepalming at his actions.

    Dan
    Reply

  38. i actually found this episode one of the best ones but eh everyone has their own opinion, Nagisa is a pretty irritating main character since they really arent focusing on her character development yet, but this is a 2 season anime so its not like they wont have enough time to develop her.

    Precise Moment
    Reply

  40. >> saigatron
    Excepting of course, the ultimatly exaggerated water explosion due to the punch (go out and punch water does it splash THAT much? for fun exemplification, find something 150 pounds then punch it into the water)
    From the looks of things, they will tie nagisa and keippeis story together, doing a brief intro and lead up then finish it off later in the series (keippeis route takes place shortly at first then a scene years down the road)

    And…yeah… I foresee them doing the ushio route then going back for the nagisa part. It would make the most sense, and it is more workable that way you get the full effect of nagisas true end.

    I for one cried at the end of ushios route…
    Guilty admission… I’ve only cried once before due to a game or anime and that was kana imouto when I got the intellectual end.

    Dan
    Reply

  42. The hyper rainbow bread and jam combo had me laughing for so long and distracted that I couldn’t concentrate on the story 8D~

    It was okay, but I liked how you could see Yukine slowly deteriorating as the episode continued. Like, in the beginning of the arc you wouldn’t know how she really was. Then in the beginning of the episode you could see that happy mask slowly breaking away. She does make a cool lookin guy (from afar, with bandages over her head and in the shadows).

    Charlo
    Reply

  43. Whoa intense XD. KyoAni replaced the feel-good romance and cozey feelings of the original Yukine route with a kick-ass gang fight, I guess it wasn’t bad. But putting Akiko’s jam in there… holyshit that was just LOL. I never thought they’d really make a refrence to that, what a scary combo! However, it was a bit wierd for that to lead to the serious fight with Tomoya x.x; Well the fight sence was awesome enough to make up for it. I think it was really well animated and done pretty realisticaly (Aside for the WATER EXPLOD-O). They took into account the diffrence in skill and used fairly real fighting moves. It wasn’t 100% accurate but a hell of a lot better then most shonen shows. Heh, but if Tomoyo fought for one side, the other side would be utterly PWNED. I think in one of the offical light novels related to Clannad Tomoyo mentioned a time in the past where she beat up an whole gang, and it was implied that Kazuto was the gang leader. (She didn’t fight Kazuto though)
    Another thing I noticed was Tomoya’s ownage 1337 END stat XD. That might have been a refrence to the Tomoyo After scene where Tomoya gets beat up by a powerful gangster but he keeps on going and going and going.
    Overall it was a good episode. They fit in the explination and brought a good closure to Kazuto’s death and Miyazawa’s feelings.
    For the next preview, it looks like it’s stttaaaarrrtinngg! Sorry to burst the bubbles of those Kyou fanbois but the preview seems to indicate that they are wrapping up the end of Nagisa’s route and going to start AS for real. From the looks of it they’ll probably skip Kyou’s school life route (And good thing imo since I thought it sucked). I’m still hopeing they fit in Kappei somewhere but there has been to refrence to him at all so the chances don’t seem too good. Well I can’t wait for AS to really get going. Nagisa ftw!

    FlameStrike
    Reply

  45. Tomoya can sure take a beating. I just wished he did a little more damage to the other guy. But then again, Tomoya’s never been in a lot of fights so he may not have that fighting experience the other guy has.

    Andy
    Reply

  46. I usually read Japanese anime blogs because they are actually better written and with more insights since they know more too. They see a lot of smaller stuff that English viewers (including me) often miss and many of them have played the game too which is an extra bonus.

    But I’ll post for this one, because it sort of seems some people needs reminding. Starting from Kanon, Key has focused less and less on Romance and more and more on Family, reaching its peak at CLANNAD before changing themes. The game has time and again gave out one message: “Everyone in this town is one big family.” The anime, especially After Story, gives even more emphasis on this. So of course if people are watching for Romance they will be disappointed. But if you view this arc through the eyes of Yukine (which Kyoani did a good job of doing, at least a lot of Jap viewers picked it up) the two gangs in the town are her family. As such she is trying everything she can to get them to stop fighting, going as far as to get involved in a fight that she has no way of winning. Though Kyoani modified Yukine’s story to make it stronger (though the Key staff said themselves they did not get to write as much for Yukine as they’d liked), still compared to this, Kyou/Tomoyo/Misae arch has nearly nothing in terms of family. So yes of course if you’re watching for Romance this arc isn’t all that good. If you can’t pick up on Kyoani’s and Key’s message then this arc is “what?”. So I’m asking you to watch it closer and “put your heart into it.”

    One last thing is of course Tomoyo can fight. Kyoani said themselves she’s on-par with Yukine’s brother. Anyone that has read the game version or Tomoyo After will know she will kick anyone’s ass (though slightly more humanly in Tomoyo After, as she did get hurt).

    Speaking of Tomoyo After, anyone who read it would also see that Kyoani stole a bit of its story to put into Yukine arc.

    Parallel Pain
    Reply

  47. Wouldn’t it be that Kazuto is on par with Tomoyo? XD in the game there was a funny scene where all the delinquints in Yukine’s room trembled in fear when Tomoyo came in. Although she only came because Sunohara tricked her and tried to use her again. Ugh he can be a real bastard at times, he tried the same thing in Tomoyo’s route by brining her into a bad area.

    Well I’m not sure that many people are watching it for romance. But there is going to be some solid romance in Nagisa’s arc and AS. Still, family will remain the strong theme of Clannad.

    FlameStrike
    Reply

  49. >>”Starting from Kanon, Key has focused less and less on Romance and more and more on Family”

    They should have done a several episode arc/ending on Yuuichi/Nayuki, ’cause then you’d have both ^_^

    Onii-chan
    Reply

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