Summary:

One rainy day, Ryou confesses her feelings to Tomoya, and even he’s initially hesitant, he ultimately decides to try going out with her. This makes Ryou really happy, and so the two start dating. Sometime later, Tomoya runs into a despondent Kyou, and she eventually brings up the topic of if he’s kissed her sister yet. Of course he hasn’t, and so Kyou proposes practicing together. The two come within inches of doing so, but at the last moment, Kyou pulls back and pretends that she wasn’t serious. Unfortunately, the two were seen together, and rumors start spreading around school. Tomoya has to explain to Sunohara that he’s actually going out with Ryou, but in the middle of their conversation, Kyou shows up and drags Sunohara off. Tomoya inadvertently follows them and sees Kyou trying to kiss Sunohara, but Sunohara pushes her away because he knows that Tomoya is the one she really likes. Kyou starts to try to deny it, but Tomoya then makes his presence known. Afterward, Sunohara tells Tomoya that Kyou was trying to go out with him so that she could get rid of the rumor.

When Tomoya gets to talk with Kyou again, she pretends that she just wanted a boyfriend after seeing him and Ryou together. She tells him to think about only her sister, and Tomoya continues to go out with Ryou, but his mind is elsewhere despite Ryou’s best efforts. On his way home from the date, Tomoya gets caught in the rain and runs into Botan. The boar leads him to Kyou who’s just standing there getting soaked, but she doesn’t want Tomoya approaching her. Refusing to leave her alone like she wants, Tomoya grabs her and holds her in his arms, causing her to say that she doesn’t want him being so kind to her because then she’ll misunderstand. Kyou goes on to admit that she was scared of being rejected by him because then they might not be friends anymore, and if they had actually dated, then Ryou would have been sad. Tomoya starts to say something, but she cuts him off, asserts that she’s not Ryou, and finally bids him farewell. Unsure of what to do, Tomoya goes to Sunohara who points out that whatever he does now will hurt one of the girls, and the more he puts it off, the deeper the wound.

Based on this advice, Tomoya meets with Ryou, and she seems to know what he wants to say. Ryou admits that she knew who her sister liked and that she didn’t want to lose to her, and she talks about how she had surprised Kyou by saying that she wanted to get along better with Tomoya. Kyou had of course offered to help her, and although Ryou felt bad about not playing fair, it was overridden by her desire to be with Tomoya. In desperation now, Ryou offers to be a substitute for Kyou by becoming more assertive and by letting her hair grow long, but Tomoya doesn’t want that. Before he can say anything else though, Ryou kisses him and then runs out of the room. This leaves Tomoya frustrated, and Ryou doesn’t come to school the next day. That afternoon, however, she shows up again, and Tomoya finally gets the chance to break up with her. He tells her that he had a lot of fun in their time together, but he confesses that it’s actually her older sister that he likes. To Tomoya’s surprise, the girl in front of him is none other than Kyou with short hair, not Ryou. Kyou had been urged here by her sister, and she finally confesses that she likes Tomoya.

In the aftermath, Tomoya tries to go apologize to Ryou, but she doesn’t want to hear it. She wants to keep their time together as a cherished memory, both good and bad, and life goes on for her. As summer approaches, Kyou and Tomoya start going out, and when Kyou isn’t feeling confident about their relationship, she kisses him and reaffirms that she likes him.

Wow, that’s the most angst and emotion I’ve seen in an episode of anything since…well, at least the end of AFTER STORY. I’ve been wishing for a long, long time to see Kyou and Ryou’s story animated – basically ever since they skipped over it in the original series – and while this didn’t quite stir any emotions in me, it was still incredibly entertaining to watch. Certain things were predictable (Kyou’s practice-kissing scene made me laugh) but others (like short-haired Kyou) were less so, and it altogether made for a nice emotional roller coaster ride with characters I wanted to see more of. I would say that it’s even better than the Tomoyo episode from last year’s final CLANNAD DVD. Speaking of which, I’m sort of amazed they managed to fit everything into one episode, but I still wish that they had been able to stretch this out over two or three of them. That could have made it really good.

I also have to say that watching this episode really gets me nostalgic for CLANNAD and the type of storytelling and characters that it had. It makes me wish that Kyoto Animation would hurry up and announce another adaptation of a Key title like Tomoyo After or Little Busters or something.

116 Comments

  1. Suhweet; and now I’m fully satisfied. Having the Tomoyo and Kyou endings animated has been a great treat. Always felt a bit bad for Ryou, but I prefer Kyou anyways, and Ryou takes too long to get her thoughts across… >_> Little Busters! would be a welcome change. Rinnn.

    Meer
  2. Glad to see the most shafted girl of CLANNAD finally get some due. Can’t feel bad for Ryou though, she’s pretty much the bad guy here.

    But man, you just know its one heck of a angst-fest when effing of all people Sunohara gets to be the voice of reason.

    fragbet
  3. After Haruhi 2nd is done, the fall season should be starting. Perfect time to animate the last Key in Autumn. It’ll probably never happen though :<
    Hoping for Little Busters…

    Stormflux
  4. I watched it last night RAW but couldn’t understand the story without the subs. It still was very enjoyable though. At first sight I thought Kyou with short hair was Ryou but when I saw the color of her eyes I knew she cut her hair which shocked me. I loved Kyou with long hair! Hopefully she’ll grow it out again but this short hair look isn’t so bad at all. I kind of like it.

    Awesome episode. Definitely better than the Tomoyo episode since we have the Fujibayashi sisters both in it.

    Horus
  5. The only thing I regret about Clannad is that Tomoya kissed Tomoyo and Kyou in the OVAs but never kissed Nagisa.
    I’m sorry but I’m a TomoyaxNagisa fan all the way~

    Hitomi
  6. That’s a lot of almost-smooching – considering that we never saw Tomoya and Nagisa kiss even once.

    And, geez, Sunohara should have just gone for it. It’s the only chance he’ll ever get in this show.

    Story
  7. Kyou-chan kawaii~~, Ryou-chan mo kawaii~~ <3

    But… WHERE’S KAPPEI!?

    And I agree with what many here observed, there’s so much kissing in this episode, yet they’ve never shown Tomoya and Nagisa (the Chosen One) kissing even once.

    It seems Kyo-Ani just isn’t good at doing kisses, even the kisses in this episode were from a far angle and hardly close up.

    Sunohara is surprisingly mature for this chapter. He speaks for a lot of us when commenting on Tomoya, or for any other bishoujo series protagonist for that matter: You sure have really luxurious problems! xD (Also LOL at his option of choosing both twins)

    The Clannad story has always been intended to be Tomoya x Nagisa, yet Kyou’s perceived “shafting aside” has got many of her shippers up in arms, and generated a lot of unwanted Nagisa hate throughout discussion of the main series. Hopefully, this episode will lay those ghosts to rest once and for all.

    Kinny Riddle
  8. Umineko no Naku Koro ni IS OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Umineko no Naku Koro ni IS OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Umineko no Naku Koro ni IS OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Umineko no Naku Koro ni IS OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    NINJA
  9. tbh i dont understand why he atleast didnt try having them both at the same time, since they all seemed to get along, not like there is some rule that you can only be with one person at a time, its something u have to discus with your partner, but meh i guues im thinking to far 😉

    Zomg
  10. ya, tomoyo and kyou’s arcs are awesome, but i wish they could forget about the moe factor and make a kappei arc. There’s no romance (kappei’s a guy), but it was probably my favorite arc in the whole game, besides the ushio vacation arc. I cried a little in kappei’s arc.

    takeshi
  11. OH MAN! i forgot, but they could TOTALLY have kappei’s arc as a continuation of this arc! i mean, it would totally resolve some things too (Ryou is kappei’s love interest). They should totally make that the ova to the tomoyo after series that kyoani is secretly making!

    takeshi
  12. @Georg, yes I got the same vibe of Sekai from Kyou

    @Zomg, you want to make this Clannad School Days?

    @nightmare, haha this is considering me watching After Story…. was such a disappointment after I saw the movie

    I wish they make Kotomi OVA

    Palvati
  13. Kyou with short hair is dead to me :<

    I’ll have to pretty much agree with a lot of people on this OVA though. Cramming Kyou’s route in a single 22 minute OVA doesn’t really do the route justice. It just feels way too rushed.

    MooMooCow
  14. @ masamune111
    Kyou ended up trying to be like Ryou in loving the same person; but unlike Ryou, who’s going to grow her hair long(she did talk about it at least), Kyou just cut hers w/o warning…
    (opinions to my theory?)

    info600
  15. This OVA So Good I Cried I Thought Clannad ENDED. I Feel Sorry For Ryou But happy for the other twin but the hair cut doesnt suit her. I believe That Nagisa Would Make A Better Couple Than Those 2…

  16. Too bad there are no choice of tanzanite and amethyst which I thought should have a vital part in the arc but still a good episode by KyoAni..
    I’ve been waiting for this for two years..

    riddle
  17. I wish the main series was like this. Sunohara was a big surprise. He’s a delinquent but not stupid in this episode. He even gave a good advice. Kyou being sad was also surprising. I’ve seen her very energetic in the main series. Overall, this is the most emotional, fast paced episode of Clannad ever.

    panaghoy88
  18. It does feel rushed and doesn’t quite capture the same feeling as the VN, but it’s very well done for a one-episode addition; and I certainly appreciate it since I didn’t acutally believe they were gonna give R/Kyou’s story and screentime. A shame they didn’t have a few more episodes to give the arc a bit more room to develop and round it out with Kappei.

    It did leave me wishing there was still more Clannad; the style, theme and pacing is just something else.

    Delwack
  19. aweseome if u ask me much much more better than the distortion time in the original series
    this is much more pure and original i really like both tomoyo and kyou chapters!!

    jeffng9
  20. Like a true pimp, Tomoya never says “I love you too.” to any of the side girls. Learn this lesson boys, don’t cheap out your girls by telling them that you love them. After a while it just becomes another dirty cheap word. Hold back and only say it while she’s being a “good” girl.

    Air
  21. is it just me or nagisa would’ve never been the heroine if it was chosen by the creators because noticed that the popular female characters has long hair.. O.O

    animeboy92
  22. Like you said this would have been better as 2 episodes at least or one 45 minute or so one like Tomoyo’s.

    Show Spoiler ▼

    All and all tho I’m glad they made it.

    Dimeric
  23. For people who is saying Kyou is turning into a selfish bitch, I would not really say that.

    Ryou and Kyou both knew they both like Tomoya but Ryou took the initiative and asked him out. From what I see, it seems that Ryou herself knew that Tomoya was not exactly interested and just wanted to try it out. Kyou on the other hand still wants her sister to be happy with Tomoya but her own feelings is also getting in the way. It’s similar to how we are in that we want one thing but we also want another thing and these two desires can come into some kind conflict with each other even if one is stronger than the other. This is what is going on with Kyou. She’s being selfish and selfless at the same time. Same thing with Ryou. From what I see, it seems that Ryou herself knew that Tomoya was more interested in her sister and that her sister was more interested in Tomoya than Ryou herself was and therefore rather than letting her sister feel even more pain, decided to back out of the relationship.

    I think that if both Kyou and Ryou both have the same amount of interest for Tomoya and that would hurt them both a lot, it might be better that both sisters would backout and retain good relationship with each other as well as with Tomoya. However, I think it’s evident that Kyou cares more about Tomoya than Ryou does so that’s how it turns out.

    Silver
  24. The reason Kyou cut her hair short was more apparent in the Visual Novel. She did it because she wanted to be the one to here Tomoya’s break up speech.

    She did it so Tomoya would think she was Ryou, in the novel she’s kisses him right after and he tries to push her away before she opens her eyes and he realizes who it is.

    The story in the visual novel had a lot more of the idea of kissing you thinking or seeing them involved since they are twins and was a lot more complicated.

    Anyway that’s way she cut it, she wanted to be the one to hear the words from his heart in that moment, so she had to look like Ryou to do it.

    Dimeric
  25. I don’t like episodes made just for fans. It omits many details that it essentially for the story, even the story itself didn’t realize deeply. I admit that it was entertained to watch this episode but i think it would prefer to adapt this story in the main serie, even if it has to make many change instead of following the predetermined story like the incomprehensible Tomoya’s back to the past before Nagisa die.

    MacrossX
  26. hey hey… is this the clannad after story ova? because i saw a raw one…

    wooohooo another au from clannad, this should be interesting. cant wait for the subs…

    Layla-san
  27. Wtf, how is there ZERO kissing between Nagisa and Tomoyo throughout the ENTIRE series and there’s actually like 2 (almost 3) kiss scenes in this episode?! What? Omg. ;_;

    yin
  28. @yin

    I didn’t, It seems that I am fed up with school romance. Nevertheless, I can’t help but compare this episode from the previous Tomoyo Arc, I felt that it was way more emotional. Oh well, opinion for each of his own.

    kabayongtao
  29. a bit of a let down for me, the whole tomoyo dilema thing was huge in the game but seems quite small in this ep – i cant really explain it but if you liked this play the game

    some_guy
  30. hmm, was it just me or did they go all out on the art this time… well so they should considuring how long we have waited.

    Good summary but like the Tomoyo ova, rushed as hell. Didn’t full capture everything that happened in the visual novel (tension was much higher. although the crappy flashbacks were extremely annoying) but as it was only a twenty something ep then its to be expected.

    If you haven’t read the VN then your missing a lot in this episode.

    Oh, and it looks like the guy in charge of the anime production was a Kyou fan. Why else would the only god dam kiss in the entire series be with Kyou. Nasiga and Tomoyo fans, QUICK, GET’M

    locul
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