Is Clannad worth watching? – A Complete Review

The Clannad anime series is based on the visual novel Clannad by the Japanese visual novel brand Key. 

The series revolves around high school student  Tomoya Okazaki, a troubled student whose life changes forever when he crosses paths with Nagisa Furukawa.

The episodes of the show are produced by the animation studio Kyoto Animation, directed by Tatsuya Ishihara, written by Fumihiko Shimo, and features character design by Kazumi Ikeda who based the designs on Itaru Hinoue’s original concept. 

1. Quick Review

Tomoya Okazaki is a discontented high school student who finds life boring and believes he has no purpose.

Along with his friend Youhei Sunohara, he skips school and plans to avoid the entire concept of high school.

One eventful day whilst walking to school, Tomoya walks past a young girl muttering quietly to herself. Suddenly, she exclaims “Anpan!”, which is a popular Japanese food.

This catches Tomoya’s attention and he soon learns that the girl’s name is Nagisa Furukawa and that she exclaims things she likes to motivate herself. 

Nagisa claims they are now friends, but Tomoya thinks nothing of it and walks away.

However, Tomoya finds himself highly aware of Nagisa’s presence more and more around the school. Eventually, he acknowledges her friendship.

Tomoya learns that Nagisa has been held back a year due to being severely ill and that her dream is to revive the school’s drama club.

Stating that he has nothing better to do, our protagonist decides to help Nagisa achieve her dream with the help of four other girls.

As he spends time with Nagisa and the four girls, he begins to notice his monotonous life melt away and give him a purpose.

Clannad is a sweet slice of life anime that serves you a slice of the cold realities of life that is sorrow and heartache.

It shows you the importance of having good people in your life to give you a sense of purpose.

The anime makes you relate to the struggles and happiness that the characters feel. Accompanied by beautiful music and adorable animation, Clannad is a romantic-comedy masterpiece. 

2. Info Card

3. Is it worth watching?

Clannad is worth watching for the story which is an emotional roller-coaster.

The animation is very good remaining dynamic and yet consistent at the same time.

The well-designed brings out the real emotions that humans come across in life. The character development is noteworthy as well, especially that of the protagonist Tomoya Okazaki.

I. Plot

Tomoya Okazaki is a high school student who believes his life has no purpose. This results in him leading a troubled life where everything seems bleak and grey.

On his way to school, he meets a strange girl named Nagisa Furukawa who is a year older than him but is repeating the year due to illness.

 As a result of this, she is alone as most of her friends have moved on.

The two characters slowly start bonding as time passes and Tomoya finds himself looking at life with a new sense of purpose.

Clannad is a unique story that portrays the hardships of life in such a simple and relatable way.

The show also softens the blow of cruel reality with a lovely tale of romance and comedy.

II.Characters

i. Main Characters

Tomoya Okazaki is the main protagonist of the Clannad visual novel and anime series. 

He is best friends with Youhei Sunohara and is a childhood friend of Kotomi Ichinose. His life changes when he meets Nagisa Okazaki. 

As the story progresses, he meets many new friends, such as Kyou, Ryou, Tomoyo, and Fuko.

He is a cynical and sarcastic delinquent who has a tendency of always arriving late to school, skipping classes and hanging out with Sunohara.

Despite Tomoya’s seemingly antisocial ways, he is a sociable and protective friend who cares deeply for all of his friends, especially Nagisa, and loves solving their problems.

Nagisa Furukawa is the main female protagonist of Clannad. 

Nagisa Furukawa is a shy girl who is always kind and sweet towards others.

She is described to be selfless and a character who thinks lowly of herself and values other people’s happiness over her own.

Nagisa is naive and optimistic, as she always sees the good in everyone.

Tomoyo Sakagami is one of the major characters of Clannad.

Tomoyo is a classic tomboy, always behaving calmly in every situation. She is mostly seen hanging out with the two boys Tomoya and Sunohara. 

She is a responsible and hardworking girl with high intelligence and athletic ability.

Ryou Fujibayashi is a secondary main character, Tomoya’s classmate, and his class representative. 

Unlike her sister Kyou, Ryou is timid and doesn’t talk very much.

She is very keen about fortune telling, but her predictions, while they seem incredibly specific are usually wrong.

Kyou Fujibayashi is a close friend of Tomoya Okazaki and sister of Ryou Fujibayashi.

Kyou is in the same year as Tomoya and her twin sister, Ryou. She is introduced as a bold, aggressive girl who can be foul-mouthed.

Kyou is also decisive and reliable, which makes her stand out as an older-sibling-like role model to her juniors.

Fuko Ibuki is a first-year student at the Hikarizaka Private High School.

Her character is always alone for some reason. Whenever Fuko sees something she thinks is cute, she completely loses sight of everything else.

Tomoya takes advantage of this habit of hers and plays a variety of pranks on her.

Kotomi Ichinose is a childhood friend of Tomoya Okazaki. 

Kotomi is a genius girl who is almost always seen in the library reading books or cutting up pages of printed media.

Youhei Sunohara is Tomoya’s best friend and keeps him grounded to reality by giving him sound advice.

When the scene calls for it, Sunohara also serves as comic relief. Unlike Tomoya’s character, he is extroverted and dimwitted.

He accompanies Tomoya in skipping high school and pranking the other characters.

III. Setting 

The anime series Clannad takes place in a fictional city in Japan called Hikarizaka City is where most of the events of Clannad occur.

The artwork in the background may seem bland but the animation completely overshadows this minor flaw.

IV. Theme Songs 

Both the opening and ending theme songs are sung by Lia.

The opening theme is “Toki o Kizamu Uta” (A Song to Pass the Time) which goes by the same tune as the background music track “Onaji Takami e” (To the Same Heights).

The song is perfect for the mood that the anime is going for. The music really touches the heart and suits both the happy or sad scenes taking place. 

The ending theme is “Torch”, which really reminds you of the characters and their personalities as they interact with each other and carry the story forward.

4. Grade:

5. Final Thoughts

Clannad is an emotional masterpiece. The animation does a wonderful job of portraying the emotions displayed by each character which is so clearly visible in their hand gestures and body movements.

The storyline is heart-warming and brings meaning to friendship, love, and the journey of life. If you are a fan of romance and slice-of-life anime, this is a must-watch.