Clannad (2007) and Clannad: After Story (2008) make up two of the most loved slice-of-life anime ever produced. Even years after its release, Clannad is still a fan favourite and shall always remains due to the severe lows and exciting highs it takes the audience through. It is one of those few anime shows which are loved by critics and fans alike.
In this article, we will look at Clannad’s groundbreaking success and why this anime still remains in the hearts of fans even after so many years since its release.
Clannad and Clannad: After Story: a classic for a slice of life
Clannad and Clannad: After Story were two greatly appreciated anime shows, which were not only treated as regular slice-of-life anime but it was designed and crafted in a manner that the level of humanness it had matched the level of films and non-animated creations. What I mean to say is that the tragic and comic elements employed throughout the show were more than just a lucky strike.
Clannad came to be considered a classic due to its popularity, but more importantly, because it designed a new diaspora for the slice-of-life anime subgenre. This can be seen in its far-reaching metaphors and its portrayal of the mundaneness of life without any romanticism. The regularity and ordinary routine of daily individuals were aptly reflected in Clannad, and therefore, Clannad is still a fan favorite.
Clannad is three stories and one plot: how did this anime stand out from the rest?
- Clannad narrates three different yet intertwined stories which form a singular plot.
- While in the beginning things are mostly scattered and there is a shimmer of hope that it will get better, Clannad converts that hope into a reality.
- Therefore, this resolution of the anime brings a sense of relief, as most anime shows fail to provide that relief to the viewer and turn the wheel in a different direction.
Clannad’s three intertwined stories also bring in a commonality. This commonality is in terms of the narrative, the comedy, the dynamics of the relationships, and most importantly the tragedy.
While all of these converge and offer similar motifs, we can see how all these themes and motifs help the three differently crafted narratives into a singular plot. Clannad becomes a drama in this sense, and its divergence from mainstream films and stories remains very little. In this sense, an animated storyline provides the viewer with multiple scenarios and a singularity of plot, making it a fan favourite among the youth.
‘Clannad is still a fan favourite’: is this statement coming from the tragedy of Clannad?
Clannad is more than a love story. It is a story of love which experiences the harsh truths of life. Clannad has experimented and skillfully portrayed the deeper human conflicts of love and loss, of life and death. While the story develops in a traditional high-school love story, the portrayal of life after high school is also a major theme in Clannad.
The bittersweet nature of the plot is the reason why Clannad is still a fan favourite. Most of the characters are ordinary and confused and their conflicts are very human too. This makes the plot towards the end of the show a part of the viewer’s emotional apparatus. Moreover, the tragedy of Clannad is hidden in the portrayal of death in the later part of the show. Death as a dilemma and an experience for those who have lost becomes a significant theme from there on.
Clannad is still a fan favourite, even decades after its release because of its ability to make the slice-of-life sub-genre human again. It doesn’t deviate or diverge into some fantastical reality, but it stays within the confinements of the human setting and explores the psychology and reality from within.