[Categories: Anime Reviews]
Clannad’s Nagisa arc: the bishoujo cake isn’t a lie after all
Perhaps predictably or perhaps not, Clannad ends on an “Awww…” rather than a “Wow!”, which ironically was the resolution I was hoping for. It makes me all the more interested in the ‘after-story’ that’s promised since the final scenes are less of an ending and more of…a new beginning? It’s certainly not any sort of dramatic revelation; if anything it’s just confirming what we’d suspected for ages, with plenty left open to explore afterwards. It gives us the final, definitive pairing of the show, which is satisfying in an emotional if not a storyline sense. Cutesy? Fairly. Saccharine? Definitely. Predictable? Pretty much, or maybe that’s just me. The issue of predictability probably isn’t the point though, which was worth remembering while I saw it through to the end.
It must be love
Although there was supposed to be a big, wide question mark regarding who Tomoya would end up going out with in the end, it wasn’t exactly akin to the moronic “Which girl would YOU choose?” tagline of the Shuffle! DVDs or similar. Oddly, again perhaps because I didn’t see it as a dating sim story, I was looking out for early signs of which characters got along best with one another and started subconsciously cheering them on from that point onwards instead.
Was there any point where I thought Tomoya would date anyone apart from Nagisa? Not really. The truth is, she and her circumstances offered everything he needed: a stable, loving family environment; a focus to keep him attending class; a romantic interest to awaken his caring side; even, as much as the Nagisa fanboys will hate me for saying so, a character who is so stupidly head-over-heels for him but so lacking in self-confidence that he pretty much has to get his act together because she’d be so visibly distraught if he didn’t. His initially reluctant moves towards being the sensitive guy were largely because of his falling for Nagisa; it’s like the tsundere development I suppose, if you swap aggression for apathy.
Tomoyo was given more attention, depth and development than I’d ever dared hope for in a show such as this: normally the male lead would be bland and unlikable because the writers and animators would be putting all their energies into what the fanboys are more likely to notice (namely, the girls). In Clannad’s case though, the male lead is cool and aloof in a can’t-be-arsed kind of way and witty and funny into the bargain, which I found to be a refreshing change; in some ways I felt that he’s proved to the viewer that he’s deserving of Nagisa’s unconditional affection because he actually cares about her too. Then there’s that breaking down of the ‘aloof guy’ façade that is indeed just as compelling and interesting as the tsundere breakdown - he’s a rough diamond who the viewer is happy to see ‘getting the girl’ in the end.
It’s a Nagisa trap!
As for Nagisa, my own lack of interest in her type of personality is down to that moe antipathy that stems from my brain being stubborn and refusing to cave into the “feel sympathy here, dear viewer!” pressure. Not that I can bring myself to dislike her of course: she is after all the female lead and doesn’t harbour an ounce of ill will but there’s still the cynical side to me that has trouble accepting the possibility that someone can be as…nice as her. Basically, outside of a lonely otaku’s daydreams, people aren’t. But that’s Clannad’s escapism card for you.
The escapism is important I think - it’s perfectly understandable if you find the overly sweet feelgood aspect to be nauseating but if the resolution of this arc clicks with you, it’s a really heartwarming finish. There’s this sense of things panning out in the way that they should; for sure, this makes Clannad an unrealistic piece but I think that lack of realism is intentional. It is supposed to be that way so arguing about how it’s not like slice-of-life/realistic fiction is missing that point.
Even when he’s being serious he is hilarious
As I outlined earlier on in the series, it’s fantasy escapism in the occasional supernatural themes, the convenient coincidences and the disproportionately high quotient of cute females, which begs the question, “Did I actually enjoy Clannad at all?” The major surprise is perhaps that I did. It was I admit an experiment of sorts to sample the commercialised, mind-bogglingly popular bishoujo show that lies outside my comfort zone and well within most other fans’. Yes, it in turns mildly irked me, occasionally bored me, failed to truly blow my mind but nevertheless on reflection was more enjoyable and moving than I’d dared to admit.
My anime viewing is, I hope, open-minded and varied; this means that I look for light entertainment, which ought to include something like Clannad without my having to justify putting up with the saucer-eyed damsels and a studio that makes its name in lucrative franchises. It wasn’t a memorable landmark or anything but was still entertaining in a refreshingly sweet kind of way and certainly not a disappointment - it did what it set out to do and did it well. Notice how those of us who don’t take sugar in our coffee occasionally help themselves to a piece of cake to go with it? Clannad is that cake, and this bishoujo cake sure as hell ain’t a lie.
Posted on April 22nd, 2008 @ 10:57 pm
But which girl would you choose?
Posted on April 23rd, 2008 @ 12:11 am
Nice.
To do with the fact that a character like Nagisa will never exist is the 100% truth, Although, I think characters like that seem to be a exaggerated version of the Japanese women [stereotype] in the sense of politeness. I can see that the whole moe thing may seem to come from the quietness/shyness/politeness/happyness of some women (and men) in RL… or maybe not, and its a entirely new concept taken from the otaku surveys wanting high-school girls to be like that.
I hope to see you watch Kanon (2006) and see your judgements upon that, The supposedly best KyoAni adaptation (according to the majority) - I personally enjoyed Clannad more. ;p
Posted on April 23rd, 2008 @ 5:33 am
It’s just that Nagisa is the dullest character in the show. All the other girls had more memorable personalities. I know, I know, I can see how Nagisa brings out Tomoya’s supportive side, but the only interesting things about her are her parents. I suppose giving Tomoya a stable family life is useful to him as well, but still … Tomoyo! Kyou! Kotomi! I’ll leave Fuka out of this rant.
Posted on April 23rd, 2008 @ 2:11 pm
Clannad was something of an experiment for me too. I remember seeing the opening the first time and being immediately put right off. Still, I found the first episode surprisingly funny so I stuck with it and it wasn’t half bad. Certainly not the kind of thing I’d normally watch but generally alright.
Oh and Nagisa’s dad was the best character without a shadow of a doubt. Everything he says has me in hysterics! What a nutjob…
Posted on April 23rd, 2008 @ 3:56 pm
I actually didn’t feel like I was forced to feel sad for any of the characters save for Fuuko. And I’m grateful to CLANNAD for not continuing to do that. I thought it worked better than AIR precisely because it didn’t try to yank emotions out of me, and the fact that most of the show was down to earth and felt more slice-of-life than anything else a lot of the time helped out as well.
Posted on April 23rd, 2008 @ 5:47 pm
@IKnight: *sigh* don’t make me think about this! Okay, since you ask: once you narrow it down to those who are 1) not under-age and 2) unmarried by the end of the series, that doesn’t leave me with much! The lass who runs the dorm perhaps? She seems unattached but old enough to vote…
@Jayme: I’ve considered starting Kanon but I don’t know whether I’d enjoy it as much as this one. It might be worth the rental as and when the DVDs come out.
@Peter S: the fact that the ‘main girl’ is so bland was a bit of a disappointment for me - she could have done a bit more to win Tomoya’s heart but there you go. I’m withholding my final judgement on her for the after-story I think.
@Wildcard: agreed on all counts. Nagisa’s parents were pure hilarity! I enjoyed it all right, but I’m making no promises about revisiting KyoAni’s Key adaptations in the future.
@TheBigN: I think Clannad would have been really heavy-going and almost depressing if it had forced me to feel sad about all of them. That comedic segment before Nagisa’s arc was all too short but came at the right time, even if the pacing suffered a bit for it.
Posted on April 26th, 2008 @ 9:43 am
Wait, what? Martin, they were talking about what they want to do after they leave school, remember? Wikipedia says they’re in their third year of school. This puts them at 16 at least, or 17 even (not that sure about Japanese schools myself), which is the age of consent in the U.K!
Posted on April 28th, 2008 @ 6:45 pm
@Owen S: I’ve always had an issue with age gaps unfortunately! Try having a conversation with someone ten years younger than you and you’ll find you can’t relate to one another at all. That might explain my issue with high school shows in general actually.
Posted on May 2nd, 2008 @ 5:48 pm
I feel that in the end it’s not so much what Nagisa has done for Tomoya but rather what they represent to each other. People similar to Nagisa (but not exactly) do exist but of course are a rarity.
Being anime, the characters are exaggerated. For instance, tsundere wouldn’t exactly be a common thing IRL.
In any case, Tomoya should be 17 and Nagisa should be 18.