It’s so interesting that an episode that most people skip leads to the true ending. The orbs of life that are people you help. Gathering them enough grants you a wish.
I made the mistake of watching Clannad and After Story a few months after my own boy passed away - and it really made me break. What this anime does is to show how unfair life can be. You could go your entire life without tragedy, or if can hit you many times when you're still young. Is it luck? I think it is, and luck is unfair. I think Clannad and even Kanon 2006 are animes that you must watch a second time (and really pay attention to) before the real story is absorbed. Key and Kyoto had an incredible run.
@@jadalba9760 My Son died the same way as many kids do these days. More young people die from OD than anything else, car accidents or illness. It's Fentanyl in everything now.
As someone who has been struck with tragedy countless times and only being 21. This anime stuck with me. And remains to stick with me. I watched this when I was 16-17 and 4-5 years later. It's still the best fiction I have ever watched. Anime or not. Nothing else I have ever watched stuck in my head and gave me that sinking feeling you get when nagisa and ushio died and held that feeling for days after watching it. These days I don't watch anime like I used to. It's been close to 2 years since i've watched anime (besides demon slayer) but this is something that everyone should watch. Even for people who despise anime. Clannad After Story strays from that "anime persona" and converts to real life lessons. Things everyone can tear up to. I don't care how much someone can hate anime. There is no doubt in my mind that if they gave it a shot by the end of it they would be broken and feel like they've just watched masterful storytelling. Nothing stands toe to toe with clannad for me. It's just simply the most powerful art piece I know. From the OST, the camera work, the animation and the loveable characters. It just feels so real rather than an anime. I'm rambling but I have just too many amazing things to say about clannad. It most definitely changed me and as a final note. Clannad has done something that from what i've seen no other piece of fiction has managed to replicate. And that's portraying EXACTLY how Tomoya feels, it's hard to truly understand how a fictional character feels when they go through something but clannad does it flawlessly. Truly the most powerful anime of all time
It's not an alternate ending, it is the ending. While it is a more idealistic notion, it represents a positive change in your life by positively changing others. Throughout the series we obtained "light orbs" which were granted whenever we satisfied someone else's wish. In the VN this is accompanied by a a graphic at the end of each arc (for the most part), while in the anime this wasn't so obvious with the light orb showing up after a happy wish fulfilling moment in each arc. Since the anime doesn't cover the arc that talks about the light orbs in depth and doesn't really address them much in the first place, it's not very clear what they are and if they even serve a purpose. But simply put, by granting the wish of others you get a wish yourself. In the VN you need to obtain 13 light orbs in total to reach the true ending. It ultimately comes down to the entire meaning of Clannad: family. By expanding your family through helping others, your family in turn can help you May the youtube algorithm bless you on all your future ventures!
It definitely helps playing/reading the VN first, but it’s not completely necessary to enjoy it; certainly fills in a lot of the lore of the universe, though
Episode 18 of clannad after story absoltuely changed me from someone who said stuff like " oh yeah family is important of course " to actually meaning it with my heart and soul. The redemption arc tomoya has with daughter was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, I cried like I was being born again, and in sense I was with the perspective that show gave me. Beautiful
So is everyone else here said it’s not an alternate ending it’s the actual ending because the robot and the girl was Tomoya and Ushio. The day that ushio died so did Tomoya Tomoya died of heartbreak in the snow while lying there holding his child But because of all the good things that Tomoya does in his life helping other people and Ushio loving him so much she creates a world give us all the lights she can and grants him one wish and that was to have a family, That is why Clannad has a good ending are you sure granted him that wish to go to reality where he can have a family where Nagisa and Ushio don’t die
@@PolaroidSarcasm why are you choosing not to budge and just saying its a sad ending when like dozens of people have disproved and told you otherwise, why would you want a sad ending
I had no idea what i was getting into when i started watching Clannad. I think Clannad was like the 3rd full anime series i watched. Before that, i had only watched episodes of random series on TV when they came on Toonami and never got the full story. What i didn't know would be the outcome, is that it made me realize how much i was hurting and longing to not be lonely. It solidified what it meant to be a father in my head and how i would push myself to see the smiles of my future wife and kids. It gave me this sense of what was missing in my life when i first watched Clannad and that i had no sense duty, no reason to get up in the morning, and nothing to sacrifice myself to. I wanted to push myself to see the happiness of the ones i loved, but I had no one worthy of such self-sacrifice. Fast forward to today, me and my fiancee just finished Clannad last night, as she had never seen it before. We are getting married in a month, and i wanted to share with her the seed that grew into my sense of family and what i am meant to do for her and my family. Im glad i did, and i am ready to take on the responsibility of being a husband and a father. I still dont feel like i have my life put together, and there's a sense that recently, i have been crumbling away. But i guess i should look at it another way. I am shaking free all the loose deadweight that will hold me back from achieving what i desire most in life, and that is to see my wife and future kids' happiness. Who would have guessed that a fictional story could make such a rippling impact to someone so deeply. Regardless of its flaws, i dont think i can ever replace Clannad as my number 1 show of all time.
Something i heard another person mention, that i didnt realize before... When Ushio dies in Tomoya's arms... Tomoya dies right afterward. Thats not him collapsing in grief, thats his heart giving out. And if you pay attention to the lead up, youll notice that Tomoya hadnt been paying attention to his own health. Hadnt been eating, or sleeping, and when he stood up, he got dizzy and his vision blurred. Indicating severe fatigue. Tekotsubocardiomyopathy, also known as "broken heart syndrome" is a fatal heart attack, brought on by a weakening of the heart muscles and an excess buildup of stress hormones. Tomoya _fucking died_ there. Nagisa, Tomoya, and Ushio all die in the timeline All his friends, his father, and Nagisa's parents all lose them in that timeline if it werent for Ushio making that illusionary world for her and Tomoya, and allowing him to get his wish
Please add to the list Plastic memories, Into the Forest of Fireflies' Light, and Grave of the fireflies too. They are also serious risk of emotional overkill.
I fr watched Your Lie In April, Anohana, Charlotte, Plastic Memories, Angel Beats, A Silent Voice, Your Name, I want to eat your pancreas then ended on Clannad. In like a marathon type of style, watched them all back to back but when I finished Clannad I HAD to step back. It felt a bit too personal and gave me heartache 💔
They are basically both true, it both "happened". The sad ending is the one where everyone dies. Tomoya makes the wish "save, ushio, save nagisa" moments before he died. Because of all the lights he collected, the wish came true and another ending came to be, which is an alternative ending, but also true. In the visual novel, you can't get the happy ending before you did all the other stuff of different characters which award you the light orbs. In the anime, these lights are often mentioned and the fact that they can make a wish come true. (i havent played the visual novel but it kinda works like this i think).
Fumihiko Shimo and Tatsuya Ishihara (writer and director of the anime) decided to do an absolutely realistic picture of characters, unlike many other anime series. So from the first moment you face into a constant evolution with them, in a day by day of traumas, fears, problems, overcoming, death, ethics, redemption, forgiveness, suffering, fatherhood, dreams and friendship and love beyond life and death. Inherited from the best classic japanese cinema, Clannad's emotions are not only sentimental but deep to the heart, guts and soul... (to my fiancee, whose name is Sanae...)
That’s not an alternate ending, that’s *the* ending! It’s not a bad adaptation, but Clannad’s anime is missing the explanation that ties it together because it doesn’t cover the story arc from the VN that goes over the explanation
Its not an alternate ending it was the true ending. In the visual novel once you reach the ending the same thing happens. It requires you to think a lot about its meaning but I'll try to help. Ushio actually died, she then went to the other world (as foreshadowed since the beginning) and in order to grant her father his wish she began collecting those orbs (which were always an established concept since the beginning) after she collected enough of the orbs it was up to tomoya to finally accept what happened and to stop blaming the world around him. After that he made his wish and time essentially reset (in the visual novel you restart the entire story, ending the same as the anime) now with nagisa having survived. It's more of, the other ending where she died was the alternate ending, but in order to get the real ending you needed to go through that ending.
The thing that made clannad better gor me is going in spoiler free; there have been too many hype shows I've watched where i was spoiled, and it was ruined. So it was nice but sad whenever something happened and I'd sit there crying
I watched clannad 4 years ago. Upon completing s2, instantly, INSTANTLY went in my top5 anime of all time! 4 years later, its still there, despite seeing some really good anime afterwards like steins gate or Rezero or vinland saga. This is my top5 list: 1 bleach 2 code geas 3. Hxh 4. Clannad 5. Demon slayer
To me, Clannad is about Tomoya learning to appreciate what happened, regardless of how it ended. We can see parallels between Tomoya's relationship with his father, and Tomoya's relationship with Nagisa. Tomoya resented his father because he became an alcoholic, and even hit tomoya in one instance, but he comes to appreciate the fact that his father didn't abandon him. His father tried his best and sacrificed so much to raise Tomoya. When Tomoya finally says thank you to his father, that's a genuine moment where Tomoya has appreciated his father's role in his life, regardless of the negatives. In the case of Nagisa, Tomoya obviously fell into a deep depression after her death and wished that he'd never met Nagisa. It's one of my theories that Nagisa wondered if Tomoya would ever regret meeting her because of her illness, and thus pushed herself towards death to find out. It's the "final test" for Tomoya, if you will. Tomoya obviously ends us passing the test when he realises that he cannot live without Nagisa, and would live his life a thousand times over if it means he can be with her again - regardless of how it ended. This allows Ushio (the girl in the illusionary world) to grant Tomoya's wish and save Nagisa and Ushio. It's truly beautiful.
by the way, here's what google says about the name of the anime: "when the group first got its start, they had to come up with a name on the fly, and they went with Clann as Dobhar: “Family from Dore.” “Clann a. d” eventually was shortened to “Clannad.” And the rest, as they say, is history."
I like how in the dub Nagisa has the same voice after as Ushio. This makes you constantly think of Nagisa. Makes it even harder. The ending is the true ending. It’s not alternate. The ending is setup from the start. The whole girl in another world is Ushio and Tomoya. All his good deeds have given him a wish and he saves Nagisa and his daughter. The End plays when Nagisa is alive again. The recap episode even has this explained!!
It was hinted that if you do a good deed in life. Youd be granted a wish, what with the dorm mother and the cat ordeal. Tomoya reconciling with his father granted him and unused wish, which in turn saved him, Ushio, and Nagisa. Although there is a timeline ordeal going on too. Its possible Tomoya and Ushio were carried to a happier one... which leaves a depressing idea that there is a dead Tomoya and Ushio in the snowy streets leaving the Furakawa's to mourn a son and granddaughter.
I remember watching it so many years ago it was the only anime I cried or teared up to and it was when I was 9💀 I’m 18 gonna turn 19 so ima rewatch it i don’t fully remember everything but I do remember the end I actually watched after story first😭
idk if i consider myself lucky or unlucky for watch it without haveing a single idea that it was a sad anime like i was legit SURPRISED by nagisa death (cried a little) but still it was unexpected for me at least for that moment
I also believe the last Episode to be a form of alternate Ending. If things could've been different, I'd agree that it is ,the' ending but I feel like the Story that plays along-side Tomoya and Nagisas Story represents them in a different Dimension and when they pass away, the alternate Dimensions version of them dissapear aswell.
I watched this anime, but after the daughter died, I just couldn't go on ... so i stopped watching.... until someone told be "dude there's a happy ending afterwards" since then i didn't watch another sad anime
Alternate Ending my ass. Their is not alternate ending, I remember watching when the little girl died, I went into a 2 week depression. I finished after, and the alternate ending just made me upset, you don't rip out someone heart, then you trample on it, and then put it back in and say ... Ohh no it was all make belief, this is the real ending. NO, nooo no, this anime is the most depressing thing a person can see in anime from.
Have you heard the theory that Nagisa’s mother’s terrible baked goods is what accidentally poisoned Nagisa, causing her death and the eventual death of another character. If you think about it, kind of makes sense in an F’ed up, wtf, omg, type of way.
@@Bandeer367yeah i've tried many times to get past 1st season but just nagisa is soooo cringe just the fact that she thinks of herself as the saddest person when she has a good ass happy family it just ticks me off
🚨 [SPOILER ALERT] 🚨 Ushio Okazaki's death really got to me in a spiritual level. I will never forget this scene. Even after 3 years of watching this incredible masterpiece of a show, the song "Snowfield" will forever be one of my favorite tracks. ❤️ Last December, while it was snowing here in the Midwest, I was listening to this track on my earbuds. I stepped outside to take a walk and it was an incredibly euphoric experience. I recommend it. 🥹💕