Saturday, March 29, 2008

Clannad Movie


Finally, I got around to see this supposedly "alternate retelling" version of Clannad. Having watched Air Movie and Air TV, I was expecting some discrepancies between Clannad Movie and Clannad TV. What I wasn't expecting is how big those discrepancies are. If Air TV series and movie are two versions of same story that is told by different people in the same world, then Clannad TV series and movie feel like the same story that is told by different people lives in two different universe. Aside from some key elements, they are almost completely different.

However, come to think of it, Air is actually the same way: all the earlier side plot were cut off, and the last sub-plot is stretched to cover almost the whole hour and a half. The difference, I guess is that Air is a much shorter series which the last sub-plot is relatively long compare to the whole series (4 episode out of 12 is much more significant than 4 episodes out of 24). Also, I have seen the end of Air TV, so there are something I can actually relate to; where I haven't seen the end of Clannad TV, so I really don't have a point of reference.

I've mentioned earlier the reason I'm rushing onto Clannad Movie is because chronologically, Clannad Movie was released before Clannad TV even started airing. So, it is meant to be seen before the TV series.

Before I watched Clannad Movie, I'm not quite sure how the TV series would end, and hoping I might find out some answers. After watching Clannad Movie, I REALLY don't know how the TV series would end.

On the other hand, Clannad Movie did filled in some blanks that are left open from the TV series. It feels almost like the experience with RahXephone's TV series and movie: the movie is much different than the TV series, but it fills in all the blanks TV series didn't explain, including a proper ending. If that's any indication, I'm afraid that Clannad TV series probably won't have a "proper" ending just like RahXephone did. The "proper" ending has to be found in the movie.

Recommendation: It's possible this is the only way to see a proper ending of Clannad TV series. Other than that, I think this movie is mostly unnecessary. It doesn't not contribute to the TV series like Air Movie did to its TV series.

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