Last time when I blogged about Clannad, I just finished watching episode 20. I was assuming that Clannad would end at episode 24. But no, the story didn't end at episode 24, it ended at episode 22!! That makes the final sub-plot only 3 episodes long. The ending? There is none. Or at least there is none that I would considered "proper". This confirmed the fear I had when I watched Clannad the Movie: because of how the movie ended, there is not going to be a "proper" ending for the TV series.
This actually create quite a peculiar situation: if you had watched the movie first then the TV series (which might be the intended order since the movie was released before the TV series), the TV series feels like a redemption for the movie (you'll know what I mean once you watch them both); however, if you finished watching the TV series then jump on the movie, the movie feels like a extension to the TV series, but with quite a blow to the final experience you gained from the TV series. Much like Wolf's Rain OVA did to its TV series (You probably wouldn't know what I'm talking about if you watched the US version of Wolf's Rain).
Personally, I prefer the latter, because I like to take the blow rather have the feelings of redemption throughout the series. But that's just me, I also like stories to end in tragedies that most people would hate the writer for.
Either way, Clannad is laid out in such a way that the story would be incomplete if you miss out on either one (TV series or movie). I don't know if it's just a tactic they're using trying to sell the DVD for the movie or the story writer legitimately wanted the story to be this way.
The bottom line is Clannad ended in a way I consider to be quite disappointing. It achieved nowhere near what Air or Kanon did.
Final Scoreboard (of 5):
Drama: 4.5 (Regardless how it ended, it's still decent drama)
Drama: 4.5 (Regardless how it ended, it's still decent drama)
Action: N/A
Comedy: 5 (This is where it shines)
Art/Animation: 5 (This is one thing Key/VisualArts are good at)
Sound/Music: 5 (Same as above)
Character: 5 (Extended character development)
Plot: 4 (Aside from the last segment, it's quite well done)
Ending: 3 (Less than satisfactory)
Re-watch value: 3 (May be amusing to see those comedies again...)
Overall (not average): 4 (Only if it had a better ending...[hum, I seem to say that alot lately])
Recommendation: Even though the ending is less than satisfactory, I still recommend it for people who like relatively heavy emotional drama along with some light comedies. I would also highly recommend to watch the movie as well, but you would have to decide on the order you would want to see them in. (See above)
2 comments:
it's not ended yet, watch carefully after the ed, 1 or 2 more coming as OVA, just the same as Code Geass
Yes, I know. I've seen episode 23, which really serves no purpose. Then, at the end of that, there's that preview of another OVA which is only an expansion of the story she was acting. None of them affects the main plot.
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