A few notes:

• While the series started out in late 2006, I’m going to consider this a 2007 anime series since, well, it ended this year.
• Like the majority of these posts, it contains lots of spoilers for this series. You’ve been warned.
• In two months, this is only Kanon post I’ve written on my blog. As a taiyaki fanboy of this show, I should be ashamed.

Back when I started watching Air TV, I knew nothing about Key/KyoAni. I wanted to see a sad anime show, so someone recommended that series to me. In the end, I had enjoyed it so much that I began looking for something similar… and that’s when I found out about Kanon 2006.

Unlike Air, this series contains much more comedy, mostly due to the fact that the main character, Yuuichi Aizawa, is voiced by Tomokazu Sugita, the same seiyyu who voiced Kyon in TMoHS, so a bit of his hilarious sarcastic attitude to be reflected on Yuuichi was expected. The humor actually helps the series in the sense that it works as another form to grow our affection towards the characters, so when the sad moments came, they’d result more depressing.

Another aspect that is usually praised is the high animation quality, but I don’t find it that special since all the KyoAni shows are known for having that as well. Still, I think this is the show where they’ve managed to take advantage of it better for all these beautiful scenes they managed to come up with.

The story and drama combination is where this adaptation truly shines, though. Here I’ll give my opinions on each arc from the anime.

Makoto. This story arc, which seemed like the longest one from the series, was slightly weird and in some sense disturbing because of the “Makoto slowly turning back into animal form” stuff. I’m not really sure what to think about the ending… I think I was about to cry during the whole “Makoto’s death” build up, but then she just sorta vanished and I was like “uh, that’s it?”. The best part of this arc for me was, probably, seeing Makoto’s original cute fox form. ^^

Mai. My second favorite arc and the one which was executed infinitely better than the other arcs. Mai’s story has a lot of nice stuff, ranging from the cool demon-fighting sequences to some pretty touching moments (am I the only one who cried during the snow bunny zoo scene?). Also, bonus points for having such a great supporting character, aka Sayuri.

Shiori. The weakest arc, in my opinion. I like neither Shiori nor her sister Kaori, so I never managed to feel sorry for them. Good thing it was just three episodes long.

Nayuki. It’s a shame this lovely cousin didn’t get more screen time: the few dramatic moments we got from her were superb. But at the same time I’m glad she didn’t end up with Yuuichi, haha.

Ayu. Yaaaay~! While the ending left me a bit disappointed, this is the arc I liked the most simply for having my favorite character: Taiyaki-hime! From her uguu~s to her sad childhood accident, Ayu has proven she’s the best heroine from the game, and I’m happy she got chosen for the official pairing.

Sure, Kanon 06 has its flaws, but it’s still clearly one of the best drama series out there, and a must-watch for the fans of eroge conversions.

TV series: CLANNAD
Episode: 09

Yeah, Fuuko’s arc has ended. At first, I’m sure most viewers felt that this arc was kinda dull because basically it was just “Fuuko gives a starfish to some students, then she gets forgotten by someone.” every week. But the ending must have totally made up for it.

The happy wedding moment.

This episode was full of beautiful scenes. First, we have the whole wedding party (no, it wasn’t a farewell party… even if it seemed like one) with Nagisa, Tomoya and Fuuko at the school. Everything’s all happiness and fun stuff, until the next day when both Nagisa and Tomoya wake up and finally forget about Fuu-chan. I got kinda annoyed since I thought Fuuko wasn’t going to make it to the wedding, but then Nagisa and Tomoya manage to remember about her again, so in the end they’re able to go to the celebration together.

When the wind vanishes into the twilight.

The second segment, which covers Kouko’s wedding, is undoubtedly the most emotional one. The scene where Fuuko thanks her friends for all the fun moments she had with them, and when she gives a starfish to her sister wishing her a life full of happiness, both of these parts were so sad and I actually got teary eyes (something that didn’t happen during Kano/Makoto’s story arcs, the initial ones from previous Key adaptations). The music played during both scenes contributed a lot to the mood, and I’m glad I’m not that good with English since noticing the engrish lyrics from that last insert song (which I’m pretty sure is called “Ana”) would have ruined the moment for me. Luckily, I didn’t pay that much attention to the song until I watched the episode a second time. ^^

I guess this is the true nature of CLANNAD.

I would have been depressed all day long if it wasn’t for that humorous next-episode preview with Kotomi going ijimekko’d and the other girls agreeing to them being bullies. XD So, next week starts the genius girl’s story arc, huh. I guess I’m fine with it since I don’t like her as a character that much.

TV series: CLANNAD
Episode: 08

Indeed, now the only ones who still remember Fuu-chan are Nagisa and Tomoya. This episode consisted mainly of the reactions shown by those who once cared about Fuuko but now have forgotten about her existence. I particularly liked seeing Sunohara trying to regain his memories of that important person, but Sanae breaking into tears after realizing that she can’t see Fuuko anymore takes the cake as this week’s most emotional moment. Next week marks the end of this arc, so I guess I should prepare myself with a new box of tissues.

This OST contains a total of 27 tracks, 6 being vocal songs and the rest BGMs. I was going to post the track listing but it seems that some of the song titles contain spoilers o_o *gulp*. Instead, let’s talk a bit about my favorite tunes from it. ^^

Obviously, I was very pleased to find yet another version of Chiisana Tenohira. Yay, I simply don’t get tired of this song. You can listen to it here:

[audio http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/11/13/1582794/26%20-%20Chiisana%20Tenohira%20%7Eeufonius%20ver.%7E.mp3]

My biggest surprise would be finding… a new dango song! @_@ It’s called Dango Dango Dango and it’s pretty different to the Dango Daikazoku ED song. Here it is:

[audio http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/11/13/1582794/01%20-%20Dango%20Dango%20Dango.mp3]

Something that got me very excited was seeing a track titled Nagisa. I was expecting it to be a new version of “our beloved main heroine”’s theme, but it ended being a completely different BGM. Too bad… it’s still a good song, I guess.

[audio http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/11/13/1582794/06%20-%20Nagisa.mp3]

Lastly, there was a MagMell version in there called Megumeru ~frequency =>e Ver. but to me it sounded identical to the Cuckool Mix 2007 so I didn’t feel like posting it. <_<

… And here’s a random pick!

[audio http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/11/13/1582794/04%20-%20Pan%20Kai%20Kyousou.mp3]

TV series: CLANNAD
Episode: 07

It seems we’re still on Fuuko’s Arc (I’m not sure why I thought it would end this week -_-). It doesn’t feel like it’s dragging out too much, but I wonder if 15 episodes (considering Fuu-chan’s story does end in two weeks) will be enough for the other girls.

Oh, it’s the FFF, or “Fun Fun Fuu-chan” club, AM I RITE.

Anyways, it was another good episode. The humour is still there (and, unlike Fuuko, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to fade away anytime soon), but this week was mostly about the sad things. Aside from the dramatic scene of Nagisa and Tomoya crying in the park, the thought of Fuuko being slowly and painfully forgotten by everybody is simply… depressing. If she is going to disappear (just like KEY girls love to do so), I hope at least her older sister gets married.

;_;

[audio http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/11/13/1582794/CLANNAD%20-%20%E5%B0%8F%E3%81%95%E3%81%AA%E3%81%A6%E3%81%AE%E3%81%B2%E3%82%89.mp3]

Chiisana Tenohira by riya

Yeah, I love this song. It’s from the CLANNAD visual novel, duh… Wonder if it’s going to be used on the TV adaptation (I love the “dango version”, but I’d like to hear the original one in the anime too). ^^;

TV series: CLANNAD
Episodes: 1~4

Of course, as an eternal fan of Air and Kanon 2006, I just couldn’t miss this show. But with an interesting mix of comedy, romance, sadness and dango, CLANNAD should be a must-see for everyone, even if you aren’t familiar with Key or KyoAni works.

Before anything else, I must say I love both the OP & ED sequences, especially the dango song. XD At first, when I saw the ED I was like “WTF IS THIS” but then it quickly grew on me and now I’m addicted, as you can see at my failed attempt for a header image.

The first few episodes, even if they served as character introductions, were made of pure awesomeness. First of all, the animation quality was excellent, just like previous KyoAni series (OLD’d). Second, the amusing moments were… well, pretty amusing. Third… all of the characters we have seen so far are great! Let’s review them separately.

• Tomoya Okazaki. So far, I like him more than previous Key protagonists. But I must see the way he performs during the oh-so-tragic moments before I can hand down a final verdict.
• Nagisa Furukawa.

Nagisa FTW

It happened with Ayu Tsukimiya and Misuzu Kamio, so it was pretty obvious that it would be happening with Furukawa too. That’s right, Nagisa has become my favorite heroine from this series. Everything about her, from her personality to her BGM theme, is so godly that makes me wonder why a lot of people prefer other female characters over main heroines like her (different opinions, PROBLEM SOLVED lol). And something tells me that her main story (beacause we haven’t really entered Nagisa’s arc yet) will make us cry like baby kittens more than once. ;_;

• Kyou Fujibayashi.

Tsundere attack!

Not much to say, other than she is bi rides a bike to school. Her interactions with Tomoya & Co. are pretty funny. And I love Botan/Button/whatever.

• Kotomi Ichinose.

Zzzz…

Up to now, she’s my least favorite girl… but that’s because, aside from her obento taberu and her being the “smartest” girl of the bunch, we haven’t really seen much about her.

• Fuuko Ibuki.

ROFL WRONG MEDIA

This girl is all about the moe~ moe~ starfish mode, becoming the Fuuko Master and “dribble shu-to”s. Well, not really, since she actually has a story just like everybody else (actually, she’ll be the first one to suffer plot-center-before-you-get-killed-off treatment).

• Tomoyo Sakagami.

Legendary kicku girl Tomoyo.

The girl whose milkshake brings all the boys to the yard is here (Mia <3). She’s so popular that she got her own wonderful-eroge-life game. She even has potential to become my second favorite heroine, just some light years behind Nagisa.

• Sunohara-guy.
  

lawl

Honorable mention to the guy who, with total pwnage from the CLANNAD girls and cyborg jokes, has been responsible for the series high fun factor. Give this man an important role in some of the story arcs and he might become the best sidekick character ever.

• Others. (lol lazy) Akio, Sanae, Misae, Ryou, Yukine, Kouku, Yusuke, Naoyuki… most of them parents/siblings/other relatives of members from the main cast, which is a good thing since it means we’ll be getting a deeper plot by adding their mini stories to the essential ones.

At episode 5 we finally enter the first story arc. I’ll be probably writing another post about it when it ends (which I think is next week), so until then…

WTF