CLANNAD After Story 22
The climatic finale of the present story arc is invariably putting a period behind those tear-stained letters some may have penned over the past weeks. It’s a tough job from the perspective of a planner, someone who will ultimately look back at the CLANNAD series and try to see what more could have been done, constructively, to eek out every ounce of emotional attachment and mental capital that we have all invested in over the course of over an year. And many more for fans of the original game. It’s tough because sometimes you just don’t know how it’ll turn out before you make it.
But at the same time, from the perspective of a critic, someone who will ultimately look back at the CLANNAD series and try to put a value on it, we will wonder why we’ve walked this far and how much more should we be following along. I believe this comparison is one that a successful adaptation of CLANNAD will have to suggest to its viewers and potential fans, because it’s one that will take us back and help us remember just why the journey worth remembering. It helps us relive those moments that made you glad you were watching the show. It helped me remember the few moments I even contemplated writing something down about baseball, for example, or the moments that I did more than just contemplate. Even if it’s stupid like the very valid complaints about the aspect ratio.
One more thing did strike me as worth writing about. And it’s more than just how attractive Nagisa is in her older form:
When Okazaki walked down that country path to his ancestral home, I think that is not unlike the repeated scenes of the sad girl (gradually, in snow) over the entire series. But I don’t know. If there is meaning, it’s asking us to find it even if there may not be any. It’s like how the little robot wanted to go somewhere but we don’t even know where it is. The journey completed only through a miracle of understanding, a moment of truth, a whisper from the muse, or whatever you call when inspiration from heaven reaches down. And that is really why CLANNAD is worth writing about, when it evokes those feelings.
That said, these moments are rare, personally. There were maybe just a couple moments when the visual imagery evoked real emotion (damn AR getting in the way), but there were definitely one that evoked some emotion in episode 22, when the invariably controversial reset was coupled with just how pretty the whole affair was, regardless to the affront of any pre-conceived notion of fairness in narratives. LOL. Well, I guess I do miss Sunohara and his easy going humor. Those worked well. I love you too Fuuko, but you are, sadly, no match.
Well I guess, as you said, the “affront of any pre-conceived notion of fairness in narratives” is precisely what makes us reevaluate the process meaning-making we went through. Those that say something akin to “reset ends trivialize” separates those who get all BAWWW with no remorse perhaps by what was said earlier.
For me, I’m glad I watched Clannad. It’s not like the reset “contradicted” the 30-some previous episodes, but it’s that very contradiction which nourishes the warm and fuzzy but oh so unsettling experience of it all, and it’s not that “contradictions” (warning: semantic issue probably) are always bad either.
I agree. This is a Very Good reset because it adds rather than takes away.
Although personally I think the whole dying and tearful bedside scenes are not nearly as so important or worthwhile that even taking those feelings away means anything per se negative.
But again, it’s in terms of how you pitch your criticism. I mean, I understand why people don’t like it. I don’t even know if I like it. But I do know what they are trying to accomplish and I got no complaints about what I signed up to watch from episode 1.
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