一ノ瀬ことみ (Ichinose Kotomi)

"The day before yesterday, I saw a rabbit. Yesterday, a deer. Today, you."

Ichinose Kotomi is the subject of the second minor arc of Clannad: her arc runs between Episodes 10 and 14, roughly.  After that, she exists mostly in the background, as a part of Tomoya and Nagisa's group of friends, and she never really becomes prominent again, except for one scene in the middle of After Story.

(Be prepared: this post is long!)

Personality

Kotomi is a high school senior (as are most of the school characters in Clannad), and she is basically a perfect example of a quiet genius girl.  Her impressive intelligence is made apparent immediately, and it shows itself forth in numerous instances (such as when she bats).  Her shyness is also very obvious.  She spends most of her time in the library, before Tomoya drags her out into the sunlight, and she suspects everyone she meets of being a bully.  Social skills are not her strong suit: she often uses strict, memorized phrases when first talking with a new person (like Nagisa, Kyou, Ryou, etc.), and even after that, her capacity for banter and casual conversation are somewhat limited.  It's not hard for her to talk over people's heads, though.  Kotomi has two passions: studying and playing violin.  The former she is a master at; the latter is more to be classified as aural torture than music, usually (although good violin playing is present in her chamber orchestra theme, "Étude Pour les Petites Supercordes"). 

That's Kotomi in a nutshell: a quiet genius with a distinct lack of casual social skills and a passion for studying and playing violin.

Her social skills and violin playing are readily apparent in this scene:

Story

We first meet Kotomi when Tomoya walks into the library and finds her sitting on the floor, surrounding by very academic books, about to take a pair of scissors to one of them.  After an awkward conversation, Kotomi bids farewell to Tomoya, at least for the time being.  Besides receiving a starfish from Fuko (and demonstrating impressive scientific knowledge about it), she does not really appear again until Episode 10, the episode following Fuko's arc.  After a humorous incident in which Sunohara tries to ask Kotomi on a date and fails, Tomoya begins to talk with her, and he learns how she is basically friendless.  Thus starts the quest of "Tomoya-kun" to gain friends for Kotomi.  (She adds the -kun honorific to Tomoya's name.  This honorific is used to show either closeness (such as between very good friends, childhood friends, or those dating/married) or an attitude of an elder speaking to a younger person (such as a teacher to a student, or a boss to an employee).  Neither meaning is fit for someone your own age you've just recently met!) 

Tomoya introduces Kotomi to all his friends, and, as she is somewhat forced into Nagisa's drama club, she begins to gain at least some social ability.  That is, until she decides she can play the violin.  Her skills cause aural pain to those around her, but her new friends are still kind enough to put on a recital for her.

The fun and games don't last long, though.  Kotomi has a couple encounters with a mysterious man that she calls "the bad man."  And following a scare in which the group of friends think Ryou has been seriously injured in a bus accident, Kotomi goes into a nervous breakdown and locks herself in her home.  Meanwhile, "the bad man" continues to appear.

Tomoya and the gang learn that Kotomi's birthday is fast approaching, so they decide to help her celebrate.  Nagisa, Kyou, and Ryou try to obtain a violin for Kotomi, but it is broken by a runaway driver and must be repaired.  Meanwhile, Tomoya (with later help from the other three) works on renovating Kotomi's yard: pulling weeds, planting grass, rebuilding the flower bed, rearranging furniture.  As he is working, Tomoya keeps getting a nagging feeling that the yard is familiar...and finally he has a revelation.  Tomoya was Kotomi's childhood friend.  He accidentally ran into her yard one day chasing butterflies, and they became friends.  Everything was happy for a while, until Kotomi's birthday rolled around.  Her parents had to leave on an urgent business trip, and Tomoya was supposed to bring friends to a party.  Unfortunately, his friends didn't want to come to a girl's party, so he was too ashamed to go, and Kotomi was left alone...until the "bad man" showed up, that is.  He was a work associate of Kotomi's parents, and he came to tell her that her parents had died in a plane crash, losing a valuable manuscript in the process.  He wanted to look for an extra copy of that manuscript in the house.  Kotomi panicked and found what she thought was the copy he wanted in her dad's study, and she quickly burned it.  This started a large fire, though, that Tomoya (who eventually got up the courage to visit her alone) and the bad man came and put out for her.  Kotomi then learns that what she burned was not the manuscript, but a catalog her parents were looking through to find a teddy bear for her birthday.  After that, she truly became a social recluse.

(See Kotomi's side of the story here, and Tomoya's side here.)

Jump back to the present.  Tomoya and the others finally convince Kotomi to leave her house, and they force her to listen to what the bad man has to say.  He's brought a briefcase that was her parents'.  It turns out this briefcase survived the crash and travelled around the world to her (in either a miraculous or cynically impossible way).  Inside is a teddy bear she requested for her birthday and a letter from her parents.  Kotomi's joy is incandescent as she receives that final message from her parents.



Thus, after her birthday party, ends Kotomi's arc.  After that, she is mainly a background character.  She has her humorous moments, like all background characters, but she doesn't really have any major moments, except for during the New Year's party in After Story.  When all the friends visit Tomoya and Nagisa for New Year's, Kotomi explains her continuation of her parent's work (detailed below in the "Effect on the Main Plot" section) while she has been in America (where she went to study after high school).  The final shot of Kotomi is her wearing sunglasses driving a fast convertible down a winding highway, her hair blowing in the wind.

Effect on the Main Plot

While Fuko helped bring Nagisa and Tomoya closer together, Kotomi didn't really do that.  Sure, the two helped out with planning for Kotomi's birthday, but that didn't bring them too much closer together.  Instead, Kotomi helped build, or, rather, reveal, Tomoya's character.

Along with the building of Nagisa and Tomoya's relationship, the main plot of Clannad also involves the exploration and development of both of their characters.  Kotomi's arc is an example of the exploration of Tomoya's character.  The arc starts to show us Tomoya's childhood: he was a kid who ran around chasing butterflies, and he ran across this strange violin-playing girl one day.  We see how easy it is for Tomoya to make friends (which is a trait he carries, at least to an extent, in the present day as well).  We see how he at first gives up on things when facing challenges (like being ridiculed for wanting to go to Kotomi's party), but in the end he gets past them (not only going to her house, but helping save her from a fire as well).

These aspects are shown in the present day too: he perseveres in landscaping her yard, even when it seems the task will be impossible.  This is also tied into Tomoya's loyalty and devotion to his friends, shown in both his childhood and the present day.  In the end, then,Kotomi's arc helps reveal Tomoya's character: the childhood flashbacks show us that many of his character traits have been with him his whole life.  (By the way, the fact that they were childhood friends is why Kotomi was justified in calling him "Tomoya-kun"...even if he didn't remember this fact.)

The second area where Kotomi impacts the plot is in the realm of the ending and the invisible world.  Though we first saw one of the lights during Fuko's arc, they become much more obvious during Kotomi's.  When she opens the briefcase from her parents and realizes just how much they loved her, the air is filled with lights (again, the lights will be explained in detail in a later post).

Besides the lights, we also gets hints into the invisible world through Kotomi's story.  In her childhood, it is shown that her parents were researching a supposed "hidden world" that was different from our world yet somehow integrally connected.  Her father thinks of the world as consisting of countless invisible harps that when sounded in their individual sounds create a single melody, which explains the beauty of the world (hence Kotomi's name, according to her father: "koto" is the Japanese word for harp).  Her father's words (as relayed by Kotomi) also help explain the "magical" nature of the show: "Those who seek out the truth must not be arrogant.  You must not laugh at miracles just because they cannot be explained scientifically.  You must not turn away from the beauty of this world."  Her mother's words, on the other hand, express the theme of family better: they will be explained below.

At the New Year's party in After Story (a very thematically interesting scene), Kotomi tries to explain the "hidden world" theory using quantum mechanics and theoretical physics.  When that fails, she resorts to the simple explanation that it is somehow connected to our world, even though her parents thought it was a world we could neither see nor feel.  "Time, space, and people's consciousness interact in mysterious ways to change both worlds or create new worlds," she says.  The invisible world could interact with our world: it's truly unknown, because the world has many mysterious aspects.  The "many worlds" theory also comes up in this discussion.

Though all the theoretical discussion is interesting, I think the most important aspect of this is that when Kotomi is talking about the hidden world in After Story, Tomoya has flashes of memory involving Nagisa's play (whose plot is based on the invisible world) and the invisible world itself.  That solidifies it: the Ichinoses' research does investigate the invisible world we've been seeing.

To summarize, then, Kotomi affects the main plot by revealing more of Tomoya's character and by offering insights into the show's magical nature and the nature of the invisible world.

Themes

Again, family is the main theme of Clannad, and it is very present in Kotomi's arc.  Her arc truly revolves around the effect that the loss of her parents (and, in a different way, her childhood friend) had on her.  It is very apparent that she loved her parents deeply, and they loved her.  Her mother's words to her as a child resound as a statement of the importance of family: “Remember, what’s important is always very simple…You are Mother and Father’s most cherished treasure.”  That familial love is important in everyone's life; without that love, it can be hard to truly become a mature person.  Maybe that's one why Kotomi is such a reserved person: the loss of her parents.  In her childhood, she has a good friend that she plays with, and her violin skills are actually pleasing to the ear.  After the death of her parents, though, her entire life becomes devoted to studying so she can follow her parents' footsteps and collecting every reference to them ever written.  She loves her parents to the point of obsession, and their loss truly devastated her.  In the end, familial love is important.  Without it, our development into mature persons is slowed, if not stopped altogether.

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, Kotomi loves her parents to the point of obsession.  This brings up the theme of perseverance.  Kotomi's obsession with her parents is partly due to true familial love and partly due to an inability to get over the tragedy of their death.  That is why she has her father's study plastered with clippings of newspapers and books that mention them (hence her cutting of books in the library and bookstore).  This started with just clippings related to their deaths.  The closed off room full of clippings and the spot where she burned the catalog represent her mental state in a way: just as she locks herself into that room, she has also locked herself into the tragedy of her past.  Thanks to the efforts of her new friends and the reception of her parents' briefcase, though, Kotomi is able to leave that room, both physically and mentally.  I've always loved the words of her parents' letter to her: "The world is beautiful. Even if you're full of tears and sadness, open your eyes. Do what you want to do. Be what you want to be. Find friends. Don't be in a hurry to grow up. Take your time."  These words are a stellar example of perseverance: even when tragedy is all you know, open your eyes and move ahead.  The world is beautiful.

There's some self-sacrifice present too, in that Kotomi's friends gave up lots of their time in helping make her party the best it could be, and her parents gave up the sum of their entire careers (the manuscript) in order to send one last message to their daughter.

The supernatural is present here in terms of the lights that appear when Kotomi receives her briefcase and the investigations into the invisible world.

Another theme in Clannad is the influence of the past on the present.  To be more specific, you could say the influence of childhood.  The tragedy in Kotomi's childhood kept her imprisoned for many years, yet there were still joyous aspects of her childhood that continued into her adult life: for instance, her love of the violin and her dedication to her parent's work.  We also see that aspects of Tomoya's childhood personality are still present in his older self (see the "Effect on the Main Plot" section for details).  I think this idea can be summed up in the sentence from Robert F. Young's story "The Dandelion Girl" that Kotomi quotes: "The day before yesterday, I saw a rabbit.  Yesterday, a deer.  Today, you."  This sentence is what clicks Tomoya's mind into remembering his childhood friendship with Kotomi. 

Reflection

Kotomi's arc always struck a chord with me.  Besides the main storyline of Nagisa and Tomoya, her arc is my favorite.  I've always felt like I connected with Kotomi.  Maybe it's because I used to be an overly quiet, studious person, maybe it's because I understand what it's like to lose a parent at a young age.  Either way, I've always felt her story was powerful.  I've especially always loved her parents' words: they've inspired me since I first heard them (which is why I quoted them in full above).  The comparison of the world to a flowing melody, the beauty of the world, the necessity of family, friends, and perseverance...it's all extremely beautiful to me.

I also think there's an implicit theme in here as well: the transience of friendship.  While friendships can last for a lifetime, most of them pass away; at the very least, they grow colder in intensity.  Sometimes this happens because of tension or conflict, and sometimes it's just a gradual passing away.  I think both of these can be seen in Kotomi.  First of all, her friendship with Tomoya came to an abrupt halt after her parents' death psychologically wrecked her.  That's an end due to tension (though not tension between the two of them).  Second of all, after their friendship is restarted in high school, during the arc, it slowly drifts apart.  Kotomi very much becomes a background character at the conclusion of her arc.  Though she retains her individuality, the intensity of her friendship with Tomoya dissipates.  Some of my friends have complained about the fact that Kotomi disappears into the background after her arc, but I think it's a sadly realistic thing: I've had that happen to me many times.  I went through 5 or so groups of good friends in my first year of college.  I'd have a great, pretty intense friendship with a group for a while, and then we'd slowly drift apart, and I'd eventually merge into another group, and the process would repeat.  So I think Kotomi's arc is realistic in that way.

Overall, I do believe that I love Kotomi's arc, and I think it's a powerful tale that adds to Clannad's themes and helps reveal Tomoya's character.  So now we end with a look at the final glimpse of Kotomi in the After Story montage during "Chiisana Te No Hira," as she drives off into the (most likely American) sunset...

Thank you for reading.  God Bless, and peace.

Nota Bene: All clips are from the Clannad Central YouTube channel run by the Clannad (クラナド/Kuranado) fan page on Facebook. All character themes and other music from the show can also be found on said fan page, in the music player. My gratitude to them and all the work they do.

伊吹風子(Ibuki Fuko)

"Fuko has an average Earthling's thought process! Fuko's neighbors often say Fuko is a very normal Earthling!"

Ibuki Fuko (yes, I use the Japanese name order, just because I can) is the subject of the first minor arc (because I refer to all arcs besides Nagisa's and Tomoya's as minor, even if they are important)  in Clannad. Her arc runs between Episodes 2 and 9 (roughly); after that, she is only seen intermittently in occasional "Fuko Ninja" moments (like the one the picture is from), until the last quarter or so of After Story.

(Since Fuko is an important character, this post is long: be prepared!)

Personality

Fuko, personality-wise, is a quirky, hyper, stubborn, often childish high school sophomore (in Japan, high school is three years rather than four, as it is in America, so a high school sophomore is a first-year student). She believes starfish (hitode) are the cutest things on the face of the planet. This belief is so adamant she gets into a short fight with Nagisa over which is cuter: starfish or dango (watch it here). If she's around starfish or starfish-shaped objects, she can go into a trance because she cannot handle the cuteness (as in the beginning of this scene). Her childish stubbornness that her views are right, even when there is evidence to the contrary, can lead to physical pain (like when Tomoya keeps getting her to hit her cut hands because she won't admit that they hurt). When meeting someone for the first time, she will quickly make a judgement of them, a judgement that is often very persistent (as when she refers to Tomoya as "the person whose existence is weird" or immediately takes on Nagisa as a friend). That being said, she is also impulsive, such as her sprinting into the forest in the final scene of After Story. Her childishness can often lead to day dreaming; for instance, she imagines many strange ways to inform the school that the sculptures she passes out are starfish. Amidst all the quirkiness, hyperactivity, stubbornness, and childishness, she has some maturity, most evidently shown in her devoted love to her sister, represented in the starfish sculptures (to be explained below).

In summary, then, Fuko is an exemplar of childishness (which her character theme, "Hurry, Starfish," portrays well), yet with some mature family loyalty also.

To see Fuko's personality in action, here is her first appearance:

Story

We first meet Fuko as a strange girl alone in an empty room after school, carving some sort of star-shaped object with a chipped knife (as we in the scene above). Tomoya finds her there and takes the knife to keep her safe. Later she finds him eating lunch outside with Nagisa and pesters him to get the knife back. Soon Tomoya runs across Fuko again: this time, she's handing out her star-shaped sculptures to people. According to her logic, if someone receives a gift without reason, they feel like they must do something in return: her suggestion is that they attend her sister Kouko's wedding. Tomoya and Nagisa agree to help her, yet soon they discover the truth about her, and why she never leaves the school: she is actually a sort of "ghost." The original Fuko was hit by a car on her first day of high school and has been in a coma ever since: she's really Tomoya's age. The Fuko Tomoya and Nagisa know is basically Fuko's consciousness taking a physical form, in a magical, unexplained way. Tomoya and Nagisa check with Kouko (who used to be an art teacher at the high school; Nagisa had her as a teacher her first year) to confirm this truth. Then Nagisa takes Fuko (with the fake family name of "Isogai," stolen from the Furukawas' neighbors) into her home. Everyone begins to help Fuko out: Tomoya, Nagisa, Akio, Sanae, Kyou, Ryou, Sunohara, etc. They even hold a mock class for her with Sanae as teacher, because she has never been in a class before.

Then her story begins a tragic turn. As starfish sculptures (for we have learned that they truly are starfish, not stars or shuriken) are passed out and word of Kouko's wedding is spread, the school's Founder's Festival approaches. Tomoya and Nagisa decide to invite Kouko to the Festival and have her meet up with Fuko. Unfortunately, Kouko cannot see her sister. After that, other students around the school slowly stop being able to see her, and they forget her existence, which coincides with Kouko's information that the original Fuko's condition has worsened, and she may never wake from her coma. As more and more people forget her (which also happens to some due to their visiting her in the hospital), Tomoya and Nagisa (the last to remember) buy her a birthday set and have a pre-celebration for Kouko's wedding the next day (which will be at the school). They fall asleep with Fuko sitting between them: when they wake up, she's gone, and they've forgotten. At Kouko's wedding, they suddenly remember Fuko, and she reappears; at the same time, they learn that everyone who received a starfish came to the wedding. Once Fuko thanks Tomoya and Nagisa for all they have done, and congratulates her sister, she disappears for good.

...Or so we think. Throughout the rest of the first season, Fuko (who no one recognizes) appears intermittently in random moments ("Fuko Ninja" moments) for comic relief. For instance, when Kyou is trying to win a claw game to get a gift for Kotomi's birthday, Fuko appears to help, only to grab a starfish instead of Kotomi's gift. Or when Tomoya uses a charm to have the first person who speaks to him be the one who likes him, Fuko is the first one he runs into, though he keeps her from talking.

In After Story, Fuko is non-existent until the last quarter of the series, when Tomoya and Ushio are introduced to her by Kouko. She has just recently woken up from her coma, and though physically she is as old as Tomoya, mentally she is still a childish high school sophomore. She becomes good friends with Ushio, playing with her often, and multiple times trying to steal her.

The final time we see Fuko is when she is walking with her sister to get a check up at the doctor (she did come out of a ten-year coma: she needs check ups!) and, after some pestering of Kouko, she runs into the forest and approaches a girl under a tree...hence the shot in the opening theme of the first season.

Effect on the Main Plot

I think the most crucial thing Fuko does for the main plot is to draw Nagisa and Tomoya together.  Though they had already been working together on the drama club, she brings them together to work on a more immediate goal: her sister's upcoming wedding.  An experience of joint effort often brings people closer together: that's why retreats and other events often have teambuilding exercises involving joint effort, such as a relay race or constructing a sculpture.  These types of things join people.  And that's what carving and distributing the wooden starfish does for Nagisa and Tomoya.  Not only is the joint effort a cause of closeness, but Fuko herself works to bring them together.  The pre-celebration scene is where this is most shown, I believe.  In the scene, Fuko orders Nagisa and Tomoya to call each other by their first names, because they are close enough that they should be doing so already.  She succeeds with Tomoya and fails (at least for the time being) with Nagisa, but overall she still succeeds at bringing the two together.  And it's an effect they feel after she's gone: in a scene later in the show (I can't at present remember exactly where), Tomoya is calling Nagisa by her first name and then reflects, "When did I start doing this?"  It shows that one person's influence can persist, even when that person is lost in memory.

Fuko also leads Tomoya to connect with Yoshino, Kouko's fiancee.  Though Tomoya originally meets him in a random encounter, he continues to come into contact with him due to his being engaged and later married to Kouko, who he comes to know because of Fuko.  Yoshino is a key player in Tomoya's character development in After Story, so Fuko's influence here is definitely important.

You also first see a light orb (crucial for the ending) in Fuko's arc, when everyone holds the fake class for her, she becomes class leader, and Sanae tells her that all of them are her friends.

In After Story, she acts somewhat as an older sister to Ushio, and, in the process, I think she also helps Tomoya grow closer to his daughter.  After all, she sparks a bit of a defense reaction in Tomoya, who tries a few times to protect Ushio from Fuko's strangeness.  And there is the final scene, which I will analyze in a separate post (because overall I'm still not completely sure what to make of it).

Now for a couple theories I've heard in regards to Fuko's influence.

One theory is that Fuko is the sheep seen in the invisible world in the beginning of the second episode of After Story.  The weight of that theory depends on your interpretation of the invisible world, which I'll cover in a later post.

Another theory, which I think is true, was espoused by Nathan in his recent blog post, and that theory is that Fuko is a foreshadowing of Ushio.  He says Kouko and Yoshino are foreshadowings of Nagisa and Tomoya (their appearances seem to indicate this, as the former pair resemble older versions of the latter pair), which I had never thought of before, yet it makes total sense.  It's also a good explanation for Yoshino's key role in helping Tomoya take on his husbandly and fatherly duties.  In regards to Fuko, her being like a child to Nagisa and Tomoya is obvious.  At one point, Nagisa even tells Tomoya, "It almost feels like we're her mother and father."  And at the end of the pre-celebration party, Tomoya says that it feels like he, Nagisa, and Fuko really are a family.  You can't get more blatantly obvious than that.  Thus Fuko does even more for the main plot: she introduces Nagisa and Tomoya to role models that are like older versions of themselves, and she prepares them for the experience of having a child.  So all in all, Fuko really works in getting the two prepared to be a family.  (Again, I give all credit to Nathan for this insight).

In summary, then, Fuko's effort on the main plot is to bring Nagisa and Tomoya closer together, introduce them to role models, and prepare them for the idea of their being a family.

Themes

Fuko definitely showcases the importance of family.  By some mysterious circumstance, she got a chance to engage the world after being in a coma for two years, and she dedicated all her time to making her sister's wedding the best it could be, and to making her sister as happy as can be.  Of course, maybe her love for her sister is what gave her the chance to engage the world anyway.  Maybe her deep family love "incarnated" itself in a way so that she could affect things with her love.  No matter how you look at it, though, Fuko shows the deep, affective love that can be found in true family.

What I have just mentioned above also ties into the theme of self-sacrifice.  Instead of using her time engaging the world to her own benefit, she uses it to help her sister.  (Since true love is self-sacrificial, this theme is integrally tied into the theme of family and family love, I think.)

Another theme is perseverance.  No matter how many times Fuko's starfish are rejected, and even when people stop being able to see her, she still presses on in her quest to show her love for sister and to help her.

Fuko's story also shows the presence of the supernatural (like the idea I referred to in my introduction as "magical realism" or a "fairytale").  It's never explained how Fuko's consciousness becomes physical and able to affect the world, and the fact that everyone forgets her is not exactly explained either.  They're supernatural elements to her story, and supernatural elements are key to the entire show.

As I continue to evaluate, analyze, and reflect on the series, I'm sure I will recognize more themes, and I will explain them then.

Reflection

I have many friends who are attached to Fuko as their favorite character and favorite arc.  While she's not my favorite character (I think Akio holds that place for me), I do think she has the best of the minor arcs (although there's a special place in my heart for Kotomi's as well).  Its length gives you a chance to really connect with Fuko before her bittersweet disappearance.  She worked so long and hard to make her sister's wedding a beautiful reality, and she succeeded, yet in the end, she disappeared into the mist.  It truly is heartbreaking, and a big part is how engaging her character is.  Her quirkiness catches your interest, and I think her childishness gives her a powerful potential for connection.  It's hard not to be entranced by the innocence of a child, and I think Fuko captures that essence of childish innocence.  I think that's part of what makes her so captivating a character and, in turn, so heartbreaking.  Her recurring comic relief moments are always refreshing; everyone (including I) loves to see a beloved character return, if only for a minute.  And her recovery from her coma in After Story is pretty high up on the list of joyful moments in Clannad.  I think Fuko is one of the greatest chracters, due to her lovable quirkiness and childishness, her ability to engage the viewer, and also her example of familial love and self-sacrifice. 

And the fact that the last lines of the series (not counting the extra episodes) are from her just proves her worth all the more.

Thank you for reading.  God bless, and peace.

Nota Bene: All clips are from the Clannad Central YouTube channel run by the Clannad (クラナド/Kuranado) fan page on Facebook.  All character themes and other music from the show can also be found on said fan page, in the music player.  My gratitude to them and all the work they do.

An Introduction/Family (Part 1) and the Structure of Clannad

"We embark on the long, long uphill climb..."

An Introduction

When my friend Nathan started a blog to review and reflect on the anime Clannad(by which I refer to both seasons), he gave me a kickstart to do the same. I’ve been thinking of doing such a thing for some time now, but he had the impetus to get started before I did.

Clannad is (in my humble opinion) the greatest anime ever created. The series (composed of two seasons: Clannad from 2007-2008 and Clannad: After Story from 2008-2009) is based on a 2004 visual novel (a subgenre of adventure games that is similar to a choose-your-own-adventure book in video game form, which is often linked to the genre of “dating sims,” although dating sims are technically not visual novels, but rather a subgenre of simulation games) created by the company Key. It is Key’s third project of turning a visual novel into an anime, after Kanon (which I have not seen much of) and Air (which I view as a great show, even if Nathan thinks it’s slow).

Just saying it’s based on a visual novel is not an adequate description of what Clannad is, though. It’s a mix of comedy, drama, and romance; it’s often described as “slice of life.” But it’s also got more magical elements; in some ways, it reminds me of the genre of “magical realism.” Even that doesn’t perfectly describe it, though. The best description I’ve found is the one my friend Nathan wrote in his blog, which is that it’s a “modern-day fairytale.” For more information into the background of Clannad and what Clannad is (and for some good reviews and reflections on it), I’d encourage you to check out Nathan’s blog at http://theschoolstrees.blogspot.com/.

Now, a little about the blog. As I said, my friend Nathan inspired me to make this blog, but I’m not trying to copy off of him. Instead, we’re trying to coordinate. My blog will be based on describing different characters and themes and how they relate to Clannad as an integral whole. His blog explores the series by going through the episodes in order. Anyhow, because I view the show as a whole, my posts will be describing these themes and characters as they relate to the entire show, both the first season (Clannad) and the second season (Clannad: After Story). Seeing as this is the case, I warn you now: this blog will be full of spoilers. If you have not seen all of Clannad, finish it (both seasons!) before reading this blog. I will make no attempts to hide spoilers; this is a blog for those who have completed the show.

And a little about me (because knowing the background and views of a reviewer/reflector should impact how you evaluate his work). I am a strong Roman Catholic, and my philosophical views are linked to Roman Catholicism. This means I may, in my blog, relate Clannad to Christianity, because I definitely see some connections. I am also an idealist and a hopeless romantic. I am a somewhat introverted geek and am quickly becoming a fan of anime and all things Japanese. I can also possibly be a bit verbose in my writing, so forgive me in advance. And I believe all that sums up my views and myself pretty well.

Now the introductory stuff is over, so let’s start with the first reflection:


Family (Part 1) and the Structure of Clannad


I’ll start with a simple thesis statement for this section: Clannad is all about family. After all, the word “clannad” is an Irish word meaning “clan” or “family.”

I think the structure of Clannad is a strong proof to back up my statement. I find the structure fascinating. When viewers watch Clannad, some might view the smaller arcs, such as Fuko’s and Kotomi’s, as tangential to the main plot and, to a point, as “filler.” While they might not be mainly focused on the main plot (which I would hold to be the relationship of Tomoya and Nagisa), they are crucial to the main theme.

I hold that the structure of Clannad is similar to the structure of Air, another visual-novel-turned-anime by Key, and this structure is as follows: there is a main plot always moving forward, albeit sometimes slowly, and sometimes in the background of the current events. Though there are large parts of the show solely focused on this main plot, there are also many smaller story arcs involving characters connected to the main characters. Sometimes the events of these story arcs move the main plot forward slightly, and sometimes they may seem to not affect the plot at all. But these story arcs are always related to the main theme, and they help develop it and flesh it out.

That description may have been as clear as mud, so I’ll explain it better via example. As I’ve stated previously, and as should be obvious to anyone who watches Clannad, the show’s main theme is family. The title, the plot, and the first season ending theme (“Dango Daikazoku” = “The Big Dango Family”) all showcase it readily. Now let me explain how the structure illustrates the theme of family.

Obviously, the main plot is the relationship between Tomoya and Nagisa, which eventually leads to them forming a family, with their child Ushio (remember, I don’t apologize for spoilers). Even after the death of Nagisa, their family is the key plot, because it is a trip with Ushio (through the influence of Akio and Sanae, Nagisa’s parents, and Tomoya’s own long-lost grandmother) that knocks Tomoya out of his depression. The creation of this family and what happens to them (especially the astounding ending) is without a doubt the main plot of the series. The smaller stories do not always contribute to this main plot (although they often do), but they contribute to the theme of family and how crucial it is. Here’s a run-down of the minor plots and their connections to family:

Fuko: her plot is about obtaining happiness for her sister (a family member)

Kotomi: her plot is about dealing with the trauma of the loss of her parents (family members)

Kyou: her plot is about trying to hook up Tomoya with her sister, Ryou (a family member)

Tomoyo: her plot is about struggling to save the cherry trees because of her emotional connection of them with her brother (a family member)

Sunohara: his plot is about becoming a good big brother to his little sister, Mei (a family member)

Yukine: her plot is about keeping alive the legacy of her brother (a family member)

Misae: her plot is about the relationship with her former love and current cat (a family member in a way)

Yoshino: his plot is about his relationship with his wife, Kouko (a family member)

Do you see the trend now? And that’s not counting Nagisa’s conflict about her near-death experience as a child due to her parents, Tomoya’s rough relationship with his alcoholic father, Naoyuki (which is later explained by his long-lost grandmother, Shino), the relationship between Tomoya and his daughter, Ushio, and the process of grieving for Nagisa’s death gone through by Akio, Sanae, Tomoya, and Ushio. Plus there’s the girl and robot in the invisible world and the ending, which will take at least an entire post on its own to explain (though it will probably take more).

I hope I’ve convinced you now that the structure of Clannad is focused dually on the furthering of the main plot (Nagisa and Tomoya’s relationship/family) and the development of the main theme (the importance of family).

That’s my first reflection. I’m sure later on I’ll wax eloquently some more about the theme of family, but I hope this is a good introduction. From here on out, I will first explore the minor characters (everyone except Tomoya, Nagisa, and Ushio) in preparation for Nathan’s post on the ending of Clannad. Once that is complete, I will explore the major characters and then truly delve into the themes. So, I encourage you to leave comments and suggestions, and I once again encourage you to check out my friend Nathan’s Clannad blog at http://theschoolstrees.blogspot.com/. Thank you for reading. God bless, and peace.