Clannad: Complete Collection by Section 23

Editorial Review

The romantic comedy Clannad began as an online visual novel developed by Key in 2004 that was adapted to manga, CDs, a feature film, and this 2007 television series. Bitterly disillusioned high school senior Tomoya Okazaki was recruited by Hikarisaka High as a potential basketball star, but he injured his shoulder in a fight with his alcoholic father and can no longer play. As a self-described delinquent and slacker, he shows up late, plays hooky with his friend Sunohara, and sleeps in class–unthinkable misconduct in the formal Japanese school system. But he's really a very nice guy, as he reveals when he strikes up a conversation with Nagisa Furukawa, a diffident girl who's repeating her senior year after a serious illness. As Okazaki helps Nagisa realize her dream of reviving the school drama club, he gets involved with an assortment of odd characters: reclusive, brilliant Kotome turns out to be a friend from when he was a little boy; athletic Tomoyo is trying to live down her reputation as a brawler who beat up bullies at her old school; Fuko may be the spirit of a comatose girl who was injured in a traffic accident. The tone of Clannad shifts unexpectedly from shojo romance to harem comedy to magical girl adventure as the filmmakers throw in offbeat elements that move the story in unexpected directions. Fuko seems to fade out of the main characters' lives in a bittersweet farewell, only to recur as an enthusiastic, if ineffectual, magical heroine. Okazaki gets serious indigestion when Nagisa, Kotome, and several other girls make him bento boxes, but the other girls quietly give up when they realize Nagisa is the right girl for him. Clannad may be a difficult series to characterize, but it's easy to enjoy and will appeal to fans of Azumanga Daioh. It spawned a sequel, Clannad: After Story, and an odd, brief OVA in which Okazaki and Tomoyo end up together. (Rated TV PG: cartoon violence, minor risqué humor, tobacco and alcohol use) –Charles Solomon

(1. On the Hillside Path Where the Cherry Blossoms Flutter, 2. The First Step, 3. Once Again After Crying, 4. Let's Find Friends, 5. The Scenery with a Carving, 6. The Older and Younger Sister's Founder's Festival, 7. Star-Shaped Feelings, 8. The Wind That Vanishes into the Twilight, 9. Until the End of the Dream, 10. The Girl Genius' Challenge, 11. The After School Rhapsody, 12. Hidden World, 13. Garden of Memories, 14. Theory of Everything, 15. Stuck Problem, 16. 3 on 3, 17. A Room Without Anyone, 18. Counter Measures, 19. A New Life, 20. A Hidden Past, 21. Face Toward the School Festival, 22. Two Shadows, 23. The Events of Summer Holidays, 24. (OVA) Another World: Tomoyo Chapter)