Kita ze Inbou! - キタぜ陰謀!

[ Episode 22: A Small Hand ]

what the fuck

Ok, I’ll just go to straight to the point. I didn’t like the ending. In fact it even made me RAGE a bit. Now just so you know, this will basically be a rant post of what went wrong. I’ve been loving After Story since the beginning as it kept getting better and better. But this.. I’m sorry I just couldn’t find anything to like about this episode. It kinda ruined the second season as a whole for me.

I always knew there was a bit of a supernatural theme in Clannad, but I never thought it would have affected the story to this extent. I assumed the other world would just run parallel to Tomoya’s world for a nice constrast between worlds and characters. But damn, that chibi robot actually merged with Tomoya or something. And it felt off how Tomoya called out to Nagisa. Like I expected a lot of deep thought or flashbacks, but the fact that his revelation spawned when he and the chibi robot fused was lame. It was so random.

The thing that frustrated me most was Tomoya being able to change time/reality due to the light orbs (I call them dragon balls). Well he didn’t really do it on purpose. It just kinda happened. Yeah sure, Tomoya got GOOD END, but it felt like I went through those tear inducing episodes with Nagisa and Ushio for nothing. All that development, gone. You know how Tomoya said he felt like he was being toyed around by the city? I think I know what he means.

The other thing, I know this show is mainly about Tomoya and Nagisa, but those short snippets of the side cast really didn’t cut it for me. Especially Tomoyo’s where she looked all ronery. I probably would have shook that off until I saw the part where Fuko got like five minutes of screentime. Why do you do this to me, KyoAni? I really wanted to smile during her scenes because they were a bit funny. But I couldn’t. I know it’s supposed to reference back to Clannad’s first OP, but it really seemed unfair to me.

One last thing. Mei with tits? DO NOT WANT. Mei was one of my top loli. If the dragon balls had to do one thing, they should have kept her as a loli forever. I didn’t need to see that.

Giving my series review now since the next episode or two are just extras and this episode officially marks the end of After Story.

[ Final Thoughts ]

After Story is something I kinda just blogged because all the other good shows were taken at the time. I’m sure I mentioned I wasn’t fond of the first season, so this was something to watch just because it was there. Though at the end of all those weeks of watching and then writing about episodes, I’ve quickly grown to like characters I didn’t like before (Nagisa) and underrated characters that didn’t get to shine in the first season. From the mini arcs to Tomoya and Nagisa’s life journey, I enjoyed watching it all. After Story has managed to far surpass the first season in my opinion. lol that was a bit hard to say actually since there was a lack of Tomoyo and Kyou. But I can’t deny it. It was that good.

Story: 8/10
Drama is about life struggles and Clannad excels in this department because it is able to evoke many emotions out of its audience. It’s written in a way that manages to pull us in when it wants to. Whether these characters were at the peak of happiness or despair, we always followed closely.

Cast: 9/10
I’m sure anybody can manage to find a favorite character whether they like the show or not. Of course out of all of them, Tomoya stands at the top. Seeing him struggle and develop has been a wild ride. There were times where we laughed at his antics, then of course there were times that we sympathized with him. A really fleshed out protagonist. A shame all that development was flushed away at the end.

Animation: 9/10
Not only was the animation good, it managed to stay very consistent. Of course by now that should be expected of Kyoto Animation. Great use of light and colors during a lot of key scenes, like when Tomoya and Ushio went to the sunflower field, which made for really beautiful imagery.

Music: 9/10
The music in this series created the atmosphere. Well that’s what music in anime is supposed to do lol, but this did it really well. It managed to string us along nicely during the fun, relaxed times and the sad, dramatic times. Still wished they didn’t use such a happy ED which ruined the mood for some episodes.

Enjoyment: 8/10
Ignoring the ending for a bit, Clannad: After Story was something I really enjoyed from the beginning. And I’m glad that even though I disliked the first season, I stuck with the series because this is something I would have regretted missing. The enjoyment value wasn’t at “OMG I HAVE TO SEE THE NEXT EPISODE” level, but I had fun with each and every episode where I wasn’t BAWWing.

[ Overall series review: 88/100*]

*Note: Not an average.