Kaginado: Reflections After The Second Half and Welcoming The Year of The Rabbit

“I don’t think it’s possible to have a sense of tragedy without having a sense of humor.” –Christopher Hitchens

After Yuri and the SSS arrive at the school festival, she announces her intention to destroy this world and its god, feeling that the idyllic life here must be a ruse. To this end, Yuri tasks her force with capturing mascots from the other storylines to force the god’s appearance. Later, Yuri tries to hijack the buses taking the others to a summer trip, but when Yuzuru develops trauma from being within a tunnel, the SSS’ ploy fails, leading them to be buried in the beach as punishment. Back at school, Yuri next tries to put on a concert, confident that god will show up if they create some noise. Over time, the SSS begin settling into life with the other characters, and Yuri herself becomes excited about the student council president elections, feeling she can become god-like in the role. When the nail-biting election campaign begins, countless candidates join, and Yuri decides to sabotage the votes in her favour. For her actions, Yuri is thrown into solitary confinement, and meets Ayu, who’s confined for having stolen taiyaki. On the day of the election, it turns out that votes were evenly distributed, and when Ayu arrives, the other students pursue her so she can vote and break the tie. After elections end, the characters reflect on how being together has helped them to gain a better understanding of one another. The show thus draws to a close, and while Ushio is sad to see things end, planetarium attendant Yumemi reassures her that the show will continue so long as she remembers it. Nagisa and Tomoya arrive and pick up Ushio, while the Junker thanks Yumemi for another excellent performance before the pair set about preparing the planetarium for the next showing of Kaginado. With this, Kaginado‘s second half draws to a close, and with it, a wonderful parody of the worlds within Key’s impressive compendium is done. Kaginado was a part of the twenty-first anniversary project, and as a crossover, this series of shorts wound up being a very gentle and entertaining way of celebrating Key’s most iconic characters in a respectful, but cheerful manner: Key’s visual novels have a reputation for bringing tears to the player’s eyes, and anime adaptations have been similarly touted for their emotional impact, so being able to see the characters bounce off one another and parody their own past experiences shows that, while Key may excel at poignant stories, their writers also have a sense of humour.

The highlight of Kaginado‘s second half lies with the introductio of characters from Angel Beats!. After Kaede, Yuri, Yuzuru and the SSS join the party, Kaginado becomes even livelier as Yuri and the SSS do their utmost to cause a disturbance such that Yuri may draw out the world’s god so she can have a throwdown with them. To this end, the SSS embark on the same activities they had originally carried out within Angel Beats!, and while Yuri is certainly trying to take her work seriously, the fact that Kagonado is a parody with no regard for emotional tenour means that unexpected events thwart her every attempt. Kaginado shows how Yuri’s original plan within Angel Beats!, despite being motivated by rightous feelings of resentment and a desire for vengence, was ultimately one that couldn’t succeed. Angel Beats! would ultimately have Yuzuru approaching things with heart rather than bullets, leading the characters to make peace with their pasts, and here in Kaginado, Yuri similarly fails as those around her begin accepting the outlandish would that is Kaginado. That Angel Beats! premise works with both a dramatic and comedic environment speaks to how there are cases where how a story unfolds is dependent on the author’s intentions. Since Angel Beats! had been meant to pull at the viewer’s heartstrings and create a story of making a sincere effort to make peace with one’s past, things were more serious as Yuruzu strove to understand the world he found himself in. On the other hand, Kaginado is simply meant to parody these stories and give them a humourous twist. Yuri’s plans seem out-of-place, ill-conceived and unnecessary. However, despite the gap on intentions, the outcomes end up being the same after Yuri realises that within the other worlds, there were other characters who share her feelings. By hanging out with Kyou, Nayuki, Komari and Kotori, Yuri realises there is worth in this world, and ultimately decides to live life to the fullest, while at the same time, choosing a path most consistent with her desires. Because of the implications that Kaginado brings to the table, the parody series also reflects on the strength of the writing in Angel Beats!, a series that, after over a decade, still remains immensely enjoyable to watch.

Screenshots and Commentary

• The last time I wrote about Kaginado was near the end of August, and back then, my original plan had been to watch the second half shortly after: Kaginado‘s second half had begun airing during the spring of 2022, shortly after my move, and I had been settling in then, leaving little time for my other pursuits. Once things had settled down during the summer, I began watching Kaginado, but my usual propensity for procrastination meant that once I’d finished the first half, I found little time to continue as the fall season began, and Yama no Susume: Next Summit kicked off.

• However, within moments of starting Kaginado‘s second half, it immediately returned to me as to why I found the first half so enjoyable. The characters in Kaginado are largely faithful to their portrayals in their respective series, but additionally possess a modicum of awareness about how they were treated. This drives some of the humour; watching Ryou hand Botan to Ooyama, seemingly in order to spite Kyou, only for Ryou to betray Ooyama and alert Kyou to Botan’s position, was hilarious.

• Classic elements from Angel Beats! make a return in Kaginado, with details like Yusa’s role as Yuri’s intelligence officer being faithfully brought over. Yusa’s story in Angel Beats! is that of a tragedy, but owing to Angel Beats! runtime, most of the characters’ backgrounds actually aren’t explored, and it is not lost on me that two twenty-five episode seasons would probably be required. In place of this, Angel Beats! ended up receiving a visual novel, but after the first volume was released, no more news of the project was heard.

• Yuri’s plan to cause disruption in this world mirrors her old actions, and right out of the gates, I was reminded of the original Angel Beats! – as the story goes, I decided to pick the series up eleven years earlier because one of my friends had sent me Lia’s My Soul, Your Beats, and curiosity led me to watch Angel Beats!. After finishing Angel Beats!, I was greatly moved and proceeded to give CLANNAD, Kanon and Air a go. Each of these series were characterised by the balance of comedy and drama, as well as an overwhelming feeling of yearning.

• In Kaginado, the drama and tragedy is entirely discarded, leaving the entire focus on the comedy. Much of the humour is dependent on a familiarity with Key’s other works, and as such, folks who’ve not seen a handful of Key’s shows or played through the visual novels will find some of the moments in Kaginado difficult to follow. For instance, when Kaede shows up in the SSS headquarters, this is outrageous because originally, Yuri had gone to great lengths to keep Kaede at a distance, including setting traps. Here in Kaginado, Kaede is able to saunter freely into headquarters without any resistance, and playing on her love of the Sichuan dish, mapo tofu, she’s always seen with a bowl in hand.

• Although short, every episode of Kaginado is packed to the brim with hilarious moments; when Yuri’s initial plans fail, she decides to pull something during the big class trip to the beach. Her efforts end up failing, since her SSS are not equipped to deal with people possessing extraordinary combat prowess. The unexpected moments that occur in Kaginado means there is never a dull episode, and the series utilises its new additions from Angel Beats! to great effect.

• Kaginado‘s irreverent and whimsical presentation of elements from Angel Beats! serves to put things in perspective – although Angel Beats! had its share of comedy, a consequence of Yuzuru’s initial attempts to adjust to life in the Afterlife world, once Yuzuru began empathising with Kaede and began making efforts to make amends, the series became increasingly poignant as it became clear that every last person in the Afterlife had come in because of their own regrets, and this world had become a place for everyone to overcome said feelings of longing.

• Moments like Yuzuru’s sacrifice in Angel Beats! are brought back in irreverent but hilarious ways, ones which do require a priori knowledge of Angel Beats!. After the bus enters a tunnel, he develops a panic attack – his original story was that in life, he’d been a bit of loser, but ended up turning his life around and aspired become a medical doctor as a promise to his sister. En route to the entrance exams, a rock slide trapped his train, and Yuzuru ended up organising a survival effort, but died from dehydration and exhaustion moments before rescuers came through. In the absence of this background, Yuzuru’s outburst would not make much sense.

• Kaginado‘s first half had a swimsuit episode, so for kicks, the second half has a beach episode, and for good measure, both the idea of rendering the girls with a higher level of detail, and the battle between two pairs of siblings, make a return. Here in the second half, meta-humour remains present, although it is the SSS that drive most of the comedy – as punishment for their antics, they’re buried in the sand and forgotten wholly.

• While Mai and Sayuri enjoy the beef bowl at a beach house, today’s the first day of the Chinese New Year, and yesterday evening, I sat down to a wonderful New Year’s Eve dinner with family. It’s the first time I’ve had family over at the new place, and we ended up picking up a poon choi (盆菜, a Cantonese dish with whole prawns, fish balls, pork knuckle, braised pork, cabbage, scallops, abalone, chicken and a bunch of other flavourful ingredients I can’t remember), white-cut chicken (貴妃雞), stir-fried prawns (炒蝦 ) and shiitake on a bed of lettuce (冬菇菜). Dinner extended well into the evening, but it was great to host our first-ever dinner and relax with extended family.

• The Chinese New Year always creates an interest in horoscopes, although here, I note that people take an interest in horoscopes because they are way of comforting those who are facing uncertainty in their lives. Where tried-and-true methods fail, people look for patterns and hope in anything they can find, and astrology offers this. For instance, my own horoscope for the Year of the Rabbit is that, if I work hard and manage my finances well, I’ll have a good year. At first glance, this does sound like my financial fortunes will improve, but it is, in fact, contingent on my putting in an effort to improve things. My horoscope is therefore fully accurate, provided I take the initiative to make it so.

• Similarly, if I receive word of incoming bad luck, it’s simply just a caution to not overdo things – receiving poor fortunes simply means that one should be more observant of their surroundings, and more mindful of themselves. Back in Kaginado, things switch over to a concert that Yuri organises; she hopes things will be noisy enough for the gods to appear. Unfortunately for Yuri, while the concert is a success, and Masami disappears after performing the ballad she always wanted to perform, the gods don’t appear, and instead, attendees are treated to Lia’s Aozora, one of her most iconic songs that was used as Air‘s ending theme.

• Later, for no apparent reason, the characters across the different Key universes are pitted in a one-on-one against one another, and the characters in the show I watch end up winning against their opponents. Mai’s sword technique destroys her foe, while Kanna overwhelms her foe when she flies into the skies and loses all of the clothing in the process. On the other hand, when Matsushita squares off against Kotomi, I had expected Matsushita to win owing to his martial arts skill, but Kotomi cheats by breaking out her violin, which returns as a weapon of mass destruction.

• As a callback to the first half of Kaginado, Kyou had already foreseen this happening – here she sits, with a smug little smile on her face and her pockets full of cash, ready to enjoy the show. Little details like these weren’t necessary for Kaginado, but their inclusion serves to accentuate the humour. The resulting pandemonium is befitting of a show like Kaginado, and once Kotomi’s done her beatdown on Matsushita and everyone in the stadium, judge Kaede break out her “Harmonics” guard skill in retaliation, lamenting how her mapo tofu is destroyed.

• Later, while a pair of sleepovers are happening, the secondary characters who were shafted by their respective stories commiserate together in what is visibly a miserable time. It’s easy to laugh at them, but of everyone, I feel most pathos for Nayuki and Kyou – I’ve experienced precisely what the pair have gone through before, and it deals one’s confidence a crushing blow. One thing that I would’ve liked to see, even though this is strictly unnecessary from a storytelling perspective, was seeing how Kyou and Nayuki found their footing after losing their respective love interests.

• On the other hand, the heroines’ get-together is set in a neatly-organised room, and the lights are on. Conversation is spirited, but once it turns out Riki isn’t a heroine (despite being voiced by the legendary Yui Horie), the others pull him aside for “research” purposes. This was one of those moments that I don’t have any background in, and as such, the moment flew over my head. However, it also suggested that perhaps now is the time to get into Little Busters.

• Towards Kaginado‘s end, Yuri ends up deciding that she wants to take on the role of a student council president, having seen how much power the role entails. Originally, Yuri had sought the power to help those around her after losing her siblings and her own life during an armed robbery that went bad – she most regretted being unable to protect them, and since then, had sought vengeance against the god of a cruel world. Angel Beats! had left the existence of a god ambiguous and suggested that any higher powers in their world did not intervene in the world of humans, but was benevolent enough to give people a second chance.

• Admittedly, seeing Yuri’s determination in Kaginado was adorable because of all the characters, she feels the most unable (or unwilling) to accept Kaginado‘s world – she retains all of her old resolve to destroy this world, and this comes across as being immensely out of place, leading to humour. With CLANNAD and the other characters, their comedy comes from being placed into ridiculous situations or what’s known as meta-humour, in which the characters critique or challenge the writing that created their circumstances.

• However, even Yuri begins showing signs of desiring a normal life: after her latest tantrum, Yukine passes her a cup of tea, and Yuri loosens up a little. Here, I remark that discussions on Kaginado have been limited despite the series’ entertainment value, and this time around, I do have a guess as to why this is the case – CLANNAD, Kanon, Air and Angel Beats! are older than a decade, and the constant stream of anime means that older titles can be forgotten. Interest in Kaginado is understandably diminished, although it’s worth reiterating that folks who have previously seen Key’s works will find Kaginado worthwhile.

• To Yūichi, Tomoya, Yuzuru and the others, seeing their worlds collide in a hilarious way leaves them without words – as the student council president race heats up, smaller groups form as the campaign for different things, and this creates a multi-way race. Seeing this leads Yuri to employ under-handed techniques to win the election, and while Angel Beats! may have accommodated this because of the Afterlife’s unique setting, the other characters eventually intervene and chuck Yuri into solitary confinement for some self-reflection.

• Seeing Ayu and Yuri together is something that was only possible in a crossover like Kaginado – Ayu’s here for stealing taiyaki repeatedly, and is apparently a repeat offender. This room was seen in Angel Beats!, used to confine students engaged in misconduct. It speaks volumes to how memorable Angel Beats! had been; even eleven years later, I still recall smaller details within the anime. While I’ve watched many series since then, the fact that Key adaptations still stand out speak to their staying power.

• Although the so-called losers end up bemoaning their fate and even coughs up blood, the four of them pull their act together and try to encourage Yuri to simply do her best. Things turn around after the SSS appear, having rounded up the traitors within their ranks. Seeing this returns Yuri to her old self, and she resolves to campaign with all of her heart.

• Going through Kaginado is a far cry from my usual anime experiences: since episodes are only four minutes each, it was possible to watch the whole of Kaginado in a single sitting, and this in turn made the series very easy to go through. Normally, I watch one or two episodes of a given series in a day, and it takes an average of two weeks for me to complete an anime if it has fully aired. While some people prefer watching their shows all at once, I’ve found that this can be an exhausting process. I personally enjoy going through things more slowly so I have time to take in something and give some thought to what I watched.

• There is no right or wrong way of watching anime, and different people will find different processes better suited for their schedules. Back in Kaginado, after the campaigning comes to an end, and the results are in, it turns out Ayu was absent from the vote, making her Key to a tiebreaker. The entire school ends up pursuing her across Japan to secure her vote, and in the end, it looks like the new student council president’s identity is a mystery. However, with the elections over, everyday school life returns to normal for the students, who welcome the routine and enjoyment of an ordinary life.

• Throughout all of Key’s works, it does feel that the ordinary as something to cherish is another common theme. In keeping with tradition, Kaginado also presents this, albeit in a more roundabout way as the series parodies every aspect of the works the characters featured in. Overall, because of its presentation, I count Kaginado to be an enjoyable experience that is worthwhile for anyone who is a fan of Key’s works. Since Key series tend to be emotionally charged, it is nice to see everyone interact in an environment where there is no tragedy.

• Kaginado features six of Key’s works, and here, I’ve featured stills from the four series I’ve previously watched. At present, I feel that my next Key adaptation is going to be Little Busters; this anime is actually quite lengthy, running as long as CLANNAD did. With my schedule, assuming I start next month, I could be done by the time summer arrives. On the other hand, I’ll probably look at Rewrite at a later date; I’m still on the fence about this one owing to the more dramatic portrayal of the supernatural, but again, Kaginado has shown me there may be merit yet in keeping an open mind and giving this one a go.

• Once Kaginado comes to a close, Ushio expresses a desire to see more of the world, and Yumemi explains that while the show’s done, it will continue living on so long as she remembers it. Kaginado was one of the projects done to celebrate Key’s twenty-first anniversary, and over the years, this developer studio had accrued a reputation for creating works of emotional impact. With their extensive history, Key continues to produce visual novels and kinetic novels (essentially digital picture books), and their company also produces their own music through Key Sounds Label.

• With both halves of Kaginado in the books, and the appearance of Planetarian‘s Yumemi, I am reminded of the fact that while I have watched Planetarian in full some six years earlier, I never got around to watching the Planetarian movie despite having promised one of my readers I’d do so. Because it’s been so long, I don’t think said reader is around, but there probably is merit in my going through the Planetarian movie at some point in the future so I can finish things off.

• We’re now a shade over two thirds of the way through January, and with Bofuri and Mō Ippon!‘s third episodes past, I plan on writing about them. Both series have impressed me enough to warrant a discussion. In addition, word has reached my ears that Maiko-san chi no Makanai-san‘s live-action Netflix adaptation has become available. Titled The Makanai: Cooking For the Maiko House, this series will present Kiyo and Sumire’s experiences from a different perspective and looks promising. I look forwards to writing about this along with, Lycoris Recoil and a revisit of Kokoro Connect come February.

Having now completed Kaginado, I am reminded of the fact that amongst Key’s works, I’ve yet to take a look at Little Busters! and Rewrite. The Key adaptations I’ve seen so far (Air, Kanon, CLANNAD and Angel Beats!) have been remarkable experiences, masterpieces, because of their ability to strike a balance between comedy and drama, using moments of levity to build a connection to the characters such that when tragedy struck, the impact was felt ten-fold. However, Key works have also accrued a bit of an unfair reputation amongst some viewers, who feel them to be inconsistent and incomplete. These sentiments come from the storytelling approach Key works tend to take; because Key stories are rooted in themes of longing and regret, their resolution is reached when the protagonist is able to overcome their past regrets and make peace with what’s happened. Because different protagonists have different backgrounds and regrets, it can be a little tricky to definitively tell when a resolution does occur, and this in turn creates a situation where a given story’s ending can come across as open-ended or inconclusive. However, this mode of storytelling is consistent with the idea of transience, and folks who approach Key’s works aware of this have typically found moving stories. With this in mind, Kaginado acts as encouragement for me to give Little Busters! and Rewrite their fair chance: these series have initially not drawn my interest, but seeing all of the characters here in Kaginado, having a ball of a time with folks from Air, CLANNAD, Kanon and Angel Beats! has piqued my curiosity. As such, I do see merit in taking the plunge and giving the remainder of Key’s animated adaptations their fair chance. In the meantime, today is the Chinese New Year, and I’d like to wish all readers a Happy Year of the Rabbit!

Kaginado: Reflections and Understanding the Effective Amusement in Crossover Parodies

“I think a lot of the time, you just parody yourself.” –Dylan Moran

Whereas Key adaptations have garnered a reputation for being heartbreakers and portray tragedies, Kaginado is a parody series produced by Liden Films Kyoto Studio and acts as a massive crossover for Key’s most iconic series, including CLANNAD, Kanon, Air, Little Busters! and Rewrite. As a part of the twenty-first anniversary celebrations, Kaginado brings back memorable characters and their traits from their stories, allows everyone to mingle in a shared space, and derive amusement from the antics that follow; Ryou laments her lack of presence compared to Kyou, Youhei challenges Mai, Lucia, Koutaro and Yuiko to a soccer game after he receives complaints, Yukito finds his puppeteering skills completely outmatched, and Kouko invites the older sister characters to discuss what they admire most about their younger siblings, only for things to devolve into a baseball game in which the younger sisters unleashed their repressed dissatisfaction at their older sister. Later, the male leads discuss the frustations of being a protagonist in their respective stories, and everyone prepares for a massive culture festival, only for the finale event to be crashed when Yuri announces she hates this world and plans to take the fight to this school with her SSS members. Hilariously light-hearted and poking fun at virtually every aspect of Key’s best-known works, Kaginado is a gentle series that shows Key as having a sense of humour about their previous titles. While I have seen Angel Beats!, CLANNAD, Kanon and Air, coming into Kaginado, I did not have any familiarity with Little Busters! or Rewrite. In spite of having two shows I’d never watched before, Kaginado‘s setup nonetheless created a novel experience in which I would find all of the moments funny.

By definition, parodies are dependent on a priori knowledge of a work to drive its humour. When I was in middle school, The Matrix and Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith was all the rage, and I spent many an hour laughing at the outrageous portrayal of The Matrix and Star Wars as fans poked fun at all aspects of these films. However, from the humour, it became very clear that one needed to have seen the originals in order for half the jokes to work. For instance, watching the Merovingian’s henchmen using weapons like an inflatable banana and a board with a nail in it as weapons against Neo during the chateau fight is dependent on having seen the original chateau fight. Someone lacking the context would not likely find these details amusing, and as such, watching Kaginado thus became an exercise in understanding what makes parodies work – whereas a traditional parody will often only focus on a single work, Kaginado is a crossover, and this allows characters from multiple stories to mingle together. Commonalities that the characters share allow one to gain a better of measure of how they act in their own series, as their combined interactions often create chaos in this shared environment. Since the problem of context is eliminated, one needn’t have seen every work in full to enjoy things, since knowing even about just one or two of the works can be enough to understand the context of a joke or exaggeration. This is where Kaginado succeeds as a parody, and even provides the incentive for one to give the other Key series a chance.

Screenshots and Commentary

• While CLANNAD presented Ryou as being shy and timid, Kaginado gives her a more sullen and moody disposition. Here, she does fortune telling for some of her classmates, and the results leave Kano bleeding. The visual style in Kaginado is quite similar to what World Witches Take Off! did, with both chibi and blood being used in a highly stylised manner. The characters look adorable by default, but they can also convey humour exceedingly well: in fact, of all of the slice-of-life parodies I’ve seen, Kaginado most closely resembles World Witches Take Off!, which I similarly enjoyed for its over-the-top exaggerations.

• Much as how World Witches Take Off! had done, Kaginado episodes start out being self-contained experiences, but over the course of the series, the episodes begin to tell an overarching story. Some of the humour in Kaginado is inappropriate: during a soccer match where Youhei challenges the swordsmen of Key, Youhei and his team have their clothes blown off. As memory serves, soccer was a big deal in CLANNAD, being the reason behind how Youhei and Tomoya reconcile during the events of ~After Story~, but here, the soccer game is purely done to drive a few laughs.

• The chibi art style is meant to be cute rather than alluring, so Kaginado is able to further make fun of things by having the characters rendered normally. Despite only running for three minutes each, Kaginado‘s episoldes pack a considerable amount of laughs into its runtime, using everything from gags and timing, to visual elements. However, unlike the Flash parodies I watched back in middle school, the art style in Kaginago is consistent, and the voice acting is spot on: all of the voice actors and actresses reprise their roles.

• Seeing Nagisa again immediately brought back memories of ten summer earlier, when I’d been watching CLANNAD to unwind from my busy and demanding schedule. I had entered CLANNAD because, after Angel Beats!, I became curious to see what Key’s other works were like. At around this point a decade earlier, I also joined the AnimeSuki forums with the aim of promoting this blog and getting to know other fans better. Although I was unsuccessful in gaining new readers, I did end up befriending a few of the forum’s members, most notably, Ernietheracefan, Wild Goose and Flower.

• These were exemplary members of the AnimeSuki community, being the precursors to the current community I’m with. While Wild Goose and Flower are now inactive, I still converse with Ernietheracefan from time to time at alternate venues. Over time, AnimeSuki’s community has become increasingly inactive, with only a handful of regulars still discussing anime: over the past few years, some users begun emphasising politics over anime to the point where the political threads are more active than the anime thread. For this reason, I do feel that I’ve done everything I could there, and while I’ll continue posting links back here, it feels like it’s time for me to call it quits.

• Back in Kaginado, during a flea market of sorts, Yukito spots an opportunity to try and make some coin by showing off his puppeteering skills, only to be promptly defeated by everyone else. In Air, Yukito’s success was already limited, and he ultimately made ends meet by taking up odd jobs around town. Here in Kagonado, the most successful business by far is Kyou, who has Kotomi put on a lethal violin recital and then “convince” audience members to pick up earplugs. Small details, like Kotomi going barefoot, show Kaginado‘s commitment to authenticity: Kotomi originally eschewed shoes for comfort.

• Yukito’s luck runs out when Ayu runs through the scene, trying to escape a taiyaki vendor that she’d just stolen from. In the process, she tramples Yukito’s puppet and destroys it totally. Early in the series, Kaginado explains what its title means: かぎなど simply means “Key et cetera“, and this is fitting considering that it takes Key’s works and adds on a comedic piece to it. Ayu’s entrance is almost entirely dependent on being familiar with Kanon and how Ayu initially greets Yuuichi.

• Kaginado is at its best when the characters act contrary to their usual selves, and here, Ryou, Shiori and Haruka share a hi-five after deliberately thrashing their older sisters with baseballs and calling them homewreckers. Ryou and Shiori certainly wouldn’t have done this in CLANNAD and Kanon, so the humour comes from seeing this dramatic contrast in actions. What makes the moment doubly strong is how confident Kyou and Kaori are in their younger sisters’ love for them, speaking to a disconnect that can only result from how the stories were originally written.

• For me, the segments of Kaginado that were most difficult to follow involve the characters outside of CLANNAD, Kanon and Air, but even in scenes featuring characters from Little Busters! and Rewrite, so long as characters from the Key series I’ve watched were present, I could still follow what was going on. Aiding in Kaginado‘s ability to elicit a smile was the fact that the incidental music used is sourced from other Key series, which similarly creates a disconnect; while the music is wistful and has a visual novel-like feeling, the mood in Kaginado does not match what they music conveys.

• The final few episodes of Kaginado are dedicated to a school-wide culture festival, which sees Kanna, Ryūya and Uraha arrive to check in on Misuzu. This was a surprising development, and I remember that when watching Air, it had felt quite jarring to suddenly be transported back into the Heian Period. While this explained Misuzu’s unfortunate curse of being forced to die and reincarnate whenever she discovered friendship, Air‘s ending was a little tricky to follow. It turns out that Yukito’s kindness would manifest in a crow, and Haruko ends up loving Misuzu as her own daughter, so when Misuzu dies, she is at peace. These memories return to Kanna, breaking the curse.

• Back in Kaginado, Fuuko, Ayu and Shizuru reunite after originally disagreeing on which form of marine life is the best. Until Kaginado, I’d never thought it was possible to see Ayu and Fuuko in the same room together, and it turns out that Shizuru loves saury. Jun Maeda is fond of giving characters a favourite food in his works, citing that it helps to give them a unique identifying trait which allows his characters to be distinct. This works well enough for each work, and the bonus is that, when a crossover like Kaginado is made, it allows similar characters to naturally group together.

• While the characters from different series might be similar, they have their own unique personalities and idiosyncrasies, so humour results from them clashing despite their commonalities. However, there are some characters that simply get along with everyone, and here, Sayuri passes cake to Michiru in a moment that warms up all of the café’s spectators.

• Kaginado‘s variant on the café simply has patrons watching the students act adorable, which is something I’ve never seen before at any school festival: normally, shows would prefer to have students actively work on an experience that attendees can then enjoy, but as a crossover parody, Kaginado is free to completely disregard convention. In this way, Kaginado has all of the same spirit and creativity of the Flash parodies I watched back in middle school. My favourite of them remains The Matrix Has You, which had been a collaboration between several animators.

• Kaginado neatly answers what would happen if Kanna actually met Misuzu. Moments like these are only possible in crossover parodies, and while Misuzu doesn’t have quite as active a role here in Kaginado as she did in Air, the moments that were portrayed were hilarious: my favourite would be when Haruko breaks a scene by suggesting that Misuzu is going to be late for school after she slowly steps towards the goal line as she had in Air‘s final moments. One would imagine that such a meeting, seeing Misuzu at peace with her world, would be Kaginado‘s equivalent of Air‘s resolution.

• While Makoto enjoys a BBQ pork bun and spends time with Mishio Amano, I decided to return to campus today for kicks: back in 2017, it was announced that the story of Leon the Frog was restored to its original glory, and having never climbed the stairs of the social sciences building from basement to the thirteenth floor when I’d been a student, I decided to make the ascent. After returning to my favourite outlet on campus, the Korean BBQ House, for their grilled chicken and beef combo with a side of tomato salad and honeyed potatoes (which tastes exactly as good as I remember), we swung by the building and made the full climb: the entire experience took around twenty minutes, and it was fun to read it from the bottom floor to the top floor, including one H-scene whose relevance to the story still eludes me.

• I note that I have previously mentioned the Social Sciences building in my post on Magia Record‘s “Breakup Staircase”, and folks curious to see what those stairs look like will finally have some photos. Back in Kaginado, when the culture festival’s beauty contest comes on, Tomoya and Yuuichi decide to take to the stage themselves after Mio suggests Riki would’ve won. Hilariously, Nagisa doesn’t seem quite so worried that Tomoya’s kitted out in the girls’ uniform, and she seems more concerned as to whether or not Tomoya might actually win. Here, it suddenly hits me that the protagonists of each Key series appear to be given less time on screen than the secondary characters, which really allow them to shine, and as such, when Yuuichi and Tomoya attempt to take back the spotlight by force, one cannot help but laugh at how absurd everything is.

• Nayuki doesn’t actually get much screen time in Kaginado, and here, she attempts to stop Akiko from selling her special jam with Sanae’s bread: Akio’s already down fore the count from attempting to consume Sanae’s bread when it’s already been given some jam. The combination has been implied to be potent enough to knock a grown man out: CLANNAD ~After Story~ had something similar happen during a fight between Tomoya and some of the city’s rival gangs, but back then, it was only implied that Sanae had managed to get her hands on Akiko’s jam.

• The resulting hilarity from the beauty contest has Mei so embarrassed, she can only cover her face in shame. Kaori is completely unamused by what’s unfolding before her eyes, while Shiori is content to simply keep eating her ice cream. The beauty contest’s setup is actually reminiscent of a faux cosplay contest that Otafest had hosted in some years, and while I myself could never don a seifuku and walk across a stage with confidence, I can easily see that events of this sort are treated as being highly entertaining.

• In the end, even Tomoya and Yuuichi’s efforts fail: in a stunning twist, Angel Beats! Hideki Hinata takes the top crown, and Yuri Nakamura reveals herself. Since Angel Beats!‘ cast had been absent from the other eleven episodes, their appearance was all the funnier, and I found myself wishing that they’d shown up earlier. While Angel Beats! had been quite poignant, the series had numerous comedic moments, as well. However, this finale is not the end of Kaginado: a second season began airing back in April as a part of the spring season, and I’ll be looking to watch it, as well.

• Overall, Kaginado is a series that will appeal to fans of Key and have some background of the series (I would suggest that having watched at least two or three Key works is sufficient to understand the jokes), and I certainly had a blast with this short anime. My Kaginado experience thus draws to a close, and I’ve only got one more post left for this month: I will be revisiting Kantai Collection: The Movie to commemorate the five year anniversary to its release. Beyond this, it’s full steam ahead as I enter September. The month will kick off with Jon Creator’s Showcase, and then it’s onto ARIA the Benedizione, which I’ve waited for quite some time to share my thoughts about.

Through its caricature of aspects from Key’s prior works, Kaginado proved to be a delightful series of shorts that also had the unexpected side effect of sending me on a journey down memory lane. I picked up Angel Beats! after curiosity got the better of me, and I wanted to see the anime behind the Lia’s My Soul, Your Beats!. When I watched CLANNAD, I was staring down the MCAT. Three months later, my enjoyment of CLANNAD ~After Story~ led me to give Kanon a whirl, and in trying to hunt down music from Kanon, I came upon Natsukage, an iconic song from Air. Seeing all of the characters returning in chibi form to bounce off one another in a zero-stakes environment proved most cathartic, and as a result, I found Kaginado to be a fantastic way of lightening up the mood from series that were otherwise emotionally-charged journeys. Kaginado gives Youhei a chance to shine where Tomoya had previously dominated, shows Ryou and Shiori’s repressed anger surrounding their older sisters, openly confirms what happens when Akiko’s special jam and Sanae’s artisan breads are combined, and even has Tomoya and Yuuicihi take to the stage for the beauty contest to show how things are done. Having all of the characters retain their old personalities, but otherwise act in ways that are contrary to how they’d act in their respective series serves to remind viewers that as serious as Key’s works usually are, if the tragedy were stricken from their worlds, the characters would experience life in an over-the-top manner, one that is sure to put a smile on viewers’ faces.

Masterpiece Anime Showcase: Kanon, An Introit on Recollections and Healing On A Winter’s Solstice

“In that case, my first wish is…please don’t forget about me, even just a ‘I met a weird girl in the snow’. Even that would be okay, as long as you remember me” –Ayu Tsukimiya

High school student Yuichi Aizawa returns to a city he’d visited seven years ago, is preordained to lodge with his cousin, Nayuki Minase, and transfers to the local high school. Having limited recollections of the city, Yuichi finds himself quite detached from the area and its inhabitants. However, he runs into Ayu Tsukimiya in the shopping district, and also becomes friends with Shiori Misaka and Mai Kawasumi. While in the shopping district one day, Yuichi encounters Makoto Sawatari, who’d returned to settle a long-standing grudge with him. Nayuki’s mother, Akiko, decides to let Makoto stay with them, and while Yuichi desires nothing more to be rid of Makoto and her propensity for pranks, he comes to realise that Makoto is actually the spirit of a fox he’d once befriended given human form – so intense was her desire to spend time with him that she was granted a wish to become human and reunite with Yuichi, but as he recalls this, Makoto’s strength begins fading, and she vanishes after Yuichi helps her fulfil an old promise. Later, Yuichi decides to help Mai with her image problem: she is perceived as being a troublemaker and is accused of damaging school property. After a terrifying incident at the school dance and a freak accident that sees Mai’s best friend, Sayuri Kurata, injured. Mai possesses an innate talent for magic, and when Yuichi was set to leave town seven years previously, her desire to see him stay led her to craft a story about dæmons, which began manifesting in reality. Yuichi helps Mai to accept her abilities in the present, and begins to remember the time they’d spent together seven years previously. Having explored town with Shiori, who suffers from an unknown illness, Yuichi learns that Shiori was given permission to attend school, but her sister, Kaori, acts distant towards her, fearing that Shiori might not survive her illness. Yuichi decides to go on a date with Shiori and help her make the most of her time. After a track meet, Yuichi and Ayu begin searching for something of great value to her, and as the two grow closer, Nayuki begins feeling left out. Ayu eventually takes Yuichi to her school, which ends up being an open field, and upon arriving, Ayu vanishes. Yuichi continues to search for the article that Ayu was looking for and Nayuki begins making snow rabbits, which help him remember what this item is. Akiko is hit by a vehicle and sent into the ICU, causing Nayuki to fall into depression. Unable to help Nayuki, Yuichi decides to sleep and experiences a dream that fills in the remainder of his memories: seven years ago, he’d made a promise with Ayu, who said she could grant him three wishes. However, coldly brushed off Nayuki after learning that Ayu had fallen from a tree and fell into a coma. He heads out into the blizzard in search of Ayu’s missing item, but falls unconscious. The original Makoto Sawatari saves him, and Yuichi recovers strength enough to return to the promised spot from seven years previously, making one final wish to Ayu. Mai, Shiori and Sayuri become healed from their injuries, returning to class, and Akiko is allowed to return home. Akiko explains to Yuichi what happened to Ayu, and he decides to visit her in the hospital. One spring day, she awakens from her coma, and Yuichi takes her for a walk under the spring cherry blossoms, while a familiar-looking fox looks on.

According to Jun Maeda, memories are at the core of Kanon‘s theme – the motif of events seven years previously permeate the entire story, and Yuichi is constantly struggling to remember what precisely happened seven years ago. In this sense, he is given a new start, a do-over of sorts. As Yuichi spends more time with Nayuki, Makoto, Mai, Shiori and Ayu, he comes to learn of his presence in their lives. The blank slate becomes critical for Yuichi: quite unaware of what happened the last time in town, Yuichi brings into each story a unique sense of humour and sense of compassion that leads him to help everyone to the best of his ability. Through it all, Yuichi creates new, positive memories with everyone: with Makoto, he learns of her past and helps her reach a resolution. He fulfils his promise to return to Mai and helps her come to terms with her magical powers. With Shiori, Yuichi’s encouragement and support allow her to return to school. After Nayuki’s mother ends up in a vehicle accident and Nayuki falls into a depression, Yuichi must confront his own past and finally remembers that he had coldly dismissed her the last time he was in town. Realising his fault, Yuichi manages to reconcile with Nayuki and help her find the strength to continue. The sum of these events lead Yuichi to finally remember what had happened to Ayu: she’d fallen from a tree on his last day in town and was hospitalised. Had Yuichi entered Kanon with the pain of these memories, he would not have been able to approach each of Makoto, Mai, Nayuki and Ayu’s problems with his kindness, and fear of failing would have paralysed him. Kanon thus supposes that why forgetting painful and difficult moments enable one to start fresh with those around them, it is preferable to actively understand one’s mistakes and face them directly, as Yuichi comes to do with Kanon‘s major characters. For his troubles, Yuichi is successful in improving the situation of those around him, helping them to find their own futures.

Kanon presents the importance of memories and their impact on one’s personal growth in conjunction with a supernatural flair; like CLANNAD and Air, Jun Maeda’s belief that the things that make us human (specifically, complex emotions, memories and the resulting behaviours) are complex to the point where our understanding of them are limited, and as such, applies the supernatural piece to motivate a better understanding of these ideas. The end result is that Kanon has a very romantic approach towards memories, showing both the positives and negatives. While Yuichi might have forgotten many of the events from the past, his inherently kind and gentle nature allows him to form new memories with Nayuki, Ayu, Makoto, Shiori and Mai. In time, he comes to learn that everyone has their own unique points, with each girl’s favourite food being chief amongst them. Knowing everyone’s favourite foods (Nayuki and strawberries, Ayu and taiyaki, Makoto and pork buns, Shiori and ice cream, Mai and gyūdon) gives each character a life-like feel to them, and as he spends time with each individual, their favourite foods serve to remind viewers that Yuichi, in taking the time to learn everyone’s favourite food, is genuinely committed to helping everyone out. By reinforcing the idea that Yuichi is a kind individual by default, his actions from seven year previously are to be taken as understandable, brought on by circumstance rather than ignorance or malice. When Yuichi’s past is shown, it also suggests to users that the present-day Yuichi is here to make things right. It gives his experiences credibility, and consequently, gives viewers reason to follow his story and support his efforts in helping each of Nayuki, Ayu, Makoto, Shiori and Mai to sort out the challenges that each of them face.

Screenshots and Commentary

• Kanon opens with Yuichi riding a train into an unnamed town in Hokkaido amidst a fresh snowfall. Upon arrival, he is made to wait for two hours, since Nayuki, who was supposed to pick him up, is late. The entire opening scene is set to yume no ato, a song whose chimes create a sense of nostalgic and melancholy. One of Kanon‘s strongest points lie in its incidental music, and yume no ato plays, my memories of my own past experiences with romance are recalled in vivid detail.

• The winter cold of Kanon evokes memories of the September that I entered my fourth undergraduate year. I had just spent the summer staring down the MCAT and had watched CLANNAD, which had been so moving that I was seeking more series similar to it. Kanon seemed to fit the bill, and as I prepared to define a topic for my undergraduate honours thesis, I set foot into the world of Kanon, watching a few episodes each week. I ended up reaching the end of Kanon as term ended, finishing a few days before the mid-year progress report.

• After settling in to the Minase residence, Nayuki takes Yuichi on a tour of the city, a generic city located in Hokkaido that is only referred to as the City of Snow (yuki no machi), rather similar to how the city in CLANNAD was called the “hills of light”. While possessing Hokkaido’s climate, many of the areas seen in the anime are similarly based off Osaka’s cityscape. The train station Yuichi arrives at is actually modelled after Osaka’s Moriguchishi Station. However, the fictionalised setting of Kanon serves to enhance the series’ aura of mystery, and here, Nayuki shares a conversation with Yuichi while on a hill overlooking the city.

• Ayu is the first of the heroines that Yuichi runs into while exploring the shopping district; she collides with him head-on while trying to escape from a taiyaki vendor, and Yuichi hauls her off to apologise to the vendor before paying for the taiyaki. In the first episode alone, Yuichi’s character is firmly established; while sardonic and fond of poking fun at those around him, he’s genuinely kind-hearted and cares greatly for those he encounters.

• Her diminutive stature and winged backpack gives Ayu a very child-like appearance. Indeed, Ayu’s mannerisms are eccentric, and she’s fond of replying to any sort of challenge, adversity or retort with the nonsensical uguu, rather similar to how Misuzu of Air would say gao in response to anything that upset her. However, beyond this, Ayu is also friendly and warm. Ayu’s voice is provided by the legendary Yui Horie (Naru Narusegawa of Love Hina, Belfast of Azur Lane and Satomi of Dumbell wa nan kilo motteru, to name a few).

• Kanon‘s initial episodes are about introducing the characters, and as such, the series progresses very slowly as Yuichi explores the town. HIs misadventures lead him to run into Shiori, a girl who he often sees hanging outside on the school grounds. She’s got an illness that prevents her from coming to school, but shows up on the grounds anyways. When they meet for the first time, Ayu’s attempting to escape from the taiyaki vendor and collides with her, spilling Shiori’s personal items onto the ground.

• Makoto is introduced as a mischievous girl who only remembers that Yuichi’s wronged her in some way previously, and while Yuichi is put off by her troublemaking, Akiko and Nayuki consent to take her in. In contrast with Yuichi’s dislike for her, Akiko and Nayuki sense something about her and regard her with kindness. In exchange, Makoto only seems to trouble Yuichi with her pranks, although Yuichi is able to see through them for the most part, creating comedic moments early in Kanon.

• Shiori’s illness is never specified, but it is severe enough as to be considered life-threatening. Because of the stresses this illness has on her and her family, her sister, Kaori, refuses to acknowledge that Shiori is her sister. The reasoning for this is that Kaori fears losing Shiori more than anything, and feels that the closer she is with Shiori, the more it will hurt when Shiori’s time runs out. Of the characters, Shiori is the only person Yuichi had not met in the past, but in spite of this, he still regards her with kindness.

• Besides a favourite food, the different characters all have their own unique leitmotifs, as well: Ayu’s theme is titled Hidamari no Machi, or “Sunny Town”, a happy, easygoing piece that captures her energetic, cheerful character. Staff have commented that this is their favourite theme for the characters. Nayuki’s theme is Girl in the snow, Makoto’s is The Fox and the Grapes, Mai’s is The Maiden’s Cage and Shiori’s is Beyond the Smile. Each of the girls’ themes speak to their personalities and situation.

• Ayu often describes a remote school in the area, but seems to have no apparent home. Her enigmatic origins leave viewers with many questions, but Akiko appears to be able to understand something unique about Ayu that Yuichi is not able to pick up on. She invites Ayu over, and over time, Ayu becomes an increasingly frequent guest of the Minases. Unlike Makoto, Yuichi has considerably fewer objections with Ayu being around.

• Makoto’s pranks go one step too far one evening, when she lights a firecracker and tosses it into Yuichi’s room. He responds by removing the firecracker and returning it to its sender, sending Makoto into hysterics. Yuichi ultimately decides to send Makoto job-hunting, reasoning that doing something will help her learn some responsibility and also fund her own pork buns and manga, two things that Makoto are particularly fond of.

• Yuichi’s expression here speaks volumes about what he thinks of Makoto; even after what could’ve been a rather deadly prank, Akiko and Nayuki don’t seem too concerned. Initially, audiences will tend to side with Yuichi – Makoto’s mischievous nature means that despite her unknown origins, she comes across as being little more than a nuisance.

• When Makoto finds a small kitten, she’s thrilled to look after it, as the kitten seems quite drawn to her. She accidentally drops it off a footbridge, but the kitten ends up quite unharmed. The incident causes Yuichi to lose his patience with her, and Makoto runs off into the night, looking for the kitten. Yuichi later finds her and brings her back home.

• Mishio Amano, one of Yuichi’s classmates, gives him the truth about Makoto’s origins and introduces viewers to the idea that there a supernatural play in Kanon. The winter landscapes and lighting in Kanon, similar to Air and CLANNAD, are deliberately and smartly used to set the mood. By framing Mishio and Yuichi’s conversation against the landscape, it shows the vastness of what supernatural forces they are dealing with: Mishio warns that Makoto’s presence is going to be limited as a result of her diminishing power and that she will begin forgetting over time.

• Upon learning about this, Yuichi’s attitude and treatment of Makoto takes a complete turn: he begins to spend much more time with her, fulfilling his old promise to never leave her side. As a child, Yuichi had befriended a fox, who by a miracle, took human form. Because Yuichi had to leave town seven years ago, he technically broke his promise to Makoto, which accounts for why she seeks revenge. However, Makoto’s time is limited, and her memories do indeed begin to fade as she and Yuichi make amends.

• Makoto’s story marked a turning point for me: having already seen CLANNAD, I found Makoto’s story to be surprisingly similar to Fuuko’s story. Both Fuuko and Makoto share a poignant background that is cleverly weaved into their arc, and in both cases, Tomoya and Yuichi both regard the other as being inconsequential, only to learn of their stories later and then begin doing their utmost to help the other out.

• One touch about Kanon that I particularly liked was the design of the Minase residence: the large windows by the hallway allow natural light to flood into the house, giving it a very inviting feel that maximises the amount of illumination even in a place where it’s cold and snowy for a better half of the year. If I had to guess, I’d say that Kanon is probably set in Asahikawa, albeit a highly fictionalised version.

• Makoto’s arc ends on a very tender and heartwarming note: her wish fulfilled in full, Makoto loses her human form and vanishes. The importance of Makoto’s story is two-fold: it shows how the supernatural have relevance in the events around Kanon, and also shows the process that Yuichi goes through in order to get to know someone better. With these two elements established, Kanon can begin pushing into the main storyline itself.

• Mai is the next heroine that Yuichi helps out. Her stoic demeanour and eccentric mannerisms have landed her in trouble more than once, and she faces suspension from school on the suspicions that she’s responsible for damaging school property. However, her personality stands in contrast with her personality, and the earnest, sincere Mai never denies these allegations. Yuichi decides to help Mai become more popular amongst the other students and stave off her negative reputation.

• During Mai’s arc, Yuichi spends numerous lunch breaks with Mai and Sayuri, the latter of which had been a quiet and unsmiling individual until she’d met Mai. She’d come from a difficult family situation and lost her brother to an illness, eventually losing her sense of self. By the events of Kanon proper, she’s become a warmer character who worries for Mai’s wellbeing and supports Yuichi’s attempts to help her out. When news of a school dance reaches Yuichi’s ears, he decides to take her to the dance.

• Mai’s favourite retort to Yuichi’s remarks is to admonish him with a light chop to the head to express her displeasure. Sayuri, on the other hand, tends to append ahaha~ to the end of her laughter. In Kanon, Sayuri is a secondary character, but in the game, it is possible to explore the outcomes of spending more time with her, culminating with Yuichi asking her out. The visual novels typically provide a much richer and detailed account of each story, although I’ve found that anime adaptations can really bring some scenes to life, with the school ball being one of them.

• The school dance starts smoothly enough, with Mai and Yuichi’s dancing being impressive enough to turn heads, but when a dæmon appears and wrecks havoc, the student council president attempts to have Mai expelled. Yuichi manages to prevent this from happening and decides to help Mai fight the so-called dæmons. However, when Sayuri attempts to give Mai a gift on her birthday, and becomes injured in the process, Mai loses her cool and attempts to kill herself.

• Mai’s story serves to further accentuate the presence of the supernatural: it turns out that her ability to control abilities some consider unnatural did indeed lead her to leave her old home, and she found it difficult to make any friends until she’d met Yuichi. By spending time with her, Mai eventually comes to accept her powers, and is hospitalised to treat her injuries, which had resulted from her killing off pieces of herself.

• With Mai’s situation resolved, Shiori’s story comes next. While Kaori refuses to acknowledge Shiori as her sister, Yuichi decides to help her in the way he can, taking her to some of her favourite places around town and giving her a chance to sit in a desk at school. Kaori later explains that Shiori was never expected to survive past her birthday, but in spite of this, Yuichi decides to help her celebrate anyways. As the day comes to an end, Yuichi gives Shiori a birthday gift by a brilliantly-lit fountain.

• Yuichi’s kindness is one of the reasons that Kanon was so easy to follow and somewhat formulaic in nature: aside from a sardonic manner and his love for playing jokes on those around him, Yuichi is genuine to everyone he meets. CLANNAD‘s Tomoya was similar in this regard but had more noticeable flaws which made his journey more meaningful. This was almost certainly one of the learnings that CLANNAD would take from Kanon, and the end results are very pronounced. This isn’t to say that Yuichi is a flawless character: his own shortcomings and mistakes are brought to light in Nayuki’s arc.

• Nayuki is probably my favourite of the heroines in Kanon: her story is a gentle but sad one that is set concurrently with Ayu’s arc within the anime. After finding a red bead, Nayuki reminisces on how she used to make yuki usagi (“snow rabbits”). These are the equivalent of Western snowmen, and are usually crafted from the leaves (ears) and berries (eyes) of the Nandina domestica, a flowering plant. These sculptures are made by women and children, and there’s over two hundred years of history surrounding these sculptures.

• By having Ayu and Nayuki’s story run side-by-side, Kanon means to tell viewers that Yuichi must make a choice between Nayuki, who’d loved him since they were children, and Ayu, whose origins and presence still remains a mystery, but of great significance. Yuichi ends up choosing to spent time with Ayu, helping her to search for something precious that she’d lost years previously. This brings the two closer together, but comes at Nayuki’s expense.

• Owing to Kanon‘s more condensed structuring, Ayu and Yuichi’s relationship advances far more quickly than that of CLANNAD‘s, which portrays Nagisa and Tomoya as holding hands for the first time some months into their relationship, versus the few days for Ayu and Yuichi. While Kanon‘s anime adaptation might be quite short relative to how much content there was in the original visual novel, the anime itself never feels forced or rushed; things are adequately explained to viewers so that it’s easy to follow what’s going on.

• The dramatic lighting, of vivid reds and deep purples, that accompany Ayu and Yuichi when she finally shows him her “school” hint at the unease and doubt that follows. Here at this spot in the woods, Ayu vanishes before Yuichi’s eyes. Yuichi is devastated and pushes forwards in his search, and Nayuki does her best to help keep his spirits up despite his troubles. Ayu’s disappearance hints at her origins, and I am reminded again of CLANNAD‘s Fuuko, who was hospitalised but managed to maintain a presence anyways, interacting with the principal actors to keep the story going.

• In this revisitation, I’ve briefly mentioned that I began watching Kanon a short ways into my final undergraduate year, after my MCAT and during a time when I was supposed to be picking out a topic for my undergraduate thesis. I was enrolled in an honours programme that yielded a Bachelor of Health Sciences degree for my first degree, and in the final year, students must take a special projects course that sees them conduct research and write a thesis of sorts on their findings: in many ways, this course was similar to a miniature graduate degree. As I pushed through Kanon, my project materialised into a multi-scale renal model.

• My fourth year of university was marked by a dramatic resurgence in my spirit, and I had found my old spirits again: having taken the MCAT, my studying for exams became much more effective. Striking a fine balance between working on my project, and the decidedly less exciting coursework, I managed to do very well in my final year, returning to the Dean’s List and bringing my GPA back up to a point where I could earn an honours degree. I would watch Kanon every three or so days during this time, and it took me a few months to go through the entire series.

• That’s enough reminiscing about my undergraduate program’s final year; back in the present, we’re now closing in on the Christmas break very rapidly now, and this past week, I’ve attended a second Christmas party, which was a quiet get-together with the office. After a traditional dinner of turkey and Italian-sausage-stuffing, with maple-bacon topped vegetables and mashed potatoes, we settled in to conversation and watched Die Hard. On the day of the party, it had actually rained, and those around me remarked on the curiosity of this phenomenon: here in my city, precipitation takes the form of snow from November until around April.

• Today is the astronomical winter solstice, and it had remained foggy throughout the shortest day of the year. Tomorrow will be the Chinese Winter Solstice, the first day of winter on the Lunar Calendar, and I will be celebrating with family: a large platter of siu mei (with (crispy pork, char siu, pork tongue, chicken, duck, red sausage and squid) will be the centrepiece, and dinner will be followed with a Yule Log. In the days leading up to the winter solstice, I’ve been making the most of my mornings en route to the office and have taken in the sights and sounds around the city centre, which has been alight with Christmas lights. From a massive Christmas tree on the Olympic Plaza and the Calgary Tower being decked out with Christmas colours, to the colours of Stephen Avenue by a cold morning’s light, my home city’s definitely been getting into the Christmas spirits. I was also fortunate to be able to get a photograph of what things look like from above ground level: even from twenty-eight stories up, the festivities can be felt.

• When Akiko is involved in an accident and hospitalised, Nayuki falls into a depression. The combination of Yuichi’s rejection and her mother’s injury leaves the normally-cheerful and optimistic Nayuki inconsolable, refusing Yuichi’s efforts to talk to her. Yuichi decides to rest and reattempt, but while sleeping, the remainder of his memories return to him: seven years previously, on his last day in town, Yuichi and Ayu had been playing together near a large tree on the hill, but Ayu fell out of a tree and fell into a coma. In a panic, he ran off, and then rebuked Nayuki’s confession of love to him.

• The dream gives Yuichi the last piece of the puzzle he needed, helping him to understand Nayuki’s feelings and also remember where he and Ayu had buried the angel amulet that Ayu had stated could grant three wishes. He heads off into a blizzard to locate the amulet, and while he manages to find it, succumbs to the elements. When Yuichi comes to, he finds himself in a warm bed: it turns out that the original Makoto Sawatari had found him.

• The clean, white design of Makoto’s apartment is intended to create a very minimalist, clean environment that represents a rebirth of sorts, rather similar to how Gandalf awoke in a white void after his rebirth following his battle with the Balrog of Moria. This “reborn” Yuichi retains his kind personality but now gains his old memories back, allowing him to put two and two together and properly address those unanswered questions from his past.

• Returning to the promised spot, Yuichi finds that Ayu has re-manifested, and makes her final wish to Yuichi: to forget about her. Yuichi refuses, and Ayu decides to make a different wish, disappearing shortly thereafter. While the precise nature of this wish is not specified, one can surmise what it was easily enough. Having taken on new memories from spending time with Yuichi and the others, Ayu makes a much more selfless wish, channeling what is Kanon‘s equivalent of the Infinity Gems to heal all those who have been hurting in the past seven years.

• Nayuki has also recovered, and she heads out to the same spot where Yuichi had rejected her years previously. Yuichi takes his chance to properly apologise to her, and the two reconcile in full under a gentle snowfall, giving a romantic, if wistful feeling. At this point, Nayuki has not heard back from the hospital on Akiko’s condition, but the fact that Nayuki and Yuichi are able to be open about what they feel is a subtle sign of what Ayu had wished for.

• As winter gives way to spring, Mai and return to school, preparing for their graduation, while Shiori is cured of her illness and accompanies everyone to class. Akiko, fully recovered, fills Yuichi in on the final pieces of what had happened to Ayu: after she fell out of the tree, she was brought to a hospital. Yuichi visits her frequently and holds the hope that Ayu would awaken. However, Yuichi’s friends soon move on with their futures, leaving Yuichi her only visitor. Another year passes, and Yuichi manages to figure out the last piece of the puzzle: the Ayu who had appeared to him was never seen without her red headband. Yuichi realises that this is the gift he had intended to give to her on the last day he had been in town years previously.

• Locating the headband is the solution, and Ayu regains consciousness soon after, bringing Kanon to an end. Because I watched Kanon after I did CLANNAD, Kanon did initially come across as a bit emptier and lonelier than CLANNAD. My impressions, however, remained quite positive, as I found the story to be about coming to terms with the past and facing one’s mistakes to rectify them. I praised the series for being very forward and clear with its mechanics, as well. In time, Kanon has come to stand out on its own merits apart from CLANNAD, and is definitely worth the journey.

As Jun Maeda’s first work with Key, Kanon represents an essay in the craft; Maeda would later come to use the learnings from Kanon to build the masterpiece that is CLANNAD. Numerous elements from Kanon were successfully applied to CLANNAD and honed; notions of family, the mother-daughter relationship, human emotions as having a near-supernatural presence, and numerous other features are shared between both series. CLANNAD‘s scenarios are more poignant, and written in greater detail, taking lessons from Kanon to craft an even more emotionally-powerful story. However, despite being the predecessor to CLANNAD, Kanon stands strongly on its own merits: the story itself is focused, establishes Yuichi’s story along with those of each heroine well, compelling viewers to stick around and follow the story as Yuichi learns more about everyone and himself. Coupled with Kyoto Animation’s top-tier animation, superior sound and superb voice acting, Kanon, like CLANNAD, looks timeless and aged exceptionally gracefully. The arc-based story is easy to follow, and despite the presence of the supernatural, Kanon succeeds in keeping the narrative and its messages clean and simple. The end result is that Kanon, like CLANNAD, withstands the test of time and is well worth watching. I have no trouble recommending this to folks who enjoy stories similar to CLANNAD, and those seeking a moving story about self-discovery will find Kanon a worthwhile series to watch. There is one final aspect to Kanon that I’ve not yet mentioned, and the main reason why the series ultimately is one I regard as a masterpiece: being set in winter, a season associated with death, suffering and stillness, Kanon creates the seeds of new hope amidst the snow and cold. Yuichi’s warmth and patience throughout the winter, then, is met with reward by the time spring comes: Mai’s graduated, Shiori’s formally enrolled as a student, and Ayu awakens from her coma, spending a warm day with Yuichi under the cherry blossoms. By enduring and working hard for those around him, Yuichi earns his happy ending as spring arrives, when life and colour is restored to the world. After watching Kanon a second, and a third time, my intense dislike for winter began dissipating, and in time, I came to accept winter as a season to not be endured, but one with its own merits and things to enjoy, having seen Kanon‘s presentation of winter as being a beautiful season in its own right.

Air: A Reflection At Summer’s End

“Isn’t that a romantic thought? That your true self is in the sky!” —Misuzu Kamio

Yukito Kunisaki is a wanderer with an unusual talent: the ability to use limited magic in animating a puppet. He travels from town to town with the aim of supporting himself, while at once seeking out a “Girl in the Sky”, a function he inherited from his late mother. Upon arriving in the coastal town of Kami, and after failing to impress the local children, he falls asleep on the seawall, only to encounter Misuzu Kamino. Enticed by her offer of a free meal, Yukito soon becomes friends with her and manages to convince Haruko Kamio, Misuzu’s foster mother, to allow Yukito to sleep in the garden shed. Yukito also meets Kano Kirishima and Minagi Tohno, coming to learn of a legend from a thousand summers previously. Borne of a curse from the Heian period, when the ancient winged being Kannabi no Mikoto (Kanna) escapes from captivity with the help of Ryūya, a member of her guard, and the Force-sensitive Uraha. While their escape was successful, priests soon caught up to them and cursed Kanna to eternally die and resurrect whenever she discovered love. It turns out that Misuzu was the latest reincarnated form of Kanna, and so, after kindling a friendship with Yukito, she fell in love with him. Misuzu’s story is later recounted from the perspective of a crow named Sora, and it turns out following Yukito’s mysterious departure, Haruko and Misuzu spend more time together as mother and child up until Misuzu’s death. This is Air, the first of the Key adaptations and the second series the Kyoto Animation produced: dating back to 2005, Air nonetheless has a timeless feel to it thanks to Kyoto Animation’s technical prowess, which was apparent even this early in their career, as well as the unusual and riveting story from the source materials itself.

From a narrative standpoint, Air is predominantly about how even if love is a transient state, the treasured moments that two individuals spend together are well worth the pains because they create a unique bond. This love is represented in Air both in terms of familial love, as well as romantic love. Despite their short time together, Yukito grows to care greatly for Misuzu not merely because of her being the individual he was fated to seek out, but because of her kindness. Similarly, in accompanying her and showing her friendship, Misuzu comes to love Yukito. While their time is cut short, their emotions and experiences remain genuine. Following the Summer arc, the bonds between Misuzu and Haruko are developed: having long regarded Misuzu coldly for fear that she would forget her, Haruko decides to make up for the lost time. While building a bond with Misuzu does end up causing Haruko great pain when Misuzu does eventually die of the curse, the pain is offset by Haruko having creating priceless memories and making the most of Misuzu’s remaining days. Then, no matter how short-lived love might be in some cases, it by no way diminishes its authenticity when it does manifest, and that the cost of love is far outweighed by the worth of having had the experience. This imagery is vividly presented in Air, augmented by extensive use of the summer season as a visual backdrop: like love, summer is a beautiful season occasionally marked with inclement weather, and is finite in length. However, it is in this brief period where things are truly magical, and while summers inevitably end, the memories they wrought remain with one forever.

Screenshots and Commentary

• Misuzu Kamio is Air‘s heroine. She is very similar to CLANNAD‘s Nagisa Furukawa and Kanon‘s Nayuki Minase in terms of personality, being kind and gentle, with a somewhat immature predisposition at times. While Yukito initially grows tired of her seemingly boundless optimism, her persistence in befriending him leads him to come around. Misuzu was voiced by Tomoko Kawakami, who passed away in 2011 and also played Aria‘s Athena Glory, The Girl from the Illusionary World of CLANNAD and Sayuri Kuruta of Kanon.

• Air is set in the coastal town of Kami, in the Hyōgo Prefecture. The choice of location, a quiet town with a small population with a lack of activity, creates a deliberate sense of solitude that forces focus to be on Yukito and Misuzu. Anime taking this approach tend to feel very lonely and melancholy, creating a sense of yearning and wistfulness, and for me, there’s an appeal to series with this particular aesthetic.

• Yukito comes from a line of sorcerers with the ability to manipulate objects to a limited extent. While is puppeteering skills are initially weak, his time with Misuzu helps him appreciate what his audience seeks from his plays, and over the course of Air, he is able to impress audiences to a greater extent. Of the male protagonists in a Key adaptation, Yukito has the least development of everyone in comparison to Yuuichi and Tomoya, since he’s supposed to represent the player character.

• A short walk in Kami leads one out of town into the rural areas. The gentle quiet of the countryside amplifies the feeling of isolation, although Yukito is not without good company. He encounters Kano, an unusual girl who wears a ribbon around her wrist to seal her “magic”. It turns out that after coming into contact with a cursed feather, Kano manifested an unusual condition, and the ribbon was meant as a means to help her cope.

• Aside from setting the standard for Kyoto Animation’s visuals, Air also would set the precedence for the quality of music that would go into its works. Air‘s soundtrack is a timeless collection of vocal pieces from Lia, which capture the empty majesty of the sky, and Jun Maeda’s incidental pieces serve to both set the mood of a moment, as well as convey additional aspects of a character. In particular, Misuzu’s theme, Natsukage, has become a favourite of mine: if there was a single song that captures how the summer feels, then this would be it.

• Out of the gates, Air makes extensive use of supernatural elements to capture the idea that human emotions, both good and bad, sometimes defy known understanding and therefore can only be captured by means of magic. This is a recurring theme in Jun Maeda’s works – the way things works out in reality sometimes can appear to be the work of a higher power. In Air, the lack of contemporary implements such as phones give the setting a timeless feel, making it feel more plausible for magic to exist as a natural part of the world.

• Hijiri Kirishima is Kano’s older sister, and after running into Yukito, decides to offer him work. In Kami, Yukito also runs into Minagi and Michiru; the former shares many unusual conversations with Yukito, while the latter is fond of pranking him. While the characters initially appear disconnected, they are all related to an ancient story from a thousand years earlier. Elements of reincarnation and rebirth are present in Air, although it is presented as a curse rather than a blessing.

• While initially appearing dull and lifeless, Yukito’s background from a family of sorcerers and his connection to the “Girl in the Sky”, coupled with a kind disposition despite his cold appearance, means that he’s an integral part of the story. Over time, he grows to care for Misuzu even as her condition fails: the curse of a thousand years means that when she discovers love, her health and memories fade and condemn her to death.

• The wide open skies above Kami are deliberately presented as vast: Air itself makes extensive use of imagery associated with birds, flight and feathers to signify a longing to soar into the expansive sky and explore. Society’s rejection is then a refusal to explore what could be, and how despite a laggard society’s effort to suppress curiosity, it will always linger. I imagine this to be a secondary theme in Air, and admit that it took me three revisitations to really get a handle on what the series was about: unlike Kanon and CLANNAD, Air is a bit more abstract in its presentation.

• The mysteries in Air are indicative of the notion of curses being extremely long-lived, to the point where for future generations, they simply become something that they adapt to. Yukito and the others are not fully aware of the story, but bits and pieces of it are told over time, filling in the mystery. The feathers will occasionally manifest, and these snow-white feathers of purity speak of bygone times, of something unspoilt and untarnished.

• Misuzu holds the rather romantic belief that one’s self exists in the skies above, unfettered by worldly concerns and untroubled by the comings and goings of the world. A long time ago, I had a friend who shared similarly romantic beliefs, and although time resulted in our drifting apart, these thoughts remain behind. One wonders what it would be like to have the sort of freedom a bird might, and it attests to humanity’s incredible resourcefulness that we’ve both been able to soar into the air as a bird might with aircraft, as well as replicate the experience with microprocessors and LED screens.

• Minagi’s story was perhaps the most rushed in Air; after events of her past, Minagi’s own mother forgot about her existence, but Yukito ultimately helps to set things right when he speaks with the irreverent Michiru and determines on how to reach a solution. With things settled, Minagi departs for an unknown destination, and Misuzu collapses unexpectedly, setting in motion the final events of Air.

• The origins of the thousand-year-old curse is found in the Heian Period, which spanned from 794 AD to 1185 AD. This period was characterised by a substantial Chinese and Buddhist influence, and is known for its artwork. It turns out that long ago, there were winged beings of great power, and society’s fear of them led to their extinction. Samurai Ryūya and Force-sensitive Uraha strive to protect Kanna from the pursuers after they manage to fulfill Kanna’s wish of locating her mother, and eventually, after Kanna is cursed and killed, Ryūya and Uraha conceive a child together with the aim of breaking this curse.

• The third segment of Air follows things from the perspective of a crow named Sora. Here, Misuzu stands outside on a hot summer’s day. The alternative perspective offers new insight into Misuzu’s world, and that despite her lack of friends, her world is one of optimism and making the most of things. Her appearance in this moment here is the anthropomorphism of what I’ve come to long for in the summer: an encounter with someone like Misuzu or Nagisa in a verdant field and endless skies. Of course, this is just a dream, and given the geographical setting of where I am, such a dream is unlikely to come to fruition.

• Following Yukito’s disappearance, Haruko resolves to look after Misuzu, whose health worsens by the day. Eventually, Misuzu’s father comes to pick her up, and while the old Haruko would have no objections, over the past while, she’d come to bond with Misuzu and sees her as a daughter. Misuzu’s father reluctantly allows Haruko to look after her for a few more days. With her hair short, Misuzu resembles Kanon‘s Ayu Tsukimiya. Having covered two of Key’s biggest titles, my sights are now set on writing about Kanon: I watched it after finishing CLANNAD and felt it have less of an impact, but the series remains exceptional, worthy of being counted as a masterpiece.

• While I’ve referred to the town of Air as Kami, the real Kami actually does not have a hill overlooking the sea and is quite flat. Contrasting her initial cold treatment of Misuzu, Haruko comes around and begins regarding her as a proper daughter. Despite their short time together, the memories they share become priceless: each of the three arcs of Air appear to be unified by the idea of how transient and fragile relationships can be, but still have great importance and worth nonetheless. Air covers numerous other themes, as well, but at a very basic, broad level, the theme I’ve found Air to be most forward with is thus.

• Today was the last day of August: this month is typically one of the nicest of the year, with warm temperatures and sunny skies. We’ve had a good amount of sunshine and warm weather this month, allowing me to capitalise on the weather and go for a walk under what is the closest my area will get to the skies I’ve seen in anime. I may live in the city, but there is plenty of green space that makes the local area look like satoyama. Today, on the other hand, was rainy and moody, but it didn’t stop me from making the most of the day. After hanging out with a friend downtown, I helped prepare a home-made short-rib with a custom dry rub on a bed of peppers. Made from locally-sourced meats, the result was juicy and delicious.

• In this post, partially a reflection of Air and partially me reflecting on the last day of August, I’ve featured moments that predominantly have the blues and greens of summer. Air, however, also makes use of other times of day: like Kanon, CLANNAD and virtually the rest of Kyoto Animation’s works, the colouring and time of day become critical in conveying a certain mood. Intense saturation during the evenings, for example, indicate emotional distress or troubling times.

• Misuzu’s death is inevitable, and one of the most difficult moments was watching her struggle to stand and walk over to Haruko. Misuzu eventually dies on the beaches she loved, in Haruko’s arms. While the curse appears to claim yet another life, the combination of time, Yukito’s befriending of Misuzu and willingness to return as a crow to retain the lost memories, and Haruko’s accepting of Misuzu as her own daughter, the sum of these actions allows the curse to lift. In this case, Air is really about showing how compassion and kindness has a nontrivial impact in ending even something as powerful as a curse.

• In the end, the children at the end don’t have any significance to the story. Air is regarded as being somewhat difficult to understand, but in spite of this, still retains a moving story. With Air done, I will be turning my sights towards Kanon at some point. We now enter September, and I’ll be doing reflections on both Sounan Desu Ka? and Dumbbell nan Kilo Motteru once their finales air. Beyond this, I am pushing through Metro Exodus at a high rate and will be looking to finish before mid-month, so there will be posts on this. Finally, Battlefield V will be getting a post, as well: while the game has seen numerous setbacks, there are still a few things to consider, especially as I pass the one-year anniversary of Battlefield V‘s open beta.

Whereas I’ve actually finished Air some years ago, I encountered considerable difficulty until a recent re-watch of the series that led me to consolidate what I had to say about things. Being the earliest of Kyoto Animation’s Key adaptations, Air bears all of the hallmarks of later series, featuring exceptional presentation of the different stories, and initially, I appreciated Air purely for its technical aspects. The story itself came across as being more challenging to follow, but after revisiting the series and its persistent use of endless blue skies along a quiet coastal town as a backdrop made it explicitly clear that the summer was very much a core aspect of Air. Besides representing a season of life, exploration and possibility, summer also ends more abruptly and noticeably than any other season. It is the season whose presence is most strongly felt, and whose temporal nature is most apparent. As Air is set in the summer, it stood to reason that the choice of season was almost certainly to augment the themes in Air. This connection, on closer inspection, seems very natural: the love portrayed in Air, while transient and short, is very poignant, moving and powerful precisely because it is not endless. Thus, Air seems to also indicate to viewers that the ending of summer is not something to dread or despise, since the finite nature of summer gives more value to the memories created during its course. This is appropriate, given that August now draws to a close, and while winter may approach with a tedious inevitability, there is always the consolation that the days will grow warm again.

Small Palms: A Swan Song in Revisiting CLANNAD ~After Story~ At The Ten Year Anniversary

“Meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me. You made me so happy. I don’t want you to be lost, or afraid, or anything like that. From here on out, I know things might be hard sometimes. But no matter what happens, please don’t regret meeting me.” –Nagisa Furukawa

The Girl in the Illusionary World is unable to continue on her journey, having failed to construct an operational aircraft and the robot regrets having encouraged her in this undertaking. She reveals that they knew one another in a previous world, and as she hums Dango Daikazoku, the world begins fading away. Tomoya appears on the hillside road lined with cherry blossoms and chases after Nagisa, promising that he’ll never let go. Nagisa is glad that he’d called out to her, and Tomoya reawakens prior to Ushio’s birth. Nagisa has survived delivering Ushio, and Tomoya prepares to bathe her for the first time. Outside, a miraculous phenomenon can be seen – orbs of light are floating into the sky. The couple sing Dango Daikazoku to Ushio, and begin their journey of raising her together as a family no longer bound to their doom. Five years later, Kyouko is taking Fuuko to the hospital for a check-up, but Fuuko runs off into the nearby woods, where she encounters Ushio sleeping peacefully under the shade of a tree. This marks the end to a journey spanning a year and five months: from CLANNAD‘s first episode, where Tomoya and Nagisa met, to the conclusion resulting from a well-deserved miracle that allows the Okazakis to finally find happiness, CLANNAD has come to an end, and with it, my own journey of revisiting the series ten years after its original airing. In this seventeen-month long journey spanning a total of forty-four episodes, CLANNAD has explored an incredible range of themes, encapsulating this in a story that is engaging, humourous and poignant manner. The characters are multi-dimensional, complex and human; in conjunction with a vividly-portrayed world where attention is paid to detail, weather and lighting that augments every emotion and a sublime soundtrack, CLANNAD represents anime at its very best, telling a compelling and genuine story that viewers of all backgrounds and experiences can connect with.

For me, CLANNAD is a veritable masterpiece among masterpieces for its exceptional execution and presentation of life lessons essential for most everyone. However, the series has not impacted all viewers quite to the same extent, and in particular, the finale left viewers feeling that deus ex machina was employed to provide Tomoya with a happy ending. In effect, these individuals contend, Tomoya is given a free pass and it would take a considerable suspension of disbelief to accept such an ending. Such a reaction can only arise from individuals who’d perhaps forgotten the presence of the light orbs and their function as a visual representation of the strength of individuals’ wishes: ~After Story~ is a very lengthy story, after all, and there are numerous details that foreshadow the possibility of Tomoya being given a second chance. To deny Tomoya this happiness is to contradict the expectations that ~After Story~ have set; Tomoya’s acts of kindness permeate the whole of CLANNAD, and the series does, on top of its other themes, strive to convey that 好心得好報 (jyutping hou2 sam1 dak1 hou2 bou3, literally “good heart, good repayment”, and most similar to the English expression “what goes around comes around”). Having been made to suffer, and in spite of all this, coming out stronger and a better man for it, Tomoya has earned a happy ending with Nagisa and Ushio ten times over for having put everyone ahead of himself throughout CLANNAD. His selflessness and altruism cost him, but Tomoya never complains, never expects repayment and simply does his best for those around him, even when faced with his own challenges, and as such, the forces that are recognise this. Leaving a trail of mended dreams and lives in his wake, even as he struggles to find happiness for Nagisa and Ushio, to deny Tomoya a happy ending would be the epitome of cynicism – the visual novel provides a more detailed explanation of why this is allowed to occur, and in the anime, the end result is identical. Viewers are treated with closure to a very lengthy and very rewarding journey; there is no doubt that Tomoya and Nagisa can share a peaceful and normal future with Ushio. This is the ending that viewers deserve and needed for such a powerful series which indubitably left a profound change in my life.

Screenshots and Commentary

• We come to it at last, the ending of a great journey that spanned seventeen months. The page quote is an extended version of Nagisa’s words to Tomoya after they meet again on the path to school; Tomoya had come to regret meeting Nagisa and bringing suffering upon them both, but she found the limited time they’d spent together to be the happiest she’d known. Naigsa and Tomoya here still retain their memories, having been transported into a pocket universe of sorts where they come to terms with everything that’s happened. After cashing in on the wishes carried in each light orb, Tomoya reunites with Nagisa and his consciousness is transported back to the real world.

• In this reality, Nagisa survives labour and successfully gives birth to Ushio without any complications, bringing an end to the curse that had lingered. When I first watched this, I found that even in the absence of a complete understanding of the light orbs, the outcome still followed logically from the sum of the acts of kindness Tomoya carried out. To Tomoya, the stress of labour would have dulled his sense of time, and he might have experienced five years’ worth of events in his mind’s eye while tensely waiting for Nagisa to give birth. Of course, this is the scientific approach to things that disregards the light orbs, and the fact is that the light orbs very much have a tangible presence in CLANNAD, acting as the catalyst that allows Ushio to wish for a happy, normal life with her parents.

• After bathing Ushio for the first time, Tomoya tenderly holds her while Nagisa, the Furukawas and the midwife looks on. The worst is clearly over, and we enter one of the longest, most well-executed dénouements to be shown in any anime I’ve seen. When I first watched CLANNAD seven years previously, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was gearing up for the first of its crossover films with The Avengers, and only two of the Infinity Stones were showcased. The reality and time stones were not introduced until later: of the Infinity Stones, these two could prove useful in creating the realm that Tomoya is returned to.

• The Infinity Gems were originally conceived in 1972 and since then, have been wielded by a variety of characters, with Thanos being a particularly notable user for having united them to wipe out half the life in the universe. A common joke is that the stones can be used for more mundane purposes, and CLANNAD definitely seems like one such instance. Having said this, the ending strictly does not count as deus ex machina as some have asserted: there is a very well-established basis in how the happy ending came to be. Here, the phenomenon of light orbs rising into the sky can be seen as a sign, a lifting of the curse.

• Large snowflakes resembling these light orbs are also seen in Kanon, Kyoto Animation’s precursor to CLANNAD. I would very much like to revisit Kanon at some point in the near future. For the time being, as ~After Story~ wraps up, Nagisa and Tomoya sing “Dango Daikazoku” to a sleeping Ushio. The song transitions into Lia’s “Palm of a Tiny Hand”, a highly poignant, but optimistic and uplifting song that accompanies the montage of Ushio growing up. This song is one of the other songs in my library that I typically avoid listening to while out and about: besides “Natsukage” (also by Lia) and “Ichiban no Takaramono”, it’s one of the few songs that can make me cry.

• Moments of normalcy dominate the montage as viewers watch Ushio grow up with a loving family. From being held, to learning to walk, the ending montage shows Ushio doing the sorts of things that young families do. My parents inform me that I learnt to talk before I could walk, and filled the house with babble before I was going all over the place. Some parents wonder about the correlation between talking early and intelligence, although there is a massive variation in when babies develop linguistic skills on account of things like their environment. For instance, babies who are talked to a great deal will learn to mimic speech earlier.

• Common, everyday events are a source of joy, and the montage goes through the effort of depicting these moments. Here, Ushio falls after being surprised by a shiba inu after trying to pet it: these spitz breeds are very independent, love being clean and were originally bred for hunting. One of my friends of old has a shiba inu, and I was able to play with this dog as a puppy. It may come as a surprise to some that I’m actually quite fond of smaller dogs, but then again, readers should not be so surprised, since I’ve often expressed that I would like to look after rabbits.

• Ushio celebrates her fourth birthday at home. I have a photograph of me with a muffin and a candle stuck on it for my earlier birthdays: having celebrated with relatives ahead of time, my parents decided to do something simple on the actual day of my birthday. There’s actually a fairly funny story behind this – I’m told that at the age of two, I was afraid of candles and wouldn’t get near the flame to blow it out.

• Akio is an avid baseball player, and Tomoya managed to win Nagisa’s hand in marriage after succeeding in hitting a baseball: with the role that baseball has had on Tomoya, it stands to reason that Ushio also begins learning to play baseball. Here in Canada, ice hockey is the national pastime, although it’s an expensive one from a financial and time perspective, so I never got into it. Instead, I took swimming lessons and did karate: today, I still retain basic knowledge about swimming, and I’m a nidan.

• One summer, Tomoya and Nagisa decide to take Ushio out into the countryside for a vacation of the same one that Tomoya had done in the other timeline. The observant viewer will note that Tomoya is wearing a similar button-up shirt as he did in the Ushio arc, but here, said shirt is buttoned-up and ironed properly. Such a minor detail might easily be missed, but it plainly shows the difference between the Tomoyas seen in the different timelines.

• The key difference ~After Story~‘s finale shows is that with Nagisa present, Tomoya’s true nature is much more prominent as he devotes his energy towards raising Ushio with Nagisa. The two have differing personalities that complement one another, and having gone through so much together, Tomoya and Nagisa understand one another better than anyone else. The same trip they take with Ushio here is much more relaxed, and taken under much happier circumstances.

• After watching Super Sonico‘s “Star Rain” episode, I longed to explore somewhere that was nearby, and in the five years following, I have realised this particular dream in a manner of speaking, having capitalised on the summer weather to do hikes and other things. Having said this, I still can’t help but wish that there was a more extensive train and bus service that would allow me to reach the far corners of my province: while driving is fun, so is sitting back and admiring the scenery passing by.

• Under the same flower field, Ushio runs with a look of pure bliss on her face. There are no meadows where I live, but there are plenty of parks where children have space to hang out and run to their heart’s content. The countryside of CLANNAD is portrayed as a magical location far removed from the hustle and bustle of the city: in Japan, space is at a premium, and such locations are rare in cities. By comparison, Canada is the land of open spaces and beautiful parks are everywhere.

• Tomoya and Nagisa are probably my favourite anime couple. Despite the extraordinary events they experience, both are down-to-earth and pragmatic. Their relationship is characterised by finding happiness everyday things. If I had to pick a second-favourite couple, Ryuji Takasu and Taiga Aisaka tie for second with Your Lie in April‘s Kōsei Arima and Kaori Miyazono. I have indeed watched Toradora!, having finished the series three years ago and loved every second of it for its natural development of a love story, as I did the developments of Your Lie in April. My favourite love stories involve characters who discover an unexpected love for one another as a result of their objectives bringing them together over a period of time.

• While my age means that meeting that special someone underneath the cherry blossoms or in a classroom by evening is now relegated to little more than a distant dream, an impossibility, I know that love can come from anywhere, anytime. Rather than pursue something for the sake of being in a relationship, I am going to continue doing me, and then make the most of wherever that will take me. Life is a journey, and the folks who pace themselves for a marathon invariably will find their way in the world.

• After Ushio is seen joyfully exploring the flower field while her parents look on, the montage transitions over to the what that the other characters have made of their time since graduation. These scenes are functionally similar to the “where are they now” segment of Animal House, which showcases the protagonist’s futures, and which was parodied in Futurama‘s “Mars University”, but in ~After Story~, serve to communicate to viewers that everyone’s found their own path following graduation.

• Audiences already know that Kyou has become a kindergarten teacher and gets along well with her students. Being able to work with groups of children, while prima facie a fun and joyful job, doubtlessly also has its challenges, and it takes a certain mentality to be successful in this career. I have nothing but respect for my kindergarten teacher, as well as all of my primary school teachers, who were made to put up with my curiosity and the attendant trouble that is supposed to have brought.

• Ryou is a nurse, and the visual novel further shows that she finds romance, as well. Nursing is a respectable profession, and I have a friend who’s in nursing. I encountered him while visiting a new health campus and was initially wondering if it was indeed him, but thought better of greeting him in case I was wrong. The next day, during karate class, it turns out it really was him, and he was wondering if I was really me, or someone else.

• Kotomi went overseas to study cosmology in an American university, and is devoted to continuing her parents’ research in M-theory and higher dimensions, an integral part of parallel universes. Her work would likely put her in contact with research from giants like Steven Hawking and Brian Greene. Alternate realities did end up playing a role in CLANNAD ~After Story~, although their precise mechanisms are deliberately left unexplored because they are secondary to the narrative: what matters is that there does appear to be some elements that accommodate the ending that Tomoya ended up getting (and deserving).

• Youhei pursued a career in modelling, and has reverted to his natural hair colour, indicating a return to the right path. He’s shown screwing up in a road test, and after apologising to his instructor, focuses on continuing with the course. Because Youhei has found a path to pursue, Mei, also has become more cheerful; no longer worried about her older brother’s future, she is free to pursue her own dreams whole-heartedly and is seen hanging out with her friends here.

• Tomoyo’s future is a bit more uncertain: she’s shown to be gazing out at a sunset on a beach. Many viewers associated this with melancholy and felt that Tomoyo’s future was less positive than they would have liked: in CLANNAD, her main objective was to preserve the cherry trees for her younger brother, and not much more about her aspirations were presented in ~After Story~, but supplementary materials suggests that she is able to realise other accomplishments and find happiness.

• One question that the epilogue does not explicitly cover, is whether or not Tomoya comes to terms with his father in this new timeline. In the original timeline, Ushio’s presence eventually compels Tomoya to understand his father and make amends. I imagine that Nagisa’s continued presence, her gentle influence and desire to see Tomoya happy would eventually see her encourage Tomoya to make amends, allowing a similar outcome to be reached. It is not inconceivable for a happier, more empathetic Tomoya to undertake such a course of action: they are visiting a town here close to where Tomoya originally met his grandmother, and it could be implied that the whole family is here to catch up with Tomoya’s father and grandmother.

• If and when I am asked, CLANNAD ~After Story~ is my favourite anime series. I have seen numerous series both before and after, but few have compelled me to care for the characters and their journeys quite to the same extent that CLANNAD ~After Story~ had. In conjunction with superb artwork that looks amazing even a decade later, strong writing, a colourful cast and a soundtrack that adds atmospherics to a scene sufficiently well so that the music itself might be considered a character, I have next to nothing negative to say about ~After Story~.

• The soundtrack in particular incorporates a range of instruments and composition styles: besides Dango Daikazoku and its variations, the pieces are all appropriate for different moments in the series. It worth mentioning that the incidental pieces in CLANNAD are not all found on the original soundtrack: a handful of pieces with a more distinctly Irish component is included with the Mabinogi soundtrack, itself named for a collection of Welsh prose known as the Mabinogion. The Mabinogi soundtrack is very heavily influenced by Irish elements, giving it a very distinct and unique sound, while the original soundtrack is more conventional in composition, making extensive use of piano to capture emotions.

• The name “Clannad” is derived off the Irish word for family, “Clann”, and was first used by a family band of the same name that was formed in 1970. Originally known as “Clann as Dobhar”, their name was later shortened to Clannad. Clannad is known for their eclectic musical style, performing folk music and rock with Celtic elements, smooth jazz and even Gregorian chants. Jun Maeda eventually saw this name while writing out the story for CLANNAD and imagined it to be the Irish word for family, giving the series its name.

• In the epilogue, Fuuko and Kyouko are headed to the hospital for Fuuko’s checkup. Fuuko’s unusual way of thinking gives rise to non sequiturs that make no sense even to Kyouko, and Kyouko can only play along. It’s a gentle ending to what was a highly poignant and emotional journey, and returning Fuuko briefly to the spotlight is a callback to the first season, where Fuuko ends up being the first individual Tomoya helps out, and the first person to feel that Tomoya and Nagisa was a couple. Folks wondering whether or not I will go back and write about the OVAs will be disappointed: I’ve already covered them in some capacity and admittedly, writing about CLANNAD is very taxing.

• The settings of CLANNAD are based in Mizuho, a town located on the western edge of Tokyo. Its name is never given in CLANNAD, but the city is referred to as Hikarizaka (lit. “Hill of Light”) amongst the fans. As we draw to the close of a revisitation project that spanned seventeen months, I note that even in this time frame, a great deal has happened. CLANNAD captures the idea that the flow of time is relentless, and life is what we make of it: when I first began this journey, it was an October evening that coincided with a pleasant Mid-Autumn festival, I remarked that I would be curious to see whether or not my thoughts would change on this series.

• My verdict is that, like a fine wine, or a good steak, CLANNAD has become even more enjoyable with age. It’s a timeless series whose messages continue to remain relevant, and I am very glad to have revisited it. When I finished the revisitation for the first season, I asked readers if they would be interested in a continuation. One reader stands out to me for having made the request, and I continued into CLANNAD ~After Story~ for them: if even one reader wishes for me to explore something, I will do my best to honour their request. I understand that this particular is very busy at present, but I do hope that they would have the chance to take a look at these later posts when time allows them to: we both share commonalities in our background, and I greatly enjoyed hearing new perspectives on experiences I have also encountered.

• This is one of the joys of blogging that has given me the inspiration to continue writing: being able to really connect with readers and share experiences gives both me and the readers a sense that we’re not really alone in this vast world. On the flipside, I am admittedly a little curious to also hear from those who may have not found CLANNAD as moving as as I have; at the end of the day, mine is just an opinion (no matter how well-defined, thoughtful, insightful and detailed it may be), so I would like to see also why some folks did not enjoy CLANNAD. As ~After Story~ draws to a close, Fuuko runs off after feeling something special in the woods nearby: she encounters the Girl from The Imaginary World, who turns out to be Ushio, sleeping peacefully under the shade of a tree.

• The final still of ~After Story~ shows that in the end, the sum of good deeds, genuine compassion and empathy in CLANNAD has allowed the very city itself to accept its citizens. That Ushio is sleeping in an untouched grove adjacent to a modern hospital shows that humanity and nature can co-exist, much like how people of different backgrounds, experiences and station can co-exist. With this, I have fully finished my revisitation of CLANNAD and CLANNAD ~After Story~ in full. Even though these posts have been very difficult to write for, I think the journey itself was well worth it, and I hope that for the readers, these posts have clarified what CLANNAD means to me. Everyone will have their own stories as to which series have had a profound impact on them, and for me, CLANNAD occupies a very special place in my heart, being something that lifted me through challenging times and also broadened my perspective on family.

While a decade may have passed since CLANNAD and CLANNAD ~After Story~‘s airing, that the anime remains relevant, moving and engaging in the present is no small feat. With its universal themes of family, friendship, kindness and resolve, CLANNAD is a timeless anime that deals in matters that are common to all of humanity. It is for this reason that CLANNAD is peerless as an anime – touching so many elements that are involved with being a decent human being, the sorts of thing I know in my tongue as 做人道理 (jyutping zou6 jan4 dou6 lei5, literally “principles of being human”), the series forces viewers to introspect and consider what matters most to them. While CLANNAD may not deal with academic, social or philosophical matters that some echelons of the anime community feel to be more important in what counts as a “good” anime, I personally find that the anime that are most relatable and relevant, happen to be those that deal with life lessons ubiquitous to all people. At the end of the day, regardless of one’s station, education and occupation, everything boils down to how one treats those around them. In the contemporary world, it is disappointing and disheartening that so many have forgotten these fundamentals: people no longer look out for one another and put themselves ahead of others with greater frequency, and as such, anime such as CLANNAD can act as very subtle reminders that life is more than the self; happiness is found in being there for others, for putting time into things far greater than oneself. Despite its themes being at the forefront of most everything in CLANNAD, the series never preaches these messages to viewers, leaving them to draw their own conclusions after everything has wrapped up, and subtly inspiring audiences to do good, put in an honest effort and appreciate their blessings. I am certainly glad to have watched CLANNAD: this is a series that pushed me to explore what love is and allowed me to find the strength to face down the MCAT. For everyone who’s been reading these posts every step of this seventeen-month-long journey, I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for having accompanied me all this way, as well as for putting up with what I would imagine to be increasingly sentimental and soppy posts.