Clannad

First off, I admit I never saw the series of Clannad, so perhaps I would have been biased in watching this film if I would have seen the series, but I did not, so as I watched this film "Clannad", I was pleasantly surprised, I loved it! It was a movie that was completely unpredictable. I felt I knew which way this film was going but then it would go in different directions to where I never knew how the film would end, and I loved that about this Film.

Some really deep concepts about the beauty of life, dreams, soul mates, true love, and living your life(no matter what happens). Very deep film all around, I was very delighted with this film.

Also, I love Hayao Miyazaki films, but sometimes, as brilliant as they are, one gets tired of the constant theme that each of his films drive home about loving all creatures in life, loving mother earth, taking care of all living things, etc.(Of course, all great things we should do as people though). So it was nice to see a story that was different along the lines of this kind of animation.

Again, I love Hayao Miyazaki films, it was just nice and refreshing to see a different concept played out in an animation film like this.

I would recommend this film for all ages, as there is something for everyone in it. And who doesn't love the 3 lead characters in this one, they're so much fun to watch! I highly recommend watching this one.

Have you already seen the TV series? If not, please don't see this movie yet.

This is the right order to see Clannad:

1. Clannad (2007–2008) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1118804/ - The TV series Season 1.

2. Clannad: After Story (2008– ) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1298820/ - The TV series Season 2.

3. Clannad (2007) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0997274/ - This movie.

As you can see from above, this movie came before the TV series, but it is supposed to be viewed last. If you watch this movie and then the TV show it will spoil all the surprises. :-).

The story - Its very simple, a high school girl and boy meet and they fall in love. I am so sorry there is nothing more to say than this, really. :-).....

Because the movie and the TV series has the same story (there are small differences though), this movie may be redundant, so the question is, do you need to see it at all? I will try to answer that:

Quality - The Clannad TV series I think is the best anime/movie/TV series that I have ever seen. It can only be compared to movies like Tokyo Story, Spirited Away, Life is Beautiful, Its a Wonderful Life, etc. Its just too good, unimaginably. And because of that, unfortunately, this movie comes across as mediocre.

The saddest thing about this movie is that it trivializes the lead actress, Nagisa. Here she seems to be chasing after Tomoya. Pestering and pushy, silly and dumb! But the real Nagisa (from the TV series), is the most amazing character that I have ever seen. She can only be compared to people like Avatar Aang (Avatar the Last Airbender), Belldandy (Ah My Goddess), etc. And those people are like super heroes with super powers, whereas Nagisa is ridiculously frail of body and she is nowhere as beautiful as Belldandy, yet somehow she is so strong with the most beautiful heart that you are in awe of her!

I also felt that most of the emotions in this movie were forced and it seemed too artificial. Here Nagisa's parents seem like they are crazy and that they are desperate to set Tomoya up with Nagisa. In reality they are very mature people and important to the overall story. And not just the parents, the many many characters that you will quickly see here, they all have important roles in what happens between Nagisa and Tomoya, yet they are all forgotten here.

And the background music, is it me, or did it feel as if they were purposefully mocking the movie. It sounded like the silly sounds that we may make when we are trying to imitate a horror movie infront of our friends, like where we are purposefully trying to be silly. In the TV series, the music absolutely blows us away! It is so perfect that it seems to be flowing with our heart.

Once we have seen the series, each character in it becomes our friend, and we will miss them. This movie was a way to see them all again. So yes, its still worth to see this movie.

Say you are someone who hates anime, even then I can confidently recommend this series to you, you won't be disappointed.

Thank you for reading this. :-). Cheers.

I must start out by saying people put strikes against this movie because they thought they had changed things that were so good in the show, mainly the song "Dango Daikazoku". These people are mistaken, nothing was changed. The movie came BEFORE the show, so those strikes should not exist.

I guess the main reason people didn't like this movie was because of the quality of the show. I watched the movie first, and with an open mind, and found it amazing. Sure, some parts got very goofy, but most of the scenes did really well in giving the characters personality. Sure, you didn't get back stories for anyone, but that would make the movie too long. This was still a very deep, emotional movie. It really makes you think.

The ending was something the movie really had over the show. Don't get me wrong, I still adore the ending to the show, but the movie ending had a much better metaphor and was more believable. No matter how much I love the show, I still look at the movie as the bit of nostalgia that really hooked me on Clannad.

The animated series is one of my favorite series of all time, but I found the movie to be very weak. There was a significant change in character setting and scenarios, which was great, but this story is way too long to be compressed into a 100-minute movie. The end result was a rushed plot development, and the movie ended without the audience being able to connect with any of the characters.

The animation wasn't as impressive as the TV series, and I thought there were way too many still-pictures, which seemed like laziness. Lighting seemed too bright as well, though I guess they were trying to illustrate the dreaminess of the story. Kyoto Animation (which produced the TV series) once again impresses me with the animation quality compared with Toei.

Another fatal mistake was changing the "Dango Big Family" song, which was a masterpiece to anyone who has seen the TV series.

For those who has seen the TV series, I'm sure this movie would feel lacking in comparison, and those who hasn't probably can't keep up with the accelerated story development. Watch the anime series.

I feel a little disappointed after reading. Some places have beautiful pictures and music, and some places have good atmosphere, but this is a few advantages. The whole work has many problems, far from the Kyoto animation version. However, to be honest, even if the information content of the work "CLANAND" is removed, it is not appropriate to put it in the 90-minute theater version. It is very wise for Kyoto Animation to show this with the capacity of 44 episodes. In this work, the characters can't stand up, and the characters are completely reduced to plot promotion tools, which is relatively flat. The plot advances too fast, and the emotion is not supported enough, which makes it difficult to resonate. The rhythm is also not well handled, and the priority is not in place, which makes people feel fragmented.