Clannad is a seriously beautiful high-school love story at it’s best. This is one of those must see-Animes that goes down in history.

Tomoya Okazaki has grown up with only his alcoholic father, and because of that he’s become something of a delinquent. On his way to school on one of the days when he doesn’t skip class he meets a girl, Nagisa Furukawa, talking to herself about how she loves this school. Tomoya somehow befriends the strange girl, and together they try to reetablish the Theater Club that had to close because of a lack of members. They also befriend Fuko Ibuki the ghost of a girl who passed away on her way home from the opening ceremony a few years ago and is trying to get as many people as possible to come to her sister’s wedding by handing out sculptures of starfish(don’t ask); one of the candidates for the position as head of the Student Council, Tomoyo Sakagami(who has the only voice I’ve ever actually gotten annoyed at, except for Kitsune’s english voice in Love Hina); the genius who also happens to be the worst violin player in existence, Tomoya’s childhood friend who has less than no social skills at all, Kotomi Ichinose; and Tomoya’s twin classmates Kyou and Ryou Fujibayashi who is the polar opposite of each other – Kyou is violent and outwards while Ryou is timid and cares more about others than herself.

While the base story of reetablishing the theater club seems a bit classic, straightforward, uninteresting and a bit boring, the execution and countless side-tracks makes it far better than it seems. Anime News Network had a fine definition that “Tomoya finds his life turning in a new direction”. On top of the beautifully executed story it has the ability to create an atmosphere almost like the D.N.Angel Manga version, great character growth, some of the best animation and soundtrack ever, and an Art Style I completely adore – just look at Nagisa’s eyes on the picture above. It’s actually so good so that it even received a Sequel/Season 2 called “Clannad ~After Story~”. On top of the serious drama and love story in the foundation it also has a high class comedy on top of it that somehow manages to integrate with the serious parts (unlike for example Fruits Basket that switches a bit too fast between trying to imitate D.N.Angel’s Depth and being light-hearted sitcom) and goes along the lines of Angel Beats! or Arakawa under the Bridge‘s humor in that everyone says completely inconsequent and odd things yet stays serious. Example: Nagisa can call Fuko “Fu-chan”, but when Tomoya asks her if he can call her that too she immediately responds with “That’d be horrible!!” in a shocked tone, but can’t define what exactly would be horrible about it. That scene is a lot funnier than it sounds. Another example is that Fuko can’t give a high-five without first pretending to score in basketball. Clannad is also home to some of the saddest scenes I’ve ever seen in an Anime – such as the scene where Fuko disappears and everyone starts forgetting about her. Imagine the scene where Xion dies and all memories of her disappears from her friends in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, then do that to one of the best characters in the entire series(Fuko actually has a personality unlike Xion). The result is definitely sad no matter how you look at it. She reappears a few times later, though, don’t worry.

Watch immediately here. There are no acceptable excuses not to.

Screenshots by Random Curiosity. Used with permission.