[US DVD] Clannad Collection 2

[Chris Beveridge]

http://cdn-www.mania.com/content_pics/000004/61/48/f7fcde750c59f79e_thumb.jpgReview by Chris Beveridge (http://www.mania.com/clannad-collection-2_article_113519.html)

Mania Grade: A-
* Audio Rating: B
* Video Rating: A
* Packaging Rating: B
* Menus Rating: B
* Extras Rating: B-
* Age Rating: 13 and Up
* Region: 1 - North America
* Released By: Sentai Filmworks
* MSRP: 39.98
* Running time: 300
* Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
* Disc Resolution: 480i/p
* Disc Encoding: MPEG-2
* Series: Clannad


In Summary:
It's been really interesting watching the Key series in the last couple of years. Going from Air to Kanon and then to Clannad, you can see their progression both in storytelling complexity and the animation itself. The story side is something I'm hoping they continue to evolve on because there is certainly a good deal of familiarity here. That's not a bad thing because what they do, well, they do it incredibly well. Rare is a high school romantic dramedy as enjoyable and compelling as this even if it has that air of familiarity from Kanon. I hope that they do start changing things up a little bit though as they continue on with new series. When it comes to the animation, I love that varying styles to the settings in each show and Clannad has a very solid one as it's not quite the extremes we saw in other shows. It plays more to the center without being too warm or too cold. With great character designs, fun and interesting characters and a series of stories that keep you watching as the threads start coming together, Clannad is something every Key fan will likely enjoy while it could easily convert and bring in new fans as well.

[The Great Bear]

*reads review*

Looks like we have a Tomoyo After fan in the making here.

In the end, I think a person's enjoyment of Clannad depends more on their reaction to the characters than on the plot with its dramatic revelations and what not. I like many of the characters, so I enjoyed the show.

[Classical]

I quite enjoyed this show, for its comedy, drama, and most of all, its characters. I found myself really enjoying the characters and their interactions with each other, they were just great to watch. The fact that I love the characters so much is the reason that I really hope someone will license Clannad After Story. I would definitely like to see more of the cast. I have to admit that I quite enjoyed the OVA as well. Overall, this show is a personal favorite of mine.

[Suwako Moriya]

Clannad was a pretty good series and the way it ended was quite interesting. Yes, this is still in my buying backlog. I hate it when deals only come up at bad times for me.

[WTK]

I really enjoyed the series that offered a little of everything (comedy, drama,...). Now I would really hope that someone license After Story sometime in the near future.

[something]

I hope that they do start changing things up a little bit though as they continue on with new series.
::looks at After Story:: That would be putting it mildly.

Clannad S1 is the set up, After Story is where it all comes home, in ways miles beyond what even the amazing S1 could have imagined.

[Chris Beveridge]

I hope that they do start changing things up a little bit though as they continue on with new series.
::looks at After Story:: That would be putting it mildly.

Clannad S1 is the set up, After Story is where it all comes home, in ways miles beyond what even the amazing S1 could have imagined.

Well, I meant more with other properties, not with Clannad itself. There's a lot of similarity in structure and design between Air, Kanon and Clannad that is very appealing. But I'd like to see then try to shake their method up a bit.

[Damius]

I can't wait to watch this!!

[Vegard Aune]

Well, I meant more with other properties, not with Clannad itself. There's a lot of similarity in structure and design between Air, Kanon and Clannad that is very appealing. But I'd like to see then try to shake their method up a bit.
Well, having played one of the visual novels Key made after Clannad, I can confirm that at least that one of them is very different from any of the ones that have been animated so far, in just about every way.

Anyway, when it comes to this release itself, I thought they did a fairly good job with it, though the subtitles felt somewhat inconsistent at times, (and every time I saw "Okazaki-san" subtitled as "Tomoya", I felt like murdering someone, though fortunately, this only happened a couple of times) and I'm hoping that After Story will be licensed soon.

[Dack Ralter]

Clannad has become one of my favorite series. I do hope that After Story will be brought over here soon.

[Damius]

Clannad has become one of my favorite series. I do hope that After Story will be brought over here soon.

I hope so too...

[something]

Well, I meant more with other properties, not with Clannad itself. There's a lot of similarity in structure and design between Air, Kanon and Clannad that is very appealing. But I'd like to see then try to shake their method up a bit.
Air I find to be a very different show. It's in the same general area, broadly speaking ("cute girls and romance and a bit of weird stuff happens" i.e. "hey it's a visual novel!"), and there are many good reasons why its fanbase overlaps so much with Kanon's and Clannad's. But much of the structure and pacing is very different, and though I always include it in my comparisons when I'm talking about the other two shows, it's generally more to illustrate contrast than continuity. Air has always been the interesting exception with KyoAni's 4 Key adaptations (if counting Clannad S1 and AS separately).

Clannad After Story is obviously closer to Clannad S1 than Air, because it's very directly continuing the events in Clannad without missing a beat. But it's in AS that Clannad goes beyond just being "a better Kanon" (which is how I thought of it at first) and becomes a very different and more ambitious type of show. Season one did a great job spanning the range of emotions, but AS (eventually) takes an even more focused approach to storytelling while at the same time exploring all those same emotions, and then some, and all much more deeply and even more convincingly.

Damnit, someone needs to license it immediately. I don't care if it's ADV or not. Clannad S1 stands on its own phenomenally well but knowing where it's able to goes afterwards, it's killer to know that it's not coming here yet.

Of interest, another Maeda Jun story (Angel Beats!) is going to be animated, although we don't know who will be handling animation production. We only know that Aniplex is involved. I hope it's KyoAni, but it doesn't have to be. I'm not familiar with that property so maybe it will turn out to be something rather different. The promo video tells us basically nothing, but it does show the heroine with a gun, which already puts her in a much different role than, say, Ayu, Nagisa or Misuzu. :sd: