I have no doubt in my mind that Clannad is one of the best romance properties in anime. Sure, it's not the most realistic story ever with its ghost coma girls and the parallel world wishing wells. Sure, it's kind of emotionally manipulative with its bombastic music arrangements and sweeping choreography (which are all still impressive in their own right). But at the end of the day, Clannad was one of the most important anime for me of all time and I still consider Nagisa to be among the best anime characters ever conceived.
So imagine my surprise back in November of 2014 to hear about a Kickstarter for an official English release of the Clannad visual novel by Sekai Project. Of course, I threw in $80 + $5 shipping total to get a digital copy of the game on Steam, the translated side stories on Steam, and a physical copy of the Clannad Anthology Manga. That manga is what I want to take a look at today. Was the worth the $20?
After School Ghost Busters
By: Juri Misaki
Synopsis
The first of the three stories bundled in the anthology manga is a story from while all of the characters were still students at Hikarizaka Private High School. The primary cast is having a discussion about ghosts haunting the school when Kotori happens to hear them. Tomoya and friend must now convince Kotori that they were just rumors after all.
Story
This story is definitely the most derivative of all the stories. Absolutely every character's primary personality trait is showcased. Kyou is throwing textbooks at Sunohara, Nagisa is being a sweet little jelly bean <3, and Fuuko has a flashlight shaped like a starfish. Whether this is a good or bad thing will depend on if you're tired of seeing their antics or not. For me, I'll literally take whatever Clannad I can get. I will say I've always seen Kotori as the weakest link in Clannad, so I'm always going to have trouble feeling the emotional impact in one of her stories.
Art
As for the art, Juri Misaki was the artist for the original Clannad manga back in the mid-2000s. She's still retained some of her artistic style, but incorporating a lot from the anime's style as well. She's learned to exaggerate the actions of characters, whereas before, she focused more on keeping character proportions correct at all times. It's still distinct from the anime, but I'd never be confused about who a character was based on the art.
In Papa's Arms
By: ZEN
Synopsis
The second story in the anthology features a scene of Tomoya, Nagisa, and Ushio at their home post-After Story. Nagisa is jealous of Ushio being held by Tomoya, and asks for the same treatment. Fuuko then arrives and complicates matters for the couple.
Story
If I haven't made myself clear enough yet, Nagisa is literally a goddess to me. There are so few female characters that I love anywhere near as much as her. Maybe Shouko from Koe no Katachi, but that's beside the point. So I'm always going to be happy seeing some Tomoya x Nagisa fluff material. Fuuko and Nagisa have a great time being air-headed goofballs while Ushio is still just as sweet as she's always been. I also love how they adopted the gag between Nagisa's parents and brought it back here.
Art
ZEN is the only artist featured here who hasn't ever worked on a piece of Clannad media before. Despite that, I think he did a spectacular job emulating the style of the After Story anime. Ushio, Nagisa and Fuuko look exactly as I would expect. Tomoya's facial features make him look a bit too young if you ask me, but it's well within the acceptable margin for error.
BABY BABY
By: Yukiko Sumiyoshi
Synopsis
In the third and final story of the anthology, Tomoya is currently in a relationship with Tomoyo. She is watching a family drama one day when she considers that she would love to start a family with Tomoya. How will Tomoya react to it?
Story
Tomoyo has always been the third-best girl in "Clannad" to me, next to Nagisa and Kyou. I'll even admit that I played the "Tomoyo After" visual novel (blush). So I was interested to see how they were going to approach this. I think there are some very good aspects to it, like how they reincorporated Tomoyo's backstory and put a twist to it, and how Sunohara got some time in the spotlight as well.
I'm just confused when this story takes place. Sunohara and Tomoya typically hung out in Sunohara's dorm while they were in high school, but Tomoyo barged in as if it were Tomoya's home. Then Sunohara leaves, confirming that it isn't Sunohara's dorm, but why would Tomoya ever be at home while he still has a bad relationship with his father? It just doesn't add up, and I think they didn't think very deeply while writing this story.
Art
Yukiko Sumiyoshi was the artist for the "Tomoyo After" manga and the "Tomoyo Dearest" manga. So she is certainly not unfamiliar with this subject matter at all. I just don't think she has ever drawn Tomoya well, and that has not changed here. This interpretation of Tomoya is just wrong as far as I'm concerned. Tomoya is not baby-faced and he doesn't have Yugioh hair.
But credit where credit is due, she is quite skillful with the use of comedic timing using manga, and her art-style for baby-Sunohara is brilliant.
Overall
After the three stories, there are some messages by the staff towards the crowdfunding and some thumbnail images of the Japanese translation. Overall, would I consider the product to be worth $20? As someone who loved Clannad to death back in the day, I'd say so. But the entire experience is steeped in self-reference, so if you're not familiar with it, you'll likely not appreciate it as much.
You can buy a digital copy of the manga on Steam, but if you didn't support the kickstarter, then the physical copy will have to be purchased from another supporter directly.
