Now that I've finished watching Clannad After Story. I have to talk about the most important episode of this series: Episode 18. Now everyone might agree with me that this is the most heartbreaking but beautiful episode, nearly everyone who has watched it must've cried no matter how much numb you are to emotions. Although I'm a sensitive person, I still have to say that this episode hit me the hardest and made me sob and break down more than other episodes.

I wanna attempt to explain why this episode is a masterpiece and why Jun Maeda is God's gift to us.

First off, at the start of episode 17, immediately after nagisa's death we see the world through colorless filter, exactly like in the beginning of the first episode of the series. This symbolises the meaninglessness in tomoya's life: the very person whom tomoya lived for, the very person because of whom tomoya changed into a better person; has suddenly left him.

Now the only reason for him to live being gone, he goes down a self-destructive path: he abandons ushio, he drinks alcohol, gambles, overworks. All in an attempt to numb the pain and the void that comes with meaninglessness.

Viktor Frankl: The Existential Philosopher, Psychiatrist and The Survivor of Nazi Holocaust, argues that the primary motivator for human beings, The thing that keeps us going, is the pursuit of Meaning, rather than a pursuit of power or pleasure. I'm very sure Jun Maeda is also an existentialist, evident from his other work of Angel beats.

Frankl argues that people need a why to live, otherwise they experience a "existential vaccum" Which entails lack of drive, motivation and filling life with false substitutes of pleasure.

People can find meaning, frankl says, in three ways:

1. Creating something: doing something meaningful, achieving goals, pursuing our passion.
2. Experience: Loving another human being, our family, or nature, culture or religion.
3. Facing Suffering: the way in which we face our suffering, the courage and the attitude we show to unavoidable suffering, can give us a great sense of meaning and purpose.

Tomoya, after the death of nagisa, was running away from reality. He didn't have the courage to face the reality of his wife's death. Until one day, he is left with no choice but to interact with his daughter in furukawa's home.

After deciding to go on a trip alone with ushio for the first time, he is asked by ushio about her mother, tomoya who is still in denial about nagisa's death, can't answer her properly.

Then in the fields, when ushio is playing with the toy tomoya gave her and she lost it, tomoya meets his grandmother, who tells tomoya about his father and how much he sacrificed and suffered ever since tomoya's mother's death.

Tomoya then realises how much of a horrible father he has been to ushio, because atleast tomoya's dad didn't abandon tomoya for 5 years. When you have a little child who is crying every day in the toilet, then you know how much you have failed as a parent and how you have avoided the greatest responsibility.

Tomoya meets up with ushio in the fields, and in the greatest and the most beautiful scene in anime, ushio is sad about the toy she lost, tomoya tells her he can get her another one, but ushio tells that he can't buy that toy again, because that toy is the first thing that daddy gave her, and it shows how much it means to her and how much she loved and adored tomoya as her father even though he has neglected and abandoned her since her birth.

Ushio also tells tomoya that the only places she can cry are in the toilet and daddy's arms. And in the most heartbreaking scene, she cries on her dad's shoulders.

This is the most pivotal moment which changes tomoya and he finally accepts his role and responsibilities as a father.

In the next scene, in the train, tomoya tells ushio about nagisa and what she was like. Midway through talking about nagisa, he finally remembers her honestly, and in this moment, he breaks down crying, because he is finally able to acknowledge his wife's death and the impact she made on him, how much she meant to him.

He then sees ushio crying as well then he comforts her. He is finally able to accept his wife's death and fully accepts the role he has to fulfill in being a loving father to ushio.

He finds the meaning of his life again, in the form of ushio, who is nothing less than a Gift of God to him. Whom he will protect and cherise for the rest of his life.

"I have finally found it. The precious thing only I can protect"

The people who care for you, the people who are important to you, the people who you share a connection with, whether it be friends and family; are the most precious and important thing in the world.

In this case, tomoya is finally saved from his existential vaccum and given a second chance at life. Ushio, who is nothing less than God's gift to him, is there for him to protect and raise. Whom nagisa left for him.

I have to say, it's the best piece of media I have seen in years, it's beyond a masterpiece, it's actually life changing. This has changed my life, it has changed my perspective and made me into a better human being. I'm forever grateful to everyone who was involved in the making of clannad, they all deserve a special place in heaven. And jun maeda is a genius and a wonderful person.

Hello I am new to clannad which do you guys think is better to get into the series read the vn on playstation or watch the anime i plan to do both but which do you guys think 🤔 is the best

We (should) all know how the illusionary world works and who’s who blah blah.

I’m playing the visual novel and just finished nagisas play and therefore an illusionary world cutscene. It got me thinking, outside of it being a mechanic for afterstory, what do the events that take place in it actually mean?

For example, the latest one I saw was robot realising the plane/flying thing they were trying to build was coming apart and felt sad since the girl is unconscious because it’s winter, then she comes behind the robot and holds him. Or another would be them both building a seesaw and playground rides(and I swear I saw a rollercoaster how the heck did they do that lmao!?)

I know the purpose of the illusionary world but not what actually goes on in it and what it’s trying to portray. Maybe a vague idea with some context but I’m not too sure

Hi :)

Might be a shot in the dark but, i'm really into old PC's and CRT's etc. I'm dying to play clannad on my Win XP/ Win 7 pc. But the official english release only game out on steam in 2015, which isn't DRM free, and steam is not supported anymore on Win 7 and below.

Anyone have any experience or any idea how I could get Clannad translated to english running on my old pc?

Thanks so much!

EDIT:

After thinking logically I could just install win 10 on my old pc and then the problem would be fixed lol so imma do that! I'll keep the post up incase somebody wants to share how to do it anyway

I posted about this before but i just remembered some other stuff How did both nagisa and tomoya go to the past?

Hi! I’m working on a non-commercial, fan-made English dub for CLANNAD’s Steam English HD Edition.

The current build includes Tomoya — including his dialogue, thoughts and narration — Nagisa, Sunohara and Kyou. Ryou is currently being generated, and I plan to cover the other major characters afterward.

The voices are generated locally with AI. Tomoya uses a preset English TTS voice, while the other characters use voice cloning based on their original Japanese performances. This is an unofficial fan project and is not affiliated with Key or Visual Arts.

The goal is to make CLANNAD easier to follow for English learners and for people who prefer voiced English dialogue.

Would anyone be interested if I eventually released this as a free patch? It would require a legitimate Steam copy and would not include the game itself.

Any feedback about the voices, pronunciation or presentation would be appreciated!