Clannad in a nutshell.

To RAGE or not to RAGE, that is the question. To be fair, this episode from KyoAni wasn’t that bad, as I already knew very well beforehand it was going to be an abrupt ending. That being said, considering the fact Fuuko had so much screentime to the extent that Tomoyo and Kyou got shafted, you’d think they’d concentrate more on the main girl and give a proper conclusion to her story. I guess I’ll have to rely on the movie for this then, or get my ass off and finish up Nagisa’s route….

Distraught over the photos she found, Nagisa now feels guilty for ruining her parents’ dreams as portrayed by their happy expressions in the pictures. Tomoya attempts to correct her by saying that it wouldn’t have mattered anyway as the couple were still happy no less, although he was at a loss of words when Nagisa states that they gave everything up for her nonetheless. She goes on expressing her grievances by noting on how much her friends have helped her achieve her selfish dream, with Tomoya responding with the fact they all did it out of their own free will.

It is the day of the school festival, and Nagisa is as depressed as ever, despite Sunohara’s valiant attempt at cheering her up. Tomoya then takes Nagisa around the school for some sight seeing, but get separated somehow, with the latter ending up where Yukine is, at the the referencing room. To add to her woes, Nagisa comes across videos of her father during his heydays as a stage performer, plummeting her morale even further. Tomoya intervenes and turns the television off and tells Nagisa that she is her own person, doing whatever she can.

It is finally time for Nagisa’s debut performance, and expected, she is unable to proceed, being burdened with all that guilt She simply freezes in position and starts weeping away, almost forcing Tomoya to close the curtains on her, until Akio steps in and shouts at his daughter. Calling her a fool, he tells Nagisa that she should realize her dreams, as it was in some way her parents’ aspirations to see them being fulfilled as well. It takes more incessant yelling from Akio, some cheering on from her mother and some encouragement from Tomoya before Nagisa finally comes to the realization that everyone is banking on her to make her dreams come true, and she snaps out of her depression.

Insert line from a certain attorney game here.

Insert line from a certain movie about men in spandex battling Iranians here.

The rest of the play goes smoothly and everyone applauds Nagisa’s maiden performance, as she and Tomoya spend some lone time together discussing the outcome, which was great to say the least. An untimely appearance by Mr Okazaki from an invitation by Nagisa almost irks Tomoya, but surprisingly just as the father takes leave, the son simply reminds him not to drink too much. All’s well as everyone celebrates Nagisa’s success, cue CG and insert songs. In the final scene, Tomoya finally gather the courage to confess to Nagisa, to which she gladly accepts.

;-;

Good end? In my Nagisa route? As much as I would like to bitch about it, I’ve grown a little too attached to the lead girl to hope for something worse off. Not the best of endings, but it does leave room for a possible extension to the story in a form of OVAs, or less likelier, a second season. For the time being there’s going to be a special episode of sorts next week, and perhaps we’ll know by then if there’s any confirmation of any kind, as I would hate to see the story hang like this, with so much left to be told.

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