Now all we need is for this to be printed on a dakimakura cover.

When /a/ gets excited about a visual novel, it usually means it’s something worth taking notice of. After all, it was due to /a/’s fanaticism over Tsukihime being translated that got me into TYPE-MOON. With that said, the talk of the town now is all focused around Clannad. Yes, the Clannad visual novel.

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Arghargbleargh! Like a recurring nightmare, Fuuko pops out of nowhere to scare the living daylights out of me. That might be exaggerating things a little, but it doesn’t change the fact she’s my least favorite heroine, despite me being lolicon, which also explains why I didn’t bother to write up on her arc….much. But I digress.

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So volume 1 of the Clannad DVD is out, and with it came a CD-ROM with stuff like icons, wallpapers and calenders. Download here. Enjoy!

So moe, I almost died, not to mention also due to Kotomi’s inability to play the violin. Plenty of laugh out loud moments abound, almost all coming from the genius girl herself.

Another great thing about this week’s episode is that Kyou has a lot more screentime compared to previous episodes, which makes me wonder if KyoAni is trying to include parts of my favorite heroine’s route as well. Speaking of which, both Kyou and Tomoya shared a somewhat intimate moment that we’ve not seen thus far, when she asked him if that he was willing to go out with a girl who really likes him. Make no mistake, it was for Ryou’s benefit, yet it makes you wonder if she had posed the question for her own sake as well, judging from her expression.

Anyway, it is still Kotomi’s route after all, and the more I look at her, the more I’m actually fond of her, if only because she had this one extraordinarily breathtaking scene where she was so captivating that it left me (and Tomoya) speechless and stunned for a brief moment.

Still felling people with her tune, Kyou comes up with an outrageous idea of having Kotomi perform a melodic genocide violin recital in front of people. Elated, Kotomi decides to practice even more, albeit without any improvement, where the effects of that circumstance proves fatal, literally.

After the day’s performance with casualties among the audience, everyone heads home together, until a mysterious old man approaches Kotomi, and it is apparent that she is extremely afraid of him. As to why, nothing is revealed other than the fact Kotomi refers the old man as the “bad guy”. Hopefully this will be answered next week, taking into consideration that the episode is entitled Hidden World. I wish to bully Kotomi. Shin out.

After the bittersweet ending that was Fuko’s arc, the story finally diverts its attention to Kotomi. Essentially the intelligent and reclusive loner archetype, Kotomi struggles take note of her surroundings, and is thus unable to make any friends. But you probably knew that from the first time she showed up anyway.

Delving deeper into episode reveals several facts about Kotomi, little quirks about her personality which makes her quite moe, apart from the fact she’s voiced by Mamiko Noto, of course. And so, our protagonist takes it upon himself to help Kotomi make friends, by asking her to join the theater club. Hilarity ensues as she struggles to even properly introduce herself.

At the end of the day, she manages to at least make acquaintances with the other heroines. The one thing I didn’t expect was her skills with the violin. They were to put it simply, atrocious. Still, Kotomi seems very attracted to it, so I guess she’d improve in future episodes as well as being able to socialize with others.

Decent episode I guess, although I really can’t wait for them to reach Kyou’s arc, which I hope is soon, since they’re almost half way through the series. Shin out.

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=u0n4EAHTPwI]

So. Clannad 02.

JUST AS PLANNED EXPECTED. No wait, the wishes come true thing was just acting. Or was it? Knowing Key they’ll make a silly plot device out of it, I CAN FEEL IT.

The collection of Really Generic Harem Girls Key Style is now complete. (Or is it!?) We have:

• The moé main heroine with a “weak body” (will we ever get an explanation for this mysterious disease?)
• The violent, most likely tsundere girl
• The mysterious martial-arts skilled cool girl
• The good and nice class president girl
• The silent genius girl, and finally
• The token dumb loli-like girl.

IMAGINATIVE, ISN’T IT! Most of these are carbon copies of the Kanon girls (durr, as if anyone would be surprised). Someone was already starting to hope Tomoya would end up with [someone who isn’t Nagisa]. Oh how silly, harem rule #1: the main character will always end up with the first girl he meets and who is first in the OP. If a harem show breaks this rule it’s called an interesting and innovative plot twist (see the Shuffle debacle).
Also, what the christ is with Tomoya? Is he some kind of schizophrenic? HAY I HATE MY FATHER AND I’M REALLY BITTER BUT I’M WALKING AROUND SCHOOL BEING NICE TO CUTE GIRLS JUST BECAUSE A MAN’S GOTTA DO WHAT A MAN’S GOTTA DO.

Furthermore, are the people who are saying this has the best animation of any show this season blinded by their Kyoto Animation-colored sunglasses, or are their brains trying to interpolate something from all the horrible blurring of the shitty raws? I mean, there are some really good scenes but 75% of the episode is just talking heads, standard harem show style, interspersed by the scene transitions stolen from Powerpoint. What’s with this, Kyoani? Are you TRYING to get it to look like a h-game on purpose or what? Where’s the imagination and fluid animation of the Haruhi or FMP:TSR fame?

And the mysterious dead world thing and the ghost thing goes on. WHY DO YOU HAVE TO DO THIS EVERY SINGLE FUCKING TIME, KEY? You could MAYBE do decent character drama if you didn’t fucking insist on all these FUCKING PLOT DEVICES that make your scenario writers look like 14-year-olds writing bad fanfiction. Le sigh.

tl;dr: Harem feeling getting stronger, nothing else of interest happens. Character development only develops clichees. Durr. May troll more later but I’m running out of stuff to write about.

NINJA EDIT: oh, and I also like (lol not really) the standard Key beat-you-over-the-head-with-a-bag-of-cement foreshadowing. - Angry Anonymous

I was never a Key fan and have never watched Kanon or Air, but seeing as how I’ve not found anything that I could really like just yet, I gave this a go and was pleasantly surprised. Being an anime based on a visual novel, the animator has the task to retain the original feel to appease fans of the game and at the same time cater to the general audience. Falling in the latter category, and without the high expectations from a fan, I somewhat enjoyed the first episode and will most likely see this to the end.

The story begins with Okazaki Tomoya, the male lead, lamenting on his mundane life who wishes for a change of pace. On the way to school, he encounters a strange girl(central heroine detected) who at first appears to be talking to herself, about how much she loves the school which they both go to, although it’s hard for things not to change and that the happy moments will not last . Concluding that she is talking to someone in her mind, Tomoya suggests to her to seek out new and happy things. The girl is taken aback by this and after his urging, they both head off to school together.

In school, he finds his friend Sunohara Youhei being pummeled by the rugby team players but is then saved by the dorm manager, Sagara Misae. The two guys head back to Youhei’s room where Tomoya attempts to provoke the rugby players, who so happen to live next door, much to Youhei’s anguish. Seeing at how his friend reacted, Tomoya ceases to tease his friend and to him, another pointless day has passed.

The next day in class, he is approached by the class president Fujibayashi Ryou who tells him that he was late for class again and not to be so tardy next time. He brushes it off, prompting Ryou to take out a pack of cards to read his fortune. She tells him he will be late again the following day yet again, as he will lose track of time after having a romantic meeting with a girl. Cue Ryou’s older sister Kyou, who barges in thinking that Tomoya is bullying Ryou. After clarifying what just took place, Ryou gives a sarcastic smirk and wishes him good luck.

During break, Tomoya finds the strange girl that he met the other day and questions why she is eating alone. She doesn’t reply him but instead tells about how she used to had plenty of friends and how she got along with the teachers, but due to the long break she took due to an illness, she is held back for another year, whereas everyone else has already graduated. She also lets Tomoya know about her desire to join the drama club but is unable to do so due to her weak body. Perhaps feeling for her plight, Tomoya encourages her to do so. The pair then head off to the field where there is some sort of commotion involving some bikers from another school. A long haired girl confronts them, and just as Tomoya was about to lend a hand, he is stopped by the girl’s classmates, who tell him that the girl is Sakagami Tomoyo, a 2nd year student who had just transferred and can take care of herself. She proves this by easily dispatching of the bikers with a flurry of kicks.

Tomoya then tells the girl about how she and Tomoyo is in a similiar situation, although the latter is much more popular, therefore it’s really depending on the person. Break time ends, and the girl formally introduces herself as Furukawa Nagisa. Later on, Youhei drags Tomoya to confront Tomoyo accusing her of orchestrating the incident earlier to make herself look good. Youhei lunges at Tomoyo, which prompts Tomoya to recall on a rumor regarding this strong girl that had showed up. Unsurprisingly, Youhei was floored by Tomoya with ease.

In the afternoon, Tomoya goes to the drama club where he meets Nagisa standing outside the door. She enters the room only to find out it was vacant. Patting her on the head, Tomoya tells Nagisa about how he had forgotten that the club has stopped their activities earlier in the year., but tells her it can be restarted later anyway. Nagisa asks him why he is being so kind to her, despite only having just known one another. Tomoya shrugs and tells her that he doesn’t really know why.

Nagisa then invites Tomoya to the bakery that her family owns, which is also where she lives. After a hilarious exchange with her parents they sit down to have dinner together. Tomoya then tells her he found it strange that her family bonded with one another so well. Surprised, Nagisa tells him that it is something normal, not knowing what his family’s condition is. Tomoya heads home only to find that his drunkard father had passed out and just as he asks him to lie down properly, Tomoya is disgusted by his old man and runs out. Tomoya reveals that his father has been this way ever since his mother died in a car accident. After running aimlessly, he finds himself back at the bakery where he sees Nagisa, who asks him if he wanted to go to a place where wishes are granted.

An eventful first episode, to say the least. Already I’m liking both Kyou and Tomoyo already, since they seem to be the embodiment of th tsundere archetype, which sits at the top of my fetish list. Apart from that, the story seems decent enough, although I have no clue where they’re heading at, so I’m going to continue watching for at least a couple more episodes before deciding if this is a keeper. Shin out.