Clannad

Clannad is an anime based on a visual novel created by a software company called Key. The anime was produced by Kyoto Animation, and directed by Tatsuya Ishihara. The twenty-three episodes of Clannad aired on TBS from October 4, 2007 to March 27, 2008. A one episode OVA was released on July 16, 2008. Then, a second twenty-four episode series, Clannad After Story, aired on TBS from October 3, 2008 to March 26, 2009. Another one episode OVA was released on July 1, 2009. In the United States, ADV Films holds the distribution rights for Clannad.

Tomoya Okazaki is the male protagonist of the series. He is a third year high school student who always arrives late to school, skips class, and stays out all night. Tomoya’s behavior comes from the death of his mother when he was young, and how his father turned to drinking and smoking to deal with the loss of his wife. Because of this, Tomoya doesn’t get along with his father. But one day, while walking to school, he meets a girl named Nagisa Furukawa, and his life changes. Over the course of the series, Tomoya learns about the importance of having family and friends.

Nagisa Furukawa is the main female protagonist. Even though she is in the third year of high school, she is actually a year older than Tomoya. Nagisa has to repeat her third year because she had an illness that lasted for nine months and kept her out of school. On the first day of the year, she meets Tomoya, and the two develop a friendship. Together, they work to try and recreate their school’s disbanded drama club.

Youhei Sunohara is the closest thing Tomoya has to a friend. He, like Tomoya, is a delinquent; they have become known as the “Dirty Pair” at school. Youhei is more or less a comic relief character, who is always getting punished by the various characters due to his behavior. Even Tomoya joins in with the punishment if Youhei has done something to annoy him.

Kyou and Ryou Fujibayashi are a set of female twins who are in the same grade as Tomoya. Where Kyou is a bad-mouthed and aggressive girl, Ryou is timid and has an interest in fortune telling. At the start of the series, Ryou has a crush on Tomoya, and asks her twin sister to help her. However, as the series progresses, Kyou also develops a crush on Tomoya.

Tomoyo Sakagami is a new transfer student at Tomoya’s high school, who is violent and has a misconduct record for fighting. Over the course of the series, Tomoyo becomes a potential love interest for Tomoya.

The Clannad anime series doesn’t contain any sexual innuendo or any “fan service.” However, with some of the subject matter included in the series, I would recommend it to anime viewers who are thirteen or fourteen years of age and older.