Clannad is based upon the 2004 visual novel of the same name. It adapts the first part of the game where it takes place during high school. Clannad is comprised of 22 episodes plus 2 OVAs. The story follow Okazaki Tomoya, who lives in a small rural town. He is in his last year of high school. Bored by his life, he does not want to go home due to familial issues, instead spending most of his time at Sunohara's house. He is late to school every day and it is made quite clear that he has nothing to look forward to.
The first few episodes are speedy as all the characters are introduced within the first two episodes. Most of the screentime goes to Nagisa though so you instantly know that she is the heroine and the main love interest of Tomoya. The events fly past, feeling that it goes by too quickly. This is probably because we don't get to hear too much of Tomoya's thoughts unlike the visual novel and as a result, you don't feel you understand Tomoya's feelings as deeply. The viewer never feels like they are Tomoya, unlike the visual novel where players could see themselves in his shoes.
Sunohara is Tomoya's best friend and he is picked upon by pretty much anyone and everyone. While you feel sorry for him, it is hilarious nonetheless, particularly since he isn't terribly clever and is clueless about a lot of things. Tomoya himself does some pretty good pranks to both Sunohara and one of the heroines, Fuka. Most of the gags from the visual novel carry over into the anime. Some of them works better animated and some of them don't. Some jokes are over too fast before you realized what happened. The gags usually rely on melodrama or a character completely oblivious to what's currently happening around them and blurts out something random.
Compared to the visual novel, the anime has toned down the aesthetics. The characters' eyes are not as proportionally large compared to their faces but it is still different to most anime of that era. The writers had opted to cover the major events of all the routes and then merging them together such that it works chronologically. This means you'll get situations where Tomoya is helping a particular girl but suddenly gets sidetracked and helps another. More jarring are the scenes where Tomoya jumps between the various girls to advance their scenarios a tiny bit at a time. It becomes better as the episodes go on as whole episodes will then be dedicated to a particular heroine and her problems.
Basically, the anime wraps all the routes around the Nagisa route, so it adds in various new scenes in order to make this flow. Naturally, by necessity, various routes from the visual novel are heavily shortened, such as the Sunohara Mei scenario. Other routes are completely absent, with only a cameo of the character here and there. It is a shame since it means that some of the characters' backstories aren't as fleshed out. Thanks to this, the anime doesn't quite capture the same intense emotions as the visual novel did but is a very good adaptation nonetheless.
While the anime is mostly grounded in reality, there are some slight supernatural elements. The mysterious girl in another world appears and you are still left wondering how she relates to the story by the end of it. The music is really good and captures the atmosphere of each scene perfectly.
The first emotional ending moment happens around halfway into the season and it is definitely bittersweet when you think more deeply on the implications of what just happened. The fact that you might have forgotten about the friend you have spent so long together, or the result of all their hard work, it can be thought provoking. Unlike the visual novel where once you go down one character's route, you don't get to see much of the feelings of the other characters, this is not the case here. As Tomoya will develop feelings for only one character, and everyone else still retains their attraction to Tomoya, it is sad towards the end when they realize that their affections will not be returned.
While it never fully depicted Tomoya's laziness stemming from him giving up on life, by the end of the season, you can see that he had gradually put in a lot of effort. This is thanks to Nagisa's influence on him and you feel that while he was lost before, he has been slowly bought back on track and it is a heartwarming thing. The anime puts in extra scenes involving Tomoya and Nagisa and this allows the viewer to see their interactions and growing affections. It is really cute especially in the last few episodes where they finally start to realize and accept their feelings. It is sweet, funny and awkward (in a good way) at the same time.
The final episode has probably the most emotionally intense scene purely because it digs deep into the theme of the parent child relationship. The fact that a parent's dream changes to their child's resonates pretty hard with you. It doesn't hurt since this plotline was the most developed out of everything and it lead to a satisfying and happy ending. It was a great idea to have all the supporting characters help out in this final event.
There are two OVAs, with the first tone taking place after the final episode. It is more of a breather episode and one that continues to build the relationship between Tomoya and Nagisa. It is a really nice episode in that it had a great balance between humor and portraying the delicate feelings of the pair. In hindsight, there were some significant pieces of dialogue here that carries a different meaning if you know what is going to happen in Clannad After Story.
The second OVA is a heavily abridged version of Tomoyo's route from the visual novel. This was one of the best scenarios in the game so it's nice to see it get adapted. It skips the setup (which was already somewhat covered in the anime proper) and straight to the boyfriend/girlfriend stage. Unfortunately, with only one episode's worth of time, it doesn't quite build up to the same emotionally intense final scene as the original did. However, it does manage to touch upon the insecurities that Tomoya feels and has him reflect on his decisions and his influence on other people.
Overall, Clannad feels very much like a typical teen drama following a high school boy's life. As it tries to adapt various different scenarios from the visual novel into one coherent storyline, it can jump from place to place and meanings are lost in the process. The higher focus placed on Tomoya and Nagisa works well leading to a happy ending.
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