Clannad After Story

The second season of Clannad picks up right where the first season left off. Tomoya is with Nagisa and they are beginning their second semester together. The first couple of episodes keeps the feel of the first season alive with Tomoya helping out his friends and expanding on the secondary characters. It’s when Tomoya graduates that the series changes.

After the initial few episodes the series takes on the relationship between Nagisa and Tomoya again. This is where the series really starts to gain some speed. It stops following the tradition high school anime and transitions to life after high school. Tomoya finds work and eventually Nagisa and him move into a small apartment together. The series deals with marriage, work, family and loss. Also if you have watched the first season this season will answer many questions.

I’ll tell you now if you are going to watch this series you don’t have to watch the first season but I do recommend it. The background for all the characters is in the first season and watching the budding relationship between Tomoya and Nagisa really cements the emotional ride the second half of the series takes you on. I think I went through a whole box of Kleenex watching this series. If you’re not into emotional, tug at your heart strings shows don’t watch this. This series made my Mom who hates anime cry, so don’t watch without Kleenex.

 This series animation is elegant and I love the change of seasons as time progresses. The characters are done the same style as Air and Kanon 2006 all made by the company Key. The backgrounds are well done and add depth to the scenes, from the high school to the flowers in the field. 

I recommend this series to anyone who enjoys slice of life, romance and comedy. The comedy is mostly contained in the first half of the season after that it’s more about emotional issues. I found that this second season was more entertaining and eventful than the first. If the first season didn’t grab your attention I feel that this second season will more than make up for the slow start.