I’m really happy to read of another’s enjoyment of Clannad; one that’s not blindly fanboyish but backing up their enthusiasm with reasons, facts and data.

You nailed it with this:
“The convincing animation is one of the main reasons for the popularity of Kyoani’s projects, it brings the characters to life through the sensitive and natural body language which most people seem to notice only subconsciously, because animation goes way beyond what our eyes can see.”

That might be their secret. When I first discovered anime I spent my time studying how it was and why it was that some studios got their characters to connect more than another with the viewer. Without (at the time) having got involved with anime forums, I hadn’t been aware of hype or popularity.

But with most every KyoAni series, the characters are so compelling that you can’t help feeling their plight. Realistic expression, voice talent and movement must evoke a reflective response in the Viewer, and arouse supportive sentiment and sympathy.

And it’s not like any other studio can’t pull it off (JC Staff did a great job with Shana in terms of voice actress/expression/movement) but KyoAni has it down.

Subtleties in even minor characters’ expressions show that they spend a lot of attention to this detail. I like how for an *instant* a fleeting flash of embarrassment crosses Ryou’s features, where her eyes dart quickly at and away from Tomoya. You don’t notice it, but it connects. Hate to sound fanboyish, but each of KyoAni’s series share this element of their work, if not all at the same level of quality. They know how to connect.

Thanks for that excellent video of Yukiko Horiguchi’s sampler; now *that’s* a portfolio! :-O It appears that with Ushio, she’s perfected her talents; what a wonderfully-done character!

That’s a bummer about the Kanon box set “reissue”. If they’re going to reissue it they should at least keep the Extras. It was torture trying to get the set of 6 DVDs completed though, what with the ADV problems seemingly cancelling it every DVD release. I hope you can eventually see the “A Look Into KyoAni” feature; it was very informative (though might seem old-hat info to you )

And I agree completely with you regarding the quality of the Clannad release. It did look just fine, but I wanted/expected the artbox issue similar to Air and Kanon 2006. Clannad certainly should have had its own artbox. Here’s hoping that a subsequent release will have an artbox big enough to hold *both* Clannad and After Story.

PLUS EXTRAS DAMMIT!!!

Glad you enjoyed the Clannad AMVs, it was a really hard hunt to find just the right fit for Alastor’s. Either the song sucked, or subtitles really were distracting and pointless, or the anime being la -er, “not my thing”; it took several hours to round these up, plus KholdStare’s that I have.

But finding a Fuko AMV was even MORE difficult o.O Finally I did find one, and found that embedding was not available. Damn! After two more hours I finally came across this one, and the song fit her so well that it became the obvious choice.

Thanks for your knowledgable and informed replies

~Rob

As for the AMVs: finally some which do justice to the original. I especially like the last one (by Kholdstare), this is what I looked for. It’s certainly the best Clannad AMV I’ve seen yet, it’s obvious that the creator put much thought into it, nice choice of song too. The summary of Fuko’s story is great as well, the feel of the song really suits Fuko’s character and behaviour.

I’d love to add Clannad to my DVD collection, but I won’t buy these shoddy collections which have been released in the US this year. So the only other options are to hope for a decent release over here (but the chances are slim) or for a re-release in the US. I want at least some bonus material on the discs and some nice dvd cases. Importing the limited edition DVDs from Japan would be also a possibility, as I am a sucker for such things

Recently I bought the complete collection of Kanon 2006 and was heavily disappointed. I’d read beforehand that it would include the extras of the single DVDs, but they probably changed the description shortly after I’d pre-ordered it. Thereby the extras (especially the look into Kyoani) were the main reason for the purchase…

Oh, I’ve again written way too much, I hope that I didn’t bore you

Thanks for popping in

The After Story OP hit me as soon as the first strains of its song began playing. Of course, I’d been anticipating it from the moment they announced the series LOL
But ya know… As much as I’ve watched it I didn’t really catch the seasonal backgrounds of the characters’ intros in it! Nice catch; Akio would be proud
I kind of wished I’d used a subtitled version of it, but this “clean” OP just looked a lot better and uncluttered. Interested Visitors should really seek out a subbed version to at least read the lovely lyrics. Very moving…

I think my favorite scene oddly enough is the one where Tomoya is shown in his work van looking out the window as he’s driven away… having taken on his responsibilities and “grown up” he’s simultaneously being separated further from Nagisa, who, at the end of it is shown alone in a seemingly-snowy field as the camera pans away. KyoAni really spares no expense or effort in their OPs, that’s for sure!

And I kind of like the practically-a-trademark overlays of each character’s name in their OPs; it lends a nice touch and also makes it seem cinematic, like you’re going to be in for a real story with real characters.

Speaking of seasons and Key-O-Ani, I’m sure you recall Ayu’s “seasons” monologue at the end of Kanon 2006? That was awesome; one of my fave moments from that series. Yui Horie (Ayu’s voice actress) really can do no wrong in my book, and this scene shows why she’s my favorite VA

MAJOR KANON SPOILER AHEAD: