Clannad and Endings

Clannad is one of my defining anime, what I consider to be a show that’s so influential on me on a fundamental level that I don’t think I would have the same taste nor be the same person without.  It’s a beautiful love story that can be everything to everyone at any given moment.  Both infinitely sad yet simultaneously one of the happiest stories I’ve had the pleasure of viewing.  It reaches into the deepest and most intimate places within our hearts with truly empathetic characters and events to give us heart crushing lows or soaring highs, usually at the same time.  I watched it in highschool and Fuuko’s arc was the first time I remember legitimately crying because of a tv show, and upon rewatching it as an adult, that arc only made me cry harder as I had grown in both depth and breadth as a person and thusly Clannad was able to reach deeper and farther into me and deliver what is my definitive bittersweet arc climax.  All the while it delivers us lessons and themes on growing up, falling in love, loss, change and fear, showing us that all these things are natural and unavoidable, yet, despite our apprehensions, are not bad.  The nostalgia and subsequent pain felt looking at the field you played in as a child, the street where you walked with your friends from school or your family’s old home knowing they’re not going to be here much longer is natural, but nothing bad.  That field is becoming a hospital in an area far from medical help.  That street is becoming a mall, which will bring much needed jobs and economy to a degrading part of town.  Your home belongs to a new family, full of opportunities and hope.  Clannad is truly, without a doubt, one of the greatest anime I have ever watched.  However, it has one flaw that is impossible to overlook:  It has what might outright be the worst ending I have ever seen. 

To clarify, the execution of the finale was brilliant.  Naoko Yamada, the goddess herself, worked on the final episode after all and you can easily tell that Kyoto Animation was putting their absolute all into every single frame of this beautiful piece.  My problem lies entirely with the writing and story at large.

The ending of any story is arguably the most important part.  There’s a good reason why only the first and last rounds in a boxing match matter, because those are the only two that anyone remembers.  The exact same applies to stories.  It’s the point when all the plots wrap up, all questions we had are answered, all concerns we had eschewed and life returns to normalcy.  I’ve seen countless movies in my younger years where I thoroughly enjoyed it until the very end, which I brushed the entire movie off as simply bad.  I’ve heard countless times from co-workers and friends, “Man that movie was awful.”  Then, after a brief pause, “It started off great but the last thirty minutes were just trash.” While talking about a two-hour long film.  As it’s the very last thing we experience, it’s the very first thing we remember when thinking back on any story and thusly last impression becomes first impression by which we judge the rest of the story.

A good ending cannot contradict the core principles and values set forth from the very beginning with its controlling idea.  Without going into too much depth about what a controlling idea is, it is, in essence, the very core of the story being told and what every single act, arc, sequence, scene and beat must further in some form or fashion.  In Puella Magi Madoka Magica, the controlling idea is nearly the same as every other magical girl, “Friendship and hope will always succeed in the end.” with the slight addition at the beginning of, “With great sacrifice,” That’s why the ending is completely fitting and overwhelmingly a positive one, despite how bittersweet it all is.  At no point does the show, nor specifically the ending, contradict that controlling idea nor the themes it’s built throughout its run time.  Other great endings would be Kyousougiga, Cowboy Bebop, Flip Flappers, Devilman:  Crybaby, Yuki Yuna is a Hero and Re:Creators.  Brilliant endings that carry with them the weight of the show, concluding each story with a resounding affirmation of each’s controlling idea and highlights the validity of each theme and value set forth.  By doing so we feel and understand that we haven’t wasted our time being so engaged in the story, otherwise the writer risks leaving us on a wishy-washy middle ground that doesn’t affirm any value, theme nor lesson.  Even a deconstruction needs to subvert the controlling idea, genre conventions and themes prevalent in its genre by firmly denying them.  A strong yes or no will always be more engaging than a kinda.

VAGUE SPOILERS BEGIN

Clannad, unfortunately, cuts its own legs out from under itself.  The themes of change is inevitable, learning from one’s mistakes and striving to survive despite any and all hardships are all disregarded in favor of the happiest possible ending.  Don’t get me wrong, I was unbearably happy that everyone was able to have such a happy ending.  After everything these characters and I went through, they and I deserved an unmistakably happy ending.  However, it came at the cost of hurting its carefully and beautifully crafted story about not getting second chances by… giving the main character a second chance and saying to us, “Hey, remember all that suffering and progression Tomoya and you went through?  It really was all for nothing.”  As much as I want to avoid comparing it to something this bad, I can’t help but compare it to the spit in the face that is the, “it was all a dream” plot.  Majority of the second season, After Story, centered around these ideas that once something has been done, it can’t be undone, and adults must handle and make the best of that.  Instead we are shown that simply doing good things, intentionally or otherwise, merits you time travel.  I recognize that it is not deus ex machina, characters that have faced their truest, darkest selves are rewarded by the universe and boy did Tomoya face his truest and darkest self.  I’m not calling this ending lazy, simply out of place within this story.

An ending I would have preferred would have been the same up until the second chance was given.  The fade away from the snowy scene, Tomoya is depressed again.  However, he finally, after all this time, understands the value of family, friendship, and life itself.  Not immediately, but he begins to connect with the Furukawas again.  He reconnects with his friends.  He puts forth a concerted effort to connect with his jailed father.  Time skip, Tomoya is still single, likely will always be from this point on yet he’s happy, if melancholic.  He’s surrounded by people he loves and people who love him, they’re all piled into his apartment for Christmas where we learn that he’s been babysitting for Yusuke and Kouko Yoshino and even Kyou on occasion.  This ending would have reinforced everything the show had been building up and showing us for almost 50 episodes while affirming its controlling idea to us.  Is it nearly as happy as the ending we were given?  Not even close.  Does it match the story better and maintain the consistent bittersweet climaxes we’ve been given?  Yes.

VAGUE SPOILERS END

Do I think Clannad is any worse of a show because of my problems with the ending?  Not at all.  That’s still almost 50 episodes of one of the most intense emotional roller coasters I’ve ever experienced with stunning music, beautiful direction, amazing characters and near perfect writing.  I won’t let one single episode take those hours of enjoyment away from me.  As I stated at the very beginning of this, Clannad is a defining part of my life and is something that I will forever cherish, bad ending and all.

Thanks for reading, friends.  This is the first time I've written anything that is explicitly critical of something and tried my best to keep it more even-handed.  Clannad is a beautiful, brilliant show and that's why I'm so disappointed its ending, even after seeing it so long ago.