Jump to content

Clannad (video game): Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
m Infobox
No edit summary
Line 102: Line 102:
| first = October 3, 2008 ([[Tokyo Broadcasting System|TBS]])
| first = October 3, 2008 ([[Tokyo Broadcasting System|TBS]])
| last = <!--March 19, 2009-->
| last = <!--March 19, 2009-->
| episodes = 23
| episodes = 24
| episode_list = List of Clannad episodes#Clannad After Story
| episode_list = List of Clannad episodes#Clannad After Story
}}
}}

Revision as of 11:03, 20 March 2009

Clannad
Clannad original visual novel cover.
クラナド
(Kuranado)
GenreDrama, Fantasy, Romance
Video game
DeveloperKey
PublisherVisual Art's (PC)
Interchannel (PS2)
Prototype (Xbox 360/S3G/FOMA)
GenreVisual novel
PlatformPC, PS2, S3G, FOMA, Xbox 360, PSP
ReleasedApril 28, 2004 (PC, limited ed.)
Manga
Official Another Story Clannad: On the Hillside Path that Light Watches Over
Written byJun Maeda, Yūichi Suzumoto, Kai, and Tōya Okano
Illustrated byGotoP
Published byJapan ASCII Media Works
MagazineDengeki G's Magazine
DemographicMale
Original runSeptember 2004 – October 2005
Volumes1
Manga
Clannad Official Comic
Written byKey
Illustrated byJuri Misaki
Published byJapan Jive
MagazineComic Rush
DemographicShōnen
Original runMay 2005 – April 2009
Volumes8
Manga
Official Another Story Clannad: On the Hillside Path that Light Watches Over
Written byKey
Illustrated byRino Fujii
Published byJapan Flex Comix
MagazineComi Digi +
DemographicSeinen
Original runJune 21, 2007 – August 21, 2008
Volumes2
Manga
Written byKey
Illustrated byShaa
Published byJapan ASCII Media Works
MagazineDengeki G's Magazine
DemographicSeinen
Original runAugust 2007 – present
Volumes1
Anime
Directed byOsamu Dezaki
StudioJapan Toei Animation
ReleasedSeptember 15, 2007
Anime
Directed byTatsuya Ishihara
StudioJapan Kyoto Animation
Released October 4, 2007 (TBS) – March 27, 2008
Manga
Clannad: Tomoyo Dearest
Written byKey
Illustrated byYukiko Sumiyoshi
Published byJapan Fujimi Shobo
MagazineDragon Age Pure
DemographicShōnen
Original runFebruary 20, 2008 – August 20, 2008
Volumes1
Anime
Directed byTatsuya Ishihara
StudioJapan Kyoto Animation
ReleasedJuly 16, 2008
Anime
Clannad After Story
Directed byTatsuya Ishihara
StudioJapan Kyoto Animation
Released October 3, 2008 (TBS) – present

Clannad (クラナド, Kuranado) is a Japanese visual novel created by the software company Key, who also produced the successful titles Kanon and Air. Key announced in 2001 a release date of 2002[1] for Clannad and, after several postponements, finally released a limited version for the PC on April 28, 2004, and the regular version less than four months later on August 8, 2004. The visual novel was later ported to the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and Xbox 360. The gameplay in Clannad follows a linear plot line, which offers pre-determined scenarios and courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the five female main characters. Jun Maeda, the main scenario writer of Clannad, believed that the title meant "family" or "clan" in Irish.[2]

While both of Key's first two previous works, Kanon and Air, had been released first as adult games and then censored for the younger market like most bishōjo games, Key's third work Clannad was released for all-ages and does not contain risqué situations or even any fan service.[3] Following Clannad's release, Key later produced an adult sequel-of-sorts entitled Tomoyo After: It's a Wonderful Life released on November 25, 2005 which expands the scenario of Tomoyo Sakagami, one of the five heroines from Clannad.

Clannad has made several transitions to other media: four manga series, the first serialized in the Japanese magazine Comic Rush, the second serialized in Comi Digi +, the third serialized in Dengeki G's Magazine, and the fourth in Dragon Age Pure; an animated movie by the animation studio Toei Animation released on September 15, 2007; two anime series including an original video animation by Kyoto Animation, which also animated the previous Key titles Air and Kanon; and, lastly, two sets of drama CDs, totaling nine in all. ADV Films will localize and distribute the first Clannad anime series in North America starting in March 2009.[4]

Gameplay

An average conversation in Clannad featuring the main character talking to Nagisa.

The Clannad visual novel is divided into two segments, or story arcs—School Life and After Story—which serve as different phases in the overall story. At the beginning of the game, only the School Life arc is available to play, but once the player has completed the scenarios available in School Life, After Story is made accessible. This is through the collection of eight lights, or orbs, which can be obtained after a characters' scenario is completed;[5] one of the lights will disappear while still in School Life, but will reappear in After Story. School Life contains the main protagonist's final year of high school, in which he meets all of the characters in the game, though the focus is kept on the five heroines in the story. After Story is mainly a continuation of Nagisa's story, and is set immediately after School Life when Nagisa and Tomoya are now living their lives as a couple, and extends into the next ten years. Characters from School Life do appear, but play minor roles compared to their roles in that arc. In order to view the true ending of Clannad, all thirteen lights must be obtained. Originally, the lights were meant to be items that players could utilize in the game, but since this increased the game's difficulty, and detracted from the storyline, the function of the lights was changed to be simpler and less intrusive.[6]

Clannad's gameplay requires little interaction from the player as most of the duration of the game is spent simply reading the text that appears on the game screen which represents either dialogue between the various characters or the inner thoughts of the protagonist. An important aspect of Clannad (as in nearly every visual novel) are the "decision points" which appear every so often which give the player the chance to choose from a limited number of options. The time between these decision points is variable and can occur anywhere from a minute to much longer. The game pauses at such moments and depending on which choice the player makes, the plot will progress in a specific direction. There are five main plot lines that the player will have the chance to experience, one for each of the heroines in the story, and there are a total of thirteen possible endings. Each plot line can be achieved through multiple replays.

Clannad is Key's second longest work, as reported by Yūto Tonokawa where he stated that Clannad is about 4000 words less than Key's 2008 game Little Busters! Ecstasy.[7] While both of Key's first two previous works, Kanon and Air, had been released first as adult games and then censored for the younger market like most bishōjo games, Key's third work Clannad was released for all-ages and does not contain risqué situations or even any fan service.[3]

Plot

Setting and themes

The first half of the story takes place at a high school in Japan, which is the best school in the city. This high school is largely modeled after the University of Tsukuba-affiliated junior-high and high school Komaba in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan.[8] Throughout the story, glimpses into an Illusionary World are shown. This world is devoid of all life except for a young girl, though she later makes a body out of junk pieces through which the player can interact with her. The remaining half of the story takes place in the same city, after the conclusion of the first half.

There are recurring themes that appear throughout the story. The main theme is the value of having a family, as the title of the series implies since according to Jun Maeda, Clannad means "family" or "clan" in Irish.[2] Of the six main characters, Tomoya, Nagisa, and Kotomi have no siblings, though their parents factor in majorly in their stories. Fuko's and Kyou's stories have their sisters playing an integral part, and Tomoyo's story is influenced by her entire family. In Nagisa's story, there is a recurring appearance of the "large family of dango" (だんご大家族, dango daikazoku) (a fictional group mascot for children) that Nagisa is fond of. The minor motif of Irish words continues with the opening theme of the game, "Mag Mell", which means roughly "plain of joy" and is connected with Irish mythology. The arrange album, a short music CD that contained remixed versions of songs in the game, that was released with the original game release was entitled Mabinogi which was a collection of prose stories from medieval Welsh manuscripts; Welsh is a branch of Celtic, as is Irish.

The girls of Clannad: Tomoyo (top-left), Kotomi (top-right), Fuko (bottom-left), Nagisa (center), and Kyou (bottom-right).

Principal characters

Main article: List of Clannad characters

The player assumes the role of Tomoya Okazaki, the protagonist of Clannad. Tomoya has been labeled a delinquent, or a young person who defies authority due to his non-committal attitude towards school and general apathy towards living life; at the beginning of the story, he even hates the city he has lived in all his life where Clannad is set. He is very straightforward in his comments to others and will not hesitate to speak his mind, even if he comes off as rude during such times. Despite this, Tomoya is very loyal to his friends, and has been known to dedicate himself for those around him in need of help or support. He generally has a selfless personality and does not ask much from others in return for what he does for them. Tomoya meets Nagisa Furukawa, the main heroine of Clannad, at the onset of the story. Nagisa is a soft-spoken girl who has very low self-esteem and self-confidence which causes her to rely on those around her for support; she developed the strange habit of muttering the names of food that she plans to eat as a way to motivate herself, such as anpan. Kyou Fujibayashi, another of Clannad's heroines, is a bad-mouthed and aggressive girl well known as a good cook among her friends and family. When angry she does not hesitate to throw a dictionary at people that she often carries around for such purposes. Despite this attitude, she also has a more subdued side, especially towards her younger fraternal twin sister Ryou Fujibayashi.

Tomoya meets a genius girl named Kotomi Ichinose, also a heroine, one day at school. She is ranked in the top ten throughout the whole country in standardized exam results of every subject—she always goes to library to read extra materials, especially books in foreign languages. Kotomi is a very quiet girl with poor social skills and it is quite difficult to communicate with her; Kotomi has even been known to completely ignore someone when reading, even if they make loud disturbances around her. Clannad's fourth heroine is a second-year student named Tomoyo Sakagami who transfers into Tomoya's school. Tomoyo, like Kyou, can be extremely aggressive, and Tomoyo is a very strong fighter, preferring to use kicking over punching, and has shown herself to be athletic. Although Tomoya is older than her, Tomoyo does not show him his due respect as a senior student. Tomoyo appears in Key's fifth game, Tomoyo After: It's a Wonderful Life, as the main heroine. The last main heroine in Clannad is a first-year student named Fuko Ibuki who has a distant attitude towards others and, before she met Tomoya, was generally seen alone by herself making wood carvings of starfish with a small knife to give to others as presents. Fuko is extremely enthralled by starfish, or things that are star-shaped, and will often go into short euphoric bouts where her awareness of her surroundings is completely overtaken.

Story

Clannad's story revolves around a group of five girls whose lives are connected to the same boy. Tomoya Okazaki is a third year high school student who dislikes his life. Tomoya's mother (Atsuko) died when Tomoya was young, leaving his father (Naoyuki) to raise him. After the accident, Tomoya's father turned to alcohol and gambling, and held frequent fights with his son. One day, Naoyuki, again arguing with his son, slammed Tomoya against the wall, dislocating Tomoya's shoulder. Ever since then, his father has treated Tomoya nicely, but distantly, as if Tomoya and he were strangers rather than a family. This hurts Tomoya more than his previous relationship with his father, and the awkwardness of returning home leads Tomoya constantly to stay out all night. Additionally, the injury disables Tomoya from participating in his basketball club, and pushes him to distance himself from his school and other activities. Thus his delinquent life begins. Tomoya's good friend Youhei Sunohara, who got thrown out of the soccer club for a dispute, is also a delinquent and often hangs out in his dorm room with Tomoya doing nothing much.

The story opens on Monday April 14, 2003 at the beginning of the school year, when Tomoya finds that his life is about to change when he chances upon Nagisa Furukawa, a soft-spoken girl one year older than him who is repeating her last year in high school due to being sick much of the previous year. Her goal is to join the drama club which she was unable to do due to her sickness, but they find that the drama club was disbanded after all the members graduated. Since Tomoya has a lot of time to kill, he starts to help Nagisa in reforming the drama club. During this period, Tomoya meets and hangs out with several other girls who he gets to know well and help with their individual problems.

After Story

In the second part of the story, which starts immediately after the end of the first part, but extends into the next ten years, Tomoya and Nagisa live together as a family. Tomoya has to endure several hardships that the family has been suffering from, mainly involving Nagisa's illness. However, just after Nagisa gives birth to their child Ushio, she dies, leaving Tomoya to fall into a state of depression which causes Nagisa's parents, Akio and Sanae to look after Ushio. Five years later, Tomoya meets Shino Okazaki, his grandmother on his father's side. Shino explains to Tomoya about his father's past and tragedy, similar to Tomoya's current situation after Nagisa's death. After hearing that, he decides to raise Ushio and acknowledge Naoyuki as his father. Shortly after Tomoya regaining his purpose of living, Ushio is struck with the same disease as Nagisa. Tomoya, Sanae and Akio struggle to save Ushio, with Tomoya retiring from his job, but all efforts are futile. In the coming winter, wanting to do anything for Ushio, Tomoya decides to take Ushio on a trip, but Ushio falls unconscious and dies shortly after.

Tomoya's psychology is further developed in his dreams of a bleak world where small orbs of light float around called the Illusionary World (幻想世界, Gensō Sekai). In the first few dreams of that kind, he sees a world which is devoid of all people except for one girl, whom is never shown in the original game's storyline (she is shown on the game's title screen after the player beats the game) but is spoken of (she is shown in the anime version). Each time he dreams, he finds out more about the world. Later on, Tomoya finds out that the girl has a special ability to fuse junk together to create new things, with which she creates a body for him. Thus he is reborn in this world, and fills time following the girl around. Tomoya conceives that only the two of them are "alive". To pass time, Tomoya and the girl try to build another doll with more junk they find, but as it has no soul, it fails to come to life. Eventually, winter sets in, and the girl becomes cold to the point where she cannot move any more. Remembering a distant world where he came from, Tomoya convinces the girl to build a ship so that the two can escape the winter and continue a happy life. However, their flight is doomed to meet tragedy. Upon meeting this tragedy, the girl tells Tomoya that he has another chance to go back and make things right. To do so, he must collect certain "lights" (symbols of happiness) similar to those floating around in the Illusionary World. If all the "lights" are collected throughout both story parts, a chance to save Nagisa from dying in childbirth will become available, and the true ending where Nagisa survives and lives with Tomoya and their daughter Ushio will also become available.

Development

The executive producer for Clannad is Takahiro Baba from Visual Art's, the publishing company which controls the company Key; Baba has also been the executive producer for Air.[9] Jun Maeda, who was also one of the three main scenario writers with Kai, and Yūichi Suzumoto, led the planning for Clannad and wrote the majority of the scenarios.[10] Scenario assistance was provided by Tōya Okano.[10] Itaru Hinoue, who also worked on the character design, headed the art direction.[10] Miracle Mikipon, Mochisuke, Na-Ga, and Shinory supplemented the computer graphics. Torino provided the background art. The game music was composed primarily by Shinji Orito, and Magome Togoshi.[10] Four of the Key staff—Kai, Miracle Mikipon, Tōya Okano, and Torino—left after the completion of Clannad.

For Key's second visual novel Air, Maeda admitted he felt he was able to write what he wanted to for the game's scenario, however later discovered that Air was difficult for players to receive and experience. Due to this, Maeda felt that for Key's next work Clannad he had a sense of duty to make the game easier to receive for as many users as possible. In any case, he wanted to make it an entertaining game, and started planning on Clannad almost immediately after Air's completion.[6] From the start of Clannad's planning, Maeda did not want to write a story like in Air, but instead wanted to focus on writing a deep connection between the 'people and the town', and 'humanity'.[6] Maeda noted that he exceeded his writing ability when writing most of the scenarios in Clannad, and equates Clannad's writing process as a "wall that I will never be able to get over again."[11] While at the beginning Maeda felt he was prepared, the entire game's story started to increase to a level Maeda never predicted, and Suzumoto noted that it approximately doubled in size from the original projected length.[6] Suzumoto attributed the increase due to the lengthening structure of the game's base scenario which caused the 'branch' scenarios to increase as well.[6]

There were more concerns about Clannad being similar to Air. When Nagisa's scenario was being written, there were some disputes concerning the length of her scenario, and thus putting too much focus on the main heroine.[6] Some were concerned that having a single prominent character with a unique storyline would be too much like how Air was structured with the overall focus on Misuzu Kamio.[6] The company president of Visual Art's is even noted as suggesting to minimize the differences between the other characters' scenarios, but this was ultimately ignored since Maeda thought the game's evaluation by players would not decrease on account of the scenarios being vastly different, and thought the end result was a good one.[6] Maeda was concerned that the After Story arc, mainly a continuation of Nagisa's scenario, would eclipse the entire game's scenario, much like what happened with Air according to Maeda.[6] In order to prevent the same thing happening in Clannad, Maeda focused on making the first half of the story, the School Life arc, just as enjoyable by making it long and heart-breaking.[6]

Release history

Clannad, first released on April 28, 2004 as a limited edition version, was playable only for the PC in DVD-ROM format. The regular edition went on sale less than two months later on August 6, 2004 and retailed for the same price as the limited edition; the limited and regular editions contained no voice acting for the characters.[12] A consumer console port of the game developed by Interchannel for the PlayStation 2 was released on February 23, 2006.[13] Full voice acting (minus Tomoya Okazaki) was included for the PlayStation 2 version.[13] A portable version, playable on SoftBank 3G and FOMA mobile phones produced by Prototype through Visual Art's Motto, was released on January 16, 2008.[14] A version for the PC with full voice acting called Clannad Full Voice was released on February 29, 2008.[12][15] This version contains new computer graphics,[12][15] and the voice cast from the PlayStation 2 version remained unchanged; Tomoya is still not voiced.[16] Prototype also produced a PlayStation Portable version of the game released on May 29, 2008 which included the additions from the PC full voice version.[17][18][19] Another console port developed by Prototype for the Xbox 360 was released on August 28, 2008, and includes full voice acting (again minus Tomoya).[20] The Xbox 360 version utilizes Xbox Live to distribute the voice files of the Official Another Story Clannad: On the Hillside Path that Light Watches Over drama CDs which were also released by Prototype.[20] The limited edition release of the PSP and Xbox 360 versions came bundled with a "digest" edition of the drama CD series released by Prototype containing five separate stories each; the CD bundled with the PSP release is different from the CD bundled with the Xbox 360 version.[17][20]

Adaptations

File:Official Another Story Clannad cover.jpg
The cover of the Official Another Story Clannad compilation with Nagisa and Ushio.

Books and publications

A magazine-sized thirty-nine-page book called pre-Clannad was published by SoftBank Creative on April 15, 2004. The book contained images from the visual novel, and short explanations of the characters, along with production sketches and concept drawings. A 160-page visual fan book was published by Enterbrain on October 12, 2004 which contained detailed story explanations, computer graphics, sheet music for the opening and ending themes, and interviews from the creators. Near the end of the book contains original illustrations of Clannad characters from various artists, three additional chapters of the Official Another Story, and production sketches.

A set of fourteen illustrated short stories which added to Clannad's story were serialized in the issues of the Japanese bishōjo magazine Dengeki G's Magazine published by ASCII Media Works, between the September 2004 and October 2005 issues. Thirteen regular chapters, plus one extra chapter were serialized and the title of the collection was Official Another Story Clannad: On the Hillside Path that Light Watches Over (Official Another Story Clannad 光見守る坂道で, Official Another Story Clannad: Hikari Mimamoru Sakamichi de). The installments were written by Key's scenario staff and each story was accompanied by illustrations by Japanese artist GotoP. Two more stories were included when they were collected into a bound volume for sale on November 25, 2005, containing 103 pages. The short story collection was later re-released via SoftBank 3G and FOMA mobile phones produced by Prototype through Visual Art's Motto starting in January 2008.[21] One chapter was released weekly with the SoftBank 3G releases three weeks behind the version for FOMA phones, and a version for au phones was released in summer 2008.[22]

Two Clannad anthology character novels were written by several authors and published by Jive in September and December 2004. The first volume of a short story anthology compilation series written by Hiro Akizuki and Mutsuki Misaki entitled Clannad. (くらなど。) was released on December 1, 2008 published by Harvest; the second volume was released on January 1, 2009.

Manga

The first manga entitled Clannad Official Comic was serialized in the Japanese manga magazine Comic Rush between the May 2005 and April 2009 issues. Eight bound volumes were published by Jive between November 7, 2005 and March 7, 2009. The story was adapted from the visual novel version that preceded it, and is illustrated by Juri Misaki.

File:Clannad manga.jpg
The cover of the first volume of the first Clannad manga.

The second manga with the title Official Another Story Clannad: On the Hillside Path that Light Watches Over was serialized between June 21, 2007 and August 21, 2008 in the Japanese magazine Comi Digi +, published by Flex Comix, and contained eleven chapters. The story for the second manga was adapted from the short story collection the manga was named after, and is illustrated by Rino Fujii. The first bound volume for the second manga series was released by Broccoli on February 21, 2008 in a limited and regular edition, each with their own cover. The limited edition comes bundled with a small black notebook with the school emblem of Tomoya's school on the cover.[23] In order to commemorate the sale, an autograph session with the manga's illustrator signing copies will be held on March 2, 2008 at Gamers in Nagoya, Japan.[24] The second and final volume, again in limited and regular editions, was released on December 20, 2008.

A third Clannad manga started serialization in the August 2007 issue of the Japanese seinen manga magazine Dengeki G's Magazine, published by ASCII Media Works. The story was adapted from the visual novel version that preceded it, and is illustrated by Shaa. The first bound volume for the third manga series was released by ASCII Media Works under their Dengeki Comics label on February 27, 2008. A fourth manga under the title Clannad: Tomoyo Dearest was serialized between February 20 and August 20, 2008 in the shōnen manga magazine Dragon Age Pure, published by Fujimi Shobo. The story centers on Tomoyo's arc from the Clannad visual novel, and is illustrated by Yukiko Sumiyoshi.[25] A single volume for Clannad: Tomoyo Dearest was released on October 9, 2008.

There have also been four sets of manga anthologies produced by different companies and drawn by a multitude of different artists. The first volume of the earliest anthology series, released by Ohzora under the title Clannad, was released on June 24, 2004 under their Twin Heart Comics label. Volumes for this series continued to be released until April 25, 2005 with the fifth volume. The second anthology was released in a single volume by Jive on January 25, 2005 entitled Clannad Comic Anthology: Another Symphony. The third anthology series was released in two volumes by Ichijinsha on June 25, 2004 and July 24, 2004 under their DNA Media Comics; a third special volume was released much later on December 25, 2007. The first volume of the last anthology series, a collection of four-panel comic strips released by Enterbrain under the title Magi-Cu 4-koma Clannad, was released on February 25, 2008 under their MC Comics label; the seventh volume in the series was released on February 25, 2009,[26] and an eighth volume will be released on March 25, 2009. Each of the anthology series are written and drawn by an average of twenty people per volume.[26]

Drama CDs

There are two separate sets of drama CDs based on the Clannad series. The first set, produced by Frontier Works, contains five CDs each focusing on a different heroine in Clannad's story ranging from Nagisa, to Kotomi, Fuko, Kyou, and Tomoyo. The first volume was released in Japan on April 25, 2007 as a limited edition with an extra track added. The second through fifth volumes followed in one month increments between May 25, 2007 and August 24, 2007.[27] The second set, produced by Prototype, contains four CDs; the first was released on July 25, 2007. Volumes two through four were released in one month intervals after that, with the last being released on October 24, 2007.[28] Each CD is based on the stories from the Official Another Story Clannad: On the Hillside Path that Light Watches Over collection. The artist GotoP, who provided the illustrations for the short stories, also illustrates the drama CD covers.[28]

Movie

Main article: Clannad (film)

Toei Animation (the same team who worked on the original Kanon anime and Air movie) announced at the Tokyo Anime Fair on March 23, 2006 that an animated film would be produced.[29][30] The Clannad movie was released on September 15, 2007, directed by the same director of the Air movie, Osamu Dezaki.[31] The film is a reinterpretation of the Clannad storyline which centers on the story arc of the female lead Nagisa Furukawa. The film was released on DVD in three editions: the Collector's Edition, the Special Edition, and the Regular Edition on March 7, 2008.[32]

Anime

See also: List of Clannad episodes

On March 15, 2007, the Japanese television station BS-i announced a Clannad anime series via a short thirty-second teaser trailer that was featured at the end of the final episode of the second Kanon anime series.[33] Clannad is produced by Kyoto Animation and directed by Tatsuya Ishihara, who also worked on other adaptations of Key's visual novels Air, and Kanon. The anime aired between October 4, 2007 and March 27, 2008, containing twenty-three aired episodes out of a planned twenty-four;[34] the broadcast time was first announced on August 11, 2007 at the TBS festival Anime Festa, which is also when the first episode was showcased. The anime series was released in a set of eight DVD compilations released between December 19, 2007 and July 16, 2008 by Pony Canyon, with each compilation containing three episodes.[34] Of the twenty-four episodes, twenty-three were aired on television with the first twenty-two being regular episodes, followed by an additional extra episode. The last episode was released as an original video animation (OVA) on the eighth DVD on July 16, 2008 and is set in an alternate universe from the anime series where Tomoya and Tomoyo are dating.[34] The OVA episode was previewed on May 31, 2008 for an audience of four-hundred people picked via a mail-in postcard campaign.[34]

The license holding company Sentai Filmworks licensed the Clannad anime series,[35] and ADV Films will localize and distribute the television series and the OVA starting with the first half season box set consisting of twelve episodes with English subtitles, Japanese audio, and no English language track, which is to be released on March 3, 2009.[4]

A second anime season was first announced in the May 2008 issue (released on March 30, 2008) of Dengeki G's Magazine entitled Clannad After Story. The anime is again animated by Kyoto Animation, and animates the After Story arc from the visual novel, which is a continuation of Nagisa's story, into twenty-four episodes. After the ending of the twenty-third episode of the first Clannad anime series, a fifteen-second teaser trailer aired promoting the second season. The same staff and cast from the first anime are used and started broadcasting in Japan on October 3, 2008.[36][37]

The opening theme for the first season is "'Mag Mell' ~cuckool mix 2007~" by Eufonius, a remix of the song "'Mag Mell' -cockool mix-", featured on the third disc of the game's original soundtrack, which is itself a remix of the game's opening theme "Mag Mell" (メグメル, Megu Meru). The first season's ending theme is "A Large Family of Dango" (だんご大家族, Dango Daikazoku) by Chata. It carries the same tune as "Small Palms" (小さなてのひら, Chiisana Tenohira), the ending theme from the After Story arc of the game. The second season's opening theme is "A Song to Pass the Time" (時を刻む唄, Toki o Kizamu Uta) which uses the same tune as the background music track "To the Same Heights" (同じ高みへ, Onaji Takami e). The ending theme is "Torch", and both the opening and ending themes are sung by Lia. The rest of the soundtrack for both anime series is sampled from several albums released for the Clannad visual novel including the Clannad Original Soundtrack, Mabinogi, -Memento-, Sorarado, and Sorarado Append. The cover art for Sorarado Append is also visible as the last shot in the ending video animation of the first season.

Internet radio shows

An Internet radio show to promote the Clannad anime series called Nagisa to Sanae no Omae ni Rainbow (渚と早苗のおまえにレインボー) was broadcast between October 5, 2007 and October 3, 2008, containing fifty-two episodes.[38] The show, produced by Onsen and Animate TV, was hosted by Mai Nakahara, who played Nagisa Furukawa in the anime, and Kikuko Inoue, who played Sanae Furukawa, and was streamed online every Friday.[38] Several voice actors from the anime adaptation appeared on the show as guests who included Ryō Hirohashi (as Kyou), Atsuko Enomoto (as Yukine), Akemi Kanda (as Ryou), Yuichi Nakamura (as Tomoya), and Daisuke Sakaguchi (as Youhei). A two-disc CD compilation containing the show's first thirteen broadcasts was produced on June 18, 2008.[39] The second two-disc CD compilation containing the fourteenth through twenty-sixth broadcasts was released on October 15, 2008, and a third CD volume followed on November 19, 2008.

A second Internet radio show to promote the Clannad After Story anime series called Nagisa to Sanae to Akio no Omae ni Hyper Rainbow (渚と早苗と秋生のおまえにハイパーレインボー) started on October 10, 2008, and is also produced by Onsen and Animate TV.[38] The show has three hosts including the previous two plus Ryōtarō Okiayu who plays Akio Furukawa in the anime series, and is again streamed online every Friday.[38]

Music

Main article: List of Clannad soundtracks

The visual novel version has four main theme songs, the opening theme "Mag Mell" (メグメル, Megu Meru), the main ending theme "-Two Shadows-" (－影二つ－, -Kage Futatsu-), the insert song "Ana", and the ending theme featured in the After Story arc "Small Palms" (小さなてのひら, Chiisana Tenohira). The opening and ending themes were sung by Riya of Eufonius, and the insert song was sung by Lia of I've Sound. Six of the characters have background music theme songs—the five heroines, and Yukine Miyazawa. Nagisa's theme is the self-titled "Nagisa" (渚); Kyou's theme is "That's Like the Wind" (それは風のように, Sore wa Kaze no Yōni); Kotomi's theme is "Étude Pour les Petites Supercordes"; Tomoyo's theme is "Her Determination" (彼女の本気, Kanojo no Honki); Fuko's theme is "Hurry, Starfish" (は～りぃすたーふぃしゅ, Ha~rī Sutāfisshu); lastly, Yukine's theme is "Tea Party in the Reference Room" (資料室のお茶会, Shiryōshitsu no Ochakai).

The first music album was an image vocal album called Sorarado released in December 2003 featuring songs sung by Riya.[40] The next album, Mabinogi, came bundled with the original release of Clannad in April 2004. The game's original soundtrack was released in August 2004 containing three discs with thirty-six different tracks along with remix versions of many of the background music tracks plus short, instrumental, and remix versions of the theme songs.[40] A follow up to the first image vocal album was released in December 2004 called Sorarado Append; the songs were again sung by Riya.[40] A remix album entitled -Memento- was also released in December 2004 and contained two discs.[40] A piano arrange album was released in December 2005 called Piano no Mori which contained five tracks from Clannad and five from Tomoyo After: It's a Wonderful Life.[40] Each of the albums released for the visual novel version were released on Key's record label Key Sounds Label.[40]

A maxi single by Eufonius was released in July 2007 for the Clannad movie called "Mag Mell ~frequency⇒e Ver.~". The single contained a remix version of the game's opening theme, and instrumental track of that remix, and an original track. An image album entitled Yakusoku was released in August 2007 featuring a song sung by Lia, an instrumental version of that song, and two background music tracks used in the movie. The movie's original soundtrack was released in November 2007. The albums released for the movie were produced by Frontier Works. A single was released in October 2007 for the first anime series called "Mag Mell / Dango Daikazoku" which contained the anime's opening and ending themes in original, short, and instrumental versions plus a remix version of "The Girl's Fantasy" (少女の幻想, Shōjo no Gensō), a track featured in Sorarado sung by Riya.[40] A single for the second season anime series was released in November 2008 called "Toki o Kizamu Uta / Torch", and contains the anime's opening and ending themes sung by Lia. A remix album containing piano arrange versions of the second anime series' opening and ending themes was released in December 2008 called "Toki o Kizamu Uta / Torch" Piano Arrange Disc. The anime series' two singles and one album are released on Key Sounds Label.

Reception

Across the national ranking of bishōjo games in amount sold in Japan, the Clannad limited edition PC release premiered at number one twice since its release, and the third ranking brought the PC release down to forty-six out of fifty.[41] The first two weeks of June 2004 held the final ranking for the original release at fortieth place.[42] The Clannad regular edition PC release premiered at number twenty-six in the rankings.[43] The next, and last, two rankings for the regular edition were at thirty-seven and forty-one.[44] Clannad was the second most widely sold game of 2004 on Getchu.com, just behind Fate/stay night.[45] Clannad was the second highest selling bishōjo game of 2004 selling 100,560 units, behind Fate/stay night in first with about 46,000 more units sold.[46] In the October 2007 issue of Dengeki G's Magazine, poll results for the fifty best bishōjo games were released. Out of 249 titles, Clannad ranked first at 114 votes; in comparison, the second place title, Fate/stay night, got seventy-eight votes.[47] The Clannad Full Voice version ranked second highest, behind Chaos;Head, in terms of PC game sales in Japan for the week of May 18, 2008 on Amazon.com.[48] Clannad Full Voice ranked three consecutive times in terms of highest selling PC games nationally in Japan achieving sales rankings of seventh, twentieth, and fortieth between the months of February and April 2008.[49]

The PlayStation 2 release in 2006 was reviewed by the Japanese video game magazine Famitsu, and had an overall score of 26/40 (out of the four individual review scores of 7, 7, 6, and 6).[50] According to a sales chart for the week ending on February 26, 2006, the PlayStation 2 version was the tenth highest selling video game in Japan in its first week of sales, with 28,987 units sold.[51] According to Famitsu, the PS2 version was the 284th highest selling console game in Japan in 2006, with 41,722 units sold,[52] but according to Media Create, the game was the 286th highest selling console game that year, with 38,205 units sold.[53]

The first anime series and movie DVDs have shown consistent high sales figures. The first anime limited edition DVD ranked third for the week of December 19 and December 25, 2007.[54] The second through fifth limited edition DVDs all ranked first during their first week of sales,[55][56][57][58] while the sixth limited edition DVD volume was ranked fourth for the week of May 21 and May 27, 2008.[59] The seventh and eighth limited edition DVD volumes both ranked first during their first week of sales.[60][61] The third limited edition DVD ranked sixth for the most anime DVDs sold between December 2007 and November 2008.[62] The special edition movie DVD first ranked at number three during its first week of sales, and dropped down to number ten the following week.[63][64] The first limited edition DVD for Clannad After Story ranked second during its first week of sales selling 17,521 units.[65] The second through fourth limited edition DVDs for Clannad After Story ranked first during their first week of sales each selling over 16,000 units each.[66][67][68]

Legacy

Gamania Entertainment hosted a collaboration event with Clannad and their two massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) Hiten Online and Holy Beast Online.[69] Between March 26, 2008 and June 26, 2008, the two games offered costumes characters could wear which looked like the winter school uniforms from Clannad, along with offering Kyou's pet boar Button for players to adopt.[70] Also, any players of either game who had a character over level twenty could enter a lottery where five-hundred people were chosen to win Clannad-related goods which included virtual and real-world things such as file folders, "netcash" cards, sports towels, tapestries, and various items used during gameplay.[71]

ASCII Media Works and Vridge produced the PlayStation 2 visual novel Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu: Cosplay Hajimemashita (乃木坂春香の秘密 こすぷれ、はじめました♥, lit. Haruka Nogizaka's Secret: Cosplaying Has Begun) based on the light novel series Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu. Released in September 2008, the game features the series' characters cosplaying in various costumes either depicting characters from five popular light novel series published by ASCII Media Works, or three Clannad heroines. Haruka Nogizaka can cosplay as Kotomi Ichinose, Mika Nogizaka can cosplay as Nagisa Furukawa (albeit with long hair), and Shiina Amamiya can cosplay as Tomoyo Sakagami.[72] The player can also view exclusive CGs in the game if one of the girls is taken out to various places while cosplaying as one of the aforementioned five light novel series characters, or as the Clannad heroines. For example, if Mika is cosplaying as Nagisa, a CG of her eating dango can become viewable.[72] When cosplaying as one of these tie-in characters, the voice of the girl cosplaying changes to the voice actress of the character they are cosplaying; for example, if Shiina cosplays as Tomoyo, she is voiced by Tomoyo's voice actress Hōko Kuwashima.[73]

A 3D virtual world called Ai Sp@ce was developed by the video game developer Headlock where users can interact with bishōjo game heroines from Clannad, Shuffle!, and Da Capo II.[74][75] Released in October 2008, the world recreates each game franchise on its own virtual island which are linked with a central Akihabara Island where users can interact, bridging the gap between the separate franchises. Users are able to create a customizable avatar to represent themselves in the game, along with choosing one game heroine to live with, which is referred to as a character doll, or chara-doll for short.[76] The user and chara-doll reside together on one of the three in-game "islands" depending on which franchise the heroine is from, which includes a house with furniture and clothes that can be purchased. The chara-dolls can also be customizable in that they can develop a unique personality for each user.[74]

References

  1. ^ "Clannad introduction website" (in Japanese). Key. Archived from the original on 2001-12-13. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
  2. ^ a b pre-Clannad (in Japanese). SoftBank Creative. April 15, 2004. ISBN 4-7973-2723-5. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  3. ^ a b Key. Clannad (PC) (in Japanese). Visual Art's.
  4. ^ a b "Half-Season Princess Resurrection, Clannad Sets Slated". Anime News Network. 2009-01-12. Retrieved 2009-01-13.
  5. ^ "Clannad for PlayStation 2 Cheats". GameSpot. Retrieved 2008-05-17.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Clannad Visual Fan Book. Enterbrain. 2004. ISBN 978-4-757720-25-1.
  7. ^ Yūto Tonokawa (2008-06-26). "Little Busters EX Development Journal" (in Japanese). Key. Retrieved 2008-08-16.
  8. ^ "Real world locations linked to Kanon, Air, and Clannad" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2008-04-26.
  9. ^ "Air staff information" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2007-06-08.
  10. ^ a b c d "Clannad staff information" (in Japanese). ErogameScape. Retrieved 2007-06-08.
  11. ^ "Jun Maeda comments on Clannad's popularity" (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. Retrieved 2008-10-25.
  12. ^ a b c "Clannad's official visual novel website" (in Japanese). Key. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
  13. ^ a b "Clannad's PlayStation 2 release official website". Interchannel. Retrieved 2008-04-25.
  14. ^ "Key's official blog entry on Clannad's cell phone port" (in Japanese). Key. January 25, 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-25.
  15. ^ a b "Information on the Clannad Full Voice edition" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2008-01-16.
  16. ^ "Correction in the January 2008 issue of Visualstyle reporting on a misprint regarding the Clannad Full Voice version" (in Japanese). Visual Art's. Retrieved 2008-01-16.
  17. ^ a b "Clannad PSP release official website" (in Japanese). Prototype. Retrieved 2008-04-28.
  18. ^ "Clannad PSP game release information" (in Japanese). Rakuten. Retrieved 2008-03-02.
  19. ^ "Sequel of Kanon and Air, the Heart-Warming Visual Novel Clannad to be Sold on the PSP!" (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. March 7, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
  20. ^ a b c "Clannad Xbox 360 release official website" (in Japanese). Prototype. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  21. ^ "Key's official blog entry on the re-release of the short story collection via cell phones" (in Japanese). Key. January 25, 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-25.
  22. ^ "Clannad Cell Phone Novel On the Hillside Path that Light Watches Over Information!" (in Japanese). Key. March 12, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-12.
  23. ^ "Official listing for volume 1 of the second Clannad manga" (in Japanese). Broccoli. Retrieved 2008-02-16.
  24. ^ "Official announcement of the autograph session for the first volume of the second Clannad manga" (in Japanese). Broccoli. Retrieved 2008-02-16.
  25. ^ "New Clannad, Da Capo, Jinno Manga to Launch in Japan". Anime News Network. February 5, 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-17.
  26. ^ a b "MC Comics previous publications list" (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  27. ^ "Clannad drama CDs published by Frontier Works" (in Japanese). Animate. Retrieved 2007-03-16.
  28. ^ a b "Prototype's official Clannad drama CD website" (in Japanese). Prototype. Retrieved 2007-07-29.
  29. ^ "Tokyo Anime Fair: New Kanon and Movies". Anime News Network. March 25, 2006. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
  30. ^ "Toei announces a Clannad movie" (in Japanese). Aniradi Network. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
  31. ^ "Official Clannad movie website" (in Japanese). Toei Animation. Retrieved 2007-03-16.
  32. ^ "DVD information at the Clannad movie's official website". Toei Animation. Retrieved 2008-03-07. {{cite web}}: Text "Japanese" ignored (help); Text "language" ignored (help)
  33. ^ "BS-i's Clannad anime official website" (in Japanese). BS-i. Retrieved 2007-03-15.
  34. ^ a b c d "Clannad anime news at the official Clannad anime website" (in Japanese). Kyoto Animation. Retrieved 2007-10-09.
  35. ^ "ADV Films to Distribute Anime for Sentai Filmworks". Anime News Network. 2008-10-20. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
  36. ^ "Clannad After Story TV Sequel to be Announced". Anime News Network. March 27, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
  37. ^ "Kuroshitsuji Anime Confirmed to Premiere This Fall". Anime News Network. 2008-07-11. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
  38. ^ a b c d "First Clannad radio show official website" (in Japanese). Animate. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
  39. ^ "The Popular Clannad and Others' Radio CDs One After Another to Release!" (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. 2008-05-15. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
  40. ^ a b c d e f g "Key Sounds Label's discography" (in Japanese). Key Sounds Label. Retrieved 2008-04-25.
  41. ^ "PC News ranking for bishōjo games; Clannad ranks 1 and 46" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2007-02-10. Retrieved 2007-03-13. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 2005-12-27 suggested (help)
  42. ^ "PC News ranking for bishōjo games; Clannad ranks 40" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2007-02-10. Retrieved 2007-03-13. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 2004-08-10 suggested (help)
  43. ^ "PC News ranking for bishōjo games; Clannad ranks 16" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2007-02-10. Retrieved 2007-03-13. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 2005-12-27 suggested (help)
  44. ^ "PC News ranking for bishōjo games; Clannad ranks 37 and 41" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2007-02-10. Retrieved 2007-03-13. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 2005-12-27 suggested (help)
  45. ^ "Highest selling games of 2004 on Getchu.com ranking". Getchu.com. Retrieved 2007-01-12.
  46. ^ "Amazon store with ranking list for highest selling bishōjo games of 2004" (in Japanese). Amazon.com. Retrieved 2008-05-17.
  47. ^ "Dengeki G's Magazine top fifty bishōjo games" (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. Retrieved 2007-09-03.
  48. ^ "Top 5 game sales per system worldwide in week 21, 2008". VideoGamesBlogger. 2008-05-24. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
  49. ^ "PCpress back issues sales rankings" (in Japanese). PCpress. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
  50. ^ "Article with the Clannad PS2 Famitsu scores". IGN. Retrieved 2007-03-25.
  51. ^ "PS2 game ranks tenth highest selling game in Japan". Retrieved 2007-03-17.
  52. ^ "Top 500 2006 video games by amount sold (Famitsu edition)" (in Japanese). Geimin. Retrieved 2008-07-18.
  53. ^ "Top 500 2006 video games by amount sold (Media Create edition)" (in Japanese). Geimin. Retrieved 2008-07-18.
  54. ^ "Japanese Animation DVD Ranking, December 19–25". Anime News Network. December 27, 2007. Retrieved 2008-04-12.
  55. ^ "Japanese Animation DVD Ranking, January 16–22". Anime News Network. January 27, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-12.
  56. ^ "Japanese Animation DVD Ranking, February 20–26". Anime News Network. February 29, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-12.
  57. ^ "Japanese Animation DVD Ranking, March 19–25". Anime News Network. April 11, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-12.
  58. ^ "Japanese Animation DVD Ranking, April 16–22". Anime News Network. April 26, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-27.
  59. ^ "Japanese Animation DVD Ranking, May 21–27". Anime News Network. 2008-06-01. {{cite web}}: Text "accessdate2008-06-02" ignored (help)
  60. ^ "Japanese Animation DVD Ranking, June 18–25". Anime News Network. 2008-06-30. Retrieved 2008-07-14.
  61. ^ "Japanese Animation DVD Ranking, July 17–23". Anime News Network. 2008-07-29. Retrieved 2008-07-29.
  62. ^ "Amazon Japan Posts 2008's Top-10 DVDs, CDs, Toys". Anime News Network. 2008-12-03. Retrieved 2008-12-03.
  63. ^ "Japanese Animation DVD Ranking, March 5–11". Anime News Network. 2008-03-16. Retrieved 2008-04-12.
  64. ^ "Japanese Animation DVD Ranking, March 12–18". Anime News Network. 2008-03-20. Retrieved 2008-04-12.
  65. ^ "Japanese Animation DVD Ranking, December 3-9". Anime News Network. 2008-12-09. Retrieved 2008-12-09.
  66. ^ "Japanese Animation DVD Ranking, January 6-12". Anime News Network. 2009-01-13. Retrieved 2009-01-13.
  67. ^ "Japanese Animation DVD Ranking, February 3-9". Anime News Network. 2009-02-10. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
  68. ^ "Japanese Animation DVD Ranking, March 3-9". Anime News Network. 2009-03-10. Retrieved 2009-03-10.
  69. ^ "Clannad Join Forces with Hiten, Holy Beast MMORPGs". Anime News Network. March 27, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
  70. ^ "Gamania × Clannad Collaboration Plan, School Uniforms to Appear in Hiten Online, Holy Beast" (in Japanese). 4gamer.net. March 26, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
  71. ^ "Information on the Clannad collaboration project" (in Japanese). Gamania. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
  72. ^ a b "Other Works' Costumes Appearing in Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu! Kotomi's Costume Can Also be Worn" (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. 2008-09-02. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
  73. ^ "Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu—Cosplaying up Clannad's Long Steep Slope" (in Japanese). ASCII Media Works. 2008-09-11. Retrieved 2008-09-18.
  74. ^ a b "Clannad, Shuffle, D.C. II to Launch 3D Virtual World". Anime News Network. April 8, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
  75. ^ "Ai Sp@ce official website" (in Japanese). Ai Sp@ce. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
  76. ^ "Clannad, Shuffle!, D.C. II to Reappear in a 3D World" (in Japanese). IT Media. April 8, 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Clannad.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Clannad_(video_game)&oldid=278511338"