Have you already seen the TV series? If not, please don't see this movie yet.
This is the right order to see Clannad:
1. Clannad (2007–2008) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1118804/ - The TV series Season 1.
2. Clannad: After Story (2008– ) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1298820/ - The TV series Season 2.
3. Clannad (2007) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0997274/ - This movie.
As you can see from above, this movie came before the TV series, but it is supposed to be viewed last. If you watch this movie and then the TV show it will spoil all the surprises. :-).
The story - Its very simple, a high school girl and boy meet and they fall in love. I am so sorry there is nothing more to say than this, really. :-).....
Because the movie and the TV series has the same story (there are small differences though), this movie may be redundant, so the question is, do you need to see it at all? I will try to answer that:
Quality - The Clannad TV series I think is the best anime/movie/TV series that I have ever seen. It can only be compared to movies like Tokyo Story, Spirited Away, Life is Beautiful, Its a Wonderful Life, etc. Its just too good, unimaginably. And because of that, unfortunately, this movie comes across as mediocre.
The saddest thing about this movie is that it trivializes the lead actress, Nagisa. Here she seems to be chasing after Tomoya. Pestering and pushy, silly and dumb! But the real Nagisa (from the TV series), is the most amazing character that I have ever seen. She can only be compared to people like Avatar Aang (Avatar the Last Airbender), Belldandy (Ah My Goddess), etc. And those people are like super heroes with super powers, whereas Nagisa is ridiculously frail of body and she is nowhere as beautiful as Belldandy, yet somehow she is so strong with the most beautiful heart that you are in awe of her!
I also felt that most of the emotions in this movie were forced and it seemed too artificial. Here Nagisa's parents seem like they are crazy and that they are desperate to set Tomoya up with Nagisa. In reality they are very mature people and important to the overall story. And not just the parents, the many many characters that you will quickly see here, they all have important roles in what happens between Nagisa and Tomoya, yet they are all forgotten here.
And the background music, is it me, or did it feel as if they were purposefully mocking the movie. It sounded like the silly sounds that we may make when we are trying to imitate a horror movie infront of our friends, like where we are purposefully trying to be silly. In the TV series, the music absolutely blows us away! It is so perfect that it seems to be flowing with our heart.
Once we have seen the series, each character in it becomes our friend, and we will miss them. This movie was a way to see them all again. So yes, its still worth to see this movie.
Say you are someone who hates anime, even then I can confidently recommend this series to you, you won't be disappointed.
Thank you for reading this. :-). Cheers.
