Clannad ~After Story~ 04
Wow. How far behind on just two series am I? The answer to that rhetorical question - very. So without further ado, let’s get on with the last episode of this mini Sunohara story arc.
I’m quite obsessed with how good/bad anime music is, so I’m happy to report that the After Story opening song has finally grown on me enough to have it on repeat so much that I need to think about not listening to it. It’s swishes, wooshes and lovely little piano melodies keep me entranced through the whole song, while little flourishes here and there keep it nice and emotional, which ties in well with this episode in particular.
So it seems that Sunohara is still is a bad mood, and is down and out for the moment. For the first time this episode, we get a little bit of backstory into how Okazaki and Sunohara actually met. It stands the series in good stead that they’re only revealing something as fundamental in the “after story”. While the story garnered from the end of the episode of this meeting is a little bit contrived, at least it is believable.
From this episode, you really remember how some of the major characters, Okazaki and Sunohara, aren’t really model students. It’s easy to forget amongst the drama club activities and Sunohara’s goofiness, but these two are really quite violent, and it’s somewhat of a shock if you’ve forgotten the fact (like I had). However, remembering this, like the Soccer team manager said, Tomoya really has changed. He kicks off in anger and crosses the line much less, but the line is still drawn pretty close.
The ballboy scene, for me, was one of the most uncomfortable scenes to watch. Not because of the violence, but because of the sheer bullying going on. Humiliation is much harder to watch than physical pain, as I see it. This creates a great atmosphere of tension, broken at the right time by Sunohara himself.
Finally, why, oh why, oh why does anime always use pathetic fallacy of the weather so willingly and obviously? It’s raining, therefore we have a sad situation. It does add to the tension, but you could almost predict the weather by the mood of any situation.
I enjoyed this episode otherwise. It’s nice to get some insight into Sunohara sometimes.
Tags: autumn 2008, clannad, Clannad ~After Story~, harem, visual novel