One challenge faced by many directors and producers today is the need to immerse viewers in their creations. By “taking the viewer away” to a world where they can almost feel what the characters are feeling, they can create a deep emotional response from viewers which in turn makes for some outstanding entertainment. Recently I decided to watch Clannad and Clannad After Story (hereby referred to simply as “Clannad“). Never before has a story moved me in such a way that this series did.

Clannad, based on a visual novel developed by KEY (Air, Kanon, Little Busters), initially looks like a typical high school harem. Any images or synopses you may see of the series will easily give one that impression. However, there’s so much more to the series that one will not realize without actually watching it. Clannad is about love. It’s about life. And it’s about sadness.

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