Clannad ep.21

March 18, 2008 | 14 Comments

If what other people have said about the 'after' series is true, then maybe this series really need a continuation. I just feel that at this point Nagisa has not received an interesting character development. For that matter, neither has Tomoya. Or am I expecting too much character development out of the series? I just think that as lead characters, their stories are not as interesting as I thought it'd be. At least in Kanon, there's a real stake (death) at play. However, here we are at the penultimate episode and there seems to be a lack of conflict. Sure, if Nagisa can't pull herself together, the play will be a mess. But it's not really a big deal. It's not like Nagisa is going to die or lose her home if she can't do it right this time around. And how about Tomoya's issue with his father? Would the writers be able to cram the solution on next week's episode as well? Or would that have to wait until the second series?

The theater club starts to practice for the upcoming school festival by reciting jumbled words. Later on, they realized that no one in the club can create costume so they decide to ask Sanae to help them. That night, Akio shows Nagisa and Tomoya a performance video, prompting Nagisa to reveal that she never saw a performance before. The next day, Nagisa gets an idea to use music in her play. When she hesitates about the idea, Tomoya assures her not to think much about it since this is not a commercial play. So he thinks she should do whatever she wants to do. Because of this, they ask advice from Nishina Rie about the kind of music that would fit the play. Her suggestion ends up being Ravel's Ma Mère l'Oye, a music about Mother Goose. Rie thinks that Nagisa's world seems like a fairytale world so she believes this music is a good fit. Their practice is interrupted when Tomoyo arrives to check their progress. Everyone is surprised to see her wearing glasses, embarrassing Tomoyo in the process. She, however, is very happy to see Nagisa progressing with her play. She makes an off-hand comment about how she's glad that Nagisa is the one that gets chosen (by Tomoya). Ouch.

Eventually the day for rehearsal arrives. Nagisa works hard to recite her line while the others are busy trying to figure out how to run the show behind the scenes. Later on, Nagisa admits to being nervous so Sunohara suggests that she imagines the audiences as a bunch of aliens who are about to invade Earth. If Nagisa's play is good, they won't invade but if it's not, they will. So no pressure. Despite this, Nagisa's rehearsal went well so she and Tomoya returns to the Furukawa home feeling elated. That night, however, Nagisa still believe that she has done something wrong to her parents. Tomoya manages to persuade her to forget about it for now and focus on the play. However, while packing her costume, she remembers that they need a flashlight. When she finds it, the battery runs out so she goes to the storage to find a new one. In the process, she knocks over the boxes, revealing Akio and Sanae's photo diary. A few hours later, Tomoya finds Nagisa still awake late at night because she is now aware that her parents has sacrificed their career to raise her. The episode ends with Akio realizing that Nagisa has finally seen his diary. Unfortunately, now is the worst time for her to find out about this.

Impression:

I'm not impressed with the crisis that the story presents before the finale. I think most people would be grateful if their parents did this for them instead of beating themselves up. This is why Nagisa's reaction feels over-the-top for me. I want Nagisa to face adversity in this penultimate episode but I also want to see some strength from her. If I may compare her to another character with similar basic personality, the penultimate episode of Fruits Basket smacked Honda Tohru with a terrifying revelation that her perfect world is not so perfect after all. And while she was shaken by the revelation, at least she makes an attempt to solve the problem instead of going almost-catatonic like Nagisa. While Tohru is obviously the lead character in Fruits Basket, the penultimate episode shows why she deserves the admiration from other characters in that series. My point is: this episode dropped some anvil from Tomoyo about how Nagisa is the right choice for Tomoya because she's a 'good girl'. Instead of feeding me that line, I'd rather the series show me why Nagisa wins Tomoya's affection in comparison to the other girls and so far I haven't seen what makes her special.

© memento 2003