The ''

Clannad Clannad () is an Irish band formed in 1970 in Gweedore, County Donegal by siblings Ciarán, Pól, and Moya Brennan and their twin uncles Noel and Pádraig Duggan. They have adopted various musical styles throughout their history, including ...

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

television series is based on the

visual novel A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...

'' by the Japanese visual novel brand

Key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

. The episodes, produced by the animation studio

Kyoto Animation , often abbreviated , is a Japanese animation studio and light novel publisher located in Uji, Kyoto Prefecture. Founded in 1985 by Yoko and Hideaki Hatta, it has produced anime works including '' The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya'' (2006), '' ...

, are directed by

Tatsuya Ishihara is a Japanese animator, television and film director. Working for Kyoto Animation, he directed ''The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya'', ''Clannad'', ''Nichijou'', ''Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions'' and ''Sound! Euphonium''. Early life and educ ...

, written by Fumihiko Shimo, and features character design by Kazumi Ikeda who based the designs on

Itaru Hinoue is the pseudonym of a Japanese artist from Osaka, Japan, who is one of the founding members of the visual novel brand Key under VisualArt's. Hinoue's choice of her pseudonym stems from the manga ''C'' by Shō Kitagawa; the protagonist in the man ...

's original concept. The story follows the main character Tomoya Okazaki, a discontented high school student whose life changes when he meets a girl one year older than he is, named

Nagisa Furukawa This is a list of characters from the ''Clannad'' universe, including the visual novel, manga, and anime of the same name. Main characters ; :''Voiced by:'' Kentaro Ito (DVD bundled with PS2 game), Yūichi Nitta ('' Tomoyo After: It's a Wond ...

. The ''Clannad'' anime series has 24 episodes, 23 of which were originally broadcast between October 2007 and March 2008. The last episode was released as an

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...

(OVA) on the eighth DVD in July 2008. The anime series was released in a set of eight DVD compilations in Japan released between December 2007 and July 2008 by

Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese mass media publishing company founded on October 1, 1966. The company publishes mainly physical home media on compact discs, including music, films and TV shows and video games. It is affiliate ...

, with each compilation containing three episodes. The license holding company

Sentai Filmworks Sentai Filmworks, LLC or just Sentai, is an American entertainment company owned by AMC Networks. Located in Houston, the company specializes in the dubbing and distribution of Japanese animation and Asian cinema. Its post-production arm is S ...

licensed the ''Clannad'' anime series, and

Section23 Films SXION 23 LLC, doing business as Section23 Films is an American multimedia distributor based in Houston, Texas specializing in releasing anime and Japanese films. Established in 2009, Section23 is one of five successors to ADV Films; alongside Se ...

localized and distributed the television series and the OVA starting with the first half season box set consisting of 12 episodes with English subtitles, Japanese audio, and no English language track, which was released in March 2009. The second half season box set containing the remaining episodes was released in May 2009. Sentai Filmworks and Section23 Films released the entire first season, including the OVA, in a complete collection set featuring an English dub on June 15, 2010. A continuation of the first anime series titled ''Clannad After Story'' produced by the same staff as with the first series, and containing the same cast of

voice actors Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

, adapts the After Story arc from the ''Clannad'' visual novel, which is a continuation of Nagisa's scenario. ''Clannad After Story'' has 25 episodes, 24 of which aired in Japan between October 2008 and March 2009. The last episode was again released as an OVA on the eighth DVD in July 2009. The episodes were released on eight DVD compilation volumes between December 2008 and July 2009. Sentai Filmworks also licensed ''Clannad After Story'' and Section23 Films localized and distributed the television series and OVA starting with the first half season box set with English subtitles released in October 2009. The second half season box set containing the remaining episodes was released in December 2009. Sentai Filmworks re-released ''Clannad After Story'' with an English dub on April 19, 2011. Aside from the

theme music Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

used for the episodes, 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 The ''Mabinogion'' () are the earliest Welsh prose stories, and belong to the Matter of Britain. The stories were compiled in Middle Welsh in the 12th–13th centuries from earlier oral traditions. There are two main source manuscripts, create ...

'', '' -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. This includes four insert songs used within the first season's episodes which include: and " Ana" used in episode nine, used in episode 18, and used in episode 22 which is also the main ending theme from the visual novel.

''Clannad''

Of the 24 episodes planned for release by Kyoto Animation, 23 were aired on television with the first 22 being regular episodes, followed by an additional extra episode. The last episode was released as an

on the eighth DVD on July 16, 2008, and is set in an alternate universe from the anime series in which Tomoya and Tomoyo are dating. The OVA episode was previewed on May 31, 2008, for an audience of four-hundred people picked via a mail-in

postcard A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. There are novelty exceptions, such as wood ...

campaign. 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 episodes aired between October 4, 2007, and March 27, 2008, on the TBS Japanese television network in 4:3 aspect ratio. The anime also aired in 16:9 aspect ratio between October 26, 2007, and April 4, 2008, on the

BS-i is a Japanese satellite broadcasting station headquartered in Akasaka Gochome, Minato, Tokyo. Its channel name is BS-TBS (formerly, BS-i). It is a member television station of Japan News Network. Channels *Television: BS-TBS is assigned BS16 ...

Japanese television network. The anime series was released in a set of eight DVD compilations in Japan released between December 19, 2007, and July 16, 2008, by

, with each compilation containing three episodes. A

Blu-ray Disc The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and c ...

box set of ''Clannad'' was released on April 30, 2010, in Japan. The license holding company Sentai Filmworks licensed the ''Clannad'' anime series, and

localized and distributed the television series and the OVA starting with the first half-season box set consisting of 12 episodes with English subtitles, Japanese audio, and no English language track, which was released on March 3, 2009. The second half season box set containing the remaining episodes was released on May 5, 2009. A complete box set of ''Clannad'' was released on June 15, 2010, featuring a new English dub of the series. Two pieces of

are used for the episodes: one opening theme and one ending theme. The opening theme is by the Japanese music group

Eufonius Eufonius is a Japanese progressive pop rock music group which debuted on October 11, 2003 with the release of their first album ''Eufonius'' which was also an independent release. The band has produced songs for various anime and video games, suc ...

. This song is a

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

of , the opening theme used for the original visual novel. The ending theme is by the Japanese singer

Chata is a Japanese singer who has performed theme songs for video games and anime series. She has also participated in various dōjin music circles. Her own private circle is called ''Usagi Kinoko''. History Chata began dabbling in music in 1998. S ...

. "Dango Daikazoku" is an adaptation of , Nagisa's character theme from the visual novel, which was also adapted into , the ending theme of the After Story arc of the visual novel.

''Clannad After Story''

A continuation of the first anime series titled ''Clannad After Story'' produced by the same staff as with the first series, and containing the same cast of

, adapts the After Story arc from the ''Clannad'' visual novel, which is a continuation of Nagisa's scenario. The second season aired in Japan between October 3, 2008, and March 26, 2009, on TBS in 4:3 aspect ratio with 24 episodes. Of the 24 episodes, 22 are regular episodes, the 23 is an extra episode, and the last episode is a summary episode showcasing highlights from the series. ''Clannad After Story'' also aired in 16:9 aspect ratio starting on October 24, 2008. The episodes were released on eight DVD compilation volumes between December 3, 2008, and July 1, 2009. The eighth DVD volume came with an additional

(OVA) episode set in an alternate universe from the anime series where Tomoya and Kyou are dating. The OVA episode was previewed on May 24, 2009, for a limited number of people. The license holding company Sentai Filmworks licensed the ''Clannad After Story'' anime series, and

are used for the episodes; one opening theme and one ending theme. The opening theme is which goes by the same tune as the

background music Background music (British English: piped music) is a mode of musical performance in which the music is not intended to be a primary focus of potential listeners, but its content, character, and volume level are deliberately chosen to affect behav ...

track . The ending theme is "Torch", and both the opening and ending themes are sung by

Lia Lia is a feminine given name. In the Spanish-speaking world, it is accented Lía. In America, the name may be a variant of Leah or Lea. Lia may be a diminutive of various names including Julia, Cecilia, Amelia, Talia, Cornelia, Ophelia, Rosal ...

References

External links

Official ''Clannad'' anime website

Official ''Clannad After Story'' anime website
{{Key (company)

Episodes Episodes may refer to: * Episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a series intended for radio, television or streaming consumption. The noun ''episode'' is derived from the Greek ...