Clannad ~After Story~ 13 review, Nagisa’s graduation and her epic win.

 

        The episode begins with Tomoya talking with Sanae about his father’s situation, and she reassures him that neither she, Nagisa, or Akio hold him responsible. He tells her that he has something important to talk about, but when Akio returns he insults Sanae’s bread and Sanae goes running off. Before Akio can chase after his wife, Tomoya stops Akio from leaving. He tells Akio that he has something really important to talk about so Akio grabs a baseball bat and tells him OK, they’ll have a real match.

 

       Once they take the field, Akio tells Tomoya that he’ll listen to what he has to say if he gets a hit, and Tomoya adds the condition that if he wins, Akio will have to agree with him. As Sanae and Nagisa see the match about to begin, Sanae stops Nagisa from interrupting the game. It doesn’t go very well for Tomoya, he strikes out on three straight pitches. Tomoya tells Nagisa he’s very sorry for not winning but Sanae tells him that he should impress Akio by working very hard.

 

     So, Tomoya works very hard at batting practice, he keeps challenging Akio until finally on a rainy day Akio tells him that this will be the final match. Even though Tomoya has gotten a lot better he fails to get a hit and Akio tells him that there is a difference between them. Tomoya tells Nagisa and Sanae that Akio meant that he is still a boy and can’t take care of anyone. Sanae tells Tomoya to come inside but he refuses and stays to practice in the rain. Nagisa starts to object but Sanae tells her not to interfere with a battle between men. As the days go by Tomoya spends all his free time practicing his batting skills.

 

         Days later, Tomoya is still practicing in the rain when Akio walks up to him and tells him that this really will be the final match. On Akio’s first pitch, Tomoya hits a home run, Tomoya then runs up to Akio and drops to his knees and asks Akio if he can take care of Nagisa?  Akio tells Tomoya that if he ever causes Nagisa any pain they’ll take her right back, and Sanae tells Tomoya that Nagisa is their dream, and from today forward their happiness is also their dream, so please be happy.

 

      Then we flash forward several months, Christmas and New Years have come with Nagisa and Tomoya spending their time as a couple. Then on the New Years holiday, Nagisa is going to drink sake of the first time with her parents and Tomoya, and after just one serving she’s pretty buzzed and a little more forward about being affectionate with Tomoya, and Sanae comments on how lovey-dovey it seems. After Akio and Sanae do some good natured teasing of Tomoya, Nagisa falls asleep on Tomoya’s lap looking very happy, and her parents ask him if he’s happy too? Tomoya tells them he’s happy just being with Nagisa.

 

        As Nagisa enters her third and final school term she again becomes ill, but this time Nagisa tells Tomoya that she thinks that she’ll have good enough attendance to graduate this time. When graduation day comes Nagisa has indeed earned enough credit to graduate but Nagisa’s too ill to attend, and Tomoya spends his free time making special arrangements for Nagisa. Tomoya walks Nagisa up to the school where she finds all her friends, and her parents waiting for her. Tomoya has arranged a graduation ceremony for Nagisa, after Nagisa receives her diploma she give a speech thanking Tomoya and all her friends for giving her strength, and even though it’s been tough and lonely at times, she really loved her time at the school.

         Then a while later, Nagisa and Tomoya visit his father who’s still in jail where they tell him about their marriage. Tomoya’s father tells Nagisa to take care of Tomoya and he wishes them happiness. As they are leaving the jail we see that Nagisa is wearing a wedding ring, and Tomoya tells us that they just registered their marriage. Tomoya also tells us that Nagisa Furukawa is now Nagisa Okazaki, and they walk off holding hands as a married couple. Well, that’s all for this episode.

       This episode of Clannad was loaded with so much yummy goodness that my emotional tummy is still full several hours after dining at the buffet. It would have been really nice if we could have gotten this episode right on schedule, but I guess even the over worked and under paided grunts at the animation studios need a holiday break.

       For the most part, Clannad has been about how Tomoya reacts to, and deals with certain emotional and interpersonal situations, with the various girls (especially Nagisa) being the catalyst for his emotional growth. One must always remember that first and foremost Clannad is a male soap opera/melodrama. So, this episode it’s pretty much follows the same overcome a challenge plot , Tomoya must deal with Nagisa’s father in a contest of men in order to get his permission to marry her. Over the past several months some of my fellow blog writers have expressed a dislike for Clannad’s constant use of sports for plot progression, but I’ll have to disagree with them on this point.

      Sports is a wonderful mirror/metaphorfor life and living, when you first start playing at life and sports you really don’t know what your doing, and you work at it every day trying to get better. Most of the time, you just try not to screw it up too bad, and you try to do a decent job at it. Hopefully, when you look back at your life, you’ll savor and value your great moments more than your failures, and as twilight approaches, you’ll have acquired the wisdom to exit with grace and dignity.

        I also didn’t find the “contest of men” occurring between Tomoya and Akio to be that unrealistic. When I was a junior in high school I started dating a girl who’s father had played basketball in college, and the first time I met him I had to play him one on one in his driveway. I had no chance of winning but it was sort of like a test to see if I was man enough to take my licks and not quit.

      I also really liked the scene where Nagisa gets a little buzzed and starts coming on to Tomoya in front of her parents, I can remember the discomfort I felt when showing affection towards my girlfriends in front of either her parents or my parents when I was young like Tomoya.

Nagisa’s graduation and her epic win.

       For five long years, Nagisa has struggled with her illness and trying to finish high school, and now it’s finally over. In this episode, Nagisa gets her epic win, she graduates high school and has a private graduation ceremony thanks to Tomoya arraignments. It was really touching to see everyone waiting for Nagisa wearing their old uniforms, and to see Nagisa get presented her diploma in front of her loved ones. It was also really sweet watching Tomoya working so hard to be able to win permission to marry Nagisa even though she already told Tomoya “yes”. In that respect, Tomoya was not just happy with getting Nagisa to say “yes”, but Nagisa means so much to him that he felt that he needed to earn her father’s respect. By the end of this episode, Nagisa’s probably gotten most of what she’s really wanted, success, love, and marriage, it’s her epic win.

      I’ve got to also say that the married, mature Nagisa looks damn good, and it’s nice to see a anime show that there is a interesting life for the characters after high school.