[Ascaloth] CLANNAD ~After Story~, Episode 5 at Riuva : Research Institute for Unicultural Visual Arts

[Ascaloth] CLANNAD ~After Story~, Episode 5

(6 votes, average: 1.67 out of 5)

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Popularity: 11% [?] Published by Ascaloth November 1st, 2008 in Ascaloth, Anime

The Illusory World scenes are becoming ever more prominent within the CLANNADverse, and as the little robot wonder about the lights that float in the air, thinking they may be shadows from another world beyond the sky, one gets the feeling that slowly, but surely, we’re getting closer to the truth behind the mystery of the Girl and her Robot in the Illusory World. However, be that as it may, it’s still early in the series, and so there is still much left to be known about the true nature of the Illusory World. For now, After Story heads into what the game veterans call the Misae Arc, focusing on everybody’s beloved dorm mother.

CLANNAD ~After Story~, Episode 5

Despite his well-deserved moment in the spotlight last episode, poor Sunohara is once again back to being everybody’s punching bag; Misae sure pulls some pretty nifty moves though. I don’t know how she manages to pack so much strength in such an average-looking female frame, but if the various scenes of the rugby boys running from her with their tails between their legs are any indication….

I knew Misae tends to whack Sunohara at the slightest excuse, but for a while here I was wondering why she slapped him for saying "thank you". It was not until later that someone pointed out to me that they were in Misae’s room, and while he did say "thank you", it was still rude of him to jump on it like a rabid dog. LOL. I guess there’s still things I have yet to learn about Japanese courtesy. XD

After a relative lack of screentime in the Sunohara Siblings’ Arc, Tomo-pyon makes a return long-awaited by her numerous fans! Although, if I may say so myself, that is terrible dress sense, Tomoyo-chan. -_-"

To be perfectly honest, are Misae’s accomplishments as the Council President really that much of a big deal that Tomoyo practically idolizes her because of it? I get it that Tomoyo has a great deal of respect for Misae, but honestly, it’s just the Student Council. Is there a particular reason that Tomoyo makes such a big deal out of Misae? For someone like me who never really thought very much of such things like Student Councils, it’s a mystery.

There are times when I honestly wonder how Sunohara survives all that damage.

Somehow, their frequent faux pas never ceases being amusing. One significant thing about the Tomoya-Nagisa coupling, is how much emphasis is placed solely on their body language alone. Their relationship are characterized not by the sappy dialogue or blatant facial contortions that is a staple of so many other OTPs in other series, but one can read so much more into how their bodies unconsciously react to each other when they get grilled about each other.

….ooooookay. Apart from Fuuko’s arc and perhaps the still-mysterious Illusory World, CLANNAD has so far had relatively ‘normal’ stories that pretty much progressed and resolved completely within concrete reality, as opposed to Kanon and AIR which often incorporated supernatural themes in their arcs. But CLANNAD is still a Key work after all, and it’s a strange, yet familiar feeling of "things are gonna get real weird now" that I’m getting from this.

And just like that, we’re plunged back into the past when Misae was still a student, and got accosted one day by some strange shota called Shima Tatsuki out of nowhere. Putting aside the fact that I’m mostly going "erm what’s going on here?" due to Shima’s ambiguous origins, it’s fairly disconcerting to hear a girl voiced by Yukino Satsuki and somewhat resembling Chidori Kaname in looks and demeanour, being addressed as "Sagara". More likely than not it’s just a coincidence, but oh, the hilarious implications. Fumoffu~!

And even for one of her character type, young Misae sure is a trigger-happy one.

And yet despite all that, Misae warms up to Shima over a relatively short period of time; I guess even she has to be affected by Shima’s cuteness eventually. Come to think of it, is this what a certain Shiraishi Minoru meant by a "classic" tsundere? Misae does fit the "timeline-based" definition of it after all.

Tomoya did speak truly about Misae’s character; she may be almost as violent as Hinano-sama can be (and that’s saying a lot), but it is the motherly side of her which guys can sense and are attracted to. Frankly, it’s hard for me to keep the idea of Chidori out of my head. XD

And the end of the episode ends with a dramatic irony, as Misae chose exactly the wrong thing to say to Shima’s dilemma, only to have it backfire on her in the very next moment. I don’t know if it’s simply just me getting too old, but this dramatic climax didn’t seem to work for me; I could only see it as children getting their first scars in the battlefield of romance. Shima-kun probably thought it a very big deal, but I was mostly like "meh, it happens, tell her straight and let her get it over with". Bah, I’ll be booking my place in the geriatric ward at this rate.

To be honest, I can’t find a lot to say about this episode. For one thing, with the story resorting to the classic Key trope of "things are gonna get weird now", I’m a bit distracted trying to figure out how it all ties into the main story. For another, while the look into Misae’s past (or at least as much of it as this episode allowed) was interesting in itself, it didn’t really have that much affective strength. I was mostly "meh" at it, and rather had other questions running through my head; who is this Shima character? How does the whole deal tie in with the main story? And since it all started with a drowsy Tomoya glancing at Misae’s cat to begin with, what do these two have to do with the flashback we’re seeing of Misae’s past? So many questions, but one more week to go for the answers. Argh, so annoying.

In any case, it seems that the Misae Arc ends in the very next episode, so we’ll have to wait to see what happens, and how. Moreover, considering the entire arc gives off a strong vibe of "classic Key", I think even most of us who aren’t game vets would have more or less figured out what’s going to happen to Tatsuki, but screw that, let’s see what happens then.

Ascaloth, out.

Popularity: 11% [?]

8 Responses to “[Ascaloth] CLANNAD ~After Story~, Episode 5”

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1 FlameStrike 52 comments Nov 1st, 2008 at 5:17 pm

Hm well the Misae arc does reveal one important bit of info in the game, and so does the Yukine arc, so I don’t think you’ll be too disappointed. Besides I think Misae’s past is just interesting lol.
2 lichen 6 comments Nov 2nd, 2008 at 5:27 am

Misae should go to jail for assault and battery, and lose her job for beating up the students in her care. I couldn’t care less about her, though it is sad that it looks like, in my opinion (I don’t know) that boy is going to turn into a cat to stay with her.
3 SnooSnoo 175 comments Nov 2nd, 2008 at 1:25 pm

“There are times when I honestly wonder how Sunohara survives all that damage.”

That is because he has regenerative properties. He recovers damage faster than it is dealt. I think…
4 Tremere 28 comments Nov 2nd, 2008 at 11:50 pm

I agree with lichen, given how little bits of weirdness happens in the Clannad-verse, I think the kid would really turn into a cat to stay with Misae. Or that cat could be the kitten that’s on Shima’s lap when he was wheelchair bound.

But if that’s the same cat, its lifespan must be way overrated.
5 Jalin 17 comments Nov 3rd, 2008 at 11:34 am

mmm….
is it just me or does Shima slightly resemble that kittin in eye colour and hair/fur colour?
6 Setsukyie 34 comments Nov 3rd, 2008 at 8:44 pm

Great episode overall. It was better than I expected.
To be honest, Misae’s route was boring to me in the visual novel.
Well, maybe it’s because I was rushing.
But the anime version was great, and that scene on the bridge was emotional if you ask me.
Looking forward to next week.
7 kherubim 32 comments Nov 3rd, 2008 at 9:40 pm

Chidori Kaname, is that you?

I was half expecting Misae to whip out a harisen or something, and for someone in her mid 20s, she’s not really that old (relative to the 18 year old characters)…

1 Anime Banzai ! - アニメ万歳！- For Fans, By Fans » Delicious Post » CLANNAD ~After Story~ - 05, Broken Hearts… Pingback on Nov 10th, 2008 at 9:58 pm

Do not use any < and > for your own sake. It will end the comment there and then. Also, there is an automatic IQ filter which weeds out comments made by those who accidentally got transported from the stone age.

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