Josh’s Anime Blog

It’s episode 20, and Okazaki and Nagisa try to search for the story that Nagisa wants to turn into a play. However, along the way Akio tells Okazaki a secret from Nagisa’s past and why all their snooping around may not be the best thing. Meanwhile, Nagisa let’s something slip during a family picnic.

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The highlights of this episode:

• Okazaki finds Nagisa practicing (the play I guess) outside and chides her for going outside at night alone. He then asks Nagisa if she remembers the play she wanted to do. Nagisa says she hasn’t, but the story is one she heard when she was little about a girl left alone in the world. Okazaki feels sure that he’s heard of this story as well.
• In the world with no birth and no death, the girl finishes with a 2nd robot. The first robot tries to get the first robot to walk just like the girl got him to walk, but to no avail, and the girl apologizes for failing to create a 2nd live robot.
• Okazaki tries to ask both of Nagisa’s parents about whether they know of the story Nagisa remembers, but neither of them can. Akio goes so far as telling Okazaki that if he does find something out, for him to come tell Akio about it first before Nagisa. Sanae suggests that Okazaki and Nagisa look for the story in the house.
• While visiting Yukine to see if she knows anything about it, Sunohara asks her if she knows of any charms that will tell him who likes him. She tells him one where the first girl that talks to him while he walks around the school is the girl who likes him, but it fails miserably. In the process, Yukine spots Nagisa walking towards the room and gets Okazaki to do the charm himself, and almost immediately after leaving the room, Nagisa calls out to him ^_^.
• That afternoon in the club room, Nagisa describes the story in more detail: the story she wants to do is about a girl who is the only person left in the world. The girl was lonely, so she decided to make a friend by assembling a doll made of pieces of junk. Then the doll started to move, and the girl was no longer lonely. This expanded description convinces Okazaki that he has most definitely heard this story before.
• That evening, Okazaki and Nagisa start searching through a shed outside Nagisa’s house, but Akio comes out and tells them that they won’t find any of Nagisa’s childhood things in the shed.
• Later that night, Akio pulls Okazaki aside and tells him not to tell either Nagisa or Sanae what Akio’s about to tell him: when she was little, Nagisa got a bad fever and almost died. Both Akio and Sanae both had dream jobs - including Sanae’s job as a middle school teacher. When Nagisa got sick, neither could stay home from work and they couldn’t find anyone to come look over Nagisa, so they left her home alone. Akio was able to get off work two hours later and rushed home, but found Nagisa lying unconscious outside in the snow. Akio and Sanae both felt like they were being punished for going after their own dreams and not caring for Nagisa as much as they should, so they started the bakery and the cram school so they could stay home with Nagisa.
• Okazaki asks Akio why they don’t tell Nagisa about what happened, but Akio says that he thinks that Nagisa will blame herself for them giving up their dream jobs to stay at home with her. Akio also tells Okazaki that when Nagisa started to become older, she was becoming more aware os the situation, so they hid all of their memories from that time in the shed. Nevertheless, Okazaki thinks that Akio should tell Nagisa eventually.
• The next day, Nagisa, Akio, and Sanae decide to go on a picnic the next day and invite Okazaki along. However, Okazaki feels like he’d be intruding and escapes to Sunohara’s place. Sunohara notes that wont Nagisa get worried about him, but Okazaki tells him he left a note. Sunohara then tells him what Nagisa will think if he just runs off, that won’t she think that he abandoned her. Okazaki tries to tell Sunohara that Nagisa is more confident now, but Sunohara notes that she’s only more confident because Okazaki is around her, and if he’s no longer around, she’ll lose her confidence. This finally convinces Okazaki to go back to Nagisa’s house.
• When Okazaki returns, he finds Nagisa waiting for him, and due to the late time, they can only go to a nearby park, where they play baseball with some kids. When Okazaki gets a good hit. Akio playful asks Nagisa if she “fell in love with Okazaki all over again.” Nagisa lets out a “yes” before realizing what she’s saying, and gets all flustered, shocking Akio, Sanae, and Okazaki…

Despite this being an episode that takes place almost entirely at Nagisa’s house, quite a bit still happened in this episode.

First, clearly the story that Nagisa is trying to remember is about the girl in the world with no birth and no death, and Okazaki clearly remembers a story along those lines as well. However, is this world just a story or is it real, and if it’s real, how are Nagisa and Okazaki related to it?

Second, we learn of the event that Nagisa feels that she has to apologize for - the fact that she almost died when she was younger, causing her parents to give up their dream jobs so that they can take better care for her. I think it’s obvious that Nagisa will find about about this eventually, whether by Akio telling her or Okazaki telling her or finding out something on her own (perhaps by looking through the shed again?). The question is what will Nagisa do when she finds out?

Third, we have a confession! I guess it was only a matter of time, but how will Nagisa’s accidental confession affect her and Okazaki’s relationship?

Fourth, Sunohara shows that he can actually be wise if he wants to, seeing the true nature between Nagisa’s and Okazaki’s relationship better than even Okazaki does. Will we see any more of this wisdom?

I’d say there is one more obvious question left, taking clues from the opening credit sequence: All of the clips during Nagisa’s turn in the credits are accounted for but one: the very first clip where Nagisa is standing in a uniform that looks a lot like the uniforms from Kanon when seen from behind (at least I think so). Is this another story from Nagisa’s past, or is it her taking part in the play (note what could be a stage light in the shot)? We have 4 episodes left to find out. And speaking of which, we must have quite a bit of her arc left to go with still 4 episodes left.

After 20 episodes, I’d say that CLANNAD is battling with Shana for best series from the fall season. CLANNAD beats Shana in sheer storytelling definitely, but I still think it’s close overall, and Nagisa’s arc (and the last 4 episodes of Shana) will decide which is better. CLANNAD definitely has a shot at being one of the best, if not the best, show of 2008 overall as well.