Clannad After Story

Well, here we are again with Nagisa. This is the second half of the Nagisa Furukawa review, with a focus on After Story. Note this is sort of more of a continuation than a complete review; I won't be covering Basics, Character Design and Personality. Reason why? Well, that doesn't change too much between Clannad and Clannad After Story, and what does change is best mixed in with the storyline part. This means the review is shorter than your normal review, but I'll try and keep up the quality you all seem to expect of me. So then, enough talk, let's get down to....

Nagisa Furukawa (Part II)

Storyline: The early parts of After Story are more focused on some the side characters like Sunohara and Yukine. In these arcs Nagisa basically behaves like she did in the arcs in the first part of the series. She supports Tomoya, befriends the characters, and overall plays a more supporting role. A few differences are there; for example, she admits being a little jealous when Yukine takes a nap on Tomoya's lap. Before she would have probably just stood by blushing or something. Overall though, not too much a difference between the first series and After Story, except that Tomoya and Nagisa are dating. The biggest issues that occur for Nagisa is that she gets sick again, and has to repeat her third year a second time (making that now three years she has been a third year.....). Tomoya of course offers to not graduate with her, but she tells him to move on and graduate and that she'll be fine. She goes to school again, fails to reestablish the Drama Club (hmm, you'd have thought her performance in the School Festival would have 'inspired' some people 0_o), but at least makes some friends.

When Tomoya starts working and gets an apartment, Nagisa basically helps him at home; she makes him dinner for example, stays with him, etc. Of course, Tomoya being tired out from work, he doesn't spend too much time with Nagisa. From her perspective though, she doesn't mind. She's just glad Tomoya is doing well in life. She isn't even upset when Tomoya misses out the School Festival with her like he promised (he had good reasons though). The one thing she is concerned about, though, is Tomoya working himself too much, to the point that on his first day on the job he couldn't even make it through dinner without nodding off. Of course, he eventually gets used to it all and gets better, and heck, even gets a job offer....that gets ruined by his dad being arrested (more on that when we get to the Tomoya After Story review since it's more of his issue than Nagisa). Tomoya is pissed off big time, and Nagisa just sort of stands idly by, unsure what to do, until Tomoya runs off and starts hitting a while. She gives him a "cool-down" hug of sorts, and it is then that Tomoya asks if they should get married. Nagisa, of course, says yes.

A few obstacles occur before they can get married. First, Akio. More on that in the Tomoya review, but in short it's a match between Tomoya and Akio for permission to ask Akio about it. Second, Nagisa is still technically in school, though I'm guessing that's not a big deal (it's never brought up as a reason, but they don't get married till she graduates so...). Both of those are eventually solved, but once again Nagisa gets sick, but at least she doesn't have to do it a third time. Instead, she just misses graduation ceremony. This all happens near Christmas and New Year's Eve, which of course Nagisa and Tomoya spending it with each other in a lovely little montage. Also, and this is important; Nagisa does not take alcohol well. One thing of sake, and she's drunk enough to believe that Tomoya has a crush on Sanae, which Sanae teases about. Even Akio moves things along, at least till the (drunk as well) Sanae says she is being serious about it. Poor, poor Tomoya; a clingy, jealous-of-mom Nagisa and Akio and Sanae all against him. One my personal favorite of the "comedy" scenes in After Story, right up there next to Hyper Rainbow Bread!

Anyway, with Nagisa missing graduation,Tomoya, of course, drafts everyone into holding a special one for her, and we get a nice touching moment as everyone comes together to congratulate Nagisa for finally getting out of school. She has a nice speech as well, talking about how Tomoya gave her the strength to come to school that day on the hill, all her friends and the Drama Club, etc. Note Sunohara does not look good with black hair. With that out of the way, Nagisa and Tomoya officially marry, and Nagisa Furukawa becomes Nagisa Okazaki...and they visit Tomoya's dad in jail to tell him. He wishes them luck, and Tomoya is still mad at him. When Tomoya leaves, he tells Nagisa to take care of him. Tomoya and Akio have a match of calling each other "Son" and "Dad", and then Nagisa and Tomoya move in together.

The next few scenes kind of give us a look into the daily life of the two of them moving together. Nagisa makes a vow upon moving in to never cry in pain or sadness, but it's okay to cry in joy and happiness. The two of them work on getting settled in the new apartment, with Nagisa mentioning that she is going to and start looking for work to help support them both. They chat a little more about their life together in bed....sort of. Now, admittedly, this is where I come to my one complaint about the Nagisa/Tomoya relationship; it's just to chaste. Yes, they are adorable together and work well together, but they don't even sleep in the same bed, though I guess in their defense those mat things probably aren't built for two. Still, they don't cuddle or anything like that; they hold hands...and that's actually all we ever see them do. I'm not asking for any ecchi scenes or anything like that, but you'd think as a married couple they'd at least be close to each other. I mean really, there's enough room between them you could fit another person in that sleeping arrangement :P.

So we get a small little montage of their daily life before Tomoya comes home from work. Over dinner Nagisa mentions that she has gotten a job at a new family restaurant, using their friend Rie (from the Chorus Club) as a connection (way to work the friends there Nagisa XD). The two of them have a moment together where they discuss the folk tale that Yukine had told them about what is basically the Light Orbs, and Tomoya asks what it was that Nagisa would wish for. She's embarrassed to tell, but with a little goading from Tomoya she eventually spills the beans that she would like....a baby. Tomoya doesn't really react to it, but Nagisa really would like to have one it seems. Hope that works out for them ;).

The next scene we get is more Tomoya/Akio than Nagisa focused, but as "MC AKIO!" goes to visit Nagisa at work, we get some insight on her character. First, she remains clueless as ever as she doesn't even recognize her own father is this "mysterious rapper" guy taking pictures of her (how did she not see the flash?). Second, she remains ever loyal to Tomoya, brushing off the people hitting on her. According to the manager, except for the two that Akio and Tomoya dealt with, she had been doing a pretty good job of keeping them at bay and rejecting them. Third, her manager praises her; even without work experience, she has become a valuable part of the restaurant and has been doing a great job. Of course, who wouldn't want to be waited on by Nagisa? XD. Finally, we learn that she looks really good in a waitress outfit, at least as far as Tomoya is concerned. So overall life is going pretty well for Nagisa and Tomoya; both are doing wonderful in their jobs, they're married, all is good.

Then things begin to change. Nagisa mentions that the old school building is being torn down, and a new one placed there. Tomoya gets upset about it since the Drama Club was there, and Nagisa apologizes for the news. Now, again, more Tomoya focused, but we can see the changing of the town and all is starting to bother him. Nagisa takes it a lot more in stride, which I think I can see a difference between them. Nagisa has always loved the town, and continues to love the town, no matter what happens to it. She sees it like a big family after all, and families grow and change. On the flip side, Tomoya has hated the town till he met Nagisa, and now that he has happiness he doesn't want it to change; he's a little clingy to how things are. Considering his life it is understandable, if this how he feels. Remember, this is my own musing on the situation, but might be a possible explanation as to why he's so uneasy about the changes going on around him while Nagisa is going with the flow.

Of course, he's also about to get a huge change when him and Akio find Nagisa and Sanae in the bathroom, with Nagisa being nauseous and all that....congrats Tomoya and Nagisa, you're going to be parents :D. Akio gets a funny moment of denial, but he gets set straight by Nagisa in what is probably the boldest thing she has ever done in the series; she tells them straight out Tomoya and her slept together. She does it red faced and obviously embarrassed beyond belief, but even Tomoya gives her credit for being able to say that to her parents (one of them in obvious denial about the whole deal) right to their faces. So go Nagisa for that? Then we move onto all those lovely pregnancy moments like nausea and morning sickness. Since Nagisa isn't in the best of health to begin with though, this causes her to become bedridden, and she is barely able to eat anyway. Eventually, however, she starts to feel better and move around and eat again.

The problem is, her condition has everyone else worried about it. Nagisa decides she wants to have a home birth instead of at the hospital so she can hold the baby and birth it in a more comfortable environment and all that stuff. Akio and Sanae, however, show concern and while they can understand her reasoning, they think a hospital would be better to ensure a safe delivery. Showing support, however, they hire a midwife to help Nagisa with the whole decision and ordeal surrounding this, but even she has concerns about the delivery. Now, personally, I do think the hospital would be the best decision only because of Nagisa's normal level of health isn't that bad, and she's gotten seriously ill how many times by this point? Still, Nagisa is determined to have the baby at home, and of course begins to teach it a song that will haunt soothe it for the rest of its life: Dango Daikazoku. To sort of prove the point about the illness though, she gets a little ill again. Baby's fine, but reaffirms the fears everyone else has, which is compounded with the doctors saying the delivery might become dangerous. Abortion is touched on, but is quickly dropped as Nagisa is determined to have this baby.

Eventually Nagisa relents to having the birth in a hospital if it means ensuring a safe delivery for the baby. I do have to applaud Nagisa's commitment and pragmatism at this point. She's obviously committed to having this baby even while knowing the dangers related to it and to herself by doing so. While she really wants a home birth, she eventually decides to do what seems to be the best option by having a hospital birth instead. Again, shows Nagisa's ability to put her own wants and needs aside to help others; it just happens to be in this case the other person is her own child. Yes, its what a parent is supposed to do, but it is still heartwarming to see it in action like this.

With the issue of where the birth is going to take place solved, we get another problem; what to name it? Nagisa and Tomoya are visiting the beach, and after considering different names, decide on Ushio, with its connection to waves (and gender neutrality if written a certain way?). Nagisa believes a lot will happen to the within life, but that as time passes things will return to you. As that happens, they will watch over Ushio. Also has symbolism in that Nagisa is a bay and Ushio is the ocean (or something like that), which shows Ushio is bigger than the both of them when it comes to life and all that. They also hope that Ushio will grow up to be naturally kind and caring (shouldn't be a problem considering the parents, though she might have a little snark in her XD). Finally, they promise to come back to the beach the next summer; them and Ushio together. They then sit there on the beach, staring out at the water. So a lot of symbolism in the name and all that, and multi-layered symbolism too. Good choice there Nagisa; will drive the literature teachers nuts searching for it.

As the pregnancy goes on, Sanae begins to watch over Nagisa during the day (she had to leave her job) while Tomoya is at work. During Christmas Nagisa asks for some Dango Daikazoku (she plans on brainwashing the kid into it before out of the womb, isn't she ^_^), and of course Tomoya tracks some down for her and they all have fun. New Years arrive, and all their friends except Tomoyo show up to visit. The big topic of discussion, of course, is Tomoya and Nagisa, what with the baby and all (and Sunohara of course wanting to touch her stomach....and Kotomi too, but Sunohara gets beaten for it). Again, the scene is slanted more towards Tomoya and his feelings about being a father so Nagisa doesn't do much in it. We also get Kotomi to explain some science stuff and ideas related to, again, Illusionary World. The most important stuff, however, is establishing the season cause guess what happens next....

It snows hard. Really, really hard; enough that the entire city is stuck due to it. Cars aren't working, roads blocked, and apparently fate just hates Nagisa and Tomoya cause she comes down with a fever. To make matters worse, one day she goes into labor, and obviously they cannot make it to the hospital. Yet the midwife is able to show up? Anyway, one of the most dramatic scenes in Clannad begins to unfold right before our eyes as Nagisa begins what turns out to be a very painful labor. It's painful enough at least that she looses consciousness throughout it, and Tomoya and the others are just in complete agony to have to watch her during this time. She pulls through, however, and eventually the baby is born alive and healthy. Nagisa however...

Nagisa is "tired" after the birth, but Tomoya struggles to keep her awake. He succeeds in getting her to see the baby, and continues to talk to her as she begins to fade away. Tomoya sits there helplessly, watching as his wife dies. This is the biggest tearjerker in the series up to this point; we've seen Nagisa grow and have come to love her after the 38 or so episodes before this. And now she is dying, and there is nothing Tomoya or the others can do. When that hand falls down, and you see Tomoya trying to 'wake her up', you're probably breaking down right there with him. I really wanted to put a video of this scene, but I just couldn't find a good one. Trust me, I'm very disappointed in that; there really isn't any way I can write what happens for this scene without loosing a lot of the impact of it. All I have to offer is this image from the scene:

 

And with that Nagisa is removed from the picture, and Tomoya is sent into a spiraling depression for the next five years, and we're left with an empty box of tissues and a full trash can. So we then jump forward to the last episode of the series, since the rest of the episodes in between focus on Tomoya and Ushio's relationship. We're also skipping the Illusionary World stuff since, well, I don't want to get into that. All you need to know is that Tomoya is getting another chance as we return to the hill from the very first scene of the series; it's even remained dark and gray like it did back then.

Tomoya, however, doesn't call out Nagisa's name, and she begins to walk away. When he eventually runs up and hugs her, however, she says that she was afraid he didn't want to have met her at all. With this, we can conclude that whatever was going on in that scene, Nagisa knew of everything that was going to happen/happened to them, and was probably feeling rather disappointed when Tomoya wasn't calling out for her. Which means that, as I mentioned in the Part I review, Nagisa admits that without Tomoya she wouldn't have been able to move on with her life; she would never had gone up that hill and gotten as strong as she did. Does leave the question of what would have happened should Tomoya have not chased her and hugged her? Knowing Nagisa, she probably would have accepted Tomoya's decision and maybe tried to move on. Still, I have a feeling that deep down, she would have been bothered by it, and probably would have always felt there was a part of her missing....to sentimental there? It's all a moot point however as Tomoya does decide to go with her, to stay with her forever.

Fast forward to the birth of Ushio. This time...Nagisa survives! Thanks to the Light Orbs and the happiness and all that stuff that goes with it, Tomoya gets his wish for Nagisa to survive. With this we go into the ending montage of the series, but I won't be showing the video of that. I want to save that for the last review I do. Instead, I got the speech Nagisa makes during it, a speech that nicely sums up both her own views and the theme of the series as a whole. Note the episodes I watched for this review were fansubs, so it might have slightly different wording than the official ones. Same content though:

Nagisa:"If perhaps this town has the same will as that of the people's hearts, and if we should bring happiness to those who live in this town, if such feelings should exist, then perhaps the town brought about this miracle. But that wouldn't be a miracle, would it? The people who love this town live here, and the town that loves them will love them. That should be the case, no matter where it may be. We love the town, bringing it up."
Tomoya: "So the town is a big family?"
Nagisa: "Yes, the Dango Daikazoku."

Summary: Well, here it is, the end of the road for Nagisa's journey in Clannad. We started the series off with a shy, weak, crybaby of sorts girl that happens to love and care for just about everyone. In the end, we have a strong, confident, yet still retaining that love and care for everyone. She is more interested in the happiness of others, willing to put aside her own wants and needs for others, even if it hurts her to do so. Nagisa helps the cynical Tomoya and eventually bring him around to her "Dango Daikazoku" philosophy (I believe it's safe to call it that by now XD), that everyone is a big family, and that when the town is happy, everyone is happy. Therefore, we should encourage the town, to help bring it up and the happiness of the people within it. If this isn't an idealistic, optimistic view of humanity, I don't know what is.

Now, like I said, I do have some minor complaints with the character. She blames everything on herself, is quick to feel guilty about anything, and is easily discouraged at times when she shouldn't. The thing is, she develops and overcomes this with the help of her family, friends, and Tomoya. That complete lack of confidence she had in the beginning is completely gone by the time she becomes pregnant and determined to have the baby no matter what happens to her. Say what you want about her, but there is one thing you have to admit about Nagisa; she's a genuinely good person. As a role model, I think she makes a good one for everyone.

Of course, I probably have to ask this question; was Nagisa a good choice to be the main heroine of the series over the other girls? For the theme of the series, I think she was. The others of course had their stories related to the theme, but Nagisa really lives the theme. Sure, Tomoya takes the action in helping the other girls, but Nagisa takes the role of supporter, spurring Tomoya on as he does so. Of course, she was built to be the main character so that might explain the perfect fit theme wise ^_^". But between here theme, her personality, and her own family providing the standard really for the series (all the others have one problem or another with their families and such that have to be dealt with; Nagisa's is just crazy XD), it works.

Question number two of course; should Nagisa and Tomoya have ended up together. Again, I have to say yes because they compliment each other; Nagisa provides the unconditional love and support Tomoya needs, and Tomoya provides the confidence and strength Nagisa needs. Add in Tomoya's unstable family life, and Nagisa's family is the perfect one to be drawn to; it's a warm, loving family. Not to say the other girls are bad; it's just Nagisa works the best. Again, built to be that way though ^_^". Also, if they hadn't gotten together there would have been no Ushio, and that's just not right XD.

And so it is time to end this review of Nagisa. Next week we'll take the flip side of this route as we explore Tomoya. Now to end things up with a warm, loving family moment:

Nagisa's Personal Dango Daikazoku
Dango, Dango, Dango, Dango, Dango, Daikazoku....