Tomoyo After: It's a Wonderful Life

Ok I was originally going to review 2 to 3 VN at a time but this one upset me so much I had to make a blog. I need a place to vent my anger

So Tomoyo After is sort of sequel to Clannad, except instead of going out with Nagisa, he instead ends up with Tomoyo. I actually haven't heard much about the VN, except that people said it was sad, so not too much background knowledge going into this.

So if you don't know the plot already. It's about life after Okazaki graduates and gets a real job. However, in this VN, he gets a job as a recycler/fixer for appliances and such. Not working on electric lines like in Clannad: After Story.

My first gripe with this was the title screen:

Why is it so... blank?

You have the tiny title in the corner, and the menus tiny at the bottom.
And it's not like the background art has any form. Its basically a silhouette of the sky with clouds or trees or some shit.
It's basically all empty space in the middle and absolutely makes no sense
Maybe some people like it but personally its worst I've seen.
I was hoping maybe after you beat the game it would change, but nope.

Anyways, so onto the story. It revolves around Tomoya (protagonist), Tomoyo (Heroine), Takafumi (brother of Tomoyo), Kanako (Takafumi ex-girlfriend), and finally Tomo.
Tomo is a special character, and is the illegitimate daughter of Tomoyo and Takafumi's father. Due to some circumstances, she ended up living in Okazaki's place because her mother dumped her (Im going to call Tomoyo, Okazaki now to stop confusion between Tomoyo, Tomoya, and Tomo + Show Spoiler +

real clever there Jun Maeda --;;

)
Because Tomoyo's family is now recovering, they couldn't bring Tomo to her real dad and stepmom, for fear of dismantling all the work they have done. (Recall in Clannad, the sacrifices Takafumi and Tomoyo made). So she ends up under Okazki and Tomoyo care. While this is going on, Takafumi's ex-girlfriend (Kanako) back before his accident shows up randomly in Okazaki's house and starts living as well. Finally we got the all the characters and ready to move on to the story.

So basically it splits up into 3 Arcs. Tomo Arc, Takafumi/Kanako Arc, and Epilogue Arc.
And you can only reach the epilogue by successfully completing the other two. The first two arcs are kind of interwoven together, with Takafumi/Kanako arc needing to be finished successfully first in order to proceed to Tomo Arc.

Basically after Tomo shows up, Kanako randomly just waltzes into the story. She just appears, looking in the town one day, and meets Okazaki. She tells him that she is looking for Takafumi and Tomoyo and basically ends up living in the same place. So she's ditching school and spending the summer in Okazaki's place because she wants to see Takafumi... My how this makes PERFECT sense. Anyways, her excuse is that her mom is remarrying and she is unable to accept the stepfather. Unfortunately being an EX girlfriend/boyfriend makes things rough, and Takafumi and Kanako don't get along together well.

Side note, I knew Kanako's voice sounded real familiar. In fact, it sounded just like Saigusa Haruka from Little Busters, and surprise it's the one and the same. The voice actress name is Keiko Suzuki.

So your first objective is to find out the real deal between the two and resolve this situation. So after some ridiculous scenes to persuade Takafumi from telling his past, you find out that Kanako's dad was the Track coach in middle school. He joined the track team in some sort of life shattering revelation. He finds meaning in life in running and also discovers a girl he likes. And the love was mutual. So he ends up dating Kanako, and for some strange reason, asks her dad for permission to be able to "take" her (what is this marriage???) and proposes that if he wins nationals or something he can or some other bullshit. And the coach just laughs and agrees.
Mind I tell you these guys are in MIDDLE SCHOOL. What is this nonsense. This is the period where you start discovering the attraction of the opposite sex. Not making lifetime commitments.
Anyways so then the tragic accident happens, which is basically the accident that brought together his family, except here in he jumps into traffic. In Clannad, he tried to drown himself or something. Now this is the part that got me really really upset when I realized what was going on.

I first thought the traffic accident caused the death of the Coach/Kanako's Dad. That would explain why Takafumi was so upset about the incident and why he broke up with Kanako. However, later the game explains that the real reason he is so upset about it, was because when the coach found out that he jumped into traffic, THE COACH FUCKING REBUKES HIM AND TELLS HIM TO GROW A PAIR AND REFUSES TO LET HIM GO OUT WITH KANAKO.

What the fuck is this bullshit??!?!?!?!

Does the coach even REALIZE why he did this????
How can he be so retarded and act so out of character from the admirable coach that he was to Takafumi and the others

This just upset me so much I almost stopped playing the game. It just made no sense whatsoever.
So anyways, you end up reconciling the two by making Takafumi run in a marathon and all is well.

Finally it moves onto the next part, Tomo arc.
Up until now, Tomoyo and Tomo took a bit of a backseat in terms of story but now it gets rolling. Okazaki realized from the beginning that Tomo NEEDS to return back to her mother and starts taking action. After some forensic science with Takafumi and Kanako, he finds out the location of Tomo's real mother and meets her with Tomoyo and Kanako. Basically she's in some sort of rehabilitation facility where people who've given up on life lives. Except without the rehab part. So you find out her tragic past and why she is behaving this way + Show Spoiler +

FUCK HER BY THE WAY, EVEN IF SHE HAD BAD PAST HOW CAN YOU JUST DUMP YOUR OWN CHILD

So Okazaki tries to convince her to then let her stay here with her in the facility. She says she can't saying that there is nothing here for her. No school and no future. So basically for some strange reason, Okazaki starts building a school in the facility in hope that something will happen. He works hard and passes out. Kanako however, was the true hero. She made friends with all the people in the village, and changed them. They started to interact with each other and gave reason for their lives (some more bullshit). And then they finish building the house with everyone in the facility working together. Finally when everything is done, Tomo returns to her mom and everything is concluded.
Some other important details include that her mom is apparently terminally ill, so is going to die soon.
?!?!?!?!?
so... what happens after that? Obviously legally speaking she would then go back to her real father so basically the first problem was never solved to begin with. But the game conveniently forgets this little plot hole. And ignores it.
Fine I can ignore it too, maybe she stays at the facility with the manager or something

Ok Tomo was adorable, because she's a cute little kindergarten girl, but honestly she doesn't get to you like Ushio did. Ushio actually did things. Tomo did nothing.
Ushio was the girl who changed the fate of her family through her own sacrifice
Tomo did absolutely nothing

I don't fault the character, but because of that, there isn't that DEEP emotional attachment like Ushio had in Clannad.

+ Show Spoiler +

Look how adorable she is :3

But that is fine, I understand and don't fault them for it. She was fine in my opinion.
The problem for me was with Sakagami Tomoyo

Now, I don't remember the exact details of Tomoyo from Clannad, since the last time I saw the anime was quite a while ago, but I remember the basic feel for the character. She was a really cool independent character, but here in this VN, I don't get that feel at all. Instead we get a 100% devoted, dependent character. Which really seems like a whole different character. Yes, I know in the end she gets stronger and independent, but she was not completely DEPENDENT in Clannad. If anything she became really strong through Tomoyo and fought through her insecurities. Why did this change all of a sudden?

First, she couldn't bring herself to let Tomo go back to her mother. She does everything in her power to stop this from happening, without turning into a villain. She even tries to SEDUCE Okazaki while he is working to build the school. CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS. She tries to fucking SEDUCE OKAZAKI. I understand that she was really upset at her mother and didn't want Tomo to go through all the hardships, but basically they were just excuses. In the end, she just couldn't let Tomo go. But finally she does at the very end and even helps out at building the school so she doesn't turn into a villain. She even properly says goodbye at the end to Tomo.
Again, I suppose this was suppose to be character development and that Tomoyo is suppose to change and become stronger, but ughhhhhh.... It felt really really out of character.
Hell, it made Nagisa look like a superhero.
And Tomoyo is basically super human. WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY.....

But I'm not done with this yet.
At this point I thought the VN was over and Tomoyo and Tomoya lives happily ever after.

NOPE

Jun Maeda decides to troll and throw a curve ball so loopy that it makes the Corkscrewroller coaster look flat as a cardboard.

Apparently now it's Tomoyo After After Arc and the scene starts up with Okazaki in a hospital.
He somehow has amnesia and believes he is entering high school. And he lost all his memories until that point. Basically he has no memories of his high school life and beyond.

WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY.... WHY

This just makes no sense whatsoever. There is no flow to the story. It doesn't make sense for this to happen. There is no reason at all. Apparently the injury when he fell unconscious back in the Tomo Village caused this amnesia to happen? Way after the injury was already patched up and stitched?

So anyways, Tomoyo tries to get Okazaki to remember his memory and show him around the school and stuff for a week. Then she finally reveals the truth to Okazaki. After a week, Okazaki will forget everything that happen that week and will return back to state when he wakes up from the hospital. And that she has been doing this for 3 years. THREE FUCKING YEARS

At this point I lost it. It was just so ridiculous that I couldn't take it. It's kinda like Cross Channel, but that was a supernatural event. This.... is some freak medical anomaly that doesn't make any sense at all
NOR WAS IT NECESSARY OR MADE ANY SENSE TO THE OVERALL STORY

It ends with Tomoyo telling Okazaki about how she waited forever for him to gain his memory back trying over and over again. But there is a surgery that will bring back his memory, but it carries a high risk of death. She couldn't take it so she never told the previous Okazakis, but finally she finds the courage to do so because this Okazaki told her that he loves her. So Okazaki #167 proposes marriage to her and takes the surgery and dies.

I'm not kidding, he just dies.

Ok so I know this was suppose to be this heart-wrenching moment, how Tomoyo tried so hard to bring back his memory, but always ends up failing. Then finally she brings up the courage to bring up the surgery and it fails, but it didn't end up that way. The story is just too ridiculous that I couldn't even remotely take it seriously at all.
The story is kinda akin to Homura from Madoka, except it flopped. Madoka did it right, Tomoyo did it wrong

And so she ends up concluding and becomes stronger and overcomes this sadness recalling how Tomo was able to face her courage??!$#@#!?
SHE WAS FIVE YEARS OLD
HOW THE FUCK WOULD SHE KNOW WHAT SHE WAS GOING INTO
Anyways basically some more bullshit into ending

I was so disappointed with this VN I was really really upset
It just kept pulling out shit after shit after bullshit

Now you may say I'm comparing it to Clannad too much, but it's the game's fault
Not only is it actually directly related, but they make way too many references

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How is not a direct copy of Ushio running :l

Also, I know this was rated 18+ but the opening scenes were basically Nukige with no plot
It had some really intense stuff that I was really put off at the beginning.
I just didn't expect it from a Key novel.
And another gripe would be how perverted Okazaki is.
He was never portrayed this way in Clannad and Clannad After Story
Hell he couldn't even hold hands with Nagisa in the beginning
WHY DID HE TURN SO LEWD
But the main essence of his character was the same so I guess that was fine

I'm really sorry for all the profanity but it just came out that way
Have a nice day

Tomoyo After: It's a Wonderful Life

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