The Hands of Clannad
Originally published January 2016
Commentary
The Hands of Clannad is once again me ripping off Kogonada. I owe a lot to the guy. However, I do think that Clannad and Clannad: After Story, despite the really limited arguments, still does do something interesting about it.
I think, in hindsight, I’d rather focus on the game aspect of its storytelling. I’m a big sucker for texts that try and seriously engage with the conditions of another media, so Clannad works really as an example how it can be done, both in terms of its overall narrative and in terms of its structure. It is appropriate, I think, that this is known as a melodramatic, crying anime, given that its one of the titans of nakige, or crying game.
Stray Notes
This was one of the most difficult subjects, since Clannad is one of my favourite shows of all time
I was gonna discuss time and space (since it likes to make references to Urashima Taro and The Dandelion Girl), but I decided to do something a little simpler
And I say this as I am having second thoughts on the clarity of the video :c
If you're curious, I have some mixed thoughts on Clannad's ending
I may elucidate on it further, but in short, I get what Maeda was trying to do, and I respect for him it, but I'm not the biggest fan of it
I didn't use Small Palms because copyright. Trust me, I would've loved to
A polymorphic code is when something not only means something, but can also parallel, push a plot or narrative, or act as a secondary literary device
Texts
You may find James Monaco's "How to Read a Film" - a book I believe is absolutely essential to basic film theory (next to Leo Braudy's Film Theory and Criticism) - to be helpful. Monaco's use of the code is a great starter - Bordwell, David, "Three Dimensions of Film Narrative", http://www.davidbordwell.net/books/poetics_03narrative.pdf
I couldn't find anything concrete that challenged or bolstered my argument, but Maeda did apparently make an interesting comment on how fixated he was on showing Fuuko's character through her hands: https://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=55248&page=5
Video
Based Video Essay God Kogonada strikes again: https://vimeo.com/98484833
Clannad
Clannad: After Story
Audio
Roaring Tides, Clannad OST
Heartbreaking by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100208 Artist: http://incompetech.com/