CLANNAD ~AFTER STORY~, Episode 7

After the fantastical tale with Misae and Katsuki, Nagisa and Tomoya are spending some time with Yukine. However, they will realize that the delinquents that are hanging around her have much more than what meet one’s eye.

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In the illusionary world, the boy is once again contemplating some light orbs. As winter is coming closer, the girl is sleeping more and more. Concerned about the clouds covering the world progressively, he believes it is time for them to move.
The girl wakes up and thanks him for being always by her side.
Learning what the boy has in mind, the girl is however not confident as winter is close and she would be unable to move if it gets any colder. She wonders if he still wants them to move though they might not be able to come back any more. The boy insists and jumps, showing that there are people in a warm place having fun “over there”.

The first “half” of the Illusionary world has finally been reached. From there, it will be interesting how they will animate the journey of the Boy and the Girl in the Illusionary world.
And of course: MOE *****… Gah, it is hard not to mention her name but heh XD

Nagisa, Tomoya and Youhei are having some good time at the reference room, while Yukine is surprisingly cooking some pilaf. Youhei is praising her again, shamelessly courtering her with his “feelings”. Yet as expected, even if she is glad, she believes there is someone else that would fit better Youhei than herself.
Youhei can’t do anything but crumble in despair due to this instant reply, pretty much how Nagisa did.

As expected, they didn’t miss Yukine’s pilaf cooking. It really payed off that they built these scenes over time so seeing the trio hanging around would be natural.
And yet, poor Youhei getting rejected instantly in that “soft” fashion… Even “too good girls” are still out of his reach.

Suddenly, a beaten up guy barely gets in the room through the window. Yukine quickly checks him, calling him Sudou. He was involved in a fight with some of his pals against an opposing gang, but because of his mistake, they were lost big time and he doesn’t feel able to face them anymore.
From now on, he will wander alone, though he couldn’t help and wanted to see Yukine a last time. Tomoya and Youhei are baffled by such kind of situation in the reference room, while Nagisa panicks, wondering if they should get the nurse.
However, Yukine gently takes Sudou’s hands and assures him his friends would be upset if he leaves, her included. Then, she teaches him a spell, and it is successful.

I can’t remember if the “delinquent” was named Sudou in the game, but it doesn’t matter as it is way easier to refer to him with that.
The scene was a bit simple, yet it depicts well how a bit “cliché” a “man” can be… you know, the kind of guy swearing about street honor and such kind of stuff.

Sudou is having a bite to Yukine’s pilaf as well, and explains Yukine is like an older sister to him and his gang. They were always indulging themselves with her kindness. Suddenly, another punk barges in, most likely one of the opposing gang.
Ready for a brawl, he is however reluctant to give Yukine any problems. Sudou apologizes to Yukine and would like to get out of there for the fight, which the other punk agrees instantly. Before Leaving through the window, Sudou asks Yukine to keep taking care of “idiots” like him.

On their way home, Yukine explains her brother is the leader of the gang Sudou is in. His gang is actually struggling against another gang, the one that other punk is in. And ever since Yukine’s brother became the leader, the gang was quite a threat for the opposing party.
Surprised by such feats, Nagisa asks her if he is that amazing, and Yukine explains he isn’t the type for ambushes nor for showing his face to their rivals.

Suddenly, Yukine is attacked by a random guy, but they realize that it is only a kid, barely able to match Yukine’s height.
He is ordering her to “give her back his older sister” though obviously no one gets what’s going on. Nevertheless, Yukine handles the matter smoothly by picking him up into a forced piggyback ride. As she lets him down to a bench, she is then trying to have a proper talk with him.

Ahh, it really couldn’t imagine Yuu that well, but it seems they managed to have a sobre and simple design for him, not as specific as Katsuki.
The highlight here is how Yukine was taking Yuu for a piggyback ride: it really looked like she was a big sister here and it was smooth ^^

Bewildered but still cautious, the kid stays on guard, claiming he knows she is the boss of some delinquents. Youhei intervenes but weirdly enough, the boy believes Youhei is Yukine’s brother, Kazuto, as he heard a rumor of him being blond.
As expected, Youhei confirms his thought, to much Nagisa and Yukine’s concern. Still, as both boys are showing enmity to each other, Yukine suggests they should go someone for a proper talk.

They simply went to Youhei’s room. Yukine is able to smooth things up with proper introduction and question about the boy, Yuu.
Yuu finally explains his situation: his sister left their home and joined Yukine’s “gang”, hearing details from some older friends of his. Curious about that, Youhei asks him how old she is, and Yuu says she is 21, and that she calls them before, saying she won’t come home for a while, renting an appartment for the time being.
Baffled by such simple situation, Youhei tells Yuu that his sister didn’t leave their home but basically gained independence, so no need to worry. Yuu argues the fact that they are thugs, but Yukine assures him that despite their tendency for fights, her friends aren’t like what he thinks.
Tomoya asks him if they look malicious, and the boy just believes so about Tomoya, though Nagisa is obviously kind looking.

Youhei then tells you, in a serious way that Yuu will have to grow up and gain independence by meeting more people and going to other locations, by using a metaphor of a flower spore. Even if they are apart, their bound would sitll remain, and that is family.
Yuu is quite impressed by such speech, while Tomoya can’t compute the fact Youhei was lecturing seriously about that. Nagisa just sees it as a natural reaction due to Mei’s visit, as he surely thought about it many times.
Yukine is still concerned where Yuu’s sister is, so she will ask to her friends about that. Yuu is fine with this and politely counts on her.

Great, they like continuity, so do I!
Yes, Youhei “didn’t change much” after Mei’s visit, but it actually make his serious side emerging more often in a good way. It is actually nice to see how he sees deep down about his family, and you can see how he doesn’t want to be a burden for Mei and vice versa.

Tomoya is quite perplexed to see Yuu with Youhei at school, the former wearing a loose uniform from the later. Youhei pretends Yuu will see how a real man is if he keep a close attention to him, and obviously, Yuu is anticipating that.
The three of them are idly spending their time in the reference room, and the bell’s ringing. Yuu mentions it, but Youhei pays no heed to that, justifying that if he does what he has to do, skipping classes is fine. Yuu wonders about it, but Tomoya confirms Youhei doesn’t have anything to do. Youhei argues it is the same for Tomoya, but the later has been taking classes seriously these days, and he was just tagging along with them. Yuu wonders if both are just drop out, but Tomoya says nonchalantly that only Youhei is in such kind of situation.

Then, they hear someone is coming and they quickly hide themselves. The teacher checks the reference room and sees Youhei’s butt, who had the “great” idea to hide himself under the table. She kicks him, “disclosing” him from his hiding spot.
Youhei plays dumb and pretends he was playing hide and seek hence why he lost track of the time. This mention makes the teacher wondering if there are more people and Youhei shamelessly calls out Tomoya.

Kotomi’s homeroom teacher heh? Certainly it would have been more logical to be another teacher than Inui (which would probably be already starting his lesson at the guys’ class) and Komura (who isn’t really the “lecture” type of teacher).

Nagisa joined them and Tomoya told her about the situation. Youhei complains it wasn’t fair if he was the only one being dragged to the staff room. Yuu is then wondering if it is really how men are, and Tomoya tells him that learning from bad example is the best way, obviously “flattering” Youhei.
Meanwhile, Yukine got the answer from her friends and they know where Yuu’s sister is. The group is heading to the usual restaurant Yukine’s friends are usually going. Youhei is not really thrilled by that and doesn’t wish to get involved in more fights, but Tomoya insists that he should, as “kazuto”, while Yuu is counting on him, which doesn’t relieve him one bit.
In the meantime, someone was observing them.

Siblings effect strengthened to the point that Yuu casually call yukine with “onee-chan”. Well, she does have that kind of aura, as effective as Nagisa’s I believe.
Meanwhile, it seems that Youhei manages to figure the troubles he is getting with his lies over time, but it is still far too late anyway

As they arrive, Youhei is cowering in fear, only figuring now that Yukine’s friends will expose his lies but Tomoya forces him to face his own responsibility. The group is entering in the club and Yukine is warmy welcomed by her friends, while Yuu finally meets his sister.
Nagisa notices how Sudou is with them without any trouble, and Tomoya is surprised to see Yukine that popular. The guy who barged in the reference room before explains them that it is because Yukine is helping them, despite she has no tie with them or the opposing gang.
He excuses himself from not greeting them properly before, but then notices “something” behind Tomoya’s back. Youhei is trying to hide himself, but Yuu blows his cover, calling him Kazuto.
Of course, this mere mention sparks quite an instant reaction from the gang and Youhei is quickly grabbed by the collar.

Yuu finally gets the truth, though Youhei still claims it was just an act as he is a member of the drama club. Naturally, this isn’t a valid excuse and some guys are pissed off by his careless usurpation of their leader’s name. Yuu’s sister eases the tension, mentioning how he helped Yuu, so they should forgive him.

Hoho… Yuu’s sister is HAWT! XD
She somehow reminds me of a mix of Haruko (Air) and Mio (ExE). I was expecting Youhei trying to hit on her, but I assume he was already too “busy” ^^”

As the antics are going on, Yukine tells to Nagisa and Tomoya that she heard the family situation of Yuu and her sister, and it wasn’t anything bright: Their relationship with their parents isn’t going well, and Yuu’s sister had a big argument with their mother and left the house.
Yukine explains that many people that gathered in this place have problems with their parents as they have nowhere to go bac to. Yukine even mentions her brother is in the same situation, not getting along with their parents.
Tomoya mentions that one of his acquaintances had the same trouble, but as long as “family” exists, people wouldn’t lose themselves. Yukine wonders how this person is doing now, and Tomoya believes she is fine and getting along with her family now.

Fuhahahahahaha. Pimp Tomoya!
Certainly this guy has been quite popular these days heh. Meanwhile, I’m amused how Nagisa is taking it easy as shown when Tomoya was trying to clear the misunderstanding in panic. She certainly reverted to her normal expression. If it was the “previous” Nagisa, she would have sulk in silence, heh.
Speaking of evolution, she is bold enough to sing in front of people. Sure she is a drama play addict, yet it is a complete different type of show and her blushing shows how she is still a bit embarassed. That certainly shows her progress as she would obviously be stunned and declining the karaoke offer if she was like 6 months ago.

On another note, it was nice to use Tomoyo’s backstory, as she is probably the second best “match” for Yukine’s issue. That is again some continuity and proper way to entwin the characters that are alike, even if indirectly.

After some activities, Yukine serve Nagisa and Tomoya some of her pilaf. Nagisa wonders if her brother will show up, and Sudou explains that he is currently hospitalized as he was caught in a traffic accident. The later hired a manager for this place though his gang is currently taking care of it, while Yukine helps them at the kitchen times to times.Nagisa thinks Kazuto is amazing, and Sudou confirms that it is thanks to him that people could be living without losing themselves.
Tomoya is curious and would like to see a picture of him to have an idea how he looks like. However, Yukine doesn’t have any, though she tells him that her brother is very similar to her.

At night, Nagisa, Yukine, Tomoya and Youhei are going home. They are suddenly intercepted by bunch of punks that are looking for “Kazuto”. Of course, one of them was actually the guy who tailed them in the afternoon, believing that Youhei is the gang leader. Yukine tries to intervene, but even if they don’t wish to harm her, they won’t stop. Tomoya order everyone to run away and the punks are pursuing them.
They are however ambushed and got lightning fast ass kicked by… Tomoyo, who was on patrol due to recent violence troubles.

We didn’t see Tomoyo often, and this is actually a good timing to do so. As much as it was natural to see the Fujibayashi Twins with Kotomi in various occasions (shopping, festival), it was also natural to bump on Tomoyo who was patrolling. Remember episode 1 in season1? She was the “legendary girl who beat up the delinquents around”, and having more duty is obviously giving her more reason to prowl around.

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Preview

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Overal Thoughts:

As you probably read many times, this arc was actually a true surprise as Kyoto Animation scripters have changed a LOT of things.
I’m actually grateful to that, not because it was bad (actually it is one of my favorite routes of the school period, along with Nagisa’s and the subonhara’s siblings’), but because Yukine’s route would be unpracticable for the anime media: not only it has a strong romance influence in there, but the fact the original game route used the reference room most of the time would be extremely jarring for the anime storytelling method.
The additional details about the delinquents etc give more cohesion and depth so, it is actually much easier to grasps the situation.

Of course, these changes aren’t only positive, as the mood for Yukine is dampened a bit, though I think it is fair with her several scenes in S1 and S2 that already gave enough broad aspect of her “dreamy/peaceful” demeanor and aura.

Well, considering the pace and the preview, it will most likely end next week (at best, the episode after that one), and I believe they will be able to wrap it well enough with the same conclusion/message.