クラナド アフターストーリー Episode 19
Clannad After Story 19

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Tomoya and Ushio return to the Furukawa residence and are greeted by Sanae-san, who is laying out baked goods in the store. Tomoya heads up to Nagisa’s old room, which Sanae-san has kept the same all these years. He profoundly thanks Sanae-san for everything she’s done and informs her that he will take over the responsibility of raising Ushio from here on. Sanae-san notes that Nagisa was five when they changed professions in order to care for Nagisa. With that, Ushio enters and tells her papa that Akki wants to play baseball. So it is off to a nearby park where Ushio and Sanae-san watch Tomoya smack Akio-san’s first pitch through a window across the way.

That night, Tomoya wakes up to overhear a conversation between Akio-san and Sanae-san on the new change in their lives now that Tomoya will be taking care of Ushio. Akio-san tells his wife that it is OK for her to cry now. The following morning, Tomoya and Ushio take off for Ushio’s school (kindergarten). After Tomoya drops her off, he goes to work where he tells Yoshino of his change in life by now raising Ushio. When Ushio’s school day is concluded, Tomoya is there to meet her and take her home. He instructs her to not answer the door for strangers and to call Sanae-san if she needs something. Ushio agrees and Tomoya returns to work. That evening, he comes home with the Dango plushies, toys, and Ushio’s clothing.

Sometime later, Ushio and Tomoya are returning home from some shopping when Kouko calls to them from a park. They join her and he introduces Ushio to her. Tomoya tells Kouko that Yoshino had informed him that Kouko’s younger sister was released from the hospital. Kouko confirms it and calls her over. Fuuko-chan comes over and reacts negatively to having Tomoya’s hand on her head. Tomoya can’t help but keep placing his hand there and having it slapped away. After being introduced to Ushio, Fuuko-chan is taken with how cute Ushio is and asks for permission to hug the little girl. Not waiting for a response, she hugs Ushio and goes into spaced-out happiness. She wants to make Ushio her little sister but that’s not going to happen.

That night, Tomoya watches his daughter fall asleep, a happy expression on her face as she hugs one of the Dango plushies, which Sanae-san says smell of Nagisa. The following day, Ushio and Tomoya pay a visit to Tomoya’s father, Naoyuki. There, Tomoya makes amends with his father and tells him that he met Naoyuki’s mother. He passes along the message that Naoyuki can return home and live with Shino. The weary Naoyuki seems to understand that his efforts to raise Tomoya to be a responsible person have finally ended. That night, Tomoya cleans up his father and his father’s place. The following day, he sees Naoyuki off, promising to take care of the home. Ushio notices one of the small light globes enter her father and tries to tell him about it. He misunderstands, thinking Ushio is complaining about the bright sunlight and moves her into the shade.

Thoughts/Review:

What a great episode — absolutely wonderful.

Let me start with Fuuko-chan because I’d forgotten her (again) but she was a character I’d long hoped would return somehow, someway to this series. That came true today. When I saw Kouko, I thought, “I hope she mentions her sister but I doubt that happens.” So when she not only mentioned Fuuko, but Fuuko was playing nearby, I almost let out a squeal of delight. It was a beautiful ray of sunshine and the only really humorous moment in the whole episode. I liked how Tomoya subconsciously messed with Fuuko-chan as he did back during her story in Clannad. I loved that we had Fuuko-chan be Fuuko-chan, right down to her hugging Ushio-chan and going into a blissful, spaced-out moment. Really good stuff and I hope we see more of her before the series ends.

OK, now to the nitty-gritty. We were given the explanation as to why Sanae-san had told Ushio not to cry, or rather I interpreted it as the explanation. While Tomoya had selfishly dumped Ushio on Sanae-san and Akio-san to raise while he wallowed in self-pity over the loss of his wife, Sanae-san and Akio-san were not able to grieve over the loss of their daughter thanks to the added responsibility of raising Ushio. When Tomoya overheard their conversation in which Akio-san tells Sanae-san it is OK to cry now, everything made sense. Sanae-san had been keeping everything in for five years, throwing herself both into raising Ushio and into the bakery. Now that’s over and she can finally grieve over Nagisa’s departure.

I like how Tomoya is throwing himself into the role of father and trying to play catch up. He knows he’s been a scum but that’s in the past and the only thing that matters is the here and now. I liked how he retrieved Nagisa’s Dango Family plushies. The look on Ushio’s face as she slept with one was so priceless. The only thing that bothered me is that Tomoya took Ushio home on their first day together, but then left her alone to return to work. Sorry, five years old is too young to be left alone in my opinion. I could just imagine something terrible happening to Ushio while Tomoya was at work.

Tomoya’s reconciling things with his father was a touching moment. His father has been so out of it for so many years. I’m not sure what Naoyuki living with his elderly mother will accomplish, but nevertheless it is done. I do hope there is a followup on this element of the story before the series ends. I’m curious as to why that mystery light entered Tomoya though. Does that mean that Tomoya’s wish for his father to spend the rest of his days in peace and happiness will now come true?

Since next episode is all about Ushio, if we meet her teacher, what do you want to bet that it is Kyou? No takers, eh? ^_~ Yeah, the hints are just too obvious to be anyone else.

I do look forward to seeing more of Tomoya and Ushio’s life together. However, it seems to me that we are still in for at least one more major tragedy to be resolved, otherwise it wouldn’t be a Key anime would it? ^_^;