Clannad is a Japanese visual novel created by Key and released on April 28, 2004, for Windows computers. Unlike Key’s earlier games, Kanon and Air, which were first released for adult audiences and later censored for younger players, Clannad was designed for all ages. The game was later made available on several consoles, including PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch. An English version for Windows was released on Steam by Sekai Project in 2015.

The story follows Tomoya Okazaki, a high school student, as he grows from adolescence to adulthood. During his final year of school, he meets five girls, each facing personal challenges that he helps resolve. The game’s story changes based on the player’s choices, creating different outcomes. At the time of its release, Clannad became the best-selling PC game in Japan and remained in Japan’s top 50 best-selling games multiple times. In 2005, Key released a spin-off titled Tomoyo After: It’s a Wonderful Life, which expanded on the story of one of Clannad’s main characters, Tomoyo Sakagami.

Clannad has been adapted into many other forms of media. Four manga versions were published by ASCII Media Works, Flex Comix, Fujimi Shobo, and Jive. Comic anthologies, light novels, art books, audio dramas, and music albums have also been released. An animated film by Toei Animation was released in September 2007, followed by two anime television series. These series included two original video animation (OVA) episodes produced by Kyoto Animation between 2007 and 2009. Both anime series and their OVAs were licensed by Sentai Filmworks and released in North America in 2009. The animated versions of Clannad have sold well in Japan and received praise from critics worldwide.

Gameplay

Clannad is a drama and romance visual novel where the player plays as Tomoya Okazaki. Most of the game involves reading the story and dialogue. The game has a story with different paths and endings. There are six main storylines the player can experience, with five available at the start. During the game, the player makes choices in conversations that affect how the story progresses.

At the beginning, the player can explore scenarios for all five heroines and smaller stories in a part of the game called the School Life story arc. After completing a character's scenario, the player gets a light orb. When eight light orbs are collected, the second part of the story, called After Story, becomes available. One light orb disappears during School Life but returns in After Story. To see the true ending of Clannad, the player must collect all 13 light orbs. At first, the light orbs were meant to be items players could use, but this made the game too complicated. To help the story be easier to follow, the developers changed how the orbs worked.

Story

The first part of the story happens mostly at Hikarizaka Private High School, a made-up school in Japan. Other important places include a bakery owned by Nagisa’s parents and a dormitory where Youhei Sunohara lives. The story also shows scenes from an Illusionary World, a place with no life except for a young girl. Later, she makes a body from broken items so the player can interact with her. The second part of the story takes place in the same city, after the first part ends.

The story has repeated themes, with the most important one being the importance of family. The title Clannad comes from a mistake by the writer, Jun Maeda, who thought the name of an Irish band meant “clan” or “family” in Irish, but it actually means “clann.” Among the six main characters, Tomoya, Nagisa, and Kotomi do not have siblings, but their parents play big roles in their stories. Nagisa’s story focuses on what Maeda called a “perfect family” and includes a fictional group called “The Big Dango Family,” which Nagisa likes. Tomoya and Nagisa’s stories show how they grow into adults. Fuko and Kyou’s stories involve their sisters, and Tomoyo’s story is influenced by her whole family. The story also includes Irish words, like the game’s opening theme, “Mag Mell,” which means “plain of joy” in Irish mythology. A music CD called Mabinogi, which includes remixed songs from the game, was named after old Welsh stories.

The player controls Tomoya Okazaki, the main character of Clannad. Tomoya is labeled a delinquent and dislikes the city where the story takes place. He speaks honestly, even if it sounds rude, but he is loyal to his friends and helps them when needed.

Tomoya meets Nagisa Furukawa, the main heroine, early in the story. Nagisa is shy and lonely, and she has an illness that makes her rely on others. She is bullied at school and often mutters the names of foods she wants to eat, like anpan, to motivate herself. Another heroine, Kyou Fujibayashi, is known for being aggressive and good at cooking. She carries a dictionary and sometimes throws it when angry, but she is kind to her younger twin sister, Ryou.

Tomoya meets Kotomi Ichinose, a genius girl, in the school library. She is one of the top students in the country and reads books in foreign languages. Kotomi is quiet and finds it hard to talk to others, sometimes ignoring people even when they are loud. Another heroine, Tomoyo Sakagami, is a second-year student who transfers to Tomoya’s school. She is athletic and prefers kicking over punching. She does not respect Tomoya for being older. Tomoyo is also the main character in another game called Tomoyo After: It’s a Wonderful Life.

The last heroine, Fuko Ibuki, is a first-year student who is hyperactive and loves starfish. Before meeting Tomoya, she made starfish carvings to give as gifts. Fuko becomes very excited about star-shaped things and sometimes loses awareness of her surroundings.

The story follows Tomoya Okazaki, a third-year high school student who dislikes his life. His mother, Atsuko, died when he was young, and his father, Naoyuki, raised him alone. After an accident, Naoyuki turned to alcohol and gambling and fought with Tomoya. One day, Naoyuki hurt Tomoya’s shoulder, which stopped him from playing basketball and made him isolate himself. Later, Naoyuki treated Tomoya coldly, making Tomoya stay out all night. His friend Youhei Sunohara, who was also a delinquent, often spent time with him.

The story begins on April 14, 2003, when Tomoya meets Nagisa, a girl who is one year older and repeating her senior year due to illness. Nagisa wants to join the drama club but finds it disbanded. Tomoya helps her restart the club and meets other girls who need his help.

In the second part of the story, which happens seven years later, Tomoya and Nagisa live together and marry. They face challenges, especially with Nagisa’s illness. After Nagisa gives birth to their daughter, Ushio, she dies, making Tomoya very sad. Nagisa’s parents take care of Ushio. Later, Tomoya learns about his father’s past from his grandmother, Shino, and decides to raise Ushio. Ushio later gets the same illness as Nagisa, and Tomoya, along with Nagisa’s parents, tries to save her but fails. In the end, Tomoya takes Ushio on a trip, but she dies.

Tomoya’s thoughts are shown in dreams of the Illusionary World, where floating lights appear. At first, he sees a lifeless world with only one girl. Over time, he learns the girl can make things from junk, including a body for him. Eventually, Tomoya understands more about this world.

Development

The executive producer for Clannad was Takahiro Baba from Visual Arts, the company that controls Key. Jun Maeda and Yūichi Suzumoto were two of the main story writers, along with Kai, and they planned Clannad and wrote most of the story. Tōya Okano helped with writing the story. Itaru Hinoue was in charge of the art design and also created the characters. Miracle Mikipon, Mochisuke, Na-Ga, and Shinory helped with computer graphics. Torino provided the background art. The music for the game was composed by Maeda, Shinji Orito, and Magome Togoshi.

For Key's second visual novel, Air, Maeda said he felt free to write the story as he wanted, but later found that players had a hard time understanding and enjoying it. Because of this, Maeda felt he had a responsibility to make Clannad easier for players to enjoy. He wanted to create a fun game and started planning Clannad right after finishing Air. From the beginning, Maeda did not want to write a story like Air, but instead focused on showing a deep connection between people and the town, and between people and humanity. Maeda said he found writing most of the scenarios in Clannad very challenging and described the process as a "wall that I will never be able to get over again." At first, Maeda felt prepared, but the story grew much longer than he expected. Suzumoto said the story was about twice as long as originally planned because the main story's structure became more complex, which also made the side stories longer.

There were worries that Clannad might be too similar to Air. When writing Nagisa's story, some people argued about how long her story should be, fearing it might focus too much on her. Others worried that having one main character with a unique story, like Misuzu Kamio in Air, might repeat that structure. Takahiro Baba, the president of VisualArt's, suggested making the other characters' stories more similar, but Maeda ignored this idea. He believed players would still enjoy the game even if the stories were different. Maeda was also worried that the After Story arc, which continues Nagisa's story, might overshadow the rest of the game, as happened with Air. To avoid this, Maeda made the first half of the story, the School Life arc, long and emotional to keep players interested. Clannad is Key's second longest work, as reported by Yūto Tonokawa, who said it is about 4,000 words shorter than Key's 2008 game Little Busters! Ecstasy.

Key announced that Clannad would be released in 2002, but the release was delayed several times. The limited-edition version came out on April 28, 2004, for Windows PCs as a DVD. It included a special music album with remixes of the game's background music. The regular version was released on August 6, 2004. Clannad originally had no voice acting, but a version called Clannad Full Voice was released on February 29, 2008, for Windows with full voice acting (except for Tomoya). This version added one new image and supported Windows Vista. Clannad Full Voice was later re-released in 2009 as part of a box set called Key 10th Memorial Box, which included five other Key games. An updated version for Windows 7, called Clannad Memorial Edition, was released on May 28, 2010.

Clannad was released on Steam for Windows in English on November 23, 2015, by Sekai Project. In 2014, Sekai Project used Kickstarter to raise money for the English translation of Clannad. The project reached its goal of $140,000 in less than 24 hours. When the campaign hit $320,000, Sekai Project announced they would also translate and release the Hikari Mimamoru Sakamichi de side stories. The campaign raised $541,161, exceeding all goals. Hikari Mimamoru Sakamichi de was released on Steam on June 2, 2016, as Clannad Side Stories.

The first version of Clannad for a consumer console was released for PlayStation 2 (PS2) on February 23, 2006, by Interchannel. A "Best" version of the PS2 game was released on July 30, 2009, and bundled with PS2 versions of Kanon and Air in a "Key 3-Part Work Premium Box." An Xbox 360 version was released on August 28, 2008, by Prototype. A PlayStation 3 (PS3) version came out on April 21, 2011, also by Prototype. A downloadable version of the PS3 game was released on February 14, 2013, through the PlayStation Store.

A version of Clannad for NTT DoCoMo's FOMA mobile phones was released on November 26, 2007, by Prototype through VisualArt's Motto. A version for SoftBank 3G phones was released on January 16, 2008. An Android version came out on September 18, 2012. A PlayStation Portable (PSP) version was released in Japan on May 29, 2008, by Prototype, including additions from the Clannad Full Voice version. Limited-edition releases of the PSP and Xbox 360 versions included a "digest" edition of the drama CD series. The CD bundled with the PSP version was different from the one with the Xbox 360 version.

Adaptations

A small 39-page book titled pre-Clannad was published by SoftBank Creative on April 15, 2004. It included images from the visual novel, short descriptions of the characters, and production sketches and concept drawings. A larger 160-page fan guide was published by Enterbrain on October 12, 2004. This book included detailed story summaries, computer graphics, sheet music for the opening and ending themes, and interviews with the creators. Near the end of the book, there were original illustrations of Clannad characters by various artists, three extra chapters from Official Another Story, and production sketches.

A set of 14 illustrated short stories that added to the Clannad story was published in issues of Dengeki G's Magazine by ASCII Media Works between September 2004 and October 2005. The stories were titled Official Another Story Clannad: Hikari Mimamoru Sakamichi de and included 13 regular chapters and one bonus chapter. The stories were written by Key's scenario staff and included illustrations by Japanese artist GotoP. When the stories were collected into a 103-page book, two additional stories were included. The book was released on November 25, 2005.

The short story collection Hikari Mimamoru Sakamichi de was later released on SoftBank 3G and FOMA mobile phones by Prototype through VisualArt's Motto starting in January 2008. Chapters were released weekly, with the 3G version three weeks behind the FOMA version. The collection was also made available as downloadable content on Xbox Live for the Clannad Xbox 360 version released on August 28, 2008. Prototype later released the collection on the PSP in two volumes, each containing eight chapters and including original art by GotoP. The first volume was released on June 3, 2010, and the second on July 15, 2010. This re-release was described as a "visual sound novel." The collection was also released as downloadable content for the PS3 version of Clannad on July 6, 2011. Two volumes of the collection were released on Android devices: the first on November 30, 2011, and the second on April 11, 2012. Prototype later ported the collection to the Nintendo Switch on May 20, 2021, with text support in both Japanese and English.

Two Clannad character novels were written by multiple authors and published by Jive in September and December 2004. A short story anthology titled Clannad by Hiro Akizuki and Mutsuki Misaki was published in November 2008 by Harvest. The third volume of this series was released in October 2009. Three volumes of a short story series titled Clannad SSS were published by Harvest between June and August 2009. Harvest also published a novel titled Clannad Mystery File in August 2010 and another titled Clannad: Magic Hour in December 2010.

A manga titled Clannad Official Comic, illustrated by Juri Misaki, was published in Comic Rush magazine by Jive between May 2005 and April 2009. Eight tankōbon volumes were released between November 2005 and March 2009. A second manga titled Official Another Story Clannad: Hikari Mimamoru Sakamichi de, illustrated by Rino Fujii, was published in Comi Digi + magazine by Flex Comix between June 2007 and August 2008. This manga had 11 chapters and was adapted from the short story collection of the same name. A limited and regular edition of the first volume was released by Broccoli on February 21, 2008. The limited edition included a small black notebook with Tomoya's school emblem. An autograph session with the illustrator was held in Nagoya, Japan, on March 2, 2008. The second volume was released on December 20, 2008.

A third Clannad manga, illustrated by Shaa, was published in Dengeki G's Magazine by ASCII Media Works starting in August 2007. The manga was later published in Dengeki G's Festival! Comic between October 2009 and April 2014. Five volumes of the manga were released by ASCII Media Works between February 2008 and July 2014. A fourth manga titled Clannad: Tomoyo Dearest, illustrated by Yukiko Sumiyoshi, was published in Dragon Age Pure magazine by Fujimi Shobo between February and August 2008. This manga focused on Tomoyo's story from the Clannad visual novel. A single volume of Clannad: Tomoyo Dearest was released on October 9, 2008.

Four sets of manga anthologies were created by different companies and artists. The first anthology series, titled Clannad, was published by Ohzora in June 2004 under the Twin Heart Comics imprint. Five volumes were released until April 2005. A second anthology titled Clannad Comic Anthology: Another Symphony was published by Jive in January 2005. A third anthology series, published by Ichijinsha between June and July 2004, included two volumes and a special volume released in December 2007. A fourth anthology series, titled Magi-Cu 4-koma Clannad, was published by Enterbrain between February 2008 and August 2009. Each anthology volume was created by an average of 20 different artists and writers.

Two sets of drama CDs based on the Clannad series were released. The first set, produced by Frontier Works, included five CDs focusing on different female characters: Nagisa, Kotomi, Fuko, Kyou, and Tomoyo. The first volume was released in April 2007 as a limited edition with an extra track. Volumes two through five were released monthly between May and August 2007. The second set, produced by Prototype, included four CDs. The first was released in July 2007, and the remaining volumes were released monthly until October 2007. Each CD was based on stories from Official Another Story Clannad: Hikari Mimamoru Sakamichi de. The artist GotoP, who illustrated the short stories, also designed the drama CD covers. The CDs were available as downloadable content on Xbox Live and the PlayStation Store for

Music

The Clannad visual novel has four types of theme music: one opening theme, two ending themes, and one insert song. The opening theme is called "Mag Mell" and was performed by the group Eufonius. The two ending themes are "-Kage Futatsu-" (meaning "Two Shadows") and "Chiisana Tenohira" (meaning "Small Palms"), both sung by Riya of Eufonius. The song "Chiisana Tenohira" is used as the ending theme in the After Story arc. The insert song "Ana" was sung by Lia. Six characters in the game have specific background music themes: the five heroines and Yukine Miyazawa. Nagisa's theme is the song "Nagisa"; Kyou's theme is "Sore wa Kaze no Yōni" (meaning "That's Like the Wind"); Kotomi's theme is "Étude Pour les Petites Supercordes"; Tomoyo's theme is "Kanojo no Honki" (meaning "Her Determination"); Fuko's theme is "Hurry, Starfish"; and Yukine's theme is "Shiryōshitsu no Ochakai" (meaning "Tea Party in the Reference Room").

An image song album called Sorarado was released in December 2003 and features songs sung by Riya. A remix album titled Mabinogi was included with the original release of Clannad in April 2004. The game's original soundtrack was released in August 2004 and includes three discs with 56 tracks. A follow-up album called Sorarado Append was released in December 2004, also featuring songs by Riya. Another remix album titled -Memento- was released in December 2004 and contains two discs. A piano arrangement album called Piano no Mori was released in December 2005 and includes five tracks from Clannad and five tracks from Tomoyo After: It's a Wonderful Life. All albums for the visual novel version were released under Key's record label, Key Sounds Label.

A special music release by Eufonius was released in July 2007 for the Clannad film and is titled "Mag Mell (frequency⇒e Ver.)". This release includes a remixed version of the game's opening theme, an instrumental version of that remix, and an original track. An image album titled Yakusoku was released in August 2007 and features a song sung by Lia, an instrumental version of that song, and two background music tracks from the film. The film's original soundtrack was released in November 2007. The albums for the film were produced by Frontier Works. A single was released in October 2007 for the first anime series and is titled "Mag Mell / Dango Daikazoku". It includes the anime's opening and ending themes in original, short, and instrumental versions, plus a remixed version of "Shōjo no Gensō" (meaning "The Girl's Fantasy"), a track from Sorarado sung by Riya. A single for the second season of the anime was released in November 2008 and is titled "Toki o Kizamu Uta / Torch". It includes the anime's opening and ending themes sung by Lia. A remix album with piano arrangements of the second anime season's opening and ending themes was released in December 2008 and is titled "Toki o Kizamu Uta / Torch" Piano Arrange Disc. The anime's two singles and one album were released under Key Sounds Label.

Reception

The limited edition Windows version of Clannad was ranked first in sales twice in Japan. After three rankings, the Windows version dropped to 46 out of 50. In the first two weeks of June 2004, the original release was ranked 40 out of 50. The regular edition Windows version of Clannad was ranked 26th. Its next two rankings were 37th and 41st. Sales data from Japanese Amazon showed the original Windows version sold 100,560 copies in 2004. Clannad Full Voice reached sales rankings of 7th and 20th in Japan for February and March 2008. On April 18, 2011, the PlayStation 3 version sold 7,466 units. By April 18, 2011, console versions of Clannad had sold over 113,000 copies, and by 2019, sales reached 122,393 copies. The two-volume PSP edition of Hikari Mimamoru Sakamichi de sold 28,984 copies by the end of 2010. The English Windows version debuted on Steam charts at number 3, above Call of Duty: Black Ops III and Grand Theft Auto V, but below Fallout 4 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

In October 2007, Dengeki G's Magazine listed Clannad as the top bishōjo game with 114 votes, compared to 78 votes for Fate/stay night. The PlayStation 2 version received a score of 26/40 from Famitsu magazine. In 2008, Clannad was ranked No. 2 in Dengeki's poll of the most emotional games. In 2011, it was ranked No. 4 in Famitsu's poll of the most tear-inducing games. In 2014, Sony Computer Entertainment ranked Clannad No. 18 in a poll of the "Most Moving Games Over Books and Movies."

Multiplayer.it scored the Windows version 9.2/10, calling it "one of the best visual novels ever made" and praising its storytelling and characters. RPGFan gave it an 83% score, highlighting its dialogue choices and emotional story arcs but noting limited visuals and some weaker side paths.

Clannad's anime DVDs and films sold well. The first limited edition DVD ranked third in late 2007. The second through fifth limited edition DVDs ranked first during their first week of sales. The sixth limited edition DVD ranked fourth in May 2008, while the seventh and eighth ranked first. The third limited edition DVD was sixth in sales between December 2007 and November 2008. A Blu-ray box set ranked third in April 2010 and 13th the following week. The special edition film DVD ranked third during its first week of sales.

For Clannad After Story, the first limited edition DVD ranked second, selling 17,521 units. The second through fourth limited edition DVDs ranked first, each selling over 16,000 units. The fifth through seventh limited edition DVDs ranked first, selling over 14,000 units each. The eighth limited edition DVD ranked second, selling over 19,800 units. Some limited edition DVDs later ranked again in 2009.

The first season of the anime adaptation received mixed reviews, while the second season, Clannad After Story, was widely praised. THEM Anime Reviews gave the series 4/5 stars, calling the second season "heart-wrenching." Anime News Network rated the first season a 'B+' but praised the second season with an 'A−'. DVD Talk called Clannad After Story "Highly Recommended," noting its emotional depth and storytelling.

In 2008, Gamania Entertainment collaborated with Clannad, offering costumes and items in two MMOGs. Players could win Clannad-themed prizes, including virtual and real-world items.

ASCII Media Works and Vridge created the PlayStation 2 visual novel Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu: Cosplay Hajimemashita in 2008. Based on a light novel series, the game features characters cosplaying as Clannad heroines and other characters. Players can view exclusive artwork in the game.