July 19th, Clannad's second DVD volume went on sale. This time the numbers weren't quite as high as the first volume. The first week landed at 20,173. But that figure was still staggering by any measure.
August 23rd, the third DVD volume released.
This one covered episodes seven through nine, the finale of the Fuko arc.
Despite all the people who had sworn they were emotionally destroyed by Fuko's disappearance, sales for this volume didn't drop at all. In fact, they came in slightly higher than the first volume, with a first week total of 21,567.
On TV, Clannad continued airing at a pace of one episode per week without a single interruption.
The praise from audiences kept pouring in, though many viewers described the experience as equal parts joy and suffering.
"It's good, I'll give it that. But it goes through way too many tissues."
"I'm sobbing again."
"I thought the Fuko arc was bad enough. Turns out there's even worse."
"Every single episode, the tears just won't stop. That bastard Shido!"
"Nobody hold me back. I'm mailing that man more razor blades."
In fairness, Clannad's first season wasn't really about suffering. But when it came to making people cry, it was devastatingly effective.
The tears it drew were the kind that came from being deeply moved.
Scene after scene would hit you right in the heart and squeeze out tears before you even realized it.
Episode fourteen was a prime example.
Ichinose Kotomi's parents had died in a plane crash, leaving behind a briefcase. That briefcase traveled from place to place, passed through countless hands, and was ultimately delivered to Kotomi. It was the kind of scene that could make the toughest guys weep openly.
Professional critics gave the show high marks across the board, calling it things like "a masterpiece of slice-of-life anime," "the gold standard of tearjerkers," and "the most emotionally powerful anime of 2006."
The July lineup had already been weak to begin with, and Clannad's momentum was so overwhelming that it crushed every other show under its weight. Quite a few anime studios were privately frustrated about it.
September 1st. Another Friday.
Ryuji rushed home early and planted himself in front of the TV, waiting for Clannad episode twenty-two.
According to the preview, episode twenty-two was the final episode. There would be a bonus OVA and a voice actor interview special afterward, but the main story ended here.
He had to admit that this anime had completely upended everything he thought he knew about bishoujo shows.
Other bishoujo anime made pursuing various girls the main plot.
The male lead would waver between multiple heroines, and only near the very end, sometimes not until the final episode, would the main girl be confirmed.
Clannad was different. From episode one, it was crystal clear who the female lead was. Sure, the male lead interacted with plenty of other girls along the way, but his heart was always with her. He never once wavered.
By episode eighteen, he made his feelings unambiguous. He hadn't confessed yet, but it was obvious the other girls were no longer in the picture.
In episode nineteen, the male lead actually moved into the female lead's house, and the story gradually revealed the truth about her parents.
Her father had been a theater actor who loved performing and treated it as his life's dream. Her mother had been a middle school teacher. But when the female lead was little, they had been too wrapped up in their careers to watch over her properly, and she had nearly died.
After that incident, both parents gave up the careers they loved and opened a bakery.
The female lead never knew any of this. Her parents were afraid she'd blame herself, and they could never find the right moment to tell her, so they kept it hidden all this time.
Then at the end of episode twenty-one, the night before the school festival, while the female lead was rummaging through a closet looking for a flashlight, she accidentally stumbled across her parents' old photo albums and diaries.
After learning the truth, the female lead fell into a deep pit of guilt.
"I can feel another massive wave of tears coming."
"But it's fine. My tear threshold isn't that low."
"The Fuko arc and the Kotomi arc didn't make me cry. There's only one episode left. Can it really break me?"
Ryuji muttered to himself.
Five o'clock sharp. Clannad episode twenty-two finally began.
The first thing on screen was a gray, overcast sky, heavy and gloomy, as if reflecting what was going on inside the female lead's heart.
A door opened. The male lead stepped out of her house and turned back to look inside. The female lead sat there looking miserable, consumed by guilt.
"Aren't you going to say goodbye to your dad and Sanae-san?" the male lead asked.
The female lead didn't answer.
Then the opening theme kicked in.
The OP was beautiful as always, and with Yuta's name appearing multiple times in the credits, Ryuji, as a devoted fan, felt a rush of excitement every single time he watched it.
After the minute-and-a-half opening, the episode resumed.
Walking to school, the female lead finally spoke.
"My dad used to be an actor. He was famous for student theater starting in high school, and apparently he even won a major competition. I had no idea."
"I knew Mom used to be a middle school teacher, but..."
"In the photos, they both look so happy. Because they had both achieved their dreams."
"And those dreams could have kept going forever. If it weren't for me..."
She believed she had derailed her parents' dreams.
And now here she was, selfishly chasing a dream of her own. She thought she was ungrateful and cruel, and the guilt was eating her alive.
The male lead tried to comfort her and talk her through it, but nothing he said got through.
At school, everyone noticed something was off with the female lead, but the male lead didn't explain.
Later, during free time, the male lead took the female lead around the school festival. They accidentally got separated.
Wandering on her own, the female lead ended up in the archives room, where she found a recording of her father's championship-winning performance from his high school theater days.
He had been incredible on stage. And during his acceptance speech, he had said:
"I love acting!"
"I'm going to stand on stage for the rest of my life. I'm making a vow right here and now that I will become a professional actor!"
"Theater is the best thing in the world!"
Seeing how passionately her father had once loved his craft, and knowing he had given it all up for her sake, the female lead's guilt only deepened.
After that, the female lead took the stage for her own performance.
But weighed down by everything churning inside her, she couldn't perform at all. Instead, she broke down crying in front of the entire audience.
Just as the male lead and the others were frantically trying to figure out what to do, the female lead's father rushed out from the crowd and shouted up at the stage.
"Go chase your dream, Nagisa!"
"A child's dream is her parents' dream. You're the one who should be making it come true!"
"Our dream is to watch you achieve yours."
"We didn't give up our dreams. We made your dream into our dream."
"That's what parents are! That's what family means!"
"From that day on, we baked our bread every single day, just hoping for this moment!"
...
Right there, Ryuji's tear ducts gave out completely.
His vision blurred, and tears poured down his face with no way to stop them.
"Damn it!"
"Damn you, Yuta Shido!"
"Is he the devil or something?"
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