[[KyotoAnimation http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cit_clannad.jpg]]
[[quoteright:200:http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cit_clannad_-_dango_family_of_three.jpg]]
''It's the Dango Daikazoku. The Dango Daikazoku is a big family, so it has lots of members.''

Okazaki Tomoya is a senior in high school who doesn't take his studies seriously. Always late for class, he's seen as a delinquent by the rest of his classmates, who are busy preparing for their entrance examinations. He has only one close friend, Sunohara Youhei, who's more of a ButtMonkey than anything.

Tomoya doesn't seem to mind, though... until one day, when he meets Furukawa Nagisa, a shy girl whose only friends at the school have already graduated. Tomoya just can't leave her alone. While helping her establish a theater club, he meets a few other girls from the school. Although he doesn't care much about them at first, he soon opens his heart to them as they get to know each other better.

The title, according to the author, comes from the Irish word for "family", with family being the major theme of {{CLANNAD}}. More accurately though, it comes from the name of the band "Clannad" of Ireland, which is a shortening of "Clann as Dobhar" (the family from Dore).

The original VisualNovel was made by KeyVisualArts. KyotoAnimation produced the TV series, and Toei Animation made the recent movie. The game story is divided into two parts, the school portion and the ''After Story'', which takes place much later. The first season of the anime covers the school life, and the second season covers the story paths of the secondary characters and After Story.

Two special OVA episodes were made for this series by KyotoAnimation. The first is the bonus episode 24 in the first season, ''Another World: Tomoyo Arc'', and the second the [[strike:to-be-]]released bonus episode on the final Clannad DVD, ''Another World:Kyou Arc''.

[[Characters/{{Clannad}} The character sheet can be found here]]. [[WMG/{{Clannad}} Wild Mass Guessing goes here]]. [[FanficRecs/{{Clannad}} Fanfic Recs go here]].
----
!!Provides examples of:
* AfterTheEnd - Tomoya envisions a future with all the trappings of such series, with Fuko as the hero's sealed superweapon ("Starfish Manipulator!").
* AllThereInTheManual - Fuko's reappearances in the anime are based off of a mode in the visual novel, where, if you obtain the ''Fuko Master'' and ''Fuko Ninja'' statuses, when replaying Tomoyo's route, Fuko will pop up at random times. Unlike the anime, which uses stock footage, each reappearance gets a new CG.
* AlternateUniverse - The bonus episode 24, whereas Tomoyo wins instead of Nagisa, and the DVD only episode for ''~After Story~'', where Kyou wins. It is also said that [[spoiler:every playthrough]] in the game [[spoiler:is somewhat of a bunch of [[AlternateUniverse Alternate Universes]] to each other, which becomes a PLOT POINT.]]
** In the canon storyline, the result of the Ichinose's researching, as continued by Kotomi after she graduates. Also becomes a focal plot-point for the GrandFinale.
* ArtShift - Of a more subtle sort, at least: the "Illusionary World" scenes are animated at a sharply higher quality than the main series, with no duplicate frames and consequently very fluid movement.
** It's actually entirely different mediums in use. The "Illusionary World" segments are done in CG, even the little girl. She's just colored in a different style than the garbage doll.
*** No she's not. She's hand-drawn. It's just that she's animated on ones, with no drawing repeated.
* AsideGlance - Kyou and Tomoyo both do this after teasing [[ButtMonkey Sunohara]] into another outburst.
** Kyou gives Tomoyo one when Tomoyo tells Nagisa, ''[[GracefulLoser "So you're why he's doing this... I'm so glad it's for someone like you."]]''
* AuthorAppeal - Everything [[KeyVisualArts Key/Visual Arts]] usually likes to put in their games comes in here.
* AwesomenessByAnalysis - Subverted with Kotomi playing baseball: at the plate, she starts a thought stream about angles, velocities, and so forth while fancy schematics and statistics flash by in the background... and then chickens out when the ball is thrown and ends up bouncing the ball off the handle by accident.
* BadassAdorable - Tomoyo, as is (frequently) demonstrated on Sunohara.
* BaitAndSwitchCredits - The OP prominently features a very important character from the ''After Story'', which isn't reached in the first season. [[RoadCone Might have counted]] as a SpoilerOpening for players of the [[VisualNovel game]], if certain other considerations hadn't made the point quickly moot.
* BaseballEpisode
* BewareTheNiceOnes - When Sunohara still pursues what Tomoya calls "[[HoYay unrequited love]]" for Kappei in his route, Ryou is not amused.
* BigLippedAlligatorMoment - Tomoya's ''very'' strange dream sequence.
* BigSleep - [[spoiler:Both Nagisa and Ushio]].
* {{Bishonen}} - Tomoya most definitely, as well as to a far FAR lesser extent,(even if he wasn't such a {{buttmonkey}})Youhei Sunohara.
* BlueWithShock - Kotomi and Tomoya after receiving a bad fortune. Nagisa and her mother also do this separately in dramatic fashion, with identical lightning strikes in the background.
* BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine - As part of his efforts to socialize Kotomi, Tomoya tries to teach her this. It cumulates in Kotomi, Ryou, and Nagisa working together to learn the tsukkomi role, with Kyou as their strict teacher.
* BoobsOfSteel - Tomoyo and Kyou, obviously.
* BreakTheCutie - A male example in Tomoya.
* BrotherChuck - Kappei, as far as the anime is concerned. Particularly bad in that he doesn't get to appear ''at all.'' He doesn't even make a cameo appearance despite there being two opportunities to have given him one.
** The last opportunity for him to get an appearance is Kyou's upcoming OVA, as in Kyou's epilogue in the game, she states that Ryou's found a new boyfriend at her part-time job at the hospital, and we know that Kappei becomes Ryou's boyfriend in his route.
*** The OVA's out, and not a single Kappei sighting in miles. IsntItSad, Kappei?
* ButtMonkey - Sunohara, who gets brutally beaten, thrown out windows, and skipped across concrete on a regular basis (usually at the [[strike:hands]] feet of Tomoyo, which is his own fault). His gullibility also makes him a frequent victim of Tomoya's pranks.
** Sunohara enjoys a unique niche among buttmonkies; Everything that happens to him is pretty much his fault.
* ByThePowerOfGreyskull - Spoofed with Kotomi, whose naive attempt at a MagicalGirl impression involves an HPLovecraft incantation. Considering her surprise when nothing happens, [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} one wonders what exactly she was expecting]]...
* [=~Can't Hold His Liquor~=] - Nagisa becomes fully-flushed drunk the ''second'' she downs her cup and turns into a ClingyJealousGirl.
** Inherited from Sanae. Five seconds after the two get drunk, he's asked whether or not he likes her and she asks her daughter if it'd be okay to get really drunk and attack him.
* CaptainErsatz - Misae, of Kaname Chidori from ''FullMetalPanic''. It helps that SatsukiYukino voices both of them. Hell, her last name is Sagara.
* CatSmile - Sunohara. Unexpectedly, Tomoya does one, too, at one point.
* ChekhovsGun - The significance of the [[spoiler:Light Orbs]].
* ChewToy - Sunohara. The only time his injuries are not PlayedForLaughs is [[spoiler:when he and Tomoya brawl in the rain as a result of Sunohara's neglect of Mei]].
* CherryBlossoms - Clannad being Key's "spring" work, cherry blossoms are blowing in the wind almost all the time.
* ClassRepresentative - Both Ryou and Kyou, Ryou however, was assigned the job via lottery, and Kyou was also the ClassRepresentative during their junior year.
* CloseupOnHead - With Sunohara and Tomoya. First, a shot of Sunohara (including his shoulders) commenting on something happening in the baseball field. Then, a closeup of Tomoya asking what's going on. A third shot reveals that after Sunohara's closeup, Tomoya somehow ended up sitting on Sunohara's shoulders. Sunohara doesn't realize/react to this until after he answers Tomoya.
* CloudCuckooLander - Kotomi, when she first gets drafted by Tomoya. She gets better though. Somewhat. Fuko qualifies as well.
** They have nothing on Sunohara. Though to be fair to them, he also gets the benefit of being really stupid.
* {{Combos}} - Tomoyo has a rapid fire sequence of kicks that juggles her opponent in the air, and a combo meter actually appears on screen every time she uses it (on Sunohara). At one point, she and Tomoya do a chain combo. [[spoiler:In the Visual Novel, she chain combos with almost everyone on the cast.]]
* CompletelyMissingThePoint - Fuko's sister suggests that she stop referring to herself [[ThirdPersonPerson in third-person]], to sound more grown-up. Fuko decides to start using ''[[JapanesePronouns atai]]'', [[JapanesePronouns a first-person pronoun only used by immature little girls.]]
* CookingDuel - Sunohara and Fuko, over carving.
* CoolBigSis - Misae
* CrowningMomentOfFunny - The RunningGag about Kotomi introducing herself, the "Starfish vs Dango" duel, Tomoya pranking Fuko into thinking Ryou is actually Tomoya turned into a girl, Sunohara thinking that he and Tomoyo fall under TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou status, Nagisa getting drunk and turning into a ClingyJealousGirl, and the whole "father and son" conversation between Tomoya and Akio.
* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming - the entire latter part of Fuuko's storyline in the VisualNovel, particularly the end, where she's finally able to [[spoiler:wish her elder sister congratulations and happiness in marriage before her ghost, which the school, then the main characters, and then finally Tomoya ( albeit only for the better part of a day, when he's reminded by the senile old student counsellor ) have been forgetting and losing sight of cascade-style, disappears completely.]] This 21 year-old, male Troper was in tears throughout, and nigh-on inconsolable for five minutes afterward.
** That's undoubtedly a TearJerker. And it's just as bad in the anime. This Troper can't admit to never crying at the TV or movies thanks to Fuko's arc.
** The end of Episode 22 also applies.
** The second half of ''~After Story~'' Episode 18, where [[spoiler:Tomoya, after finding out his dad's motives for winding up the way he is, realizes he became just like him. The kicker starts when he goes back to Ushio and reconciles with the enstranged daughter who he never once really LOOKED at for five years after Nagisa's death, and both of them erupt into tears. He thereafter takes her in as his own.]]
*** The GrandFinale is a [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Crowning Episode/Ending/Finale of Heartwarming]].
**"Yo, long time no see."
* [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome Crowning Music Of]] [[strike:[[CrowningMusicOfAwesome Awesome]]]] [[CrowningMomentOfHeartWarming Heartwarming]]: Dango Daikazoku, the first season's ending and the song that Nagisa is obsessed with, isn't particularly "awesome", per se, but it is overwhelmingly adorable, and when it plays in the background of a [[CrowningMomentOfHeartWarming touching]] and/or [[TearJerker heartbreaking]] scene the effect is unbelievable.
* TheCyrano - Kyou, to Ryou. With various results. [[MatchmakerCrush Various]].
* [[spoiler:DeathByChildbirth]] - [[spoiler:Nagisa in the movie, the anime, and the bad ending in the game]].
**[[spoiler:Subverted later in the anime, when Nagisa survives through the forced time-reset that Tomoya instigates.]]
* [[spoiler:DeathByDespair]] - [[spoiler:Tomoya collapses in the snow shortly after Ushio's death, pleading for Nagisa - for anyone - to save her.]]
** {{Jossed}} by the GrandFinale.
* DeadpanSnarker - Okazaki
* {{Delinquents}} - Okazaki and Sunohara is known as this. Tomoyo has the record, but is trying to change.
** It's revealed in the ''~After Story~'' Extra episode that the victim of their second major prank in their second year was [[spoiler:Nagisa]], Kyou being the victim of their first prank.
* DeusExMachina - [[YourMileageMayVary Arguably, the ending of the anime]]. For those who have played the VisualNovel, though, the ending of the anime is the visual novel's [[spoiler:true end]]. Reactions to this dangerously tread on FanDumb waters.
* DiabolusExMachina - Both [[spoiler: Ushio's and Tomoya's deaths]]. [[IGotBetter They got better]].
* DidIJustSayThatOutLoud - Episode 20
---> '''Tomoya''': ''*after hitting a home run*'' Did you see that Nagisa?
---> '''Nagisa''': Yes, I saw it clearly!
---> '''Akio''': You fell in love with him again, didn't you?
---> '''Nagisa''': [[OhCrap Ye- Dad!?]]
---> '''Akio''': ''*cigarette falls out of his mouth*'' Damn it! So she is in love with him!
* DisneyAcidSequence - Tomoya's seriously stuffed-up dream-sequence in Episode 11 of Season 1.
* DoNotCallMePaul - Honorific example: in the BaseballEpisode, Akio calls Misae "Misae-chan," and Tomoyo "Tomo-pyon." Both are not amused.
* DramaticWind - The cherry blossoms have to move ''somehow''. In the movie adaptation, dramatic wind seems to be blowing all the time. I guess that's why in the movie, Nagisa has to wear a scarf.
* DroppedABridgetOnHim - (game) Hiiragi Kappei. So effeminate-looking that Tomoya is unsure of whether he is a guy or a girl even after he states his gender. Even after having the truth dropped on him, Sunohara, in a state of denial, chooses to pursue what Tomoya calls "unrequited love." The [[HoYay implications]] are not lost on us.
* EarlyBirdCameo - [[spoiler:Ushio]], in the first season's [[SpoilerOpening opening credits]], no less.
* EarnYourHappyEnding - Quite literally. In the game, you have to go through every character route in order to get the "true" ending of After Story.
** Also applies in-universe. Tomoya had to go through all those hardships for him to [[spoiler:be reborn as the Garbage Doll in the Illusionary World. He gets his happy ending when Ushio sends him back in time, this time prepared to prevent Nagisa's death]].
* EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt - Parodied in the game with this hilarious quote from Misae:
---> '''Misae''': For Sunohara to have such a cute sister, and for Okazaki to have such a cute girlfriend... If it were the end of the world, it'd be bad for the sister and Furukawa-san, but... I'll say it. It's the end of the world.
* EnsembleDarkhorse - Tomoyo.
** If she wasn't one of the heroines then yes, but she is. Even in the anime she's still considered a main character.
** Her not being the OfficialCouple is enough to qualify her as one. Especially when in the anime, before the Bonus Episode, she's one of the characters who doesn't get her arc completed properly.
** The same could be said for Kyou, who now has the same status as Tomoyo in the fandom (incomplete arc becomes an OVA, not to mention being MsFanservice).
** Tomoyo even gets the sequel visual novel, Tomoyo After.
* EvolvingCredits - When Tomoya's grandmother is introduced in episode 18 of ''After Story'', she shows up in the ending credits as well. At the end of the next episode, Tomoya's father is added to the parade as well. In the final episode, Fuuko and Ushio lead the line.
** Even the scene where they state the episode number changed over time. After episode 22 in ''After Story'', the Girl from the Illusionary World is now seen lying in the grass under the tree.
** Also applies to the game: when you've finally [[HundredPercentCompletion reached the True End]], the Girl in from the Illusionary World can be seen lying in the grass under the tree in the game's main menu.
* {{Facefault}} - Repeatedly. The most amusing one is when Tomoya imagines Fuko announcing over the school intercom that the wooden stars she's been handing out are in fact [[spoiler:starfish]], with the entire class simultaneously facefaulting in response.
** [[{{Mapi-chan}} This Troper]] contests that claim! The one where Tomoya facefaults because Akio mentioned that Sanae's boobs were huge, in front of a ''drunk Nagisa'', no less, is hilarious as well.
* FakedRipVanWinkle - Tomoya pulls this off against Sunohara (Twice. Inside of a minute) after waking him up, saying that Sunohara slept for a hundred years after being knocked out by Tomoyo and claiming to be first a hologram and then a cyborg. Sunohara really is [[WhatAnIdiot that stupid]].
* FandomNod - The ''{{Clannad}} After Story'' anime answered a much speculated question in the fandom: What happens if Sanae's Bread meets [[{{Kanon}} Akiko's Jam]]? "It's the ultimate combination!"
** Fun thought experiment: ignore context for a moment, [[FreudWasRight and read that sentence again]].
** You get knocked out members of Kazuto Miyazawa's gang. Sanae's bread and Akiko's jam is a WMD, even in the, or perhaps ''especially'' in the hands of Nagisa.
* {{Fangirl}} - Mei is something of a Yoshino Yuusuke fangirl.
* {{Fanservice}} - The ShipTease, below, or Kyou in gym clothes in general (such as her {{Gainaxing}} like mad in the opening credits bouncing a basketball). A late episode features several of the girls stretching off each other's backs: chest in foreground, everything else blurred out. Goodness, were Ryou's breasts ''always'' that big? Also, the extra episode of the after story has the bath scene of the two sisters.
**Well, she is [[BoobsOfSteel Kyou's]] twin sister.
*** Interestingly, there is ''nothing'' of this sort in the VisualNovel. Not one piece of perverse imagery. The closest thing to Fanservice in the V.N. are a couple of misleading conversations that clarify themselves immediately after for comic effect - most notably, the situation Tomoya and Sunohara engineer wherein [[spoiler:Ryou thinks Nagisa is trying to confess to her. She's actually trying to ask for advice on forming the drama club.]]
* FirstGirlWins - Played as straight as humanly possible, with the girl in question standing at the bottom of a hill, facing the sun, with CherryBlossoms blowing through on the DramaticWind. WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic?
** And of course, in the VisualNovel, Kotomi can surpass Nagisa in this to become the VictoriousChildhoodFriend.
* FirstNameBasis - Tomoya calls all of the other main girls by their given name without honorific, adding "-chan" for Kotomi because she won't notice him otherwise, but he and Nagisa call each other by family name. At one point, Fuko, who approves of them as an OfficialCouple, tries to convince them to be more "adult-like" by switching to a first name basis (complete with -chan and -kun honorifics), but after a stuttering attempt both protest that it's too embarrassing (though Tomoya does manage it by leaving off the "-chan").
** Ryou and Tomoya switch to first name basis, as well, in her and Kyou's route in the game. It's the final scene in the Ryou end.
*** And in the Kyou route it [[ItGotWorse turns into]] Ryou's desperate attempt to keep Tomoya interested in her by acting like her sister.
** The same goes for Yukine in her route.
** Kyou calls everyone by their first names.
* ForgottenChildhoodFriend - Non-villainous example. Kotomi Ichinose was Tomoya's childhood friend, yet after [[spoiler:Kotomi's parents died in the plane crash]], Tomoya stopped coming over to her house because Kotomi would not come out. The next time they would meet was when Tomoya wandered into the library in his senior year (both the game and the anime).
* FridgeLogic - During Misae's route, there is a scene where Yoshino is seen as a senior in high school. Since it's a flashback, you also see Kouko-sensei, while she was still an art teacher. It's only after the scene is over that you remember [[HotForStudent the two of them got married...]]
* TheGadfly - Poor, poor Sunohara. Then again, you have to be ''really'' stupid to put any faith in what Tomoya tells you...
* GainaxEnding - Seriously, to understand the GrandFinale requires a lot of analysis of the dialogue between [[spoiler:Ushio and the Garbage Doll before the Illusionary World collapses]]. Also, one has to wonder why [[spoiler:Nagisa has knowledge of Tomoya wishing that he'd never met her]], as well as if [[spoiler:the reality where the Okazaki family got [[TotalPartyKill TPK'd]] really happened]]. (Yes.)
** You would also have to had paid attention to both Misae's and Yukine's arcs to understand the properties of the Light Orbs.
** Playing the VisualNovel and reading [[http://tstorm.bwys.org/2009/03/clannad-after-story-17-22/ this]] really helped [[{{Mapi-chan}} this troper]] understand things.
*** It makes sense for the Visual Novel, not so much for the anime[[spoiler:, because in Episode 20 of After Story, Kyou mentions that she, Youhei, Kotomi and the others planned to visit Okazaki sooner or later, showing that the events after Ushio's death take place in the same timeline in which Tomoya gets to meet and befriend everyone.]] So the [[spoiler: Reset Ending triggered by the Lights is, in the Anime, the result of a gigantic Karmic reward made possible by the Lights, earned by Tomoya with his good deeds in the series, and triggered by Ushio's and Okazaki's death]]. It still works. Just, differently.
* {{Gainaxing}} - Kyou while ''bouncing a basketball'' in the opening credits of season 1. What a way to get a bloke-viewer's attention.
* GenerationXerox - As much as Tomoya hates his father for neglecting him to dull the pain of his mother's death [[spoiler: he has become exactly the same to his own little girl Ushio to forget that her birth killed Nagisa.]]
* TheGlomp - The one performed by Kyou on Kotomi is especially famous.
* GeniusLoci - The entire city, in certain characters' opinion.
* GenreBusting
* GlowingEyesOfDoom - Kyou
* GoIntoTheLight - Parodied on more than one occasion by Nagisa's very theatrical parents.
* GoOutWithASmile - [[spoiler: Nagisa's last smile, dying after giving birth to Tomoya's daughter in the movie was adorable.]]
** Which doesn't happen in the TV-series, though.
***It does, it's just subtler.
* GrandFinale - Doubles as a [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming Crowning Episode of Heartwarming]].
* GratuitousEnglish - Sunohara tries to use some, but his English is so bad "revenge" comes out as more like "rezombie". The anime version of [[spoiler:Kotomi's arc]] ends with a misspelled note in English ([[spoiler:[=SuitsCase=]]]?) also spoken in a variety of languages, with varying levels of success. The english note was free of errors in the original game.
** ''I am pretty dog. Thank you, my friend from New York!''
** ''Like the fireball!''
*** In Tomoyo's extra episode, the top student has shown to learn English quite well, in order present a speech broadcast on television. Naturally, when watching it, Sunohara asks what language she's speaking!
* HairAntennae - The entire Furukawa family. Ushio does not have this, but she's considered an Okazaki rather than a Furukawa.
* HairColors - Hair colors run the usual rainbow gambit, but it is Sunohara's blond hair that Fuko calls out as unnatural.
** That's because it's not his natural hair colour. It's explicitly stated that he dyed his hair.
** And in the alternate universe of episode 24 (season one), we see Sunohara with his hair back to its natural black.]
** In After Story, after he got a job, he went back to his regular hair apparently due to him getting into trouble otherwise in work.
* HappilyMarried - Akio and Sanae, as well as Tomoya and Nagisa.
* HeadbuttOfLove - (game) Tomoyo checks Tomoya's temperature this way after he claims to have a cold, naturally oblivious to how intimate it might look to others.
* HerHeartWillGoOn - The GaidenGame eroge sequel to Tomoyo's route ''Tomoyo After: It's a Wonderful Life'' and the manga based on that (''Tomoyo After: Dear Shining Memories'').
* HeroicBSOD - Tomoya in the Toei movie, after Nagisa dies. Also, Kotomi's FreakOut, when she thinks that Ryou was involved in the bus accident.
* HeyItsThatVoice - This could get a bit long...
** Nagisa's voice, tweaked just a teeny bit, sounds exactly like [[HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi Rena Ryuugu]] when she isn't shouting "USO DA!".
** Mei's normal speaking voice is almost identical to [[HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi Rika Furude's]] cutesy voice and to [[DaCapo Sakura Yoshino]]. In a twist of fate, Rika's adult voice sounds like Mai Kawasumi, who is from another Key game (''{{Kanon}}'').
*** [[{{Mapi-chan}} This troper]] wonders if YukariTamura was intentionally cast as Mei because Mei is a Yusuke '''Yoshino''' {{fangirl}}.
** Tomoyo sounds exactly like Kagura from ''AzumangaDaioh''.
** Of course, Sanae's voice has been all over the anime industry in the form of KikukoInoue.
** Misae shouting "Shima-kun" at the festival sounded exactly like [[HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi Shion]] shouting for "Satoshi-kun."
** Ushio sounds just like [[ChisSweetHome Chi]] only without the speech impediment. Just as adorable though.
* HikaruMidorikawa - Yuusuke.
* HoYay - Kappei with both Tomoya and Sunohara, having [[DroppedABridgetOnHim dropped Bridgets on them]]. Sunohara, in denial, still pursues what Tomoya calls "unrequited love."
* HotBlooded - All Akio needs is the mecha.
* HotShoujoDad - Nagisa's Father, Akio.
** [[spoiler: Who, after Ushio's birth, is now a Hot Shoujo GRANDPA!]]
* HotShounenMom - Nagisa's mother, Sanae, who is frequently mistaken as her ''sister''. She pretends to be Sunohara's girlfriend in the second season; her disguises make Tomoya blush, which in turn make Nagisa rather nervous...
** [[spoiler: Nagisa becomes one herself in the movie, the anime and the canonical endings to the game, effectively making Sanae a rare non- TenchiMuyo Hot Shounen ''Grandma.'']]
** [[strike: It's implied that]] the one person Nagisa viewed as the greatest threat to her relationship with Tomoya is ''her own mother''. Case in point: ''~After Story~'' episode 13: Nagisa gets drunk and HilarityEnsues. Also a CrowningMomentOfFunny.
---> '''Nagisa (drunk)''': Tomoya-kun! Is Mom that interesting to you?
---> '''Tomoya''': What are you saying all of a sudden?
* IdentityAmnesia - After their respective deaths, [[spoiler:Tomoya and Ushio forget who they are when they become the Garbage Doll and the Girl in the Illusionary World respectively]]. Don't try to think too much about how the Girl was there since episode 1, despite [[spoiler:Ushio's birth happening in episode 16 of ''~After Story~'']]. Most of the fandom believe that time doesn't pass in the Illusionary World, though this may be a case of remembering MST3kMantra to prevent a serious case of MindScrew.
* IllGirl - Nagisa was held back due to illness while her friends graduated. Meanwhile, [[spoiler:Fuko has been lying in a coma for years, and is projecting her ghost into the school]].
* ImTakingHerHomeWithMe - The adorably innocent [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Ibuki Fuko]] says she wants to do this to little Ushio-chan, Tomoya's daughter, to be her little sister.
* InformedAttractiveness - Nagisa is supposedly a lot more attractive than average, but this isn't evident by her character design.
* InnocentCohabitation - Tomoya temporarily moves in with Nagisa and her family due to issues with his dad. Sunohara is shocked when he finds out and rather annoyed when Tomoya continues to insist that [[SheIsNotMyGirlfriend they aren't a couple]].
* InstantFanClub - Fuko, who actually summons them as an attack if provoked.
* IntertwinedFingers - Ryou and Nagisa.
* IsntItSad - Kyou. And Ryou. And Kotomi. And Tomoyo, especially in After Story. And Fuuko -- Ah, heck. Let's just say that After Story is one hell of a [[DemotedToExtra Demotion To Extra]] for any heroines not named 'Nagisa'.
** The tennis episode ShipSinking was ''really'' brutal to the Fujibayashi twins.
*** [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that the game, the ''~After Story~'' only gets unlocked after you complete both [[spoiler:Fuko and Nagisa's routes]], as well as having at least eight Light Orbs. Also, you cannot proceed to the True End without [[spoiler:completing every other route and obtaining a light orb from each completed route]]. As for the anime... Nagisa and Tomoya are really the OfficialCouple, so it's obvious that the ''After Story'' portion focuses on the main couple more than any other character set.
* ItIsAlwaysSpring - For obvious reasons.
** Subverted after Kotomi's arc, when the girls switch to the summer uniforms from [[ContinuityNod Tomoyo After]].
* {{Jerkass}} - The soccer club is seriously filled by {{Jerkass}}es.
* KikukoInoue - Sanae-san. [[PigeonholedVoiceActor Appropriately]].
* LargeHam - Yoshino Yuusuke, who after hitting a ball in a baseball match, proceeds to give out a hammy speech about ' Intangible Memories'... and gets balled out. (He remembers to call for a time-out the second time he tries it.)
* {{Leitmotif}} - For all of Tomoya's harem, excluding [[IsntItSad Ryou]]. Yes, even Yukine. Also, the first season ED, ''Dango Daikazoku'', functions as both the ED and Nagisa's {{Leitmotif}}.
* LesYay - The "misunderstanding" between Ryou and Nagisa on the rooftop. In one scene Kyou also appears to like Kotomi a lot, leading to the famous [[TheGlomp Glomp]].
* LoserGuy - Sunohara. Tomoya would be much less impressive without him.
* LuckyTranslation - "Fujibayashi Kyou's Bi-"
* MagicSkirt - Skirts always cover everything despite all the kicking that Kyou and Tomoyo do.
** For the audience, that is. Sunohara gets a glance of Kyou's light-blue ''pantsu''. Needless to say, Kyou is not amused.
* MaleGaze - In ''~After Story~'' 20, when Kyou greets one of her students with his mother, [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s_ass.jpg the camera pans on Kyou's butt, and Tomoya's eyes are seen looking towards Kyou's ass for about two seconds]].
* MatchmakerCrush - Kyou tries to push Tomoya to be with her sister Ryou at every opportunity... though she has a crush on him, too.
* MeaningfulName - The town is called '''Hikari'''zaka. ''Hikari'' means [[ChekhovsGun light]].
* MediumAwareness - (game) Tomoyo, Tomoya, and Sunohara hold a brief conversation with Sunohara's upside-down sprite suspended in front of the screen (he had just been kicked in the air), ending with Tomoya telling him "Hurry up and fall, this screen looks unnatural."
* MindScrew - See GainaxEnding above.
* MistakenForGay - "''Fujibayashi Kyou is bi!''" One of Tomoya's pranks, though [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Kyou_-_get_to_know_Kotomi_better.jpg Kyou certainly isn't helping things.]]
** Okazaki also tricked Nagisa into believing that Sunohara was gay.
** Okazaki, in an ImagineSpot that Mei has mistaken him as gay for Youhei when playing Cupid.
* MoodDissonance - ''Very'' badly done with the second season. [[spoiler:Episode 16 ends with Nagisa dying after giving birth, a flashback over Tomoya's happy moments with her, and Tomoya wishing he had never gotten involved with her so that she might still be alive. With the words "I should have never met her"]], the screen fades to white, aaaaaaaand... cue the cheerful, bouncing ending theme ([[spoiler:which showcases the whole cast, ending with Tomoya and Nagisa]])!
** [[YourMileageMayVary Depends on how you see it]]; this troper loves the contrast.
** This Troper is glad that he skipped the ending theme during the marathon he watch these episodes, otherwise the mood of the whole thing would've been lost. Besides, he likes brooding over sad things in anime and crying about it for a good half an hour after he sees it.
* MoonRabbit - Mentioned in the first ending song.
*MyGirlIsNotASlut - Upon finding out that his daughter Nagisa is pregnant, Akio is torn between denial ("A stork brought it, right?"), happiness at becoming a grandfather and wanting to strangle Tomoya for sleeping with her ("Congratulations.... you bastard!!")
* MyNameIsNotDurwood - Tomoya, in regard to meeting Akio and Sanae for the first time, when they invent strange names for him (e.g., "Cosmic-san")
* {{Odango}} - Nagisa is almost fanatical about the "Big Dango Family", which is the subject of her theme song (also the ED).
* {{Narm}} - The {{Engrish}} present in ''that one song''. ''"The plaaaace is a lofty lord..."'' ''"So merely has the worshiiiiip..."''
* NeverGotToSayGoodbye - [[spoiler:Kotomi's last words to her parents were how she hated them, because they were going to miss her birthday to go to a conference]]. Their plane crashed...
* NotSoWeak - Nagisa. She even defends ''Sunohara'' but refuses to believe she could be even slightly cute or that she isn't a burden.
* OfficialCouple - Nagisa and Tomoya. After all, Nagisa is the [[FirstGirlWins first girl]], Tomoya spends the majority of the show with her, and her theme song (also the ending) refers to a "mischievous" blue dango and a "kind" pink dango as a couple. The opening scene, where Tomoya describes their long path up to school, can be a description of their developing relationship.
* OlderThanTheyLook - Sanae and Akio, who look to be in their early to mid twenties. Fuuko is also about the same age as Tomoya, despite looking - and acting - about ten.
* ParentalAbandonment - Tomoya's father neglects him to forget the pain of losing his wife [[spoiler:unfortunately, like father like son.]]
** [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] by ''~After Story~'' 18, where Tomoya's grandmother explains to him that his father [[spoiler:threw away all his chances to have a good life just so he could raise Tomoya as best as he could.]] To be fair, Naoyuki did have breakdowns in the later years, but when Tomoya realizes that he's been doing a GenerationXerox ever since [[spoiler:Nagisa died]], he wholeheartedly forgives his father, and reconciles with Ushio.
*** Inevitably leads to a TearJerker moment in the next episode, where Tomoya sends his father up north to finally, peacefully live with his grandmother.
* PlayerPunch - And how! [[spoiler:Late in Fuuko's storyline of the game, Tomoya and Nagisa come up with a plan to see if Fuuko, who thus far appears to be a spiritual projection from her comatose, in hospital body, can be seen by her elder sister; something she was ''very'' uncertain about and required great assurance from her friends it would work. The plan is interrupted, brutally, as when Nagisa brings Fuuko out in front of the elder sister whom Tomoya is chatting with at the festival, the sister comments almost nonchalantly to Tomoya, and in front of Nagisa and looking ''straight through'' Fuuko, 'That girl stopped breathing yesterday.'.]]
** And how again! [[spoiler:Nagisa's death, no matter how you look at it, was meant to be this in every aspect. After all the CharacterDevelopment she went through, no doubt because of Tomoya's presence with her, we're then reawakened to the fact that, even if she's a strong person, she's still physically weak. When she insists on home delivery, the alarms were already being raised, and when we find out that a [[SnowMeansDeath heavy snowstorm occurs on the day she gives birth]], it's really no surprise that she was going to die anyway. And yet, knowing this, it's ''still'' a PlayerPunch]].
* PoseOfSupplication - Fuko's fan club, after she rejects them.
* PostEpisodeTrailer - The next episode trailer consists of clips of conversations from the next episode, sometimes pasted together from completely unrelated ones to form new, humorous dialogue, like Nagisa and Ryou appearing to happily agree that they're bullies...
* RapeAsComedy (game) - Tomoya uses an expression involving Kotomi (who has a fear of being bullied) having a tail. Kyou [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean launches a thorough investigation]] and checks breast size while she's at it. Kyou later uses threats of "massages" to coerce Kotomi. This is downplayed--somewhat--in the anime.
* ReallyDeadMontage - In the anime, you could almost hope [[spoiler:Nagisa, and later Ushio,]] just fell asleep or something, were it not for all the flashbacks.
** {{Jossed}} by the [[spoiler:ResetButtonEnding of ''~After Story~'', where, after Ushio/Tomoya instigates a TimeSkip, Nagisa survives giving birth to Ushio.]]
* RelationshipVoiceActor - Quite a handful:
** MaiNakahara (Nagisa) and YukariTamura (Mei) in four other shows: ''MahouShoujoLyricalNanoha: StrikerS'' as Teana Lanster and Nanoha Takamachi respectively, Rena Ryuugu and Rika Furude in ''HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi'' respectively and Mai Tokiha and Midori in both ''{{Mai-Hime}}'' and ''{{Mai-Otome}}''.
*** For ''Higurashi'', we can add SatsukiYukino (Misae) who voiced [[FanNickname Shmion]] Sonozaki.
*** Coincidentally, YuuichiNakamura (Tomoya) voiced Vice in ''StrikerS'', and there is some minor ShipTease between Vice and Teana (at least until the LesYay quotient was upped between Teana and Subaru).
** MaiNakahara and RyokoShiraishi (Kappei) also play roles in ''{{Saki}}''.
* ResetButtonEnding - [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] in this series, as compared to other [[ResetButtonEnding Reset Button Endings]].
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter - Botan, Kyou's pet piglet, who seems to be following in the spiritual footsteps of [[{{Air}} Potato]] and [[{{Kanon}} Piro]].
* RPGElements - After Tomoya successfully pulls off a prank on Fuko, the action will sometimes freeze and a congratulatory "you mastered a new skill!" message will appear to an old video game-style tune. ''Mastered "Shooting Juice up the Nose!"'' Also, when Sunohara wants to join Tomoya and Nagisa to help the theater club, Tomoya's perspective for his response [[ShoutOut changes]] to that of the ''LittleBusters'' {{visual novel}}, and all of the choices are attacks...
* RoomFullOfCrazy - A room covered with certain newspaper articles.
* RunningGag - Any events where someone says Sanae's bread tastes like trash, especially if it's Akio who says it
-->'''Sanae''': ''"Sanae's breads... is... trash material!?!?" *runs off crying*''
-->'''Akio''': ''*stuffs said bread on his mouth and chases her off* "I LOVE IIIITTT!!!"''
** Also, Kotomi introducing herself by saying, without fail, "Hello, Tomoya-kun." Tomoya even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] the RunningGag.
-->'''Tomoya''': This is getting really old.
* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend - Gradually increases in frequency with Tomoya and Nagisa, as people see them interacting and come to the natural conclusion, resulting in highly-embarrassed denials from both of them.
* ShipSinking - The three alternate crushes are swiftly dispatched all at once during a tennis match late in the series, the girls becoming increasingly miserable as Tomoya's unconscious behavior makes it crystal-clear what the OfficialCouple is. Their tears were matched by tears of ''[[DieForOurShip rage]]'' from shippers, the obviousness of the couple be damned. Well, there's always the Visual Novel and episode 24...
** And the upcoming OVA ''Another World: Kyou Arc''.
** Fortunately, almost none of the non Tomoya X Nagisa shippers really had their hopes up, though they may still be unsatisfied about it. It was blatantly obvious from the beginning who the [[OfficialCouple official main couple]] was.
* ShipTease - Perhaps in apology for the impending ShipSinking, an earlier episode features Kyou getting locked in a gym storage room with Tomoya, instantly turning [[{{Tsundere}} deredere]] to the max and misinterpreting her conversation with Tomoya into thinking she's about to have her first time. {{Fanservice}}~
** The upcoming OVA ''Another World: Kyou Arc'' continues this. Finally.
* ShoutOut - In addition to the standard KyoAni cross-referencing, Kotomi quotes a line from the short story [[http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/classics/classics_archive/young2/young21.html "The Dandelion Girl"]]: "Day before yesterday I saw a rabbit, and yesterday a deer, and today, you." (See also ByThePowerOfGreyskull, RPGElements.
** The summer uniforms from ''[[AlternateContinuity Tomoyo After]]''.
** Episode 20 also has a brief shout-out to, of all things, the famous music video for ''Thriller''.
** Specific examples of the KyoAni crossreferencing: [[{{Kanon}} Mai's sword and Sayuri's magical staff, along with their ribbons]] make an appearance in the Drama Club's prop box, and in episode 1, the desaturated opening is similar to the first chronological episode of ''SuzumiyaHaruhi''.
** The VisualNovel had [[ShoutOut Shout Outs]] to ''{{Doraemon}}''.
* SiblingYinYang - Kyou and Ryou
* SiblingTriangle - Kyou and Ryou with Tomoya, obviously.
* SleepCute - The end of Fuko's arc has Tomoya and Nagisa sitting on the floor of a classroom during the evening, with Fuko in-between, only to have the two end up leaning against each other sound asleep by the next morning.
** And, in Fuuko's storyline in the Visual Novel, Tomoya and Fuuko wind up like this. Although come morning, it's just Tomoya [[spoiler:until Koumura reminds Tomoya of Fuuko's existence, and it turns out she's been invisible and following him around since he woke up.]]
* SleepingSingle - Tomoya and Nagisa. In 2009. ''[[{{Wallbanger}} What the hell]]''.
* SmokingIsCool - Akio always has a cigarette sticking out of his mouth, even while playing baseball in heavy downpours, though a great shock causes it to fall out on at least one occasion.
* SnowMeansDeath
* SpamAttack - Tomoyo's signature rapid kicks
* SpoilerOpening - See BaitAndSwitchCredits above.
* SpotlightStealingSquad - [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that Nagisa Furukawa is the [[OfficialCouple winning girl]], complete with offspring, and that the [[VisualNovel game's]] (and the KyoAni anime adaptation's) True End is of [[spoiler:the Light Orbs saving Nagisa, Ushio, and Tomoya from death]], while the Toei movie focuses more on Tomoya's [[HeroicBSOD post-traumatic-stress-disorder]] after [[spoiler:Nagisa died.]]
* StarfishCharacter - Fuko, and not merely because she loves starfish.
* StockFootage - [[spoiler:Fuko's reappearances]].
** Though in the visual novel, the opposite is true - she gets a whole, new CG, just for that little epilogue.
* StockingFiller - Fuko.
* StoryArc - Fuko (4-9) and Kotomi (10-14) get discrete arcs in the anime based on their paths from the VisualNovel, while the other characters are more mixed together.
* StrappedToAnOperatingTable - Tomoya finds himself strapped to an operating table (and attended by nurse Kyou) during an odd dream sequence that rapidly grows disturbing.
* StudentCouncilPresident - Tomoyo Sakagami and her spiritual predecessor, Misae Sagara.
* TakahashiCouple - Kyou and Tomoya in the her route in the VisualNovel and the OVA ''Another World: Kyou Arc''.
* TastesLikeDiabetes - The season one ending, "Dango Daikazoku," for those who don't find it a [[CrowningMomentOfHeartWarming Crowning Moment of Heartwarming]].
* TeamMom - Yukine's role involving both of the city's gangs, as she tends to their injuries after a brawl happens, regardless of the injured person's affiliation.
** Also Misae's role in regards to the residents at the student dorms, especially the rugby team.
* TearJerker - This series/game could wring tears from a stone.
** Does it ever. But you are always given fair warning before it strikes: there's a simple 3/4 music box tune with this lullaby vibe that almost always plays underneath all the major gutwrenchers. You first hear it in the preview for the next episode at the end of episode eight of the first season, accompanying Fuko's little narration. You soon learn to reach for the Kleenex on cue.
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou - Subverted. Sunohara believes that he and Tomoyo share this dynamic, but he's quickly proven wrong with a kick into the sky and nothing else, not even a passing glance from her. Ouch. Also a CrowningMomentOfFunny.
* ThirdPersonPerson - Fuko, of the small, childish variety. It's ''quite'' endearing.
* ThoseTwoGuys - Misae's two friends Saki and Yuki. Saki even [[LampshadeHanging comments on their background status]]
--->'''Saki''': Come come now, ours have always been the lives of supporting characters. *Turns to Shima* Go give it your best Main Character!
** Background characters to someone who is a background character to start with.
* ThunderShock - Experienced by both Nagisa and her theatrical mother, Sanae. In Nagisa's case, her antennae-hair is temporarily withered as a result.
* TokenLoli - Mei. Played with to no end (and by Mei herself, no less!) early on in the After Story.
* TooDumbToLive - Sunohara. And too comic relief-y to die. [[{{Buttmonkey}} Yeah.]]
* TricksterArchetype - Okazaki... just... Okazaki.
* {{Tsundere}} - Kyou. She wears light blue panties, by the way. This is important.
--->'''Kyou''': ''FORGET IIIIITTTT!!! *[[MegatonPunch kicks the above editor to the sky]]*''
* TwistedKneeCollapse - Kotomi reads books in this highly uncomfortable position while she sits on a pillow on the floor.
* UnwantedHarem - Kyou, Ryou, Tomoyo and Nagisa in Nagisa's route alone, where he does not have the chance to meet Yukine or Kotomi. The anime no doubt corrects this grave injustice. Also, Fuuko, who may or not like him outside her own route. Oh, and there's a mild mutual attraction between him and Sanae but neither even want it to go anywhere. This troper can confidently declare, however, that uh... Misae doesn't like him outside her own route. So that's seven, plus Sanae a little.
* {{Utsuge}}
* VictoriousChildhoodFriend - Kotomi in her route.
* WhamEpisode - [[spoiler:Nagisa's death]], the GrandFinale and for some, the RecapEpisode.
* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue - The montage at the end of the GrandFinale (while "Chiisana Tenohira" plays).
* WholesomeCrossdresser - Misae's friends get Shima to don a girl's uniform in After Story after he expresses a desire to see what Misae does as the StudentCouncilPresident. Everyone (including Misae) remarks on how cute "she" is, and HilarityEnsues.
* WistfulAmnesia - Both subverted and played straight in the anime [[spoiler:after Fuko disappears]].
* WomanInWhite
* TheWonka - Whatever you may say about her odder traits, Kotomi is ''still'' the most successful student in the school. Why carry scissors around everywhere? To cut paper of course!
* {{Woobie}} - Tomoya, in spades. First he [[spoiler:loses his [[DeathByChildbirth wife]], and becomes estranged with his own daughter. Five years later, they reconcile, but after a few months, the daughter falls ill and dies. Tomoya then [[DeathByDespair dies from despair]]]]. [[IGotBetter He got better]], thankfully.
* WrongGenreSavvy - Sunohara, who tries raising relationship flags as much as possible and is convinced he had a crash into hello with Kappei. Who he refuses to admit is not a {{Bokukko}} but an actual girl.
* YaoiFangirl - A bit of a stretch, but in Kappei's route in the game, Ryou states that Kyou owns some yaoi manga.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair - Kotomi, Tomoya and the Fujibayashi sisters.
* ZettaiRyouiki - Various grades:
** Kyou - Grade A.
** Ryou - Grade A when not wearing the summer uniform; she's a Grade C when wearing the summer uniform.
** The rest of the main harem are Grade C.
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