Trivia / CLANNAD

• Breakthrough Hit: CLANNAD was the first major license for Sentai Filmworks after the demise of ADV Films.^note  It was actually initially announced as an ADV title and was planned to have a release like Kanon's – neat boxset, dub, etc. Kyle Jones, director for Kanon and Air, even did a preliminary casting call. Shortly thereafter, thanks to a combination of the worldwide financial crash and ADV's legal troubles (read its page), it became clear that successor company Sentai would not have the operating capital to do such a lavish release. So they bunged out a bare-bones subtitled-only DVD that was slammed by critics for a dry translation and multiple typos. Despite that, it sold beyond their wildest dreams. So well, in fact, that when it came time to do a rerelease, they had enough money to give it a dub… although they had to use a less expensive director (Steven Foster) and had far less time for script polishing and recording than they were used to. The English localization of the VN also raised the profile of its publisher, Sekai Project. The success of the VN's fundraising prompted Key to localize several other of its major visual novels in turn: Tomoyo After, Little Busters! and Rewrite, both on their own and in collaboration with Sekai Project, after Key previously said they weren't interested in exporting their VNs to the Anglosphere. Their 2016 visual novel Harmonia was in fact released in English shortly before its Japanese release.
• Cash-Cow Franchise: Starting as a visual novel, CLANNAD has become a multimedia project, spawning manga, an anime film and TV series and drama CDs.
• Cross-Dressing Voices: Kappei Hiiragi, Katsuki Shima and Yuu.
• The Danza: Kyou. Not quite, but close enough to be confusing. Her name is Kyou; her Polar Opposite Twin is Ryou; her seiyuu is named Ryo.
• Executive Meddling: It was Key that insisted on the DRM in the physical edition of Sekai Project's localized version of the VN. Thankfully, after coming to an agreement with Sekai Project later on, the physical editions were launched DRM-free.
• Fandom Nod: The CLANNAD After Story anime answered a much speculated question in the fandom: What happens if Sanae's Bread meets Akiko's Jam? "It's the ultimate combination!"
• Late Export for You: Prior to Sekai Project's release of an official English version in late 2015 (on Steam, no less), the VN was one of the most frustrating examples of No Export for You, given the popularity of the anime in the West.
• Newbie Boom: This happened with the anime. Despite the fact that both Air and Kanon were popular, this series ended up attracting more fans than the other two combined. This led to a large group of Clannad fans who were largely independent of the Key/Visual Arts fandom, who hadn't even heard of the earlier works (and didn't feel obligated to check them out). This happened again with Angel Beats! a few years later.
  • Averted in the West, where – for the most part – those interested in Clannad were fans already familiar with the earlier releases of Air and Kanon.
• Schedule Slip: The original VN was announced in 2001 with a 2002 release date, but it only came out in 2004.
• Star-Making Role: The anime's English dub put both David Matranga and Emily Neves on the map. Granted, the former was already a well-established voice actor but he gained further fame with Tomoya (and both VAs would eventually gain even further fame in several Funimation dubs afterwards).
• Troubled Production:
  • The VN was originally slated for release in 2002, but Key took until 2004 polishing up the scenarios. The development suffered lots of setbacks, including one of the scenario writers getting stabbed partway through.
  • Narrowly subverted during the production of the official English version of the VN by Sekai Project. A glitch in the translation software they were using accidentally deleted all of their progress up to that point. A backup of their work was thankfully on hand, and production could continue as planned.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Yukine was supposed to be a main heroine in planning, but was demoted to a secondary character as her story did not match expectations. This is why she's featured on some cover art for the visual novel alongside the other main girls, despite only being a minor character.
  • Sanae was originally going to be overweight in her early character design, but was slimmed down to give her a more youthful appearance. The designers considered having an option to fatten her up.
  • The Fujibayashi sisters were going to be saved from a burning school building by "Clannadman." Jun Maeda came up with this scenario after the original writer for the route was stabbed and had to spend some time recuperating in the hospital.
  • Kotomi was going to be an Emotionless Girl.
  • Fuko was going to be a more serious character, before she was changed into the comic relief. This change possibly spared her life, as the conclusion of her route seems to have been originally written under the premise that she passed away.
• Written for My Kids: The reason this was an all-ages game was so that Key's president could create something his kids could enjoy, as opposed to the adult VNs the company had been known for up to that point. He also says that the anime was a labor of love for Kyoto Animation as well.

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