Tomoyo After ~Dear Shining Memories~

Key (adj) k-ee Any story described as "Key" starts in a happy and sweet manner, then suddenly throws the reader in heart-aching despair, then whole-hearted admiration for the strong characters who over-came that despair. This is what I think of Tomoyo After. Alrite, most ppl who would want to read this are mostly affected by Clannad in its many forms (Manga, Anime, Movie). For those who are not in this group, do not fret. You can still enjoy this manga equally. To put it simply,"Tomoyo after story" is set one year after Okazaki Tomya graduated from high school where Tomoyo is his girlfriend (Think the Clannad Gamewhere you went the Tomoyo Path.) *SPOILER-ISH* Like most other stuff Key made, the start of the story (or arc) starts off with heart-melting sweetness that magnify GAR and MOE by like infinity. Then the main characters will fall into a tragedy. Given that their GAR and MOE is really strong, it is really painful to read (emotionally) After the tragedy, the characters would have become emotionally stronger and continue with their life, which wraps up the story with satisfied readers. I have to admit, i actually cried (internally) for this manga on the last chapter. This is one of the saddest ending I've ever seen, yet it is also beautiful. One word: Bittersweet Recommend to anyone who enjoy romance

Short. That was the first thing that came to mind when I saw this manga. A game that's as long as Nagisa's story line in Clannad is condensed into 4 chapters? Let me tell you now that if you have played Tomoyo After already don't bother reading this manga. Admittedly, when I first read through it, I thought the manga was a poor adaptation. However, taking the merits of the original game and the length of manga into consideration, I can say that the author did fairly well. Storyline is entirely hit or miss depending on whether the reader has played Clannad and Tomoyo After. Thestory moves way too fast with not enough transitions for a reader new to the series to fully grasp the situation. Having watched/played Clannad isn't a necessity, but it does help flesh out the story background. If you've played Tomoyo After, though, that's another story. Taken on its own, before or after Clannad, the story is anything from good to great. However, if, like me, you have already played the game you'll be glad that it's only 4 chapters and didn't waste more than 30 minutes of your life. Some events are added in manga that doesn't really add anything to the storyline. Not only that, due to the extremely short length of the manga, many events and even characters are outright missing. Speaking of characters, this is probably the strong point of the manga adaptation. Even though a main character from the game is missing, the rest of the characters do have some depth despite the length deficit. Both Tomoyo and Tomoya will grow on you, each with their own distinct personality, problems, and viewpoints. Stylistically the manga stayed pretty close to the game, which isn't a bad thing at all. Especially, the manga does a great job portraying fear and insecurity each person felt at different points of time, which really helps convey some of these experiences and emotions and make readers feel for these characters. Did I enjoy the manga? Definitely not when I first finished it. However, this is not the fault of the manga alone. Annoyances like missing characters aside, I never liked the ending in the original game either. However, it is a very moving tale, and all in all I enjoyed the story's progression towards the disappointing ending. As you can see from the overall score, even though I pointed out a lot of the negatives, my lasting impression is still a very positive one. There are far more people who hasn't played Tomoyo After than those who has. Taken on its own, the manga is still a great story with memorable characters, and as such I recommend to the majority of people who read manga. The only gripe I can see is the brevity. Four chapters is definitely not enough to develop these characters, and the events seem rushed. That, and don't play the game before you read the manga.

Tomoyo After is a spinoff of Clannad, based off of a visual novel. Instead of Nagisa being the winner of the harem, Tomoyo is, and this manga tells about the trials the pair faces. It's also as rushed as hell. Tomoyo After is very episodic in nature. The chapters barely connect at all, and each chapter seems to have about five chapters worth of materiel in it. Like Clannad, Tomoyo After has the goal of making you cry. However, due to its rushed nature, you don't get that chance. I never felt any connection to any of the characters, and due to this the drama feltvery force. Actually, the drama is forced, and all of the situations that appear are dumb and have no build-up. Two of the side characters also look exactly the same. The art itself is okay. Nothing special, but nothing really memorable either. Tomoyo After is a very mediocre manga. Fans of the game might want to check it out, but if you've never played the game like I have, then there's really nothing special here.