Chapter 242 So It Really Is a Warm, Cheerful Story—The Old Thief Didn't Lie!
"Wow, this shift in the color palette…"
Sirin felt a tingling numbness run through her body. Frowning, she racked her brains to put her feelings into words: "It's like, it's like… only after meeting this girl did the protagonist's life gain color—only then did it start moving again…"
[Hiss—who are you?! A pufferfish wouldn't say something like that!!!]
[Uh-oh, the pufferfish is getting poetic. There goes my youth!!]
[But the pufferfish isn't wrong. Could this be major foreshadowing?]
The "full CLANNAD screening" banner carried plenty of weight. In no time, the viewer count doubled. Many newcomers spammed the chat asking if the "full series" claim was real, but more people dove straight into discussing the plot—or teasing the pufferfish.
"Hey!!! What do you mean I 'got artistic'? I've always been a very artistic girl, okay!!"
Sirin glared at the camera, puffing her cheeks and huffing in protest.
Of course, even she felt a little guilty saying that. After complaining, she muttered things like "Focus on the show; don't type off-topic stuff," and forced herself to ignore the wall of mocking comments.
On screen, the girl took two light steps to stand shoulder to shoulder with the boy. The two of them walked together down that long, cherry-blossom-lined slope, leaving the audience with their slowly receding backs.
Then the scene cut—the opening began.
An airy, ethereal voice rang out immediately. In that instant, Sirin's body trembled as her eyes widened slightly.
Those viewers who were about to barrage the chat telling Sirin to skip the OP fell silent too, listening in a daze to the sound in their headphones.
When the music supervisor's name appeared as the OP played, Sirin drew in a sharp breath.
"No way—Xander actually got Eden-Sis to do the OP!!!"
A month ago at dinner, Xander Masato had casually joked about asking Eden to help with some of the music for the game and the anime. Everyone thought he was kidding and didn't take it seriously.
I mean, why use a sledgehammer to crack a nut!!!
And yet the guy actually went and asked Eden-Sis!!!
[I don't understand, but I'm deeply shocked…]
[Grand. Love it. Thumbs-up.jpg]
[So this is the power of Gensokyo, huh. Consider me enlightened.]
Quips were quips and sighs were sighs—it didn't stop anyone from listening to the OP properly. This was a new song from Eden; how could you not listen carefully?
Some viewers even wanted Sirin to rewind and play it again. Sirin was tempted, but remembering the vow she'd made at the start, she could only refuse firmly. If you want to hear it again, you'll have to wait for the next episode.
After that, the plot unfolded into daily life from the protagonist Tomoya Okazaki's point of view.
First up was Youhei Sunohara—he looked a bit like a punk, but he was righteous to the core, a good bro and a good friend. Every time he said or did something dumb, you couldn't help but laugh.
Next was the gentle, cute, quiet class rep Ryou Fujibayashi from the protagonist's class.
"I like her. Cute!" Sirin's eyes sparkled as she delivered her verdict.
Soon after, the strong-willed Kyou Fujibayashi, who always protected her twin sister, made her entrance.
"I like her too. Cute!" Sirin reviewed again.
And of course, there was our most important heroine—Nagisa Furukawa—who wore a gentle smile every day and spoke like a small animal with an adorable trailing lilt.
"The heroine is so cute, I love her!!" Sirin reviewed yet again.
[So basically if it's a girl, you like her?]
[Turns out the pufferfish is an archangel; they're all your wings, huh?]
[Pah! Clownfish!]
"Tch, you guys don't get it. That's called appreciation, okay? Appreciation—ever heard of it?"
Leaving aside Sirin's bickering with chat, the story continued.
On a rainy day, the heroine stood on the basketball court holding a ball, only to learn that because of an argument with his father, the protagonist could no longer lift his arm. Her excitement felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped over it, and she instantly dimmed.
Just when everyone thought Old Thief Masato had let them bask in two episodes of slice-of-life and was now ready to stab them with a knife, the plot didn't go the way they imagined.
Using that moment as a turning point, the leads began working toward rebuilding the drama club.
Along the way, the Furukawa couple appeared and made the audience collectively declare, "Ma'am, I'm available." Nagisa Furukawa's mom, Sanae—lively and adorable—hit a whole swath of viewers right in their XP.
Later, they met a cute girl named Fuko in an empty classroom. She wanted her sister to find happiness, so she carved five-pointed "starfish" wooden charms and gave them to everyone at school, asking them to send their blessings to her sister.
Although an investigation revealed that the real Fuko was still lying in a coma at the hospital, the leads decided to help Fuko anyway.
They made starfish together at Sanae's bakery and worked hard to talk to everyone at school.
The process had everyone laughing and crying; many sincerely wished for Fuko to succeed.
In the end, thanks to everyone's efforts, Fuko's sister was granted permission to hold her wedding at the school, and the date was set. Her sister was about to welcome her own happiness.
But just then, the development Sirin dreaded arrived.
After that, everyone gradually began to lose their memories of Fuko, until only the two leads were left.
At night in a school classroom, the two of them sat on the floor with Fuko, leaning against the wall, closing their eyes, and falling asleep.
At this point, Sirin couldn't smile anymore.
By the next day—sure enough—the Fuko who had accompanied the audience for four episodes was gone.
Everyone had forgotten that small, adorable girl. Something stuck in Sirin's throat; she felt unbearably awful.
Thankfully—whether out of the Old Thief's mercy or not—at the end of that episode, at her sister's wedding, the phantom Fuko appeared once more to give her sister her blessing in person.
[Thank goodness. I thought that was a knife. This last bit totally saved it!!!]
[This sincere sisterly bond—an older sister thinking of her younger sister, and the younger sister worrying about her older sister—is truly moving.]
[I take back what I said about the Old Thief. Sorry—I was ignorant.]
This depiction of sisterly love was excellent; it touched the softest part of many hearts.
Sirin's eyes were shining with emotion too—but the moment she thought of her "good sister" Kiana who was always stealing Xander's time, all that emotion evaporated. She couldn't cry, couldn't laugh, and she just about fell apart.
The subsequent plot didn't disappoint either.
There was the genius girl Kotomi Ichinose, who had met the protagonist as a child; the cool and beautiful Tomoyo Sakagami.
In the game, these characters had lengthy routes and were no less popular than Nagisa Furukawa, but since the anime followed Nagisa's route, some of their heart-throbbing moments were naturally missing.
Then Youhei Sunohara's little sister appeared, making it clear to everyone that this guy wasn't just comic relief—he was a truly good brother.
Watching with rapt attention up to the end of Season 1—when Nagisa's father, Akio, burst into the hall shouting for Nagisa to do her best—the seamless storytelling whipped everyone's emotions into a frenzy. Then Sanae, Tomoya, and Nagisa's friends… under everyone's gaze, Nagisa finally completed the play.
"Phew… bingeing it in one go feels amazing. Same time tomorrow—don't miss Season 2~"
[Didn't expect the Old Thief really wasn't lying—a warm story about youth and family.]
[Yeah, yeah. Aside from Fuko's arc cutting a bit deep, the rest was really well done. But why do I feel… a tiny bit disappointed?]
[That's the M in you. Go see a doctor, pal. What's wrong with warmth? Why do you have to crave soul-crushing angst to feel anything?]
[I'm already looking forward to tomorrow's episodes. Can we fast-forward time?!]
[Let me watch one more—just one more—I'll do anything!!]
[You, sir, only ever think about yourself.]
[....]
Sirin sat back in her chair, ended the stream, and stretched, relaxed. The stream was off, but the bullet chat didn't slow down at all. Still savoring the plot, the viewers simply turned the live room into a discussion board, firing off hot takes one after another.
By evening, discussions about CLANNAD in the Gensokyo community even briefly surpassed Pokémon to take the top spot!
After sitting all day, Sirin felt drained. She stood to walk it off, glanced at the dark sky outside, and twisted her waist as she headed for the door.
It was her first time going downstairs in days—even lunch had been delivered by Seele, and she'd barely moved from her seat.
"Ah, Sirin, you're out. I was just about to come call you for dinner!"
As soon as she opened the door, Sirin saw Kiana coming up to the second floor. She waved with a smile.
"Oh, it's dinner time already."
"Streaming is fine, but take care of your body a little, okay? Meals should be on time."
Kiana wagged her finger, sounding like she was lecturing her.
Sirin's first instinct was to retort, but Fuko's story flashed through her mind. Thinking that Kiana was worrying about her, her heart softened. She replied gently, "Mm."
"Mm?"
Now it was Kiana's turn to look confused. Walking at Sirin's side, she watched her with a puzzled expression.
"Why are you staring at me like that?" Sirin asked, baffled.
"It's just—you feel a little off today."
"You're the one who's off!!"
"Ahh, that's more like it~"
Only when Sirin snapped at her did Kiana nod in satisfaction.
"You, honestly…"
Sirin didn't know what to say to Kiana—exasperated yet amused.
It was Saturday, so of course everyone was home, crowded around the dining room, all lively and rowdy.
The dinner carefully prepared by Seele and Mei had already been set on the table. The aroma made Sirin's fingers twitch. Just as she was about to dig in, Kiana's voice snagged her attention.
"Xander, Xander—who's your favorite character in CLANNAD?"
"Hm?"
Xander Masato had just put a slice of mushroom in his mouth. He chewed and swallowed, then set his chopsticks down and thought. "I actually like all of them quite a lot, but my favorite hasn't appeared yet. Ah~"
As he finished, he opened his mouth and bit down on a meatball that Seele popped in.
"Hasn't appeared yet—so that means there'll be new characters in Season 2!" Kiana's eyes lit up.
"Who is it, who is it—another cute girl?" Elysia-Sis asked, curious.
"Mm… let's keep that secret for now. Saying it would be a spoiler."
Mouth still a bit full, Xander spoke slowly.
He hadn't shown the script to anyone at home. Even Griseo had only handled some of the route illustrations and didn't know the whole plot.
"You really love keeping people in suspense. Tell us~" Kiana begged in a cutesy tone. Unfortunately, Xander still shook his head.
"You'll know tomorrow anyway. No need to rush."
"Ehh~ stingy!"
Kiana puffed her cheeks in complaint.
"Wait, wait—you guys watched CLANNAD too?"
After spacing out for a while, Sirin finally came to her senses, eyes wide as she looked around the family gathered at the table.
Everyone looked at her in confusion until Bronya spoke first: "We watched all day downstairs in the living room. You didn't know, Sirin?"
"Eh???"
Sirin stared, still lost. "You watched together?"
"Yeah. Stuff like this is obviously best watched together for the atmosphere!" Kiana replied. Then, as if remembering something, she added a tiny gripe: "It's just that it was too crowded around Xander. I could only lean over his shoulder from behind…"
She sneaked a glance at Xander. Naturally, Xander didn't respond to her hint, making Kiana stomp her foot in frustration.
During the day, Xander Masato sat in the middle; Seele sat on his lap; Griseo sat on Seele's lap; Elysia and Bronya—like two door guardians—claimed left and right completely; and the late-arriving Kiana could only lean helplessly over his shoulder.
With no seat left, Huiyejian didn't mind at all—she went to sit with Mei, and the two of them chatted and laughed in their own world.
Maybe because they were from the same hometown, those two had been getting closer and closer recently.
"..."
Clack.
Sirin's chopsticks fell onto her plate.
E—Everyone watched together—and you could sit by Xander's side, even be held by him, sit in his arms, cuddling while discussing the plot…
Realizing what she'd missed out on—just imagining it made Sirin's heart bleed.
Swallowing the pain and gritting her teeth, she demanded, "Then why didn't anyone tell me…"
"Didn't you say yesterday that you wanted to watch with the audience on stream? So we didn't call you."
Xander's reply made Sirin clamp her mouth shut in agony.
Watching with those goofy netizens—how could that compare to watching with you!!!
Why didn't you say so earlier? If I'd known, I wouldn't have streamed these two days!!!
She only wished she could go back to yesterday and punch herself in the face.
Why did I have to show off in front of those clown netizens? I really shot myself in the foot.
With that heartache, the next day arrived in a flash.
A promise was a promise. To keep her word, Sirin had no choice but to head upstairs to stream again. She even tried to get Xander to watch with her, but the girls at home unanimously voted her down, and in the end she could only sit alone in the streaming chair, all deflated.
When the stream went live, staring at the flood of greetings and cries to hurry up, Sirin said bitterly, grief and indignation mixing on her face: "You people have no idea how much I've sacrificed for this screening!!!"
[Lol, sounds like the Old Thief caught the pufferfish in the act yesterday. So this is your punishment, huh~]
[Enough, enough—we get it. Start already, I can't wait!!]
[Season 1 was so warm; Season 2 should be the same, right? I called my girlfriend to watch with me this time—Old Thief, don't let me down. Whether tonight's a success, it's all on you!!]
With a heart weighed down by sorrow, Sirin clicked on Episode 1 of CLANNAD ~After Story~.
Hopefully, the story to come could heal the sadness in her heart.
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