Recap: Clannad: The Place Where Wishes Come True

THIS is the reason I changed my mind and decided to do this panel for the 4th year in a row next year:

It’s Nagisa Furukawa from Clannad!

I finalized an exclusive deal with the young lady behind the cosplay earlier this week. She will be joining me every year I do this panel at Anime Boston from now on. That said, let’s get to how my third straight outing of Clannad: A Wonderful Life went.

For the first time in two years, I played video clips during the panel. Unlike last time I didn’t play a whole episode and instead played a few clips from a few episodes. I played part of the episode with Ushio’s birth but not the birth scene itself. I later played the episode where Tomoya’s grandmother tells him about his father and mother during his trip with Ushio.

Much of the same folks who came last year and the year before came this year too but there were some new faces in the crowd as well. There were cosplayers from both Clannad and Angel Beats in the audience as well. The cosplay groups hung around for a photoshoot (WOOT!) and I snapped a couple. As I said to some of my coworkers this week, I’m getting an actual digital camera for next year. Even though my Vita has the best rendering for pictures I think it would be best if I just used a real camera for taking pictures of people. I took some pictures but their faces come out fuzzy at normal size. Never again!

Anyway, towards the end the subject of what it means to be a family came up. As Tomoyo so eloquently puts it in the Anime, family doesn’t necessarily have to be your actual family. The last 25 years in particular has seen what could be considered a family redefined on so many levels. In Tomoyo and Yukine’s cases, their families were the friends they spent much of their time with. Next year, I’m going to narrow the focus a bit.

Speaking of looking ahead to next year, this panel will return of course. I will also be requesting 90 minutes, which will mark the first time I’m extending the panel after keeping it an hour the first three times. I didn’t do it this year but next year I’m bringing back an extra theme in addition to the usual Anime discussion itself.

Since I know some of the congoers who were there also follow this blog and/or my Facebook page, here’s a big hint as to what next year’s theme will be:

If you need a bit of clarity, this should help:

Got it now?

Next year’s theme will be about pregnancy and children. Despite it being hardwired into human biology, it is almost universally referred to worldwide as The Miracle of Life.

For those looking forward to next year’s panel (pending approval of course), here’s your homework assignment depending on where you are in life or may be by the time AB2015 happens.

Just pick all the ones that apply to you:

• If you have adult children (18+), be prepared to share a story or two about raising them. Grandchild/Nephew/Niece is ok as are Stepchildren and adopted children.
• If you have teenage children (13-17), be prepared to share your experiences thus far with the same alternatives as above if it applies to you.
• If you have young children (0-12), be prepared to share your experiences thus far with the same alternatives as above if it applies to you.
• If you are expecting and an adult (18+), be prepared to share your hopes, dreams and fears as you prepare for the birth of your new arrival. This applies weather the new addition is by pregnancy or adoption.
• If you are expecting and a teen (13-17), you can chose to talk about your hopes, dreams and fears as toy prepare for the birth of your new arrival.
• If you have lost a child regardless of their age when they died, you can chose to talk about your experience dealing with the loss of a child.
• If you are the parent of a child with an intellectual or cognitive disorder or disability (Dyslexia, Autism, Down Syndrome, etc.), you can chose to talk about your experiences raising your extraordinary child.
• If you know you are adopted and feel comfortable, you can talk about your life experience and how knowing you were adopted may or may not have shaped your life.

Again, just pick the ones that apply to you. If none of them do, interview someone who is expecting or recently had a baby to get their story. Trust me, this is going to make alot of sense come next year =D

…That’s all I got.

Thanks again to those who came out this year. I look forward to seeing you again next year!