Woah, excellent: you're not alone!

So I just finished Clannad + OVA and liked it. I don't even like slice of life, but the "family" bit caught me up enough to push through; the first 12-14 episodes were even intriguing. But after that, and through ep 22, I was struggling to finish. I think I hung on waiting for the all the "sad" I'd heard about. Never got it; just got bored, and almost hung it up at 22.

So how happy am I that I loaded #23 OVA because it just made sense and I loved it (though still, no "sad"). I'm glad I walked away with "TomTom" (the alternate Tomoya/Tomoyo ending) because I had been PISSED moments earlier when 22 ended on such a stupid note! ("Will they hold hands...?!" WTF?!) I had been so pissed for wasting time on Clannad, and all that whining over kiddie issues (Nagisa's drama, whatever that was). Oh, and the dropped storylines (did that kid ever wake up from her coma? What happened with Tomoya's dad? Etc). —But the OVA with Tomoya/Tomoyo was so awesome that I can honestly say I left the series there with a smile on my face!

I honestly wondered why anyone had ever said this was "sad".

So I went to YT and caught a review video to figure that shit out, and learned about the "After Story". Well! Take away my happy ending? I don't think so! No way.

And not just because I'm spoiled, but because the reason I almost tossed my laptop in the last episodes of Clannad (eps 19-22) was that tired Nagisa storyline. I just didn't "NagTom" at all ever. Rhyo or her sister made more sense if this were going to be a romance; Tomoyo was a nice surprise. And I can be satisfied thinking Nagisa was just Tomoya's bad dream, and Tomoyo helped Tomoya get things right with his dad.

I don't intend to watch this "After Story", mainly because sub and dub Nagisa got on my last nerve, and while she was an okay "side character" at first, I just did not see NagTom coming and it was baaaddddd.

Your review is making me feel really happy with my decision to chuck After Story.