Whether it’s games, anime, or books, there’s a lot of Clannad out in the wild.
The classic Japanese visual novel developed by Key is a sprawling story divided into many branching paths across two parts—School Life and After Story. School Life is appropriately set when the main cast is still in high school, while After Story takes place years later. For more details on the series’ themes and plot, you can read more about Clannad here.
After Story was later turned into its own anime adaptation. But where can you catch it? Here’s everything fans need to know.
How to watch Clannad: After Story
Clannad: After Story was produced by Kyoto Animation and directed by Tatsuya Ishihara. The series serves as a sequel season to KyoAni’s adaptation of Clannad’s first part. You can watch Clannad: After Story on HIDIVE and VRV in the U.S.
Before working on the extensive adaptation, Ishihara collaborated with KyoAni on anime versions of Key’s first two games, Kanon and Air, and had just directed The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. KyoAni’s Clannad series is still well regarded today and introduced Clannad to many English-speaking viewers, as the visual novel did not receive a proper release outside of Japan until 2015.
There have been many other Clannad adaptations since KyoAni’s series concluded, and the studio’s two-season TV show wasn’t the franchise’s first introduction into anime. In 2007, months before the series aired, Toei Animation released a 90-minute Clannad film. The studio previously worked on animated film adaptations of Kanon and Air as well.