Clannad
If you love sappy little japanime stories, this is one of the best ones out. In fact, both series are produced by the same company, Kyoto Animation. They're mostly famous for Akira and Inuyasha, but I never did watch any of those. Kyoto has been in the business since 1981 but in the last couple years they've put out some of my favorites: a remake of Kanon, Clannad and Lucky Star. Air is another series in the same category.
All these series (Kanon, Clannad, Lucky Star and Air) would fall under the cute and/or romantic sections. Lucky Star is separated out because it's purely cute and comical. The rest are much more dramatic and would probably put a few tears on your face. Clannad perhaps most of all.
Clannad aired shortly after Kanon had finished. All these series are directed and drawn by the same team, so it's obvious that anything directed by Tatsuya Ishihara falls under this cute and romantic category. Strangely, Clannad started out very much like Kanon. Same idea; you have this guy who goes to high school and is met by a large number of girls who all have these strange unexplainable quirks. His goal throughout the series is to help them all work out their quirks or at least get them all to socialize together and accomplish some goals. Strangely it seems that the guy empathetically wrestles with these quirks himself until they're "fixed". I guess it works because what guy in Japan wouldn't want a bunch of girls to hang around with, but that's not exactly the point.
Without a doubt, Clannad and Kanon can be quite emotionally involved for the viewer. There are arguments and a few fist fights and lost friends, but there's also plenty of laughs and what I can only describe as fuzzy warm feelings. (When I was younger, I had this book that was titled Today I Feel Like a Warm Fuzzy that contained a poetic daily lesson on all the different types of feelings. Random.) I would call Clannad the realistic version of Kanon because some people have animal spirits or have some kind of spiritual connection. Clannad has a little of the ghost spirit ideas, but for the most part can almost be believable in real life.
One thing I have only seen in Clannad that I haven't seen anywhere else is the depiction of life after high school and family and marriage both lively and also broken. I think it really touches on a lot of the issues that many Japanese people struggle with on a daily basis. That's probably why I like it so. That and the Big Dango Family.
All these series (Kanon, Clannad, Lucky Star and Air) would fall under the cute and/or romantic sections. Lucky Star is separated out because it's purely cute and comical. The rest are much more dramatic and would probably put a few tears on your face. Clannad perhaps most of all.
Clannad aired shortly after Kanon had finished. All these series are directed and drawn by the same team, so it's obvious that anything directed by Tatsuya Ishihara falls under this cute and romantic category. Strangely, Clannad started out very much like Kanon. Same idea; you have this guy who goes to high school and is met by a large number of girls who all have these strange unexplainable quirks. His goal throughout the series is to help them all work out their quirks or at least get them all to socialize together and accomplish some goals. Strangely it seems that the guy empathetically wrestles with these quirks himself until they're "fixed". I guess it works because what guy in Japan wouldn't want a bunch of girls to hang around with, but that's not exactly the point.
Without a doubt, Clannad and Kanon can be quite emotionally involved for the viewer. There are arguments and a few fist fights and lost friends, but there's also plenty of laughs and what I can only describe as fuzzy warm feelings. (When I was younger, I had this book that was titled Today I Feel Like a Warm Fuzzy that contained a poetic daily lesson on all the different types of feelings. Random.) I would call Clannad the realistic version of Kanon because some people have animal spirits or have some kind of spiritual connection. Clannad has a little of the ghost spirit ideas, but for the most part can almost be believable in real life.
One thing I have only seen in Clannad that I haven't seen anywhere else is the depiction of life after high school and family and marriage both lively and also broken. I think it really touches on a lot of the issues that many Japanese people struggle with on a daily basis. That's probably why I like it so. That and the Big Dango Family.