The City's Lights: Some Clannad Questions From Josh

I'm not sure how active the blog is, so I will just email you some questions I thought of,

Hope you don't mind,

*****

Well, sir, you'll find that this blog is pretty damn active, and I most certainly don't mind. I'll answer as best I can.

Tomoya/Robot collects pain/junk, and takes it to Ushio/Girl, who turns it into actualized dreams/new things.

"She has the ability to collect junk and make something new"

"It's something special I can't do"

"If junk only takes shape by wishing from one's heart, then I couldn't do it alone...because I'm...not human."- Robot

All of the painful changes Tomoya has experienced, Ushio is able to take and finally make a good change.

Children do that, sir. Most of the show is about how children save their parents, showcased by Ushio.

[Also, potentially correlation between "finding our own tools to live" and "finding our own happiness"? I don't want to over-analyze, but there are so so many correlations I want to mention them all in case.]

[Also, what is the significance of "a world that HAD ended"? Two things, it seems like the Robot previously was in the other world, then went there, then returned. Anything to that? Then, why is the world "ended" and "sad"?]

[It's interesting how the girl is looking after the robot just as much as the inverse.]

Welcome to parenting, where the children save the adults while the adults protect the children. I honestly believe that children are God's gift to humanity and, without them, we'd all be lost. Fresh souls are necessary to help us remember all the truths that we forgot because idiots got to us and convinced us we were wrong to believe how good the world is.

[I think it only showed three sheep. What are the best parallels to them you have heard?]

Honestly, the best I've heard is that the sheep are Akio, Sanae, and Fuko. Beyond that I haven't really thought it out much.

[More potentially forced parallels: The other doll they tried to make, does it represent Nagisa? Then, specific relevance of the see-saw and the helicopter? I don't remember what events these were shown during, but these are just more thoughts.]

I would posit that the doll just represents them trying to form a family without Nagisa, which doesn't work. Or you could say that they're the dangos they hold to themselves and wish that Nagisa is there. I dunno, to be honest.

[Oooh, I noticed an inconsistency. The girl says "if only I could shed tears", but previously she did cry. I'm going to pretend this contradiction doesn't exist...]

Girls are contradictory. Feelings are contradictory. Funny how that works :P

[When the girl says she can't do anything anymore, does that have any connection to Ushio needing Tomoya to give up his bitterness before she can implement her wish? If not, what does the coming winter in that world represent?]

Yes, yes it does. Without Tomoya Ushio can't do anything anymore.

[Then there is the brilliant parallel between the Robot's regret of bringing the girl out, and Tomoya's regret of meeting Nagisa.]

More specifically Tomoya regretting ever having Ushio. Ushio's existence was something Tomoya regretted so strongly he abandoned Nagisa.

What is that world, and when is it?

It's heavily implied that each world is a separate mind of a person. Time doesn't exactly count in the mind, so the "when" doesn't really count. Tomoya and Ushio are connected supernaturally, thanks to the efforts of the town.

I'm hoping those questions were answered alright for your taste, Josh. Thanks for being so patient as I was on vacation in Colorado and I started the first week of school!