So I got up to episode 18 of Clannad now.
It seems the subtitles are easier to read on the second boxset. Haven't found any typos, and I think either the subtitle timing is better, or I've gotten used to reading at a fast pace now, because I haven't to rewind as frequently.
Anyways, I now know more about Tomoyo. Er, Light Haired Tomoyo, I forgot. She reminds me of Sakaki from Azumanga Daioh. She's beautiful, but not in a cute way, has long hair, is a little taller than the other girls, and is reasonably athletic. However, unlike Sakaki, she really is one tough chick. She almost behaves like, well, like an American woman. Throw in random swear words and she almost would. Of course, this obviously has a lot more character depth than Azumanga, so Tomoyo doesn't feel like a stereotype, but rather, like a real person.
Oh, and Tomoya, I think I know why you can't stop thinking about Nagisa. I saw another character in a different anime have the same dilemma you had. I remember now.
(On the anime version of Cardcaptor Sakura, Shaoran couldn't accept the fact that he had fallen in love with Sakura, his supposed rival. He was the same way in the manga, but didn't repress it as long, to my relief.)
It's quite normal for anime guys to fall for Insanely Cute anime girls at your age; there's nothing unnatural about it.
And certainly there was nothing unnatural about the scene with Tomoya and Kyou, which, disturbingly, parodies a hentai. (Kyou falls down in gym shorts, looking extremely vulnerable. Not one to show weakness, she suddenly becomes dere and says, "I-It's my first time.") Luckily, it didn't proceed like a hentai. I do know the original VN version was renowned for not having H-scenes, unlike some other Key products. Hmm . . .
But I'm still curious. What is it about the characters that I don't know yet. What is that dreamlike world with the movie quality animation that could put Studio Ghibli to shame? Could the series possibly get anymore kawaii!? I'll have to keep watching.
IN OTHER NEWS
Way back at the tender age of 6, I was playing Mario Bros. 3 on my NES. One time, I got a 1up mushroom, but instead of playing the usual fanfare, it played some I didn't recognize, then transitioned to the usual fanfare. It actually sounded cool. But it only happened once, way back in the early 1990s. I thought I was only in discovering this glitch.
I was wrong, of course. Millions of people played that game after all. Check this quote out from tvtropes:
"Super Mario Bros 3 had an odd bug that had no explanation for years (until about 2005!) and got many gamers called crazy. The sound effects for tail-wagging and a one-up interacted in a way the developers did not anticipate. Because of the way the sound chip handles interrupts, attempting to play both at the same time results in playing the one-up sound, but reading in more data than it should. Because NES sound effects are written in reverse order, this results in a corrupted beginning, followed by the complete normal sound effect. Oddly, some people have remarked that the "extended version" sounds pretty cool. The effect can be observed here.
This video uses a hacked RAM to "extend" any sound effect"
Upon discovering this, and upon unlocking this long-buried memory of mine, I had only one reaction:
I TOLD YOU I WASN'T CRAZY! I WAS RIGHT THIS ENTIRE TIME!
I've won.
