Clannad Filler List is one of the most beloved visual novel that has ever been released, you just have to go on YouTube and look around to see that. This alone makes it a prime target for fan-made content, but the quality, or lack thereof, mostly results in me not mentioning them here. But today I am going to be talking about something else entirely.
During my frequent sessions of watching Clannad related stuff on Youtube, I often come across lists made by either fans or so called “experts” which are filled with tons of titles some I might have heard before while others completely new to me. And when they aren’t mentioning Sakura Taisen , then they are naming yet another Naruto filler arc as essential viewing for any Clannad fan. These lists are filled to the brink with titles that I wouldn’t consider “filler”, but rather “adaptations” or “alternate universes”. This, of course, can be a bit confusing for those looking for a quick filler list and might lead them to believe that all these adaptations and other Clannad related media are all canon, which is definitely not the case.
Clannad Filler List:
| 1 | On the Hillside Path Where the Cherry Blossoms Flutter | MANGA CANON | 2007-10-04 |
| 2 | The First Step | MANGA CANON | 2007-10-11 |
| 3 | Once Again After Crying | MANGA CANON | 2007-10-18 |
| 4 | Let’s Find Friends | MANGA CANON | 2007-10-25 |
| 5 | The Scenery With a Carving | MANGA CANON | 2007-11-01 |
| 6 | The Older and Younger Sister’s Founder’s Festival | MANGA CANON | 2007-11-08 |
| 7 | Star-Shaped Feelings | MANGA CANON | 2007-11-15 |
| 8 | The Wind That Vanishes Into Dusk | MANGA CANON | 2007-11-22 |
| 9 | Until the End of the Dream | MANGA CANON | 2007-11-29 |
| 10 | The Girl Genius’ Challenge | MANGA CANON | 2007-12-06 |
| 11 | The After School Rhapsody | MANGA CANON | 2007-12-13 |
| 12 | Hidden World | MANGA CANON | 2007-12-20 |
Garden of Memories:
| 13 | Garden of Memories | FILLER | 2008-01-10 |
| 14 | Theory of Everything | FILLER | 2008-01-17 |
| 15 | Stuck Problem | MANGA CANON | 2008-01-24 |
| 16 | 3 on 3 | FILLER | 2008-01-31 |
| 17 | A Room Without Anyone | FILLER | 2008-02-07 |
| 18 | Counter Measures | FILLER | 2008-02-14 |
| 19 | A New Life | MANGA CANON | 2008-02-28 |
| 20 | A Hidden Past | MANGA CANON | 2008-03-06 |
| 21 | Face Toward the School Festival | MANGA CANON | 2008-03-13 |
| 22 | Two Shadows | MANGA CANON | 2008-03-20 |
| 23 | The Events of Summer Holidays | MANGA CANON | 2008-03-27 |
In fact, less than half of the titles listed here actually contain any sort of story from the original work. The rest are simply made up by fans as something akin to fan-fiction. In an effort to make things easier on everyone I decided to create a list solely consisting of actual FILLER episodes from Clannad TV series or movies. I will also be tentatively including the two Toradora! OVAs in this list because they contain a story separate from the main work, but you are free to debate their inclusion in the comments section below.
Clannad TV Series
Episode 06 – Kyou Fujibayashi turns into a masochist and Sunohara tries to help her by letting her beat him up. This episode doesn’t have any direct consequences on other arcs or anything of that sort, so it’s just here to build some character relationships between Tomoyo , Kotomi , Ryou , Kyou , Fuko , Sunohara , Tomoya and Nagisa .
Episode 12
A light 4-koma type of episode featuring Kotomi Ichinose. Nothing really happens here that affects the main arcs, but it’s necessary for Kyou Fujibayashi’s character development.
Episode 21
This is where things get interesting…Koumura Takuya moves back in with the rest of his family which gives us a peek at how different each family can be. The episode also revolves around Mei Sunohara and her mother Akio with some hilarious results! As expected there are no lasting effects on anything else except maybe Fuko if you consider her blushing outbursts towards Koumura as progress to their relationship status.
Episode 23
This one revolves around the main cast checking out an old abandoned house for some reason. Fuko is here too…somewhat, but she isn’t really relevant. No lasting effects at all. Just filler with no plot development whatsoever. You can skip it without any regrets!
Episode 24
We are introduced to another important character in this episode, Tomoyo Sakagami , as well as her home life which shows us just how different she is from the rest of the group. The final scene also sets up something that will come into play later on in After Story . No real plot here though…it’s mostly half character development and half comedy, so you can give this one a pass if you don’t like Tomoyo .
Episode 27
One of the best episodes in my opinion. Mei Sunohara plays detective to find out why Koumura is spending so much time with her. It’s quite interesting seeing how everyone deals with their problems and there are also some nice scenes between Mei and Koumura ! This episode will have minor effects on After Story , but it’s up to you if you want to watch this or not since it doesn’t affect anything major. Plus, Takafumi isn’t even present! Skip if that bothers you too much.
These are nothing more than cute little side-stories showing us how each sister deals with their problems in life and it’s nice to get to see them interact together. Kyou is still the same tsundere she is during the TV series, but Ryou changes quite a bit! We don’t even need to talk about Takafumi since he isn’t even here (story focus = sisters). So feel free to watch these before After Story if you want…they aren’t crucial at all .
Clannad The Movie
This one contains an original story not found in any of the other works. It takes place after Fuko has already graduated high school and everyone moves onto different things in their lives. You really can’t skip this one since it’s basically the sequel to After Story , but there aren’t any major continuity errors even if you haven’t watched The Movie before.
Clannad Filler List ~After Story~ TV Series
Episode 04
This episode revolves around Jun Satou and his family dealing with poverty after Satou’s father loses his job. It’s a nice change of pace from all the arc-related episodes and we also get introduced to Akio in a little bit more detail than what we got in the main TV series! As expected, no real plot development here…it was just filler .
Episode 13
We meet another important character in this episode: Toshio Koum ( Takafumi’s dad ). It’s a heart-warming episode for the most part as Takafumi tries to buy his dad a birthday present, but it shows us more about Toshio and why he is the way he is. It doesn’t really affect what happens after this point in any way though.
Episode 15
A fun filler with no real plot development on anything other than Tomoyo’s character! We get to see her family life here which gives us an insight into how both her sister Ryouko Kurosawa and her cousin Nagisa Furukawa will eventually turn out by the end of After Story . You can skip this one if you want…it’s nothing too important.
Episode 22
The final filler episode before we get into the meat of After Story . It doesn’t really add anything into the mix, but it’s a nice episode to watch if you’re interested in knowing more about Kyou and Ryou. The only real problem with them is that they have almost no screentime in the main series! Skip this one if you want…it isn’t important to the plot much .
Episode 24
Back again with another filler episode! This time we get introduced to Shima’s family life since Tomoya gets to meet his dad for the first time since he got remarried. If you’ve ever played Little Busters , then you’ll be familiar with Shima Tokiwa since he was a character in that game too, although there isn’t too much of a difference between the two…besides the fact that this Shima is male! I highly recommend watching this episode if you want to know more about Tomoya and his friends as it shows us how everyone changes as they grow older .
Episode 26
Inaho wakes up from her coma after spending several years in one. She tries to fit back into society, but there are just some things that have changed too much over time for her to fully adapt. It’s a nice episode which shows how she adjusts to everything and why she acts the way she does at first later on outside Nagisa’s house. As expected though, no major plot developments here whatsoever so feel free to skip if you want…it isn’t that important.
Episode 28
This episode shows us that things really aren’t as “happy” as they appear! Kyou is still a bit hung up over Tomoya and she can’t let it go…even if she does try to make friends with the other girls in the group. It’s mainly development for her character though, so you can skip it if you want…it isn’t THAT important .
Episode 29
Here we see how both Youhei Sunohara and Tomoyo meet their respective spouses which leads into After Story . Obviously this is another filler episode, but it has no major importance at all so feel free to skip if you want…nothing happens here anyways.
Clannad ~After Story~ TV Series
Episode 14
This episode gives us some more insight into Shima’s character, but nothing really major happens here. You can skip it if you want…nothing important to the plot happens here .
Episode 16
That’s right, ANOTHER filler episode! Like all of them before it though, this one doesn’t add anything significant to the plot so you can feel free to skip it if you want…it isn’t needed at all.
Episode 18
Kyou returns in this episode! It’s a joyous occasion for Ryou and Tomoya since they haven’t seen her in a long time , but there is still tension between Kyou and Tomoya from what happened when they were kids. This