If you’ve seen Clannad then you’ll know that there aren’t many Anime like it. It possesses a unique style, loveable and interesting characters, and gorgeous animation. Now, with this Anime, you’ll get a similar vibe, but with a twist. To me, this Anime gives off the same vibe as Kimi ni Todoke. It’s very sweet and I think you’ll really like it. And that Anime is Orange. This is an Anime focused on romance with an awesome concept as well.
Don’t worry, this post is spoiler free, but I do have to reveal some details up to Episode 3 where I discuss the main plot of the Anime and how it is linked to the character in the future, but none of that is going to spoil the ending of the Anime for you. So let’s get into the Anime most similar to Clannad that you need to watch.
Quick overview of the Anime Most Similar To Clannad
So what is this Anime about? Well, it follows the main character, Naho. Naho’s a very sweet and kind girl. She returns to school when she is 16, on her second year, when she receives a strange letter. The thing is, this letter is from herself. Weird right? When she goes home to check the letters hand righting with her own, she realises that it’s really her handwriting.
Now the letter tells her things that will happen on her first day, about another student, Kakeru, who the letter says will sit next to her in class. He does. Upon receiving more letters, she begins to realise that the person writing them must be her and that the objective of them is to help her have no regrets in the life she is living right now.
You see, where Clannad works on that complicated multiverse concept, Orange works on a different concept. One where the main character writes letters to herself in order to correct the mistakes she made in the past and therefore, allow her to have no regrets in her future.
Or in her words “by doing things that the previous me wouldn’t want me to do, I’ll change the future.” Or something like that. Even though the animation style is drastically different to Clannad, it gives off the same playful and wholesome tone we got from it. I’m not going to spoil but let’s face it, if it’s anything similar to Clannad, then you can expect some heartbreak and sad scenes.
However, if you’re into that, then I promise this Anime is for you. Also, it looks way more mainstream and professional. Not to say that Clannad isn’t. It’s a very beautiful show to see, with tons of carefully drawn backdrops. In other words, it’s easy on the eyes.
Now, back to the story. In the first episode, it’s obvious that Naho likes Kakeru, and over the course of the earlier episodes, their relationship grows at a steady pace. It’s unclear at the start whether he likes her back, and when he gets asked out by another character in the series it’s obvious that Naho is upset with this, although she does not show it.
Naho wonders if he will say yes since Kakeru says he’ll give her an answer after the break. Anyway, in the same episode, it’s revealed that he says yes, much to Naho’s disappointment. Bear in mind that this is only episode 3. Think about how much of this there is to go. We’re only at this point and there is already some drama and romance involved.
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In comparison with Clannad, the show isn’t as slow as you might think. On top of that, during the episodes, we get future scenes of the groups of friends 10 years in the future. Presumably when they are all 26 or 27 etc. Within the first 3 episodes, the plot is set up very well, and it seems that the objective of Naho is to “save” Kakeru, who is revealed in Episode 3, to have killed himself.
However, this is not in the beginning when Naho is just 16, but in the future. This is because in a few of the future scenes, his friends (when opening a box of belongings and a letter addressed to all of them) tells them how much he cared for them and leaves them little notes about what he found nice about them.
Easy-to-follow & wonderful plot
So, the plot of this Anime, is for Naho, the main character, to not only save Kakeru, but to also correct any mistake she made in the past. I think if you like Clannad, you will like this Anime very much.
Now, it seems that Naho’s friends suss that she likes Kakeru, and they are convinced that she is “hiding something” from them. Regardless of what they think, the letter states that Naho needs to start talking to Kakeru, even though he’s going out with Ueda Rio. Although, she’s scared to tell Kakeru that she likes him.
The reason for this is that Naho realises that it’s easy for her to tell her to move toward Kakeru, because she is doing this from the comfort of the future, and not in the past where the younger Naho is now. It’s quite a dilemma.
Can you imagine if you had the chance to talk to your former self when you were a 16-year-old teen? Imagine all the mistakes you correct that your past self had made.
The problem would be getting your past self to not make those mistakes, and writing letters to yourself, or notes would be hard, you’d most likely not obey them or not be able to carry them out.
And that is exactly the situation that Naho finds herself in during Orange. Technically it’s in Naho’s past but then it’s an alternative past? It’s kind of hard to get your head around, so you can understand Naho’s problems. I mean, maybe it is her real past and she’s getting another shot at it, but the plot will become more clear as the show progresses.
Great Anime to watch
If you’re looking for a nicer, more friendly, less dramatic Anime similar to Clannad, drawn in a different way with a slightly wider range of characters then Orange is most likely for you.
The plot is very easy to follow, and just like the Anime Kimi ni Todoke (From Me to You), which we mentioned in our Top 5 Romance Anime post, the main character is extremely nice, well-liked, kind and caring, making her time on screen very enjoyable for the viewers.
I’m certain that if you really give this Anime a go you will like it. It’s not totally similar to Clannad and that’s a good thing because if you’ve just finished watching Clannad then you might be wanting something a little different as opposed to a story that is completely the same.
Luckily for you, the story of Orange is very different to Clannad, and on top of that, there is the hope of a nice, happy, fulfilling and conclusive ending. So if you want to take our advice, and give this Anime a go, we highly suggest you head over to Crunchyroll now and take a look at it. There are over 4 dubs for it as well in English, Spanish and many others. If you want to watch this Anime for free, simply read our Top Best Anime Streaming sites post.
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