
The manga adaptation, illustrated by Juri Misaki, was published by Jive between November 2005 and March 2009 Drama CDs were released in 2007. The original Visual Novel was made by Key/Visual Arts and released on 28 April 2004. The title, according to the author, comes from the Irish word for "family" (although "Clannad" is actually the name of an Irish band, an abbreviation of "Clann as Dobhar" or "the family from Dore") - and indeed family, along with the related concept of True Companions, is the major theme of CLANNAD. Although he doesn't care much about them at first - he doesn't much care about anything at first - he gradually opens his heart to them as they get to know each other better. As he sets out to help her reestablish the school's drama club, he finds himself connecting (or, as it often turns out, reconnecting) with several other girls from the school. No one, that is, except Tomoya, who without even realizing it finds himself taking her under his wing. Whenever Tomoya sees her around school, she's alone her classmates scarcely notice she exists, and no one has any interest in befriending her. Then one day, while walking to school, he bumps into Nagisa Furukawa, a shy girl whose only friends at the school have already graduated. He hates his life and the whole town, and the closest thing he has to a real friend is fellow delinquent Youhei Sunohara, who just barely manages to rise to the level of Butt-Monkey at the best of times. Always late for class, he's seen as a delinquent by the rest of his classmates, who are busily preparing for their college entrance examinations.

Tomoya Okazaki is an ordinary high school senior who doesn't take his studies seriously.
