Though I've given an explanation for why many series are worthy of their rankings, I haven't explained my reasoning behind them all. In fact, my justifications for anime rankings is especially thin concerning the highest ranked series, since I've so far dismissed their quality as so self-evidently obvious that they didn't even need justification. To give people a hint of why these stories belong in the order they do, I want to say what I like about each and every one of them:
1. Clannad is the greatest work of art in the annals of mankind. It's hard to express the reasons I like it without just saying, I love everything about it. But I may as well try. For starters, Clannad is a story about a guy who is surrounded by girls, but only grows romantically attached to one, and that at an early point in the story. The other girls he treats as friends, or people he's worried about in purely humanitarian terms. The story is the greatest romance ever told, but it doesn't have the pitfall of other romance stories, like Twilight, or Dawson's Creek, that relies on indecisive protagonists surrounded by eligible lovers who tug in equal parts at their heart. In any such case, you grow to detest the main character for their inability to choose, their propensity to unfaithfulness, and their cruel teasing of all the parties involved by leading them on with false hopes.
Why is it the greatest romance ever told? Because it offers a believable, natural, but still heroic tale of how two people changed each other for the better, grew to rely on each other, and ultimately love each other with all their hearts and all their souls. The people were not exceptional to begin with, they were neither the smartest, nor the prettiest, nor the most talented, nor the most ambitious, nor any other trait people are supposed to 'fall in love' over. The contrast between this and Twilight is a perfect point. What they were was good for each other. What they were was non-judgmental towards each others' failings. What they were was full of compassion and understanding. But by spending so much time together pursuing not romance, but their own hobbies and altruistic impulses, they came to appreciate more subtle characteristics in their partner that were admirable. Okazaki's ability to come to inventive solutions to various problems, his humor, and his willingness to take bold action where the path seemed blocked. Nagisa's compassion for others despite her own problems, her resilience in the face of setbacks, her honesty and her forgiveness.
It's no surprise that the two begin to love each other for these qualities, and the constant emotions the two of them share as they face new problems together. It's impossible for the viewer to not love them for the same reason.
But this awe-inspiring love never lowers itself to a purely physical level. In the visual novel, Tomoya and Nagisa steal a kiss during a picnic. In the anime, the furthest they ever go is hugs and holding hands. Even when they marry and Nagisa gets pregnant, the physical process is kept off-screen. It isn't the heart of their relationship, it truly wouldn't have mattered either way to these two, whether they could ever make love or not. They made love to each other just by calling out each other's names, every moment of their lives.
But in Clannad, stories don't just end when a couple marries, it doesn't resort to a 'happily ever after.' This is because Clannad asserts that marriage isn't the most important part of someone's life. Family is the most important part of your life. Therefore, unlike most romances, Clannad is a true romance that continues the story to its true conclusion. It follows the Tomoya who barely even attended school, shaping up into a hard worker, a skilled worker, who through continuously backbreaking physical labor earns a living for his small family. It follows Nagisa who is generally too sick to be 'productive,' as measured by capitalist materialists, as she does whatever she can. She works as a waitress at a restaurant, she cooks home made meals for Tomoya when he returns from home, she never insists he pay less attention to work and more to her, even when she's lonely, and despite the heavy toll of delivery on her already weak body, she begs Tomoya to give her a child, which she refuses to abort even if the baby will cost her her life, as the doctors warn. This is because she knows her illness will kill her sooner or later, and leave Tomoya with nothing, unless she first gives life to their child -- not some adopted baby, but their child, one half Tomoya, one half Nagisa, so that he will never be without her in this world.
Nagisa does die, after being told she's delivered a healthy baby and shown her baby daughter, Ushio, with a smile on her face. Even writing this sentence makes me want to cry. Tomoya is so shaken by his loss that he fobs off the fostering of Ushio to Nagisa's parents, while losing himself in smoking, drinking, gambling and work. You'll note, he never loses himself in another woman. Even though five years pass, he never desires to move on. Nagisa is still the only woman in his heart, the only woman who could ever live in his heart. And at this point, Tomoya's in-laws decide to break the unhealthy cycle and have Tomoya rediscover his daughter, and the world of light that still existed just outside the suffering. They leave him alone with his daughter, to babysit, with tickets to go on a trip together. Since Tomoya is ultimately a good person, he can't just abandon Ushio or be as boring and standoffish as possible, once he's actually presented with this fait accompli. Instead, he tries his best to please her, though he's incredibly awkward at it, having no practice as a parent. Ushio, likewise, has no practice as his child, but tries her best to win his approval. The story of these two bonding, ultimately, as a father and daughter who never wish to part again, is the most touching story ever told. Tomoya telling Ushio about her mother, until he simply breaks down on the train crying and repeating one word, "Nagisa, Nagisa, Nagisa," while images of her flicker through his memory, could bring the most heartless psychopath to tears.
But Jun Maeda won't even let us stop there. After Tomoya accepts Ushio back into his life and into his heart, there is only a brief reprieve of happiness before Ushio falls ill to the same sickness as her mother. No matter how much Tomoya nurses her, Ushio's condition only worsens, until the only possible thing he can do for her is try to make her feel better before she dies. That is why he agrees to take her on another trip, though she can barely walk anymore, and that is why Ushio dies in the middle of a snowy street, no longer able to even see, with just one last word for this world, "Papa, daisuke." (I love you very much.) Even after all his failures with her, even after leaving her five years to herself, his daughter ended up loving him more than anyone or anything in this world, with nothing but gratitude for all he had done. It's heartbreaking. It's simply too heartbreaking. The only story sadder than Clannad ever made was another project by Key, Planetarian, because it included the destruction of the whole world. But Clannad gives us a reprieve from this heartbreak, because even the gods agree this is too much for one soul to take, and give him a miraculous choice to do it all over again, from the beginning. In the last episode, he yet again meets Nagisa for the first time, at the bottom of the hill to school, with his memories of all his coming woe intact. And in that moment of awful indecision, he wonders if he really wants to repeat his love for Nagisa, full of so much death and loss. But when she walks by him, receding into the distance, he calls out to her, runs to her, and practically tackles her in a hug of desperation. Even with all the pain, even knowing how awful his life would be -- he simply loved her too much. He wanted to be with her. It was worth it.
Has anyone made a gesture more loving than that in all of art? In all of reality? Has anyone been given the choice to avoid such sorrow, but considered it still the greatest joy of existence, to embrace that fiery doom, simply because it was her? Never. This is the greatest love ever told. And because of that, the miracle continues -- Nagisa doesn't die in childbirth, Ushio doesn't sicken and die, the family lives together, all three of them, tracing every step of Ushio's birth. The story ends with the father holding one of Ushio's hands, and the mother holding the other, as they walk her to school. The three together, a happy family. No one could realize the blessing of such a life unless they had gone through the alternatives. No one could realize how beautiful that image was, in any other way than the one Clannad chose.
Is this the extent of Clannad's power, its romance that breaks all records? Of course not. Clannad is perfection, there is always more good to say about it. The art of Clannad is nearly, if not truly, the most beautiful style of all time. The music is nigh perfect, written by one of the most masterful composers of all time, Jun Maeda. And the side stories of Tomoya's and Nagisa's relationships with other characters, all of whom have their own problems, are nearly as touching and good as the main plotline. Seamlessly interwoven with the main story is the story of Kotomi, a girl who has to come to terms with her parents' death, Sunohara, who with the help of his little sister has to get his act together and be someone who won't hurt those who care for him just by watching his life spiral, Fuuko, who lies near death in a coma, who has to somehow convince her older sister to marry and live happily even despite her own woes, because she wants her sister to be happy, not sad like herself out of spite, and so out of sheer force of will materializes as a ghost who can convey her feelings in an indirect way to her older sister. Yukine, who has to solve a gang war left behind by her older brother, by loving everyone from both sides equally. Tomoyo, who has to escape her legacy as a juvenile delinquent. Kyou and Ryou, twins who have loved Tomoya long before Nagisa ever entered the scene, but have to cope with losing him to their competition, while still being wonderful friends to both. And even more stories. It almost feels like an endless well of powerful characters and intricate plotlines, because each and every one of them could stand on its own as one of the greatest animes ever made. The fact that they are simply side stories is incredible. It means Clannad is more than just #1. It's a hyperbolic #1 that leaves everything else so far behind that it has long since left the solar system. It isn't just the best anime ever made. It is the best story ever made. It is the highest expression of humanity ever made. It is the accomplishment, the ideals, and the feelings we could lay at the feet of God if we ever reached a new Judgment Day.
There is no point having a Bible, a Koran, or a Bhagavad Gita anymore, because now we have Clannad.
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