Just finished Clannad. Tomoya did have to sacrifice. The events of suffering and pain were real. They really did happen. Sure they pulled a miracle on us, but I don't think that the miracle made the events that happened not be.

Think of it like this:

If I draw a picture and then go back, erase it, and draw another picture, did I not still draw the first picture? Tomoya really did "live" that life of suffering and sacrifice. It is just that his past was erased and a better path was drawn over it by magic.

The ending didn't make everything a dream. Erasing a picture does not mean that the picture never existed. It just means that the picture is gone now. So Tomoya did suffer and became a changed man.

Here....have some bread (Sanae made it :) )

None of the Tomoyas know each other. The city sees everything. KyoAni tries to put inconsistent storylines together.

Here is my own timeline

Timeline 1 (never shown)
Nagisa and Tomoya get together but Tomoya doesn't help out anyone and Nagisa dies, Ushio dies later. Tomoya is transported back in time to the "Hill";

Timeline 2 (start time "Hill")
Nagisa and Tomoya get together and he helps out people but Nagisa dies because he doesn't have enough orbs (but gets more later on). Fuko meets Ushio via Tomoya. Ushio later dies. Tomoya dies as well but is transported back in time to when Nagisa is in labor (in Timeline 2, both Nagisa and Tomoya seem to have memories of or are connect to a parallel world where Ushio exists in some alternate form)

Timeline 3 (start time "Nagisa in labor")
Tomoya has enough orbs and is able to prevent Nagisa from dying. Ushio lives a healthy life. Fuko meets Ushio in the forest. Tomoya, Fuko, Ushio and Nagisa have a picnic in the forest.

I disagree with the original posted timeline since if the after events when Nagisa died were actually part of the first Timeline1 then why do they continually reference people who would have been involved in the Drama Club? (which couldn't have happened if Tomoya wasn't helping them out as Timeline1 states).

[spoiler]
i think people find the ending confusing because they think that ushio and the girl in the other world are exactly the same person.

i think otherwise, i think the girl is just ushio's counterpart in that world the same way the garbage doll is to tomoya but they are not the same entities. if you remember the concept of kotomi's parents there exists many worlds and there can be some connection between these worlds but i doubt the same entity can exist in both

a lot of people were waiting like when is ushio gonna die and become that girl? when the girl "died" we were confused coz were trying to find where it goes to that, but the thing is that girl only had an awareness of ushio and tomoya the same way tomoya had an awareness of the girl and the garbage doll, knowing that the garbage doll can have a connection with his real world counterpart, and knowing that tomoya had an awareness of the garbage doll's experiences in the other world, she only did what was needed to relay the message of hope to tomoya

but im really sure that time did turn back in the ending, using the power of the light orbs to grant a miracle

so my conclusion:

there is only 1 timeline is terms of how many real worlds exists, i doubt there is another real world which tomoya's consciousness suddenly just gets transported to where nagisa is alive and the other one is where she is dead, there is only 1 real world

there are 2 dimesions, the real world and the imaginary world, ushio is the counterpart of the girl as tomoya is to the garbage doll but they are not the same entities

in that one real world timeline, time was turned back and events were changed in terms of nagisa surviving her delivery

[/spoiler]

well just my 2 cents, ill be leaving these to the "experts"

Listen, people are perfectly capable of criticism without being MASTER CREATORS at whatever it is they happen to be criticizing. I don't have to be a brilliant composer to know I don't like a song and why, and anyone who suggests otherwise should be criticized as being a dolt...but only by people who have managed to be stupider than them. ROLLEYES.GIF

If people had to create something or be someone better than something or someone they don't like before obtaining a license to criticize said noun, we'd all have to give glowing reviews of EVERYTHING. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to have to live in that world.

The most ironic part of this vacuous arguement is that the very people who bring it up no doubt routinely criticise things at which they're not particularly proficient, or in other words, "have never made anything better."

Yep, that makes you a hypocrite, buddy.

Furthermore, it makes no difference how many emo faggots love Key. Popularity is not a universal quantifier of quality. NASCAR is beloved by millions and millions of people...does that automatically make it good? Everyone in the world used to believe that it was flat...did that make it flat? The answer to these and all questions like them is a resounding NO. In logical debate, this is what's known as an 'argumentum ad populum' fallacy.

tl;dr - You birdbrained teens need to turn away from the ever-present video screen in your life and read a goddamned book some time. That way you'll actually have two brain cells to rub together, so you can actually come up with a cogent rebuttal when getting all defensive about your silly emo drama being flamed.

SPOILERS

- Ushio was the girl in the first opening running though the sunflower field.

- They brought back the light orbs and supernatural aspect back into the story.

End of SPOILERS

Overall, great Anime and definitely worth the watch. Though it is kinda sad at times and will force you to reexamine your life, especially when you are still in school and sucking at most things...