I unfortunately had a certain someone's death spoiled for me today reading youtube comments (of OP 1 >_>), but at least that was kinda something you could see coming. And of course I had to plow through to the end after that.
I didn't cry as much as I was expecting at that, but I baaawled when Tomoya's grandmother is telling him what his father went through, and when its overlaid with his interaction with Ushio. Seeing Kyou again was nice. xP And especially Fuuuuko. And After Story felt almost perfectly paced, I think -- there were a lot of moments where I teared up, so I had tissue handy.
I was tremendously saddened -- though didn't cry -- when Ushio fell sick as well. It was just one of those "rage against Fate" moments. I was really glad, though, that the wish-granting thing of Nagisa being alive after all happened -- in some sense it felt unsatisfactory because flawed reality, buuut they foreshadowed it well through the earlier wishgranting thing with Shikigami!cat, and the light!happiness that settled in Tomoya's chest after he reconciled with his father (and the snowflake during Ushio's walk landing in the same place).
-- I do like the message that Tomoya's reconciliation with his father/unselfishness there directly allowed his happy ending.
The twist with the girl in the "story" -- that she's Ushio, not Nagisa -- was really interesting, and I appreciated. The light obliteration animation was fantastic as well.
In the end, all the loose threads were resolved -- which sometimes feels too neat, and does here a little, but I think it's justified. Interesting intersection of "family" and "place" in the ending, even if it sometimes feels just a little toooo convenient.

Also, the extra/junior year episode makes me want to see the Tomoya/Kyou route. Time to track down the OVA!

But right, so! I gave Clannad a 7/10, and I'm going to say 9/10 for After Story -- which together brings it to 8/10, which sounds about right! Wonderful overall, though. :3

Also
>KyoAni
>never show Nagisa and Tomoya kiss, and they sleep in separate beds
>but they have sex

srsly gaiz
srsly?

I really wish they were longer. >_> It feels like too much to cram into a half hour.
They were pretty enjoyable, though -- and luckily were of the two characters I liked the most. Because they're not as moé/helpless as Nagisa, and there was real relationship conflict in these. >_> and actually (gasp) kissing/sexuality. I like how Tomoyo and Tomoya had more of an equal role -- as Tomoya put it "I can't tell who the senpai is."
The equal role thing is what I liked about both Kyou and Tomoyo, actually -- they didn't just wait for Okazaki to do something, but actually went out and got it instead. I noticed that even in the mainseries, that Tomoyo had a spine to her.
What I liked in Kyou's route is that the "harem-ness" is actually realistic (two people liking one guy, instead of FIVE), especially since they're all close together. And broken by that the protag actually has preferences and is more interested in one girl than the other -- buuuut, Kyou still has enough of a mind to shoot down Tomoya's plans in order to spend more time with her sister. Having a world outside of a relationship = a good thing, and one that Tomoya/Nagisa reaaaaally didn't have. <_<

the stuff that happens after Tomoya and Nagisa hook up.

and we both agree that it would have been more satisfying if Ushio was healed from Tomoya's wish instead of the overdone and all too convenient "oh, alternate timeline happy end." I feel like all those events leading up to that point lose their impact because even though Tomoya retained his memories, it still all happened in an alternate timeline. Nagisa's death, Tomoya's first-hand realization of how much his father must have gone through with raising him and his bonding with Ushio were like getting falcon punched right in the feels and to have an end where all that didn't actually "happen" was a pretty big let down for me.

still loved the series though, gave After Story a 9/10 and I think I gave the first season an 8/10 on MAL

I just want to say that you almost perfectly summarized my feelings on the matter. The end was a major letdown for me because it just felt wrong cancelling all that hardship, experience, and fighting out to give them a magical happy ending. I gave it the same ratings you did, but After Story could have been a 10 if not for the way the end just invalidated everything for me.

This isn't directly related, but I'll say that what I really liked about After Story is where it went after the high school part. It was slice of real life, focusing on what happens after all of the cutesy confessions and high school trials. Jobs, marriage, kids, etc. I enjoy seeing that sort of thing, perhaps because I'm no longer in the high school demographic myself, and also because it's interesting to watch characters' lives progress over the years, not just days or months.

Yeah, I noticed that as well, Draco. I like how that's subject matter typically aimed at an "adult" audience, but yet here's an also-teen demographic getting a taste of what RL looks like. And the sacrifices you have to make -- skipping the Founder's Festival because of work -- are completely realistic as well.

And it's funny, I said that "Ushio should've been the only one revived" thing about 3/4 of a second before Silvy did, so it really was a case of braintwin on the matter

Nagisa should have just come back as a zombie, then there would be no timeline craziness but we'd still get a happy ending. 8DDD