Let's get this started.
Option 1: Was Gundam just too strong?
This seems the first obvious choice. After all, it's a huge franchise, and it's been very, very popular on the image boards, especially that one girl in the Chinese dress (hey, I haven't watched it yet, okay?). Not to mention, last year, when Kanon was airing, there was no member of said franchise running against it. Sounds like a solid theory, right?
Too bad. CLANNAD is also very popular on said boards, and actually, I can't tell which they like more. Not to mention, if you look on the tagcloud at this very moment...
The CLANNAD tag is bigger than the tag that encompasses not only Gundam 00 but any other mention of the Gundam franchise. Looks like that's out.
Option 2: Is it because we're not familiar with the game?
"It's just not as good." The same whispers came around when Kanon 2006 first aired. People that weren't used to the slow pacing we were all anticipating, well, they didn't like it. They wanted something like the rushed (but still amazing) AIR TV. The reason that so many people stayed on may have been because they fell in love with the characters, or because they liked the slow pace, or in faith of Key... but the biggest "because" is probably the happy cries of those that had either seen Kanon 2002 or played the original game. There is no CLANNAD 2002. Watching it, although I loved the characters, I began to feel the same way as the people that I had renounced last year as heretics. Of course, I realized this, and started to (as I should) appreciate it for the way it is.
But a lot of people here HAVE played the original game, or just like the way it's going so far. I do, even though I lapsed, as previously stated. And last year, there were a lot of first-timers for Kanon that watched it and loved it. That's out.
Option 3: Are we just bogged down with finals and Christmas shopping?
Not likely. Kanon aired at the exact same time last year.
Option 4: Are we lazy?
Think about this for a moment. Last year, Anime Nano was brand new. We all jumped on it, and a whole lot of people began creating blogs, seeing a new way to get their stuff out there. Animeblogger might be great, but Anime Nano wasn't tied to a specific domain, and it was new, so everyone could get attention instead of just the few already-popular blogs. A few of them died after a month or so. More died later on. If you want proof, this one is one of the casualties. (Let's hope my skills at raising things from the dead have improved. I usually don't do so well.) Less blogs means less people posting about CLANNAD.
Yeah, I'm going with the fourth one. If anyone has any better ideas, please tell me.
Oh, and the Riders won the Grey Cup.
