Just watched Clannad (excreta) , should I watch Clannad After Story?

[Christopher221B]

I watched the whole thing and it did not live up to the hype. Visuals were epic, music was beautiful, voice acting spot on, but the story was absolute excreta. Is Clannad After Story worth watching?
I watched Clannad as it was being compared to Elfen Lied, and all I can say is that it can't even be compared. What Elfen Lied does in 12-13 episodes is just magnanimous as compared to Clannad (23 ep). Should I watch 23 more of Clannad AS?
Is it worth the watch? Also, is penguindrum any good? Thanks.

[Konkulf]

Clannad and Clannad After story are totally different anime's when it comes to the overall feel of them.
I usually tell people to watch Clannad for the humour, and After Story for story.
After Story was for me, one of the hardest hitting anime's I've ever watched when it comes to emotional impact, highly recommend you to give it a try if that's what you're looking for.

Comparing something like Clannad and Elfen Lied isn't really fair either though, since they're two totally different anime's, both in term of feel and what they're actually about.

The pacing in After Story is a lot slower than Elfen Lied, just bringing that out there. It's requires a bit more patience, but at least to me, the end result is just fantastic.

[Ceris]

I also agree that Clannad and After Story are different, with the latter being being sadder, and IMO better, though takes a few episodes to get into the "after story" part, which starts like 6 episodes in. The final 2/3 of the season is pretty much what everyone hypes up.

[Christopher221B]

This is what I have also heard, however, I read that Clannad is prerequisite, so after I watched Clannad it just felt too dull and boring to move on (first 7 episodes were about a ghost girl who likes starfish and then proceeds to appear as comic relief for some reason, followed by an overly non-obvious guy who can't understand that everyone around has a crush on him?)
But yes, will give Clannad AS a go.