White Darkness

White Darkness is the sixteenth episode of Clannad ~After Story~. It was first broadcast in Japan on January 29, 2009.

Plot
Winter comes and Nagisa enters the final months of her pregnancy, but she becomes sick again. On a snowy day, Nagisa goes into labor two weeks early and her family, unable to transport her to a hospital in time, is forced to have her give birth at home. After an excruciating process, Nagisa successfully gives birth to her daughter, Ushio, but the delivery and her illness combined take their toll on her and Nagisa dies only moments after seeing her newborn baby. Tomoya, who has stayed by her side for the entire time, does not take the sudden turn of events well. His dream of raising their daughter together as a family is shattered, and he falls into a state of depression.

Major events

 * Nagisa, Tomoya, Youhei, Kyou, Ryou, and Kotomi meet together for the last time.
 * Ushio is born.
 * Nagisa dies.

Appearances

 * Nagisa Furukawa
 * Tomoya Okazaki
 * Akio Furukawa
 * Sanae Furukawa
 * Kotomi Ichinose
 * Ryou Fujibayashi
 * Kyou Fujibayashi
 * Youhei Sunohara
 * Ushio Okazaki*

Trivia

 * Luci Christian (Nagisa's English Voice Actor) and David Matranga (Tomoya's English Voice Actor) do commentary during this episode in the DVD Set.
 * This is the first time this season the Illusionary World is discussed.
 * Ryou's comments regarding changing fate elude to the events of Episode 22 and the final seconds of Chapter 21.
 * Ushio's birth date is never actually revealed in the anime. We know it is probably in early January, since Ushio was born a few days after everybody met for New Year's (1 January).

DVD Commentary

 * According to David, this is their (his and Luci's) first time viewing White Darkness since they dubbed it and was impressed with the final product.
 * Luci draws comparisons between herself and Nagisa, among them, being the desire to give birth at home.
 * Luci and David reference Appleseed, one of the other two Anime they worked on together (the third being Elfen Lied).
 * Luci and David teasingly elude to a possible third season in the works.