Just now I saw the Clannad movie too. It was very different. I wonder if it follows some story path from Afterstory that I haven't seen.
I haven't seen the film, so I googled. Yep, the latter part is in Afterstory, but from what I can tell they cut the most important part and changed things (such as Tomoya's Father) so that certain things must seem more arbitrary. From the summary, I'm not in a hurry to watch the film.
Ok, Junichi is perhaps nicer then Tomoya, because the latter is a bit harsh, pulling pranks all the time and stuff, and in the movie he was a horrible person. What I was thinking was rather that I found Junichi boring and unattractive, while Tomoya had some wit and awareness.
I actually understood what you mean, and i agree. I was merely pointing out that - in the most stereotypical harem show - the male lead is totally devoid of personality, and the spotlight is on the girl. The idea is to provide a canvas for male fantasies. In a way, things like Tomoya's relationship with his father, for example, are a deal breaker for the genre. They push the harem show into romance territory, by placing boy and girl on equal footing.
Junichi has no past beyond being stood up for a date. No parents. A little sister (it
can't be a little brother; not in a harem show). No interests. Nothing that could interfere with male identification. His personality changes according to the girl he's with. He's the typical harem protagonist: probably the dullest guy in school, yet all the girls fall for him. Yet, somehow, I actually like him and he leaves an impression.
But Tomoya is an actual character. He's not tailor-made to be a harem lead. His father's a drunk. He gets into fights for the heck of it. He may have a good heart, but he's not
nice. This is not the sort of guy who disappears to leave the spotlight to the girls. He's an integral part of the story. It's no surprise he's more attractive: whereas Junichi is designed to be as generic as possible so as not to interfere with male girl-fantasies, he's designed to have a personality and a story (and a dark side, without which Afterstory would not have been possible).