PinkuBentoBox

I’m going to be writing two entries on Air. This first one will be as spoiler-free as possible, attmepting to review exactly what the series is and why people should watch it. The other will be a discussion on the end of the final episode. So in other words, if you haven’t seen Air, you should still be able to read this entry.

Most regulars of the webcomic ‘Megatokyo’ will be at least partially familiar with Key / VisualArts games. Clannad, Air and Kanon are both among Megatokyo’s strongest influences, especially in art. For those who are unaquainted, Key make renai games, often mistakenly referred to as ‘dating sims’ by english speakers. To summarise, Air is an adaption of one of the better known of these games. Anime adaptions of renai games aren’t uncommon, with some other examples including Tsukihime, To Heart, Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, Sister Princess and Kanon.

And since the question is probably spinning around in people’s minds a little, yes, Air was released originally with hentai scenes included. However, a ‘clean’ version was also released, and the story has been shown to stand on its own even without that as a draw, just as was shown with Kanon. (Key’s other two games, Clannad and Planetarian, do not have any such scenes).

At this point I’d like to clarify that I have never actually played Air. I’d really like to, but unfortunately my command of the Japanese written language isn’t good enough to even consider being able to enjoy playing the game. However I’ve been told that the TV anime is an extremely faithful adaption. Aside from the H scenes, everything in the anime is almost exactly the same in the game, down to a lot of the music.

The anime is broken up into several parts. The first part is ‘Dream’, and is composed of episodes 1-7. This is the bulk of the series, really. ‘Summer’, the second part, forms the prologue and backstory for the series, and the final three episodes (10-12) are ‘Air’, which form the extremely emotional conclusion and epilogue for the series.

The main character for the series is Yukito Kunisaki. He has an interesting ability, in that he can, using ‘magic’, move a small puppet around as if it were alive. He was taught this by his mother, who was able to do it with many puppets. Yukito wanders about Japan, using this ability to make enough money to survive. Barely. His mother left him with a vague message when she died about a girl in the sky, and it is she that Yukito is searching for.

Yukito meets a young schoolgirl while sitting on the seashore. She is Misuzu Kamio, and is the key character for the entirety of the series. Misuzu is an odd girl, childlike and innocent. She ends up bringing Yukito home with her, and she and her mother allow him to live with them. It is the beginning of Summer vacation, and Misuzu appears to have no friends.

At first, the series looks like your generic harem / dating sim style anime. After Misuzu, we are introduced to three other girls, the token Energetic girl (Kano), the token Quiet girl (Minagi) and the token Loli (Michiru). About the only draw in the first episode or two is the animation, which is extremely well done in comparison to a lot of stuff being churned out recently. However, it’s not long before the story begins to kick in.

Air often does things that are completely unexpected and in fact are quite odd. It’s not until later on in the story that you realise that it all in fact made sense. The first of the three girls’ stories to be explored is Kano. I won’t spoil it, but suffice it to say that it’s about the middle of this story that you’ll begin to start asking what exactly is going on.

There are really only two possible things which may turn viewers away from Air. On the purely superficial level, the character designs are extremely close to Key’s original game art. This is a real double-edged sword, as for the most part Key’s designs have an odd style to them. The issue is mainly in the proportions of the face - the eyes are large, and are placed lower than normal on the face. Conversely, the mouths are placed too high. The net result here is that from some angles the characters look like they have downs syndrome.

A more pertinent aspect of Air, though, is the content itself. This is going to be something that you either love or you hate. Air makes you the emotional equivalent of a crash test dummy. It’s extremely emotional (I won’t say that it’s sad overall, though it sure has a few moments). I would also encourage people who saw Kanon and disliked it not to use this as a measuring stick however, as I know quite a few people who like Air who hated Kanon despite the similarities between the two.

Overall, I’d recommend Air to anyone who wants a short series without the emotional and dramatic aspects being mixed in with piles of violence or fanservice. It’s an excellent series.