Air in Summer

"Fabulous mini story for all Air fans to enjoy."

Have you ever wondered about what happened between episode 8 and 9 of the TV series when Kanna, Uraha, and Ryūya were traveling together in search of Kanna's mother? Air in Summer is a short 2 episodes side story about just that. It also act as a puzzle filler to all those incoherent missing pieces of episode 8 in the TV series. It is highly recommended to have the TV series completed (or at least up to episode 8 completed) before watching Air in Summer.

Story:
The story as stated above is simply focusing on the journey (the happy ... times) the three have together before the events that happened in episode 9. While it did not provide any significant plot development, it did however shed some light on the background story of the Air TV series. Unlike the TV series, Air in Summer contain largely humorous moments to lighten up the mood (for those who have been watching the TV series). One perfect example was what Ryūya thought Kanna was dreaming about when they were in the forest.

Art:
Kyoto Animation was responsible for both the TV series and this mini side story. Anyone who are familiar with Kanon (2006), Clannad, Full Metal Panic, Lucky Star, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, or Kiddy Grade (just to name a few) should know that the animation quality will be nothing but spectacular. It should also be noted that the animation quality is the same as the TV series, from the simple scenery to the most detailed character expressions.

Sound:
The same OP and ED were used for Air in Summer as in the TV series though some images were changed to make it fit with the summer arc of the story. Other than that, nothing really changed from its parent story at all.

Character:
The TV series always felt like a bit in a rush while covering episode 8 and 9. Thus it was very fortunate that 2 additional full length episodes were made to let us learn more about the three characters that ultimately led to the events in Air TV series. For instance, Ryūya's past was revealed and we know what kind of world he once used to live in. It was also interesting to know that Kanna can be very bold at times too!

Enjoyment + Final Impression:
It was definitely worth my time watching these 2 episodes that seemingly lacking in terms of story development. However, once they are watched along with episode 8 and 9 of the TV series, you will appreciate just how much more you'll come to know about kanna and Ryūya (not so much on Uraha).

One final note: Misuzu and Yukito (and everyone in that era) are NOT in here. So don't expect the story to somehow jump to the present time or what-have-you. Air in Summer strictly happened during the Heian era!

The AIR Summer special was just an excuse to show Kanna doing cute things and getting into fights with her protectors. It fails to add any extra character development, it just elongates the montage in the series of their travels. Timeline wise, it belongs in the series around Episode 9, however, it is rightly not part of the AIR TV series. It only exists to drag the story out. As much as I love Kanna and the AIR TV series, this didn't cut it for me. For fans, it's best to pick up another Kyoto Animation project instead.

Animation
The animation is as strong as the ... original AIR TV series, nice colors, beautifully detailed backgrounds and fluid animation. I have no complaints in this department.

Sound
The Opening and ending songs are the same as the series, and so is the sub par BGM.

Story
As I said, when you get to the part in the AIR TV series when they show the montage of Kanna traveling and practicing her juggling, this Summer Special elongates it, by filling it with lots of mildly entertaining, but pointless scenes. If it had enough story value, it would have been part of the series. Think of this as "AIR TV deleted scenes". They are entertaining but not essential.

Character
The characters are just as likable as they originally were. No character development appears in these 2 episodes, though.

Value
Little to no value. Even if you are an AIR TV fan, I would avoid this. AIR TV was at its greatest as the 12 episode series. Please don't try and make it longer. It was 12 episodes for a reason. If you want something similar to AIR, Kanon 2006 and Clannad have been getting rave reviews. Give those a try.

A two episode side story of the fabulous supernatural drama aired in 2005. This supplementing tale explores the background of the "main" anime even more detailed and gives us a better insight of what their everyday life looked like between episode 8 and 9.

The story is exactly between those episodes, giving us almost nothing new to the story itself. A bit of flashback and background stories to the three main characters doesn't provide us enough to accept this as a full round up story. Even though seeing new scenes and moments of their journey, nothing surprising or shocking happens within these depictions we're given. ... Simply watching only five minutes of it is almost enough to shorten the whole arc. By that, you can say those episodes are pretty much filler.
Story: 3/10

With no new characters introduced to us, it is focused on a deeper look inside the characters were already given from the original anime. They act exactly as the viewer expects them to and it fells more like we know these characters for very long than seeing other sides of them. Showing us more playful than serious behavior tells how
immature the main cast truly is. But behind them are struggling characters who use their own childish comportment to maintain a beautiful atmosphere rather than their true position.
Characters: 5/10

The sound and art of the series is similar to the original, and works just as successfully. It shows us a happy setting with dark secrets and revelations. Nothing heavy changed since the original, but that's matches the style of the series pretty well. If you liked it during the original anime, you'll definitly enjoy it here too.
Sound & Art: 7/10

Just watching something really similar than before yet again is truly difficult to not get bored or disappointed. And that's the definite problem this part has. Only showing us their normal life between those two incidents which happened before and after was boring and pretty unnecessary. It focused way more on funny moments than the tone or atmosphere we wanted to see. Mostly filler and almost nothing new compared with pretty tedious jokes makes this exploring story poor implemented.
Enjoyment: 3/10

Overall: 4/10
It is ok to watch, not that you have to expect new things, it tries it's best to keep the viewer enjoyed which doesn't work through the lack of excitement and surprising elements. This is only worth a watch if you liked the original series and wish to see those three characters again.