Ranked #1118

Air (Movie)

"A condensed love story with significant differences from its TV counterpart."

Advice #1: Do NOT watch the movie right after finishing the TV series. It is very tempting to do so (for comparison) but you are bound to be disappointed if you do so (due to various reasons to be discussed below).

Advice #2: Forget what happened in the TV series about Kano and Minagi as they play no part in the movie so do not hope for much of their appearance in the movie. (same for PIKO PIKO!)

Advice #3: Do NOT view the movie as inferior to the TV series. You are comparing French to English. The two are not even made by the same director!

Story:
It was a very good idea for Toei Animation to have both Kanna and Misuzu's story intertwined throughout the movie. This makes plot development much simpler to understand. For example, instead of the dreams that Misuzu often had in the TV series (as a way to link the past with present), she now uncovers the past through her field work. Two every different ways of presenting to the viewer "the story behind the story". There were also significantly more romance involved between Kanna-Ryūya pair and Misuzu-Yukito pair.

Art:
Since the movie was produced by Toei Animation, the animation quality will obviously be different from its TV counterpart. It is certainly not wise to compare the two (movie VS TV series) in terms of graphic (Kyoto Animation win by light years ahead). However, it is worth noting that the Movie does have some unique filming techniques that were quite impressive but those "still image" picture-book-like techniques were kind of overdone a little. In addition, for a 2005 production, the animation quality is really not that great (especially for a movie).

Sound:
Soundtrack wise, the same OP/ED songs were used for the movie as the TV series. So it should make most viewers comfortable watching the movie (not sure if it were wise to do that as it'll just make viewers want to compare the movie with the TV series even more).

The major difference from the TV series is that Yukito in the movie is NOT voice acted by Daisuke Ono, instead Yukito's CV in the movie is Hikaru Midorikawa (Heero Yuy from Gundam Wing, Kaede Rukawa in Slam Dunk, and Yusuke Yoshino in Clannad).

Character:
While it was enjoyable to see more character development and more developed relationships between the main leads, it was also sad that major characters in the TV series like Kano, Minagi, Michiru, Uraha, and even POTATO did not have much of a role in the movie.

It is worth mentioning that some characters' personality are altered slightly. What does that mean? For instance, the "love" between Kanna and Ryūya in the TV series was very pure (Ryūya's love was more like out of respect), but the movie version have a totally different take on that. Much the same between Yukito and Misuzu.

Final Impression:
I tried my best to not compare the TV series and the movie as much as possible (due to the simple fact that they were produced by different company), but I still find it hard to rate the movie as high as the TV production. However, the movie did give us some alternative paths that were not taken in the TV series (which was rather unique). It does not really matter which to watch first (TV or movie), but ultimately both have the same tragic ending (though the movie was less tragic due to Yukito being alive at the end ). read more

**MINOR spoilers included.

Air the movie was a different story compared to the TV series, but both started and ended the same way. There were a lot of differences, such as Misuzu and Yukito’s relationship, as well as Kanna and Ryuuya’s relationship. In fact, the story focused more on these relationships, removing the story arcs of Kano, Michiru and Tohno. I guess they wanted to give more light to Kanna and Ryuuya’s story (which is a good decision)

As for Misuzu and Yukito, their relationship was more boyfriend-girlfriend, whereas in the series, they were more like brother and sister. Kanna and Ryuuya were much closer too, and Uruha’s role was minor in the movie. The same with Kano, Michiru and Tohno. Actually, the last 3 I mentioned didn’t even have a role – they were just extras. The biggest character-related disappointed was with Potato! Why would they take an absolutely adorable dog out of the story? On that note, I guess I like how the characters were on the TV series better.

The voice acting was OK, but I kinda wish Daisuke Ono came back for his role as Yukito. Daisuke Ono’s work made Yukito more sarcastic and funny. I am glad that Aya Hisakawa was back for Misuzu, because her voice was one of the elements that made Misuzu adorable. Other seiyuus that repeated their roles are Nobutoshi Canna (Ryuuya) and Chinami Nishimura, to name a few.

It almost looks the same, except KyoAni’s animation techniques were a lot better. Toei Animation’s work wasn’t that bad – in fact I like some of the techniques they used. I don’t know what it’s called, but I like it when they would divide one scene into many panels, sort of like what you would see in a manga. I also like the technique they used in telling Kanna and Ryuuya’s story, wherein there were always cherry blossoms. It makes an interesting screen play.

Most (if not all) of the music from the TV series were once again featured in the movie, except they were arranged differently. Personally, I like the original arrangements better, specially for the “Farewell Song” by Lia. The arrangement in the movie was a bit odd – it ended on a weird note. I do like the new song, “If Dreams Came True” by Eri Kawai. It was a really sweet song.

I can’t speak for everyone and say that it’s as good as the TV series, but it’s worth watching. It is an alternate retelling, actually, it’s more of a “dramatic” alternate retelling since it became more of a forbidden love story. My main motive for watching it was to compare it with the series (obviously I like the original more), but as a stand alone, I can say that it’s viable. read more