Ranked #2943

Air (Manga)

Having previously watched the Air animé, I was expecting what is generally done with franchises which are both available as animé and as Manga. Usually, both the animé and the Manga follow the same story, but the Manga is the one to go into further depth. In Air, it is the opposite.

The Air Manga becomes extremely disappointing instantly, due to the fact that only the bare bones of a coherent storyline is present, and no depth, or reasoning behind what happens in the story is shown at all.

Due to the lack of the story being covered in depth, the characters are also not covered in depth, most of which seem to be 'tacked on' in the Manga, unlike the developed characters they were in the animé. The entire pacing of the introductions, and the story developments feels hap-handedly done, as if the writer had just planned to throw in all the important story developments, and hope that if they were stuck together in the right order, they'd form an interesting, coherent story. Unfortunately, this astronomical flaw in lack of planning and depth also crushes any possible chance of likeability for the characters, making it extremely 'meh' to read.

The art also leaves me wanting, as it seems rather undetailed at times. Of course, its passable, but its not of the high standard that I'd generally expect.

Despite all of this, I still found myself enjoying the Air Manga, due to the fact that it has an indescribable charm, hence the high 'Enjoyment' rating.

I feel that the Air Manga would have been improved greatly had it been longer, by maybe another Volume or so. It would have given an extra few chapters to maybe add another character arc in, rather than just concentrating on Misuzu, or to delve further into Misuzu and Yukito's past. In my opinion, watch the animé, because its a LOT better than this. read more