Air

Ugh.. Air..

Alright two things first :

1) Air TV could and SHOULD have been a 26+ episode series.
2) Air, had it not suffered from a goddamn awful execution, could have been a nice series maybe even close to the level of Ano Hana : The Flower We Saw That Day.

So, is this worth your time ? Is it enjoyable ?

..Meh..maybe ?
...
Air TV is a eroge/romance visual novel developed by Key. Responsible for the anime series adaption is studio Kyoto animation.

After having dropped the anime series 4 times throughout the years and driven by how enchanted I am by the music (specifically the opening song) and the whole atmosphere that surrounds the series I decided to stick with it.

Story ---> 6 ( Promising )

Okay. Guys.
Who the f knows what this show is about ?

What is the plot, really ?

Is it the romance between Yukito and Misuzu ?
Is it the problems of the surrounding cast and how Yukito helps them out ?
Is it the story of Kanna, a priestess-like winged girl and Ryura, the samurai guard ?
Is it the curse that is placed upon Kanna that causes her to suffer throughout reincarnations ?
Is it Misuzu's relationship with her mother ?

No really, what is Air about ?

A looot of plot elements were introduced and never developed, a bunch of subplots were never explained. I guess the synopsis though would be something like this :

Yukito Kunisaki is a handsome young traveler (had to add handsome cause everyone in this show fits the bishoujo/bishounen archetype which makes them gorgeous) who goes around in towns and throwing puppet shows trying to make money of that.(he fails) He has one goal in mind : to find the winged girl that is in the sky. He meets and befriends Misuzu Kamio, a naive absent minded and quite adorable girl, that soon reveals to him that she has been having weird dreams that feature a winged girl that is in the sky. Misuzu calls this girl '' the other me '' and is greatly affected by whatever is happening to her.

Do you sense supernatural ? Oooh yeaah~

The premise is interesting and when it's given proper attention it becomes even more interesting. Winged beings that carry the dream of the world, dreams that harm the dreamer, romantic elements and magic.

But its exactly in developing all those subplots that Air fails.

It just decides that it wants to achieve a little too much. It wants to develop all themes and ends up fully developing none. The show's ending doesn't answer anything BUT BUT it manages to make you cry. (if you re willing to forget the rest)

Characters ---> 5

Not a fan of moe, not a fan of series with tons of girls (dont wanna say harem cause Air is technically not a harem yay) , not a fan of cliche stereotypical characters.

But~

I did find Yukito more interesting than a typical harem lead and I think that's because I clicked with his whole '' travelling performer that fails at being entertaining '' thing. He does however try to fix everyone's problems and wow he succeeds.

Misuzu is cute, childish , naive and retarded, like what you'd expect from a moe character. She deals with psychological burden and is sort of a dramatic character. The thing that I did enjoy is how everyone treats her. Nobody is shown close to her, (apart from her mother who thinks her behavior is problematic) no one thinks her moe attitude is charming. She is truly alone and lonely and the series ,I think, succeeds in getting that across.

I also have to admit that I liked the dynamic between the two characters.

Everyone else was either boring or brought nothing new to the table.

I firmly believe that if Kano and her sister did not exist no one would have cared. They did not add anything to the overall feeling of the series.

Minagi and Michiru are not great characters but I did enjoy their backstory. I feel it was rushed though and should have developed in more episodes.

Haruko is okay, not a bad character and I think the part that focuses on the relationship between Misuzu and her is probably the one that shines most from the whole story. It should have definitely been longer, or been introduced earlier in the series. It does make you emotional but it also manages to make you confused as to why this relationship between the two was not introduced earlier on. It seems important enough.

Art -->7

What can I say, I liked the art. At times it was gorgeous and other times simplistic af. Yes, the huge eyes become hard to take seriously at times. It did however fit in the series' setting and atmosphere. Very few complains about that part of the show. I realize some people may find the art not very appealing and I understand it I guess.

Sound --> 9
I cant even begin to explain how much I love this show's opening theme. It has become an all time favorite. The soundtrack over all is great, compliments the show well.

Overall


I appreciate how the show did not end up being a harem show, even though the harem elements are evident, Yukito shows clear preference for Misuzu and quite early on I might add. I also think the last few episodes that focus on Misuzu and Haruko were nicely done and they should have been more of a main focus of the series. Air TV seems to be able to do drama/tragedy right only if it decides that that's what it wants to do. Soundtrack is a huge plus to this series overall enjoyment. The plot elements that Air introduces are not bad , in fact they re quite decent and if developed correctly would have made a beautiful series that fans of the genre would come to appreciate.

However,

Bad pacing, plot holes, unnecessary characters, not enough screen time, unexpected plot changes derive a lot from this show's enjoyment. I definitely understand people that give Air a lower score than 6 cause quite honestly, the flaws that it has are not easy to forget or forgive.

I must say though that I do not hate this show, in fact I liked some aspects of it such as the setting, the atmosphere and the melancholic/nostalgic/tragic feeling that surrounds it. I could say this is a guilty pleasure of mine. I might even rewatch it in the future , who knows.

So, is Air TV worth your time?

Yes -> if you like moe, romance, drama, supernatural elements in your romance, simple characters and an overall soothing feeling in your series.

No -> if you hate any of the above + unexpected plot twists, unexplained stories + endings and if poor execution annoys the hell out of you.

(Im new at reviews! Please do contact me if you wanna discuss the series or give some kind of feedback! )

If you are looking for a confusing, boring, monotonous, underwhelming, dull, tiring, nonsensical, anime, then this anime is for you. In all seriousness though, this anime was a disappointment, especially after all the 10* and 9* reviews I read.

******IN SUMMARY******
First few episodes were fine up until they introduced the supernatural aspect of it. The first few episodes weren't great, but at least they were watchable. The second they turned their focus to the magic, the show went downhill. It became confusing very quickly, and that caused the anime to become boring. And if that wasn't bad enough, they dedicated two episodes to a random flashback ... that only raised more questions than it answered. It felt like they tried to cram way too many story details into the 12 episodes they had. Honestly the anime would have been better if they slowed the story down and developed the characters a bit better.

Air is about one of the longest and saddest love stories that I have ever heard, but it falls short on the story telling part.

At the core of the plot is a sad love story that has been going on for centuries. Boys meet girl. Girl likes boy. Girl has higher responsabilities. Boy tries to help, but the world happens. The story is never fully explored. Many subplots aren't explained. Characters are underdeveloped, but aren't boring. The story is told in a non-linear way that only makes things worse.

The art is quite good. Every character has unique facial features. The musics are boring. Not a ... single one captured my feelings.

If you are looking for a complex plot, with a complex way of story telling, but underdeveloped characters and plot, this anime is for you.

Gao!

Air is one of three KEY visual novels adapted by Kyoto Animation. Out of the 3 adaptations, this is the one I remember the least. Clannad and Kanon 2006 were both exceptionally fantastic series, being emotionally gripping and beautifully told. So naturally, I had pretty high expectations for Air when I first heard it was made before the two series in question. Unfortunately, I can't say that Air captured the same feeling I had when watching Clannad and Kanon. So today, I look at KyoAni's first attempt at an adaptation, Air. Enjoy.

Story: 4/10.
Yukito Kunisaki is out to find the ... Winged Maiden, a old tale that his mother told him about as a child. He passes through a small town that he didn't expect to stay in very long, as he meets Misuzu Kaimo. This mysterious girl invites Yukito to stay with her. As Yukito continues to stay in this small, quaint little town, he starts to realize something: Could the Winged Maiden be closer than he thought? The first 10 episodes of the anime are pointless; some sarcastic guy with ridiculous hair helps a girl with their problems, and once their character arc is over, you never see or hear from them again. This is Air's biggest problem, character development. I'll get more in detail about the characters further down the track, but for now, let's talk about the feels. The most interesting arc in the show is Mizusu and her mother's story, showing how powerful a mother's love can be. It was so powerful and moving, I actually had to call my mother to tell her that I love her. Unfortunately, the anime doesn't focus much on these characters, deciding to focus more on girls we don't give a crap about, an unnecessary flashback arc, and a recap episode at the VERY END. The flashback arc in particular was a complete mistake. They could have easily explained these two episodes in about 5 minutes; granted, it would have taken some time to refocus, but they should've done that anyway to give Misuzu and her mother their proper story. Add this with the incredibly pointless side character arcs that do nothing to develop Yukito's character, and half of the show was nothing but a waste of time. You could probably skip episodes 2-6 and still understand what's going on. The biggest problem with Air's story is the fact that it's way too ambitious. It tries to take on many ideas at once, and ultimately falls flat on it's face. KyoAni eventually fixed all these problems with Kanon, and perfectly avoided them with Clannad, but that doesn't excuse Air for causing those problems.

Characters: 5/10.
When it comes to adapting a visual novel, the one job Air had was to make me care about the characters. If you don't care about the characters, then you won't care about what happens to them; whatever happens will go over your head, and you're sitting there thinking: "Was that supposed to make me cry?" You can probably guess by my tone, I didn't care about the majority of Air's cast, save for Misuzu. Even still, all she does for the first few episodes is fall over, drink peach juice and say "Gao!" Later on in the show, I grow more attached to Misuzu's character, but by that time, the show is near it's end. I cared about her, but not even close to how much I cared about Nagisa or Ayu from Clannad and Kanon. Air doesn't devote enough time to the main cast, instead deciding to have the side characters take the spotlight for a majority of the series, and even still, their arcs are very uninteresting. The anime somehow achieved a middle ground, leaving both the main cast and the side cast extremely underwhelming.

Art/Sound: 8/10
The biggest praise I can give Air is it's atmosphere. The soundtrack is absolutely beautiful, and the art, while it may be dated for some, is still fantastic. Keep in mind, this anime came out in 2005. The art and sound alone make this series worth watching. Character design comes down to personal preference; if you don't like the huge eyes and bushy face, so be it. The OST keeps a great balance of soothing and spiritual, matching the melancholic atmosphere the show. Finally, for all you dub watchers out there, Air's dub is actually pretty good. It's one of the few KyoAni dubs that doesn't want to make me tear my ears out. Looking at you, first season of Clannad. Overall, the art and soundtrack is fantastic, and while the anime itself may not have lived up to the beauty of the two, it was a pleasure nonetheless.

Final Verdict
Air isn't terrible; there's nothing about this anime that will make you think less of KEY's other adaptations, but the anime isn't that good, either. This series has a lot of potential; it has an interesting story that mostly fails to deliver, characters too unexplored for me to care, and an amazing feel to it that the rest of the anime mostly fails to capture. It could have easily been as great as it's successors with a few plot tweaks, a change in focus, and more character development. I feel like Air would have done a lot better if it were longer than 13 episodes. Air was a drama with missed potential that should have been a lot better than what it could have been, and doesn't hold up compared to it's predecessors. At the end of the day, Air may make you cry, but you really have to ask yourself: Why are you crying? Is it because the characters on screen are crying? Or is it something deeper?

Air gets a C-

There is this anime that came out about a couple of seasons ago called Air, you probably don't know about it, its pretty indie. its part of the key visual novel anime trinity from kyoto animation, along with Kanon which is pretty good, and clannad, which i don't have the integrity to watch.The thing about these stories is that its just basically just glorified animated soap operas but with a magical twist to them. That trait is probably the most apparent in this anime.But the problem with the story in Air is that you don't know if the conflicts from the story are coming from ... mental state of the characters or the weird mystical things. The formula of the anime is that the main character meets with each girl and deals with their problems, but most of the problems are just magical things that are barely explained. These girls get possessed by ghosts, turn into birds,and even just disappear and you want an explanation, but instead the anime just assumes you know how or why these things happen and just go along with it.

The worst case of this is the second half, It has flashback episodes and it pulls a retcon with a bird, now this bird is a very important ,but barely anything is explained about it that its just a mess honestly. Now the ending was super emotional, i was on the verge of tears through some of it,but "verge" is such an understatement. Most of the reasons why things led to a cry porn moment, was because of magic lol and i feel like i would be down for if it could be explained just a bit more. To put it in more perspective, these characters are not crying most of the time because of themselves, they are crying because of some poorly explained plot points. And it does loose me when it should really hit the most.This show does also have some very hard hitting themes of depression, anxiety, and one of my favorite themes in anime, familial bonds.But these themes are just implied instead of actually explored and i feel like they are at even more of a disadvantage because of the lifeless characters.

What really i can say about these girls is that they do not act like normal people at all. They act depressed all the time,in almost every conversation they have they talk about the freaking sky, and they happen to be so lonely that they didn't mind going to a bird for emotional counseling.But what makes it worse is that about three quarters of the characters feel almost irrelevant since, compared to Kanon 2006 at least, they don't have the most lively personality.The only character names i do remember are Misuzu and Yukito, Yukito as a bland mc i do appreciate because unlike many other mc's in anime like this, the show does not beat around the bush that he is basically a hobo who begs children for money, and i think its kinda funny that these people just let him in with open arms when he is sketchy as hell. But as a character, hes as bland as they come, i watch the anime in english(since i watch dubbed anime when i work on stuff and i have hardcore astigmatism and im not a sub elitisit) so i think Vic Migno- i mean Junpei Elric, gave as much of a personality as he possibly could.The real MVP of this anime is Misuzu , if there were moments of Air that actually made you cry, i bet my bottom dollar that it was because of her. As a character i cant help to think that she has some type of mental disorder. There are times where she just acts a bit too unorthodox for a normal person. Also she falls face first on concrete a lot and its not really a cute anime thing, its just fucking hilarious not gonna lie.
It really sucks that this weird behavior of hers makes her the most interesting character in the show, because most of this behavior fits well within the presumed themes of depression and anxiety. But is sadly all of it is explained by lol magik. Second best character goes to Haruko,Misuzu's guardian because her development in the final episodes is just *chefs' kiss* amazing. I like how her bad choices in the beginning of the anime are still prevalent but it still works really well despite the "lol magick" story.Also the angel girl and the samurai dude, uh idk what to say about them because i forgot all about them.


Watching the anime , i kept reminding myself that this anime came out in 2005, in the same season as Negima, Ah my goddess, and about two seasons before fucking SUZUKA came out.The animation holds up really damn well,so well that i almost want to call it timeless, it may also be that this anime has a 16:9 ratio in an era of 4:3 anime.But it may be because of kyoto animation's style which was definitely one of the more unique ones in anime history. With the huge heads and the eyes that are so far apart. This style is just a huge kamichama karin meme waiting to happen. I know a lot people can take it or leave it, and personally its not my favorite style out there, but i appreciate how Kyoto animation handled the proportions in a way where it doesn't feel weird.Also the character animation is god tier in my opinion. There are some shots in this anime that I honestly wont ever forget. I do think some color choices make the hair look weird, its not as bad as HandShakers but it makes the hair not look like hair. I know this was not Kyoto animation at its finest, but its nice to see them starting to build their legacy, its like seeing Harry Potter get his first wand.


Not much to say about sound, the opening imo is one of the most catchiest anime openings of all time.This theme was stuck in my head for about six years before i even watched the anime, and it is very recognizable towards many people. I do have many things to say about the dub, It was alright, despite Tamaki Suo being miscast in a lot of things in my opinion, i think he did well trying to add emotion to the main character in Air without crossing the line into overacting, and i can say the same for Monica Rial as Misuzu and whatsherface as Haruko. All the other voice actors are just okay, but what is not okay is the voice acting for the young girls in the show, on two occasions, there are female characters who scream a lot and they really made me want to blow my eardrums out HunterxHunter style.If anything, this dub's script felt a bit more sincere than other dubs i see coming out today, like it felt like they were trying to be the characters instead of acting like characters.


Anyways i had an enjoyable time throughout half of it, i unintentionally laughed at times,and other times i was bored to tears. In the end i do feel like i have that easily disposable enjoyment you can get out of any daytime soap opera , which is not a bad thing, it almost goes to Violet evergarden levels where the anime tries so hard to evoke emotion from you that it ends up exhausting you by the time you get to the end, but sense the beginning was just so forgettable you find yourself actually engaged, i dont know if the ending of this anime will be something that will stick with me forever, but out of all of the cry porn shows out there, not exclusive to kyo-ani, this show is the more decent out of all them, but then again Myanimelist considered the word decent as a 4 out of 10, so to each is own.

Overall-6

also, don't watch episode 13, its just a recap episode of the whole show

Air is, to say the least, an entertaining anime. This is the first of the Key anime, which includes the likes of Kanon, Angel Beats, and Clannad. While Air is a pretty damn good anime that foretells some of the conventions of future Key series, it’s not as good as any of the newer ones.

Key anime of the romance department typically involve a single guy who is forced into a situation where a bunch of girls with issues need his help. This stems from the fact that Air, Clannad, and Kanon are all based on visual novels, and visual novels have multiple girls you can ... get with. So the anime’s attempt to tell each girls story while focusing only on a single romantic thread for our main hero. Air is different from its future incarnations as it doesn’t as much focus on that idea of multiple girls needing help solving their mental issues. It has three girls in it, two of which are the focus of maybe four or five episodes total. The others are divided into a really strange feudal Japan segment, a segment with our hero and the heroine, and a another segment between the heroine and her mother. It’s not typical of what will come, and I appreciate that especially.

The story revolves around the “Girl in the Sky”, an angelic figure who has constantly been forced to be in pain through incarnation after incarnation. She is forced to die every time she gets too close to someone and reincarnate again. A man has followed her every reincarnation to attempt to free her of these horrible bonds. His soul is stuck in the body of a crow and he can become a human vagabond in his attempts to free her.

So we have Yukito, the vagabond, and Mizusu, the girl in the sky. Mizusu has no close friends, no close family, and pretty much lives her life as a lonely klutz. But when she meets Yukito during one lovely summer vacation she may have found her greatest friend and the catalyst for her finally feeling accepted. He moves in with Mizusu and her drunken and rather inappropriate aunt, Haruko, and tries to help Mizusu be freed from her eternal bond. During that time he gets a part time job at the local clinic and helps the owner’s sister as she is being possessed (did I mention Key anime have really weird supernatural plotlines?). He also helps a girl whose sister has been dead for years yet her ghost has been following her around since she died.

The two arcs with the girls aren’t particularly great. Neither is memorable and both are seriously shadowed by those stories told in Key’s later anime.

During the last half the story shifts to feudal Japan where we learn the origin of the angel girl and the man who tries to save her. These episodes aren’t half bad, but really ruin the pace and interject very abruptly. It doesn’t feel right.

The final arc is of mother and daughter. Well, aunt and daughter. Yukito is a crow who is made to watch as Haruko makes amends with Mizusu and claims her as a daughter rather than a niece. This is the best part of the entire anime, a very touching and well executed arc that builds on the character of Haruko and makes her the most likeable character of the entire anime.

The ending isn’t the greatest. Now, I’m all for a sad ending, but I felt kind of cheated. I hate when an anime is just a small part of a bigger story and we really don’t see that story concluded. It’s just part of a story, a segment of a whole. And while Air contains a good enough story and characters, I want to see what happens to those characters and how the story plays out. Does the Girl in the Sky ever get freed? I really want to know the answer to it.

The character department is pretty sparse of anything worth mentioning. As I said, the two girls at the beginning are decent enough characters with decent enough stories, but they really don’t matter in the long term and their characters are not real exciting. This is doubly so for the main characters. Yukito is pretty dull all around. He’s what I like to call a cardboard character. He’s flat as a pancake and doesn’t shine at all. The same can be said of Mizusu. While she displays emotions, she’s a typical cry baby with an issue that needs to be resolved. I wasn’t really a fan of hers.

Meanwhile, I grew to enjoy the character of Haruko. While at first I liked her as the drunken, idiot aunt taking care of her sister’s daughter, as you learn more about how she has had to distance herself from Mizusu, you grow to like her and feel empathetic to her having to stay away from a girl she really does love. As Haruko finally steps into the motherly roll and despises the fact she hadn’t done it sooner, you continue to love her. And as Mizusu loses her memories of her mother (she loses her memory of a person if they grow too close), and is nearly returned to her real family, it’s enough to bring you to tears as she struggles to return to her aunt’s arms, the woman she considers her mother.

For Haruko’s character alone, the series is worth watching. While the ending, as I said, isn’t at all what I had hoped, nor is the rest of the show too special, the final stretch is good and memorable.

Overall, I can’t give an enthusiastic recommendation as this is only going to appeal to fans of Key or romance in general, but I can say it’s a pretty good anime. The opening is really fantastic, the animation is good, the story is okay, and the characters are okay, but taken as a whole it’s a fun little experience. Not particularly as memorable as later Key anime, but it still contains the heart that you’d expect.

Oh, and try and find the Kanon characters that show up in one episode. It’s a pretty cool cameo!

Story- 6
Art- 6
Sound- 7
Character- 6
Enjoyment- 6
____________
Overall- 6

There wasn't really much of a story in the first episode (and since it's the only one I saw, so I can't tell you if there is a story in other episodes), but after watching the first episode you can tell that Air is pretty much cliched. The main character is pretty different from the others but since this is a Romance anime the female protagonist is cliched almost to the extreme. She's your typical clumsy girl who's also pretty and very nice, and who will even let a stranger stay in her home. One thing that some of ... the anime industry suffers at is the storyline and characters that they develope.
The art was reasonable, but I thought that having the females have bigger eyes than the males was pretty old school. The sound was alright, the voice actors weren't bad.
The characters in this were cliched, except the main character I suppose.
Overall I didn't really like this anime because it was cliched, and I prefer something more creative, but if your still unsure of watching it after reading this then try it for yourself.

I've been watching too many slice of life gal game adaptations, because all these characters are blending together and it's nearly impossible to tell them apart anymore. It was hard to get emotionally invested when I couldn't keep track of who was who for a lot of the first half of the show. It was also just a really confusing plot in general.

VN adaptations sometimes like to not explain anything ever because they're under the assumption that you've dumped the full 80+ hours into playing the original before jumping into this adaptation. That's just my assumption because weird supernatural stuff kept happening and nothing was ... ever explained. I'm not the only one lost here, right? Why is there magic? What does the magic mean? Are these people reincarnations? What do the wings mean? Was protagonist a crow the whole time? Did he die and turn into the crow? I'm so confused, somebody explain anything that's going on, please.

I enjoyed the last couple episodes with the mom learning to be a parent for once in her life because it felt like there was some real emotional weight to it, even if it felt out of place with the story they had been telling up to that point. If there was a little more narrative cohesion I might have enjoyed it more. I give it a 6/10

It was cute but nothing stood out except for the Fuedal story arc. It was so boring that it was hard to stay awake through each episode. The Fudal Story Arc was, however, interesting and redeemed this anime a little but not enough to sit through the whole thing. If you ask me, skip to that, ignore the artwork (unless you like that style), and be satisfied because that's the best you're going to get out of it.

The earlier episodes were great. They were funny and I liked the characters, the animation and colours were great too. About half way through the series they start to go more into the story and mystery they set up in the first half, and this is where the series started to fall apart for me. The answers to my questions were not interesting at all and at some points I was super confused as to why some things happened as well and that just frustrated me even more than I already was by how dull the series got after this point. The last half is ... super cry bait that was way too fast for me. I love Anohana and that's the most cry-baity cry-bait series I've ever seen but at least that felt slow enough for me to actually care while this gave me a few episodes to get to know ALL of the characters then goes 100mph into their tragic backstory or whatever. There were times where it was very obvious that I was meant to care about side character A during their super sad moment of sadness but because they had few appearances in the first half and maybe a few bits of backstory I just did not care whatsoever. Even with the two MCs I didn't care because before they got to their super tragic sad depressing miserable story I had to sit through all of the crap episodes (basically everything from 7 onwards) so a lot of the steam I had was lost.