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!

Air in Summer is a 2 episode special that shows more of what happened during episode 8 of the anime series Air.

Story:
The really is no beginning and there really is no end. If you want a beginning and an end watch Air. You should watch Air before this, because if you don't you will be pretty confused.

Art:
Just like the series, the art is fantastic. Flawless animation. Another spectacular job done by KyoAni.

Sound:
The opening theme, "Tori no Uta, and the ending theme, "Farewell Song", stay. I love that =3 The background score stays but the background score has a select number of songs that are ... played for the Summer arc, and those songs are mostly played here, so we don't get to hear the full score as we do in the anime series.

Character:
Kanna, Ryuuya, and Uraha are the main characters. There are a few side characters, but not too many. Each character gets developed further, particularly Ryuuya, and you get to learn more and more about their past.

Enjoyment:
I completely enjoyed the anime so I had high expectations of this, and they exceeded my expectations. =3

Overall:
If you have seen Air I highly suggest you watch this. If you have seen the Air Movie then you still might be a little confused while watching this, so watch the anime series first.

For this review, I'm considering that you've already watched the main series (Air). However if you're not familiar with the story and/or the names Uraha, Ryuuya and Kanna sounds strange, I'd recomend you to watch the main series first.

Why review a 2 episodes special?
To be honest, because in my opinion this special is as good as a full 24ep series. But of course this is not the reason why YOU should watch it.
Air in the Summer is about the 'Imperial Japan' arc of the anime. A lot of people misjudge it and say it was boring and didn't made sense or didn't blend well with ... the rest of the storyline. This is a frequent mistake. In fact Ryuuya, Kanna and Uraha stories are the core of the entire series. Air wouldn't be Air without them.

Being it a 2 episodes extras, you can't expect a whole new plot for it. Basically what you have is a elaboration of the loose-ends from episode 8 and a little bit of fanservice and gags from situations that happened before episode 9. You get to see a little more of how Kanna and Ryuuya relationship was progressing, which is realy interesting because they clearly loved each other (as shown before) but both knew somehow it wouldn't work out. I mentioned fanservice, but it's not "explicit" fanservice. Just like other KyoAni's adaptations from Key's visual novels, you can't tell it was based in a adult-VN if you didn't knew about it. What you have in this special is a little more of ecchi, insinuations and actions that were not presented in Air.

Like said before, a lot of people may not know or didn't notice that the focus of the entire plot is based in Kanna's story. This is the key of Air's story and in my opinion the best arc. You have all this development with historical basis, this was the period Japan's government was trying to unify the country under the same religion, buddhism. That's why they had to get rid of winged beings (older gods) but also interesting characters with so much to elaborate that they could have their own 13 eps anime. Also, if you didn't get the curse/reencarnation thing, this episodes will clarify that for you, pay attention to the ED, there's a minor change on it, but this little change have its own simbolism.
Now that I mentioned simbolism... Air have a lot of it. And it can get really boring and hard to follow if you're not in the mood for it. If you're watching this special before the 9~12 episodes, it is your brake from all this metaphores and simbolism, so you can breath and watch the characters enjoying themselves.

There isn't too much to talk about Sound and Artwork. Both follow the same settings as the main series (obviously) so I'll be brief into this topics.
KyoAni's artwork is easily distinguishable by any anime fan. The kind-of-moe drawing and lighting effect are for sure trademarks of the production. For Air, one could tell it's very similar to Kannon (the character design and scenario), of course they have their diferences but since both follow the same kind of storyline and have common elements in it, it isn't wrong to say it.
I can't complain about the soundtrack. All KyoAni's adaptations of Key's VNs had great music on it, this one isn't an exception. This kind of drama/romance always have great soundtrack and emotional OST. Great piano and acustic guitar scores with some pieces of violins and if I'm not mistaken there were even a flute.

I TRIED to keep this review short... Give it a shot! it's a wonderful special (yeah, realy emphasising) and it's just 2 more episodes to watch. Better lose 40min than regret it later. Lots of specials are filled with stupid and pointless stuff, with characters having random fun and some of them realy seems like a filler episode that was ripped from the TV series and then released later with a BD/DVD "premium" edition. This one is different, it adds info and clarify everything from the main series.
A must watch for everyone who followed Air and for all Kanna fans out there!
The numerical score (if you prefer this way) Full scale 0~10. The average been 5.
Story: 10/10 -- Characters: 8/10 -- Artwork: 8/10 -- Sound: 9/10 -- Enjoyment: 10/10 -- Arithmetic overall: 9/10 -- However, since it's just 2 episodes, I must discount a point as well. 8/10

Thx for reading ^^"
If you read until here BEFORE voting down (or up), thanks!! You made my day.
Pleeease talk with me! I don't bite! I'm a needy person, I need comments to improve my reviews! These heartless buttons are useless. There's nothing like interacting with humans :3

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.

The original Air series was so good I didn't feel like taking the risk of watching the specials or movie, in case they'd mess up the overall experience. Now, several years later, I thought "meh, why not", and checked out the Summer OVA anyway. Turned out my fears were unfounded. These two episodes could easily have been merged into the TV series without affecting its quality. Sure, you get to know the secondary, "ancient", characters better, which enhances the aggregated enjoyment of Air. But at the same time, it'd slow the series down quite a bit. So I'm totally fine with the decision to keep ... this as a separate OVA.

The Summer special is not as heavy as the TV series; is has way more lighthearted comedy elements and almost no heart-tearing moments. It's just some feelgood character development, but compared to the TV episodes, these two are considerably slower and neither story nor characters get that much development. The main focus is the comedy. And that's totally fine.

Graphically and audio-wise, this OVA is right up there with the original. That is, it looks and sounds excellent.

If you are considering this two-part OVA special, it is under the assumption you have completed the main series of Air. The plot of "Air in Summer" is merely an expansion on the events that transpire in episodes 8 and 9 regarding Kanna, the original winged-maiden alluded to in the main series.

The first episode of this OVA's runtime spends about a fourth showing events from episode 8's events to give context. At first this gave me the allusion the special was going to basically be the main series' episode 8 and 9, with a few new scenes. However, episode 2 broke away ... more into events not seen in the main series' portrayal of their journey.

Does the special add anything new to the show? Yes and no. While one could easily skip the special and lose nothing on the outcome of the show, it does give some treats of more insight into "the little things," as well as a definite push of more character development to Kanna, Ryūya, and Uraha.

For example, we are given a small dabble on the affections between Ryūya and Uraha, Kanna's protectors. In the anime, their eventual union (episode 9) is pretty much devoid of any hints of infatuation before they decide to wed, so this gave a bit more understanding.

We also get a look into Ryūya past and upbringing in the second episode which is definitely a pleasant expansion in terms of exposition.

This special gets a low rating in my book because of personal bias. It frankly was the least enjoyable part of the show for me in the main series. And even though this OVA deepened the three characters from episode 8 and 9, I still didn't find it extremely necessary to the show. It was a fine addition for sure, don't get me wrong....but it wasn't "great."

The art is obviously of the quality of the main show and the sound does not deviate either. Again, if you are here, you obviously finished the main show and most likely enjoyed it. You'll be right at home.

For someone who only gave the main series a rating of 6, it's difficult to rate this special very high right from the start. I felt these specific episodes (in the main show) shifted away from the established setting too much, and would argue it is where the series started to decline in my investment towards the outcome, as well as getting a little too confusing for its own good.

Overall, a good solid special if you enjoyed the show or are simply completing your experience of Air.

Well...even it is just 2 OVA's and only show in details what hapened to the last girl with wings I still enjoyed much more than the TV series and the movie...

In these 2 OVA's it showed us the true mening of love,friendship and innocence.
Kanna was adorable and I really liked her klutz side,she is cute,funny[I really laughed when she tried to make out with Ryuuya =) -] and I cried like a little girl[I know in the OVA's didn't die but I remembered her fate from the TV series so I couldn't stop my tears-].I cried first time when I saw the TV series, than ... when I saw these 2 OVA's I was delighted to see more of Kanna's personality.

The art were beautifull and for the sound part it was still kept the same OP/ED songs from the main serries.

I really like how the characters developed...especially Kanna.
For the Enjoyment part I DID enjoy more than the TV series and the movie...that's why I rate it 1 point highter than the TV series and movies.

I reccomand this for all those Kanna lovers [just like me lol -] who want's to see what hapened with her.

This special wasn't nearly as good as the original TV series, but it was decent. The art was as pretty as ever, the music was very soothing and felt Japanese, the voice acting was plenty moe, and the whole thing was rather enjoyable. My only complaint is that the whole thing felt more "ecchi" than the series. I'm not saying there was a great amount of fanservice and whatnot, but you did get your occasional gag here and there throughout the episodes. Depending on who you are and what prefrences you have, the gags may have added or taken away enjoyment from the episodes. That ... being said, I personally give Air in Summer an overall score of 7.

The Air in Summer specials were great, in my opinion. They expanded on some characters that I loved but felt I didn't get enough time with, as well as gave extra story explanations for the backstory of Air.

Story: This story was absolutely fantastic, it had a wonderful... Air, to it (I'm not sorry), and as far as I could tell there weren't really any plotholes on this arc. It provided useful, and sought after, backstory for the interesting characters that started the entire series and explained some of the more unknown details about the series. 10/10.

Art: As usual, I was not disappointed in this series, ... the visuals did not drop in quality from the main series, as other OVA episodes sometimes do. I believe the high quality work that went into the art for this anime deserves a 9/10.

Sound: I'm not the best for sound, but I'll give my best opinion. The music in this series did not disappoint. I enjoyed how the OP and ED were altered to fit the Summer theme. 9/10 for sound.

Character: I absolutely adored the characters of Air in Summer, being some of my favourites from the main series, I was glad to see more of them, where they were subsequently fleshed out, with only little idiosyncrasies from the main series, along with some wonderful voice actors who have done great work, both in the past and in Air, and I was glad to see them return with their respective characters. 10/10 on characters without question.

Enjoyment: I greatly enjoyed this anime, and I think it was a great way to wind down after finishing the main series, whilst still getting a good deal of great story, touching moments, and moments you could laugh along with the characters (usually at Kanna). 10/10 for enjoyment.

Overall: I really liked Air in Summer, I got really attached to the characters, even though it was only two episodes, but it felt much longer, in a good way, I was able to really relate to the characters (not the magical quest stuff though). Overall I believe that this deserves a 10/10.

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.

This is essentially two additional episodes on the travels of Kanna, Ryuuya and Uraha that was shown to happen in the history of Air. It doesn't actually have any plot significance whatsoever, you pretty much just see the three of them and their bond in the search for Kanna's mother.


The art style is exactly the same as in Air as it is a small adaptation to it. Due to that, there is not much that I can say on it other than the fact that it was good - but the faces are a bit weird.


The same opening and ending themes as in Air, and ... the sound effects are not very prominent or memorable, but the voice acting is engaging nonetheless which brings it up.


Kannabi-no-Mikoto (Kanna) - A beautiful young girl, around 16. She is the last of the winged race and lives at the shrine from which she escaped in search of her mother.

Ryuuya - A samurai that has sworn vows to protect Kanna, and puts his life on the line to keep her safe, growing closer and closer to both her and Uraha, essentially making them more of a family.

Uraha - Essentially acts as an older sister to Kanna, she is a very caring, and, at times, very strict, and she tries her best to keep Kanna safe at all times. She loves poetry, as revealed in Air in Summer, and believes that "the mouth that cannot recite one poem is worthless".

This didn't answer any of my questions about the end of the anime it's supposed to be a continuation of. While I thought the girl character was cute and some of their interactions were pretty fun, I don't see what it has to do with anything. I guess that's on me for not playing the visual novel. If you really want to know the story you've got to play through it dozens of times to get all the endings and only then will you unlock the choices that let you get the really real ending that finally explains everything but you won't even understand it ... unless you played everything up to that point anyway. Maybe it's because I've been watching too many of these adaptation lately but I'm just so burned out on them. I really hope Kaginado is funny enough to be worth all this trouble I'm going through to familiarize myself with the characters.

6/10