Air

[Hero Killer Id]

I enjoyed this mainly because I loved the characters and music. The story was a little confusing and hard to follow at times and still left me with quite a few questions like the crow for instance. not the best series if seen lately but all in all it was pretty good albeit a bit depressing.

Can anyone explain these :- (Arigato)

<Spoiler warning>




1) Who is the crow?
2) After a certain episode, the lead male character was not to be seen?
3) How does the past( female with wings got shot down by the arrows) relates to the present?

[Aydan]

1) Who is the crow? At first just a friend, but later....

2) After a certain episode, the lead male character was not to be seen?

I was under the impression that the male lead turns into the crow or at least merges with him.

[Forfeit]

This show is very good, I just finished it.

If not for the ugly faces, I would give a rating as high as 10 for the animation. I can hardly wait for the DVD rips, since it looks so damw good in these TV-Rips that in full detail it will look even more awesome.

The use of CG was very subtle but very well done. Also, the movements of the characters were very detailed, and the crying scenes too.

The plot surprised me. The past arc was very interesting and explained a lot. For the people that didnt understood the past arc:

In buddhism and hinduism, souls have "karma", that is a kind of energy that can be good or bad. If you do good deeds in your life, you earn karma, and when you die, you can be reborn as a higher person or being. If you do bad deeds, you can be born as a lesser being or as someone who suffers or live a life full of problems. As I understood it, the girls soul was somehow cursed by the monks and also because she touched her mother that was "tainted" because she was used in war, and so killed a lot of people (thereby earning "bad karma"). So, she has to suffer a terrible life countless times untill she purifies her karma, her soul. How will that happens, I dont know. The boy soul made a vow to be reborn untill he can help the girl to purify her soul.

I really liked this series because of the relationship between the man and the girl in the past arc. It is very nice to see a character devoting his entire life to help someone he loves, like that man did. He vowed to spend eternity tryint to help the woman he loved, even if he has to suffer for countless generations.

And the ending was very good and surprising too. I mean those two kids on the beach. That was so unexpected that I keep wondering what that truly meant. Also I finaly understood why Air has that icon of a girl holding someones hand, when the scene shifted from the two kids to the icon. That was a great way to finish it.

The crow, well, I believe the boy´s soul kind of shared the crows body. I thought that the girl had finaly purified her soul, but in the end it says that he will keep searching for the girl´s soul in the sky. So I guess that was not the end of the cycle, but just another stage. What is weird is that it looks like Yuukino was the descendent of that couple that originaly knew the last winged girl. If Yuukino "died", or at least disapeared, who will keep searching for the winged girl? That boy in the beach? Or Yuukino´s soul, when the crow dies, will be born in another family and will keep searching for the girl? Lots of questions that may not have answers

[Hero Killer Id]

Thank you for the Karma theory that explained alot to me. Or that is to say it makes sense now.

I understood that he turned into the crow. I just didnt understand why or how it just made no sense to me. the series IMO could have done without the crow.

But you are right if the main male character didnt procreate what would happen to the bloodline that is following the girl would it just cease.

I also didnt quite understand the 2 kids at the end

[Forfeit]

Looks like you have the same questions I have...

About the crow, as I remember, in some cultures it has a bond with death, and the crow is the one that leads the souls to the afterlife. There is that movie called The Crow, that kinds of explain this myth.

So maybe they used the crow to "carry" Yukino´s soul to the afterlife. Maybe it doesnt have any meaning, but this could be the one.

[OverLord01]

To me the show is just bad. And the reviews for the first dvd say also that it is bad. (This is my oppoin so don't let it stop you from getting it if you wish)

So tell me what you think about this tender subject...

[OverLord01]

Well another point I am seeing nobody knows the show or heard of it! Not a surprise in the least.
Oh well maybe this will send a message to ADV that the masses will not accept crap out of a storyline. I know this series will not sell well.

[Cetonis]

I sincerely hope this opinion of yours is based on having only seen the first dvd yourself... See, Air is definitely one of those anime that you have to watch all the way through before you can judge it fairly. Just trust me on this :P

I would also argue that this is one of those shows that must be watched subbed, as having exceptional voice acting is imperative for this anime to work. Although it's not awful by any means, the English dub just isn't good enough. So if you (or the reviewers) watched it dubbed, that's also going to hurt the impression it gives.

Now, if nobody you talk to has heard of it, you must be talking to a group of people who only really pay attention to stuff on north american tv and whatever dvd releases that get advertised enough. I believe it is quite true that most anyone who pays any remotely significant amount of attention to non-licensed anime will be well aware of what Air is...

Anyway, the negative reviews for the first dvd are understandable; surely, if you either haven't heard of the show or simply don't trust in it's reputation, then the first four episodes will indeed fail to impress. But as I said, you really have to watch it all to know what the hype is about.

In summary, please do not be so quick to judge Air. It didn't get such a strong reputation by being terrible, I assure you.

If you have seen the whole series and still hate it, then I'm just confused. Judging by your anime list, you seem to like this sort of thing. If this is the case, please elaborate. Did you find it too confusing or something?

[eQko_x]

... depressing

a great story, i think you need to watch the series and the movie to get a full grasp of everything. even though its 2 different retellings; i think they help each other get a greater sense of understanding