Air - Reviews

I have very vague memories of this anime from my childhood. I recall finishing Naruto and then looking for another anime to watch. Following alphabetical order, I came across Air... I was expecting a protagonist with extraordinary powers to emerge, but that never happened. Nevertheless, I continued watching it. When it ended, I felt completely lost. I didn't know what to do with my life. It was the first time that a sad story or an unsatisfying ending had such a negative impact on me. Looking back, I don't think it was a good choice to watch this anime as a child. I believe this story triggered feelings of desolation, anguish, and agony whenever I encountered anime labeled as "dramas" or "slice of life." I simply cannot handle it. I lack the emotional fortitude to endure sad endings. But nonetheless I don't think it is a bad story if you are mature enough.

SPOILER ALERT! READ ON YOUR WAY RISK!(alhough it might be useful somehow)

Story

7/10

I really,really,REAALLLLY Wanted to like this anime.I wanted to adore it,to always keep it in my heart.And I was really thinking I would.I got really attached with some character throughout the shows and I was really rooting for them.While the show was a really poetical and inspiring piece of art,I believe it somehow became WAY too poetical for my intelligence. 

While some say that the ending made them cry and warmed their heart,for me it wasn't like this at all...The end,seeing her die just destroyed everything for me.I never believed he was dead either,until the very end.Sacrificing himself for her? Wow,that's really touching.If only it would have been worthy,cause she just died anyway...While for some the whole idea of reincarnation,and lifitng the curse might have been appealing,for me,it just ruined everything.Why should have been the next generation the one who lives happily ever after? I didn't watch the show for the second generation.I didn't root for it.I don't know them.I really liked the Kanna arch,I cried and I rooted for her story.At th beginning,realising that the two lovers reincarnated and now they will find their happy ending,made my heart glow with joy.Well,it didn't last.:) 

The main idea of the show was really,really,realllly good.If only it would have been used properly.This anime is so full of poetry,and had such heart-warming quotes you just can't stop watching it.Although no actions really happens,the accent goes on feelings,and it hits you right in the heart.I believe they had an amazing story,amazin plot,amazing ideas...but they got stuck.

Animation

10/10

The animation is by far the best thing about this anime.It's absolutely stunning,in so many ways,it's crazy,and God,it's 2002! It's hard to find such a good animation these days,so I can't imagine what impact it have had to the world at its time.The colors are absolutely stunning,with liely colors and bright blue tones.The charcatrs graphic may be a bit old,but they all look like heavenly people.And omg,the scenes where Kanna shows off her wings just made my eyes shine with happiness and excitement.Such an amazing animation,I'm sure they worked so hard on it.

Sound

9/10

I can't complain,the opening and ending theme was really beautiful,but nothing too memoable in any way.But the voice acting was seriosuly the great deal of this show.I have encountered some of my favorite vocing actresses from Ah My Godess along with Clannad,and they played their parts so perfectly,with so many emotions.I am so fond of Tohna and the heroine voices you have no idea,their voices will always lead me back to the moments I shared with them.

Characters

8/10

The problem in this show weren't the characters,no sir.The charcaters all had an amazing back story,amazing developement and amazing features.I got attached with the most part of them very easily and they made me root for her so hard.My only problem was with the main male character.It's not that I dislike him,or that I don't appreciate his sacrifice(which I truly did,it was flawless and heart waming) but I didn't knew enough of him to get attached with him.I really loved the main charcaters,her silly laughter and all her "Gao"s will follow me for a while.The characters from the Kanna's arch were sublime,so passional and legendary,I loved them all so much.so like I said,the characters weren't a problem at all :) The absence of them,on the other hand,it was.In the beginning there were so many characters you can't understand a thing,and in the end,we're left with the heroine,her aunt and Sora,the crow(with the essence of the hero inside of her).Although I really aprecciate the development of their reationship,I so expected more from this show.

 Overall

8/10

 Like I said,this show was supposed to touch my heart.And it did.But it was also the biggest let down.I know that if the ending was different I could have overcome everything else,but like this...It was just not right for me.But if you are okay with thinking that they will find happiness in the next life,but they wont have their memories,that's very good.I'm just not.

Great, now every time I look up at the sky, I'm gonna start crying...

Today had an Air of times past, watching an anime from start to finish in one day. Yes that was a pun. Thank you for the applause... Anyway, Air is a brilliant and tremendously depressing series. When it comes to sad series, there's a fine line between depressing and touching. As I've said, this series is outright depressing. And I'll put it out there right off the bat, that's why (for the most part) I didn't give this series a 10. It was too sad. I was praying for a happy ending, but sadly it did not come. That wasn't so much intended to be a pun. Seriously, the only anime that's allowed to be this sad and get away with it is Voices of a Distant Star. But in parts, this series is tremendous. For example, if the first 4 episodes were a separate OVA series, I'd probably give it a 10. This also is true of another 3/4 episode sequence. In pieces, this series may have been a bit more memorable. This leads perhaps to one of the problems I had with the series (other than the sadness). It peaks too early and then relies too much on what has already occurred in order to keep you attached till the end. Granted, this series does without a doubt keep you emotionally connected until the end, but it did so in a manner that lacked grace and complexity. The timeline of series is actually very short when you consider that the majority of the last 4 episodes or so just repeat events that already occurred from different perspectives. So you could say that this series lacks an overall amount of content. But the content is certainly powerful, in other words no additional content was needed. Again, this is a complaint against presentation, not the series as a whole. Also, and I've alluded to this already, although the series is emotionally powerful, there aren't really any scenes that stick in your mind as memorable in the end. This is because most of these moments are very cliché and as such are not particularly compelling. All things said, this review has so far been in defense of my stance that this series is not a perfect 10. Air is a very good series, I just prefer in this case not to be too exhaustive to avoid spoilers. But needless to say, almost any anime viewer will surely enjoy this series greatly. Going to the mechanical side of the review, the story is interesting and I think pretty original. Also most of the flashback and replay moments are effective which is saying a lot because that is often not the case. What I particularly liked with regards to the animation design was the intelligent use of light, really nice job. The music for the most part is quite lovely, particularly the song from the last episode. I'm a huge fan of songs with an A Capella part. Then the characters, are to me very strong. Particularly Yukito (the male lead). I don't comment with particular verve on male characters usually because most are either pervs or other cliché archetypes. But Yukito is a cut above. While on the outside he is cleverly outfitted as a puppeteer (which would give you the impression of a happy-go-lucky personality), on the inside he's a noble and complex individual. So in conclusion, Air is one of the best sad anime out there if not a bit too sad for my taste, 8 out of 10.

I will admit im a big fan of Key animes and Air is no exception to the rule, its truly a emotional piece of art and stands well leaving it in your head for years to come.Parts of this review will feel like more a small written preview, sorry about that its just how i compramise so i wont give a spoiler.

Story:

The anime is technially spilt into 4 differant arc's or 3 arcs and one story. Lady Kana (Kannabi no Mikoto) is more a retold story of the path but it is non the less given a good place in the story.Its hard to review the story without the arcs so i will review the arcs as they make the story

First and formost the main arc of the show is Misuzu. Misuzu's arc is a interestingly sad long told tale. She keeping this spoiler free misuzu suffers a ancient illness dating back a thousand years which is odd as it basically is only reactive when she is beginning to feel close to somone, this causes her troubles in making friends. Due to this Misuzu has lived her life forever alone. She lives the summers out alone and learns that she is destined to be alone in the harsh world, that is till the day she meets the travelling Yukito. Its hard explaining Misuzu's arc without a spiler but i am trying, Upon meeting yukito her life is destined to chance for good, wether her life will go from bad to good or from good to bad only the destiney of the winged legend will tell. Her story if rather cute from alot of angles and the beauty she is always carries one sad tale upon her shoulders, seeing her story through you will find it hard not to feel sad.

Next and still relevant is Lady Kana (aka Kannabi)- Kannabi is the ancient final winged person alive (practically shes better descirbed as being a angel). Her story is based a thousand summers ago where she is under royal protection as the last winged being alive. Her story follows her escape the from en-prisoned protectiona of the guard with her loyal friends in a attempt to see her long lost mother for the first time. Her story shows the extinction of her kind and how the curse which was held is passed on from generation to generation, this is another rather sad arc, with a good chuckle here and there is of course some tear shedding

Next is Tohno, her story is a short one joint with Michiru, really it follows her life who Yukito was to discover how she has been slowly drawn from her mother, due to a small incident (keeping spoiler free) in the past she ends up becomming forgotten, Yukito spends time with her leanring the real tohno and all about her and michuru, thought tono might not the the girl in the sky she holds a air of mystery to herself.

Finally would be little Kono- her arc is presented first in the arc's her story opens with a mysterious scene which triggers her story into play. Kono is the little sister of the towns doctor, she seems normal but she is very insistant the ribbon tied to her wrist contains her magic powers. She opens the story to the past and due to a small mishapp she now suffers a small curse of her own, but the powers she wants could have a whole story to them. this is more a action thing to draw you in (i am refering to how i wrote this) but its hard without saying what actually happens in its end.

 

Animation:

i never have lots to say on animation but i will try. Basically Air is spectacular at the least to say for beauty. I struggle to describe animation in most but Air can be summerised in the words "Beautiful" it really is a beauty. The scenery espically is exceptional and looks amazing. The character design also is rather nicely done, although i dislike how Michuru's hair is you can knock of points just because you dont like a style of something. Really most characters look exceptional and the scenery live up to there well known great reputation. it truly is great.

Sound:

Again i will be short here but Air's soundtrack is really nice and well paced. Its a soft and soothing soundtrack which feels very nice and the melodies and very sweet done. The scenes music always blend together exceptioanly well so much that its enough to please anyone. The sountrack does a great job at making the scene direct its message to the viewer and shows only much more great potential, i personaily own the soundtrack to air and i can say the songs do leave a great impact on the viewer. Also i feel the soundtrack character songs are very well done and suited, i think "Natsukage" for misuzu is a perfect fit.

 

Characters:

Well i feel i have given lots of idea to characters in the story i will keep these brief. The characters are great but you might feel a bit sad to. There personailties are great and unique from each other. The only negative is the character development feels very rushed, being a short seris its to be expected but before you begin to know one character no sooner than you know them you have to say bye to there story. But they are all unique mostly to other Key characters and there stories and personaities are truly great, the characters truly are amazing in air if im honest.

Overall:

Overall Air truly is a wonderful piece of work. The day i finished Air i was on amazon ordering it and its movie because how good it was. Air really has a truly great story which makes you feel a bit sad, the idea of the story lines are made to become sad and do stand out exceptionally. Everything in air fits together so well, they truly do feel good to be watching but i recomend bracing yourself for some sad times. Its deffinetly if nothing else a exceptional story in intself. Theres few animes i feel are one of a kinda and Air is one of them, i do in-deffinetly feel its worth anyone's time watching, you will not be let down by its brilliance. Actually looking Back i feel i placed a bit to much imagery in here but i think it spices it up a bit :)

 

I came to Air having watched two of Key's other anime series, Angel Beats! and Clannad, both of which I had enjoyed quite a lot with some reservations. Air doesn't live up to these two later series, and though it never quite indulges in the sometimes irksome mood whiplash of those two series (which at its worst can undermine the emotion on show), it still has a whole host of problems some of which Key would become more adept at reigning in with later productions.

The story of Air primarily concerns the character Mizusu Kamio, a girl who is obsessed with dinosaurs (frequently spouting the phrase "Gao") and who lives a lonely life for reasons we discover later on. She encounters and becomes friends with a travelling puppeteer called Yukito, and the main focus of the series is on her interaction with Yukito and also with her foster mother Haruko.

The problem though is the other storylines... As well as Mizusu there are also a few other girls who Yukito encounters. When they're introduced it becomes painfully obvious that Air was adapted from a H-game (which, admittedly, is a quality that thankfully entirely disappears in the shows second half) as each girl is clumsily introduced and set up as a potential love interest.

The problems caused by having these other girls in the show are multiple. Each girl gets the Key-style treatment of some sort of weepy catharsis as a issue relating to their past is discovered and is ultimately resolved somehow. Except, it isn't really weepy at all. We get so little time with each of these girls that I never really cared all that strongly for them, and the series is so desperate to cram these stories in so that it can get to all the stuff it has planned in its second half that as a result the stories end up feeling rushed and awkward. It's not that the stories for these side-characters are bad - actually they're rather good - but the presentation for all the aforementioned reasons stopped any opportunity of them affecting me emotionally. And then, when the series moves on to its second half, it almost entirely abandons these characters with the exception of utterly inconsequential and mundane cameo appearances.

The second half of the series does two things. The first is that it seeks to parallel the story of Mizusu with a story about a girl that occcured 1000 summers ago: a winged girl named Kanna. The thing is, I like the things the series is trying to do with this, but the execution was once again at best clumsy. For a start cramming these couple episodes in to the middle of the series like this hurts whatever little flow the story still possessed by this point: I'd have far preferred it if the information about the past was slowly revealed to us over the course of the series, in a similar way to how Clannad slowly informs us as the series progresses of the story about the girl and her mechanical friend. Another problem is that the tone of these scenes 1000 years ago feels somewhat different to the tone of previous episodes in part due to a few fight scenes which don't really feel right as part of the series.

And then we go back to the present day, though I won't spoil what happens (but will say that, despite my feelings about the series as a whole, Episode 11 is wonderful). The end of the series is definitely my favourite bit, but I have to say that I find Air immensely frustrating in its own way. Perhaps the most frustrating thing is how good it could have been. There are plenty of interesting concepts and ideas in it and if Key were to have disposed of the side-characters and instead spent more time fleshing the central story out - and doing so in a more fluid manner - then Air would probably have been a very moving, engaging story. Instead I found myself almost dreading watching the next episode not because the series is bad (it isn't) but instead because it isn't so far from being very good.