The Air movie is a re-telling of the TV series with a focus on Yukito, Misuzu, and Haruko. The plot is very similar to the TV series so I won’t go into it since you can read my other entries on the TV series.
So I’m just gonna go into what I liked and what I didn’t.
I liked the focus on the three main characters. Where the TV series followed the plots from the game, and introduced us to Kanno, Michiru, and Minagi, the story is really Misuzu’s and the movie takes that and runs with it. The toughest part of watching this after you’ve seen the TV series is that you know how it ends. The heart wrenching ending is even more tough to bear when Yukito becomes part of the “goal”.
I liked the character designs. They did a good job of softening up the characters a little bit. You now feel like you can reach out and grab your own Misuzu stuffed toy. For the ladies there’s always stuffed Yukito.
Some of the production values were strange. Movies usually have a bigger budget, but they seemed to wash out lots of scenes in this film with bright sunlight effects and drawings that the camera panned over. Air is one of the nicest looking series I’ve seen in quite some time. It has bright, vibrant colors throughout, but some of the washing of the color with the bright effects made me miss it.
Kanna and Ryuuya’s story is told now in parallel with Misuzu’s. It felt much better executed than how the TV show cut to their story then cut back to Misuzu. Plus it made more sense in general as it went along with what Yukito and Misuzu were going through.
Overall I liked it, and would recommend this to anyone who’s seen the TV series. I can’t recommend what order to watch it in, either one spoils the ending, but I’d probably go TV series first then the movie for reinforcement.
Oh…I still cried like a little bitch.
Air’s last episode. There’s not much to say that won’t spoil the ending so if you really don’t want to know then look at the pretty pictures, but don’t read on. Misuzu and mom are getting along famously, they’re happy as can be. Misuzu still has pains, that seem to be coming from her wings. According to Yukito’s prophecy she will die after her last dream. On the last day Misuzu pains herself to get up and walk to mom, which she does, and then passes on. The gist of this is not that she really dies, of course, but the spirit of Kanna from episodes seven and eight, returns to the winged girl in the sky. There’s a lot of speculation about this, and I can’t honestly begin to understand the metaphysical portion of this show after one viewing, I’ve taken four days just to digest this episode. It hits hard, and doesn’t pull any of its emotional punches. The end shows a young boy and girl “beginning” something, and maybe it’s the beginning Yukito was talking about, maybe they can bring the happiness Kanna has been searching for all those years.
For a final review it’s hard to say what I really thought about this. I’m in the process of re-watching this on my DLP TV. To tell the truth it only brings out the stunning qualities of this show. Vivid colors, spectacular animation, and likeable characters that really draw you into this surreal portrait of this small Japanese town. The summer arc, where we went back to feudal Japan, seemed like an odd misstep, because of the apparent lightheartedness of the two episodes they gave to it. I speculate that on a re-watch I will feel better about these two episodes and their place in the story. Could they have spared the budget and cut back on things so they could have more episodes, sure, but I think that would detract from the drawing power of the visuals. Slight missteps aside, I’m very happy with the outcome of this show, I like the story it told and the people it introduced. While we could have had a little more time getting to know them all, I’m not all that sure we needed it. Overall an excellent piece of work.
Yukito is still sort of gone. I guess his spirit is in the crow named Sora. This episode seems to go over the custody battle that Haruko has to keep Misuzu with her. Turns out, like we were told before, that Haruko is not really Misuzu’s mother, but instead a guardian that she was placed with. In the time they’ve spent together she’s fallen in love like a mother should. What looks like Misuzu’s actual father shows up to take her away, even though Haruko has fought to keep her by her side. In the midst of all this Misuzu gets an inadvertent short haircut and continues to display weird signs of the sickness she had when Yukito was around. She eventually loses all of her memories, and the ability to walk. Misuzu, in her new mental state, learns to love Haruko as her mom and looks like she’ll get to stay with her.
The speed that this show has gone is really strange. There’s a lot to digest here, and I’ve read a lot of different blogs on this show. I’ll say that the last three episodes before this one were a bit confusing and kind of derailed the show from the path it was on. For me this episode has put it back on the right track for the most part. It’s hard to explain, maybe I’m just a sucker for emotional drama, but that’s what drew me into really liking this show, and this episode pours on the emotional drama. For the shortness that this series is going to be (13 episodes), they are asking a lot of the viewer to have faith and care for characters that you don’t have a lot of time to get to know, but for the most part I’ve been able to flow along with the breakneck pace and I think I’m following this the way they intend me to. I really liked this episode, and am looking forward to the wrap up.
Episode 8:
In the “Summer” arc, as I’ve read what it’s called, we meet Kanna and Ryuuya, who seem to have a similar relationship to Misuzu and Yukito, and aside from hair color they look kind similar as well. Ryuuya has been charged to guard Kanna, who is a mythical winged person. Kanna is sad and orders Ryuuya to take her to find her mother, whom they find just in time for the episode to end.
Episode 9:
Kanna finds mom and they leave her prison, only for her to get killed shortly after her release. She teaches Kanna a spell of sorts, and the continue to take Kanna away. There’s some sect that finds Kanna to be some kind of demon and they’re hell bent on killing her. As Kanna tries to escape she almost makes it but gets nailed by tons of arrows and disappears. Ryuuya and the other guardian decide that they will make a child and pass on Ryuuya’s mission to find Kanna sometime in the future through legends and tales. I assume that Yukito is the descendant of Ryuuya, and the Mikoto is harboring Kanna’s spirit. But that’s just a guess at this point.
Episode 10:
And now back to the present. Yukito shows up here, but this basically a recap episode told through the eyes of a crow that Misuzu takes in. Since it’s a recap I’m not going to go into the plot of this one, recap is a recap ya know. But, Potato makes an appearance…yay!!
Not too many episodes left here, looking forward to some resolution now. At least I haven’t cried these last few episodes.
Slightly less rushed than last episode. Minagi runs away from home because her mom can’t remember her. Her mom had a miscarriage that caused her to go a wee bit mental. She started thinking that her older daughter was the miscarried baby, when she finally realized that was not the case she went really mental and forgot she had an older daughter. Yukito, being our hero and all, realizes that Minagi just needs a push in the right direction so he not so subtly puts Minagi with her mother. Her mother’s memories flow back and they are reunited. In the meantime there’s Michiru, the little girl that’s always with Minagi. Turns out that she’s a dream made real by this mystical woman in the sky. So now that Michiru is has served her purpose she has to leave, or rather disappear. Minagi gets a call from dad, who has a daughter named Michiru who bears a striking resemblance to the older Michiru, and Minagi gets to be with her all over again. Yukito then returns to Misuzu’s house to take her to school, and finds her unconscious on the floor. Next episode please….hayaku!!
I’m in love with this show. It’s my favorite this year. There are seven more episodes, and if they maintain this quality, it’s going to be hard to beat for some time. Between Minagi and Mom being reunited, the realization that Michiru is a spirit, Michiru leaving, Minagi rediscovering Michiru again, this was one bittersweet episode with more emotions than I’ve seen in a long time.
Yes…I cried.
Misuzu and Yukito bolster through Kano’s past. They then find the magic feather and learn why Kano tried to kill Yukito. After the flashback Kano is cured and the magic feather disappears.
Since this is based off a dating sim game, it’s safe to assume that this was the end of Kano’s storyline/path in the game. They have a lot more to go for just nine episodes left.
They’ve slowed down on the character introductions. Kano manifests some weird kind of vision around Yukito and Misuzu, she ends up being fine. Potato gets lost, then found. Then Kano goes a bit on the crazy and tries to strangle Yukito. Damn this is a fine show.
So far aside from all the girls being introduced there isn’t a lot of romance, but mystery there is tons of and I’m quite hooked.
