Review | Movie | AIR: The Movie

AIR: THE MOVIE : This reinterpretation of the AIR series sheds a new light on the small town of Kami, as traveler Yukito arrives at the seaside town looking for a way to make money. There he meets Misuzu, a young school girl, who upon finding out that Yukito has nowhere to stay, allows him to stay with her. As Yukito and Misuzu become friends, a legend begins to unfold that tells of a winged being falling in love with her human guardian while in captivity, against the laws of her people. Consequently, she is punished with a mysterious illness, which will inflict all of her reincarnations until the curse can be broken. When Misuzu becomes deathly ill with a sickness that cannot be diagnosed, Yukito fears that Misuzu may be the reincarnation of the winged being from the legend.

AIR: The Movie is not a continuation of the anime, but the same story told through a different viewpoint. The animation for AIR is different than that of the movie, and Yukito's seemingly cold personality from the anime is less obvious in the movie.

AIR, though a beautiful anime, is a tear-jerker. You can feel your heart go out to Misuzu, who despite her weaknesses maintains a sunny disposition. We do not get the comic relief from Potato that we do in the series, as Potato only appears once as a character Misuzu is watching on TV.

The theme of the movie is a lot softer; Yukito is not hesitant about a relationship with Misuzu and treats her with more kindness. The two are seen doing more friendly things together, as opposed to the anime where Yukito grumbles throughout whenever Misuzu takes him anywhere. Misuzu, however, does not spend as much of the quality time with her mother figure aunt Haruko as she did in the anime.

This interpretation of the AIR story is every bit as beautiful as the anime it parallels, and every fan of the AIR series will definitely want to catch it.

Overall Rating:
/ 5

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Review | Anime | AIR TV

AIR : AIR is a heartwarming story about a boy named Yukito who travels from city to city looking for work. He arrives in a small oceanfront town where he meets a young girl named Misuzu, who offers him a place to stay and her friendship. For generations, Yukito's family had passed down a legend about winged beings, and Yukito searches for these beings on behalf of his mother, who searched for them before her death. As time goes by, Yukito begins to suspect that Misuzu is a descendant of the winged beings, and if his suspicions are correct, Misuzu's life may be in danger.

I stumbled across AIR in the randomest way. I was in the library, and on a table was a small magazine (very small, there were hardly 15 pages in it) with the characters of AIR on the cover. The illustrations were just beautiful, so I had to look into it. I found the episodes online and watched them. The theme song remains one of my favorite songs of all-time.

AIR is very deep. It's not stereotype, and there's not very much of anime's signature unnatural face-making and goofy posing, though you'll find some. Yukito's rather cold for Misuzu to think as much of him as she does, and definitely isn't your typical teenaged drama queen hormone circus. Misuzu, implied to be about 15, has a case of childlike dependency, and this is displayed by her big imagination and saying, "Gao" ("grr" or "growl") whenever something annoys or disappoints her. Potato the dog is to die for; it is so amazingly adorable, anyone with a heart would want to snatch it out of the screen and cuddle it. The relationship between Yukito and Misuzu is foggy, but you can tell the two are really concerned about each other.

But do remember, I mentioned deep, and I mean very deep. This one is a tearjerker. I never cry at TV, ever, but this one was getting to me. It's a concoction of heartwarming/tragic/meaningful. If you easily cry, you'll cry at this one. Misuzu's strained relationship with her mother begins to dwindle and the two spend more time together as the series nears its completion, and that's when the eyedrops start to flow. There are several scenes throughout the series that are very sad, so if you don't like sad animes, this one's probably not for you. I don't want to ruin the ending so I'll leave it at that.

I like this one a lot, it's a must-see for those of you who appreciate the art of anime, because the animation is gorgeous and very detailed. This series is relief from the comic or action-packed violent animes, giving off a more serene and dreamy feeling. Like walking on air.

Overall Rating:
/ 5

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Audio
Opening theme : Tori no Uta
Farewell Song
Natsukage