A nice review and it's good to see someone being a harsh critic for a series that many herald as the second coming :) .
Air tv Review
When he was young, Yukito Kunisaki's mother told him of a winged girl in the sky. Yukito's family has been searching for this girl for generations. Finally, Yukito's journey takes him to a small seaside town where he meets Misuzu Kamio, a girl who is eager to make friends with Yukito. Yukito ends up staying with Misuzu and her mother, Haruka, while he searches for the girl in the sky. In the town, however, there are strange occurences, and as the days pass by, Misuzu starts to have strange dreams.
What is the truth behind Misuzu's dreams and her failing health? And how is everything connected to Yukito and his journey?
The manga adapted from the game is illustrated by Yukimaru Katsura.
Story & Characters
The story for Air seems very simple at first; a guy moves to a new town, in the search for a 'girl in the
sky'. It seems like it is going to be a typical sweet, but rather dull, series. However, this is in fact not true.
Although at first the story moves slowly, the different characters and very engaging and the way they interact with each
other and their feelings are very gripping and engaging. You really begin to feel concern for the characters and begin
to love them all for their own particular traits.
The story moves at a nice pace too; it is only 12 episodes (episodes 13 and 14 are re-cap episodes) yet the story spans
a whole summer. This gives a nice balance - you aren't given a huge number of annoying filler episodes like what
happens with a lot of longer series, nor does the plot move too fast that you have no time to grasp what is happening.
Towards the end, however, the plot becomes rather more complex and bizarre, and it does get rather confusing at times.
But it is still very sweet and worth watching.
I didn't really like the ending though - it made no sense and just left me feeling very confused.
Overall I defiantly recommend the series, but don't expect an amazing ending. This is why I gave it a rating of 7;
if it wasn't for the ending it would have got higher.
Rating:
Art
I thought that the art for Air was superb; it is what first drew me to the series. The characters are adorable and really well designed, and the setting is beautiful - especially views of the beach and the sunset over the ocean. The show has a very fresh and clean feel about it, and the quality of the art doesn't go down as the series processes which happens with many series. The opening credits in particular are stunning, although the end credits are rather dull. But then again its the quality of the series itself which matters not the credits!
Rating:
Sound
The opening theme (Torino Uta) is amazing, and one of my favourite anime theme songs. It is quite upbeat and just has a
'happy-feel' about it. Although not as good as the opening, the ending theme is nice too.
The background music it very good, and fits well with the series. It creates the right atmosphere and feel for the
story, and although the same tune is repeated through a very large amount of the show, it is not a problem as it is
sweet and works well.
The original voices are very good, and match the characters very well. Especially the actress who voices Misuzo fits the
character so well and she is just so adorable - especially when she says 'Gaouuu'
Rating:
Presentation
This show has a nice original plot, and is nothing which has already been done. The idea of the 'girl in the
sky', although used in a few other shows, is taken to a new level in Air which hasn't been used before (at
least not in any anime I have seen before).
There are a few humorous moments, but not many; in general the reaction while watching the show is 'awwww' as
the characters are so adorable and go through so much. But there are nice comedy moments which liven the show up ^_^
One thing that annoyed me about the show though, was the short amount of time some of the characters got. There were a
few episodes about each character to begin with, but then towards the end of the series most of them were not seen - so
the relevance of them to the overall plot was not clear, or maybe even non-existent. This was a bit of a let down, like
with much of the ending of the series, but to start with the different characters get a nice amount of screen time.
Misuzo however, is amazing. The show is worth watching just for her! She is adorable - both in looks and personality!
I enjoyed watching the series - although there wasn't really any action the story was very sweet and action
wasn't actually needed to keep me watching. The different characters and beautiful art managed to keep me engaged
enough!
Rating:
Final Verdict
7.1667 (above average)
Reviewed by k-li, May 11, 2005
Comments
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Aa-chan May 11, 2005
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miscutethono Jun 12, 2005
Yeah nice nice !!
This anime is very nice, i love it.
Good job k-li, nice review. -
howy0420 Aug 17, 2005
reply contain spoiler---------------you are warned!
well some of it is confusing..watch it a second time and u would know.. a thousand years ago her other self was that gurl..the other self of kunisaki was that guy..how to proof it? the scratch on his back..obviously nothing had happen in the present time..but bak in the past, when he was ordered by kanna(misuzu's "other" self) he was forbidded to kill so he was basically useless while fighting..and u could see the same scratch made on him as kunisaki...and the ending i think it's just that the story said the girl will never grow up..that gave me an idea..the girl died a thousand years ago so it will do the same to misuzu as it did to kanna.
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SebastianvonKane Jan 09, 2006
Does this review still open for comments?
OK. This is my point. I was looking for some Air review with the lowest rating for really talking about this anime series without being thrown up (oh my god, that happens a lot of time i the Air movie).
Anyway, I watched this anime since everyone was "charmed" about it, and I got the challenge I would not understand the story.
As a fact of matter, I did understand everything (I've [I've, that reminds me something] watched a lot of animes and learned some "cliches" about them) and, I'm sorry for the fans, I found myself running troughout one of the most pointless stories I've ever known.
It's true. The episodes where you get involved with Kano and Minagi are really annoying. Why the keep doing this %#@\? ("cliche")
And the ending. Oh my god. Why didn't just spread her wings and fly into the sky, or just, by the time she opene, it blew up in a blood stream?
That could have been a bit better than the real ending.
As a writter, I have seen many, many stories and this one, turned to be a real deal, but it ended as real "nothing".
Well, that's what japaneses likes, isn't it? And the movie. Another tested dummie story. Why would we want to see the anime knowing there's a movie compiling the main plot in just 90 minutes?
I don't regret by having looking it, so I'm not gonig to say it's trash.
But, if only the story, ended slightly different, I wouldn't be so bad (too bad about the legends and ascendency cliche, there's no medicine for that). The only relief I have is the dead of the winged ones. HEHEHE, sorry for that.
What do I like? I only pick the songs. They're not so good like othes, but still being respectable.
And uh, one more thing: spread the word, STOP MAKING ANIMES FROM DATING GAMES. THEY NEVER WORKS.
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