Air. Air is a good thing. Air allows us to breathe and is the most important element needed to sustain life. The word
air has a variety of meanings. Ask a room full of people what first thing that comes to mind is when they hear the word
air and you’ll get responses ranging from the sky to an invisible force which surrounds us that we can't see or
touch. An Otaku might say, “Air is also incredibly good Anime”, and they’d be right.
Yet to be released in the United States, Air tells the story of a poor wandering, pretty boy puppeteer named Yukito who
enters a strange seaside town in the pursuit of earning enough money to buy himself a meal. Armed only with a small
cloth doll in the shape of a bear with wings and a red cap whom responds to his mental commands, Yukito stumbles upon
Misuzu Kamino an eccentric young girl who has an obsession with dinosaurs but no friends. She also has a secret; a
debilitating illness which could be the cause of her loneliness. It’s either that, or an ancient curse. Misuzu just
started her summer vacation when she found Yukito asleep by the sea on her way to her morning summer classes. There was
an instant connection between the two, drawn together by their crushing sense of loneliness, and the same dream of a
winged girl who lives in the sky, sad and alone. They both wish to someday find that girl and set her free only to
discover that the winged girl is a part of them both.
As Yukito becomes entwined with Misuzu he’s introduced to the other citizens of this sad town, each detached from
reality. The first part of the show deals with Misuzu's classmate, Kana, a bright eyed chipper girl who thinks she
can talk to her dog Potato. She also wears a bright yellow ribbon on her wrist believing that she has to wear it so
she’ll be able to do magic as an adult. She too is familiar with the winged girl in the sky and she too wishes to
visit her. For to her, the winged woman is her mother.
Next, Yukito stumbles upon Minagi and Michiru. Two girls so close I thought they were sisters. This tale is so weird
I’d hate to ruin the surprise any further, except to say that to Minagi that same winged girl who lives a lonely life
in the sky has tattered feathers; a far more depressing and drab version then that shared by the previous
characters.
The show bounces back to Yukito’s tale, and finally after taking a voyage to feudal Japan do we hear Misuzu's
story. It’s at this point that you find out that Air’s main story really revolves around Misuzu, as told from the
point of view of the crow she befriends the day she meets Yukito.
This being fine anime, and not some empty shallow cartoon, there’s another whole layer to this story. Air is more then
just a tale about two lost souls meeting in the night. It’s, when all the mini-stories are combined that we realize
that the show is about dreams and the thin line between fiction and reality. It's also about growing up and
learning to accept reality for what it is, and that we need to let go of the dreams and delusions we wrap ourselves in
to shelter ourselves from the pains of life.
Air shows that Dreams are needed to live our lives, but to live in a world of dreams is like flying through the sky.
There is nothing there to support or sustain them, so eventually they will vanish and everything will tumble to the
Earth.
Gaou!
