AIR (TV) Collection Review
Genre: Drama, comedy, slice of life
Dubbed Cast: Monica Rial (Negima series, Full Metal Panic Series), Luci Christian (Negima Series, This Ugly Yet Beautiful World, Full Metal Panic), Vic Mignogna (Full Metal Alchemist), Stephanie Wittels (Clannad), Kira Vincent Davis (Azumanga Daioh).
Themes: Journeys, Fate, Love, family relationships, destiny, sacrifice.
OFLC Rating: PG for mild violence, themes and language and a bit of mild nudity
The terms, “Moe” stand for a female’s character persona to be attached to and one’s longing for such. E.g. human desires of the heart. It also stands for the cuteness of the female protagonist from their long hair, sweet and innocent attitude and of course, their cute eyes. The Air (TV) Collection has shown a strong view of the theme of “Moe” as well as illustrating its storyline overall through its animation, soundtrack and the crucial scenes. It was based on a PC game in Japan but was remade to ensure that its suitable for the proper viewers and collectors.
Meet Yukito Kunisaki, a boy who has a unique power of controlling a puppet without any strings from his mother’s unique powers. He journeys all around in search for the “Girl in the Sky” for whom he wants to meet for a long time. He travels to a quiet, and small seaside town and he meets a girl named, Misuzu Kamio, a cute yet lonely girl who has a sweet innocence of a child who eventually warms up to. However, throughout the quiet town, he meet other people such as Haruko, a woman who has a tough time caring for Misuzu because of her unknown condition and the distance within the family, Kano, with her pet, Potato playing around (with a dark past), and Minagi, with a tragic and sad memory.
The plot and subplots can be full of surprises and mystery, several scenes that can send a chill down your spine, and some dramatic scenes that can make you cry. It even shows us how it all happened within the past and how the mystery of the “Girl in The Sky” has begun! And of course, there are a few twists that will make you crawl out of your seat and clench with fear on what is going to happen next! For a short series, Air manages to deliver the strong meaning of love, family relationships, journeys and of course destiny throughout the whole series. The soundtrack consists of soft orchestrated music and soft piano techniques of the songs that match the dramatic and emotional scenes.
The Opening is fresh, vibrant and shows a lighter side of life instead of the tragic and dramatic scenes foreshadowed in the later episodes. The ending is calm and sweet and reveals that the essence of the “winged beings” or our loved ones that have passed away are “watching over us” and shows that “They will always be by our side”. It symbolizes the strength of courage and love as well as bringing hope to others in need of help. Thus, shows that love can survive within one another and when you are with a family.
The art overall is outstanding. Including the character design for the series. It shows the different feelings expressed when you first catch a glimpse of it such as the festivities to being by the ocean side. It is beautiful. For example: Misuzu (my favourite), she is cute, innocent and can be clumsy yet she is the sweetest characters in anime. Seeing all the pain and suffering she has to endure can be nostalgic to someone who needs help has been given a bad start. Monica Rial plays a great role with her superb acting as well as her expression of her emotions and feelings within the storyline. The dubbed casting is superb. Memorable ones you will hear within the series.
What I love about the anime is the innocence of the characters, the different personalities the characters in the series have, and the different obstacles they have to overcome. Within every episode, there is a certain theme or moral shown such as every moment is precious, the love of a parent for their child, friendship, and caring for one another regardless of who they really are. There are a lot of important themes within the series but I’ll let you find out for yourself!
The only thing negative about it is that there is no Episode 13 shown and should be given to give us a recap on what happened overall to ensure that we understand what is going on. It won’t really affect the overall score and such…
Overall, AIR is a remarkable series that truly shown a strong view of the theme of “Moe” as well as illustrating its storyline overall through its animation, soundtrack and the dramatic scenes. It also engages the audience to see the personal relationships for the characters and their own personal fears and conflicts they have to deal with. It has a balance of happy moments and sad moments that will make you cry (happened a few times with me but it’s natural for a collector). It is an anime series that is remarkable in its quality of art, story and the music. A must see.
Pros: Strong storyline, engaging plot, well designed artwork and background, great voice actors, and the summer special to top it all!
Cons: Prepare to cry a lot at some of the last episodes!
Rating: 10/10
Air Summer Special Review
For those in curiosity on what happened to Ryuya, Kanna and Uraha during the search for Kanna’s mother, it is a lighter tale within the feudal period of Japan 1000 years ago and is a subplot from the Air series. It fills in the missing piece of the puzzle of episode 8 and 9 on what happened as well as the pasts of the characters. It also shows the personal relationships between them throughout their journey such as Kanna’s attempt to juggle beanbags, the argument between Ryuya and Kanna and their love/hate relationship between them.
It is a major focus on their personal relationships, the action and some teasing scenes that will make you laugh. Also it is a neat installment for the Air series but it is recommended to see the main series before moving onto the OVA. So if you are looking for what really happened during their journey as well as a relief from the intense storyline and need of a good laugh, then this OVA is perfect for you to seal the deal of this great series as well as revive you from the tears of sorrow from the last episodes of the series.
Rating: 10/10
Air is Licensed by Funimation Entertainment and distributed by Madman Entertainment
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