Air

Air
Created by: Visual Arts/Key
Production by: TBS/Pony Canyon/Mubik/Kyoto Animation
Currently Unlicensed


Kanon's little sibling grows up into a wonderfully told story...

Air tells the story of Yukito Kunisaki, a young man travelling from town to town in search of 'the girl in the sky', as told in a story passed down from parent to child every generation. In each town, Yukito tries to make money via a puppet show. He carries a small puppet that he is able to control without wires or strings. However great his show is, he's never really able to make money from it, and therefore continues from town to town.

He then comes to this small town where he meets Misuzu Kamio, a girl who wants to be his friend, even though she's a bit clumsy and has strange habits. Misuzu then tells Yukito that he can stay at her house, because he has no money and no other place to stay.

A story spanning a thousand years begins to unfold against the background of their peculiar relationship.
**

Okay, the series starts out innocently enough, although watching the first couple of episodes, it reminded me a lot of Kanon, even so I sat through it, hoping it would break away from the Kanon mold, and sure enough it did..to the point where I think this show is a lot better than Kanon.

For those who don't know Kanon, Air was made by Visual Arts/Key, the same company that did Kanon. Both titles were originally bishojo games, in the case of Kanon it was originally a hentai game, although I'm not sure if Air was. Both were translated to the home console systems as well. Where Kanon has the backdrop of Winter to it, Air has the backdrop of Summer to it..

The animation is simply stunning, high production values, and character designs that are simply cute without being overly cute or provocative in anyway. If you liked the designs in Kanon, you'll like the ones in Air.

Story wise, it's very good....there is a ton of story to be told, as it does span a thousand years...so the story does bounce around a lot, which may make it a bit confusing the first time round. Thankfully they do have a mini-recap episode that explains it, as well as ep 13, which is basically a recap episode. I can't really go into specifics about the story because it would spoil an otherwise great plot.

Voice acting is excellent, with as much drama as this series pumps, you need quality voice actors to portray the feelings and emotion, and they hit a home run, this series will definately evoke the heartstrings.

Also, as an extra, check out the Kanon cameos in ep 2 And Potato is awesome! pikopikopikori. Because there is so much story beyond the 12 episodes, and recap 13th episode, Air is being made into a movie. Also, if you watch all of ep 13, then you would have seen an advertisement for a special or series based off the 'Summer Arc' that appears in the middle of the series (that takes place 1000 years prior).

In conclusion, despite the sometimes confusing story, this show is a lot better than Kanon, and is one of the better bishoujo to anime stories that I've seen in quite some time. The animation and voice acting is top notch, and I dare anyone to watch this show and not have tears come down at some point in the series. I must say, that not since Saikano has a show evoked so much emotion in me, both happy and sad. Very recommended.

Final Grade....A-