anime review: air.

Air.
Key/VisualArts 2005.

Animation: 9.0
Sound: 8.5
Story: 6.5
Character: 7.0
Enjoyment: 10.0
Avg Rating: 8.1

Animation
Beautiful CGs, backgrounds are amazing. The characters were well-drawn, even if the huge weird-looking eyes on most of the female characters put me off. Hair is nicely done for the most part. Major props in this category go to the rendering of the backgrounds.

Sound
Air has a memorable opening theme, which it takes full advantage of by slipping it into many major scenes. Ending theme was boring after the first time through. Rest of the soundtrack was good and really helped to bring about the atmosphere of the anime, but nothing to write home about.

Story
This is where Air fails, somewhat. The storyline is enjoyable throughout, but it makes no sense whatsoever in retrospect. The first few episodes are full of promise - light, interesting, and beautiful. True to the game it was based on, however, Air then goes into the whole one-girl-per-episode formula. Which isn't to say that it's *bad* - a central theme clearly starts to form, revolving around the concept of wings. The plot draws the viewer in, and builds up all the way up till the end of the Dream Arc (Episodes 1-7). The start of the Summer Arc (Episodes 8-9) is somewhat jarring, as we're suddenly teleported over a thousand years into the past. Any discomfort is soon smoothed over, however - this subplot is entertaining in itself, and provides many insights into the events of the Dream Arc as well as further developing the central theme. The Air Arc is where the problem lies - or more precisely, where the problem manifests itself. The energy level drops again, initially, as we're left to wonder why the main character is now a crow while everything that happened in the Dream Arc is given a recap. I loved the Air Arc, however - it was my favourite part of the whole anime. I personally feel that the most emotional scenes happen in this part of the series. The problem is that it just doesn't flow with the rest of the anime. Unlike the first two arcs of Air, which talk about wings and dreams and the curse of winged beings, the final arc deals mostly with the concept of a parent's love. And the thing is that it's all so INTERESTING so you don't realize that the story is screwing itself over until you finish watching the whole damn thing.

Character
What can I say? The characters in Air are old anime clichés. But at least they're bearable. The hero, Yukito, is pretty cool. Somewhat antisocial and cynical, Yukito also suffers from the curse of being the persona in a dating sim - he constantly has internal monologues. The other important characters in the anime are all female. The other two eligible girls, Kano and Minagi, are pretty one-sided characters with little or no development, as is Michiru. Misuzu, the main female character, also shows some decent (and much-needed) development in the latter episodes. Haruka, Misuzu's foster mom, is brilliant, easily the most memorable character in the anime.

Enjoyment
Despite some of its shortcomings, Air is a thoroughly enjoyable anime. Everything has this nice, clean, refreshing feeling about it - from the stylized title to the nameless town where the bulk of the anime takes place in. The plot draws you in and keeps you there, in that lazy little world of sunset-lit beaches and little extraterrestrial/dog hybrids. Great anime if you're looking to escape from the real world for awhile.