Minimum Tempo

My first watch of AIR (TV) gave me a slight sense of discomfort; I heard great things about it, but it bored me. Although it did reverse that halfway through the show, a massive WTF landed on my lap with the Kanna/Ryuuya arc. A second viewing changed my opinions on AIR for the better, and it quickly became one of my favorite series for its relaxing atmosphere and its amazing soundtrack. Never had I watched a Toei production, but my initial expectations of the AIR movie were low. I hoped it would capture the very aspects that produced such an incredible TV series and would deliver it in a quick one hour and thirty minutes.

Fans expecting a similar experience to the TV show should immediately revise their expectations. The AIR movie does not intend to live up to AIR (TV) and has a different goal in mind. The intricacies and details of AIR (TV)’s plot are missing and instead replaced with a plot heavily focused on romance and to a lesser extent, family. Therefore, comparisons between these should not exist beyond objective differences because Kyoto Animation and Toei aimed for separate goals with their respective derivative work. I will mention these differences in this review, but I will refrain from spoiling any huge details from both works.

AIR focuses on Kunisaki Yukito, a young traveler seeking to earn money at a town’s summer festival with his puppeteer act, and Kamio Misuzu, a high school girl desiring a true friend. Yukito initially crosses paths with Misuzu on the beach, but they quickly forget each other until Misuzu spots Yukito putting on a show for local children. Misuzu, with her poor grades, needs to complete a summer project regarding the history of her town and decides to enlist Yukito’s help in exchange for food and shelter. He reluctantly accepts and later meets her mother, Haruko, a quirky woman that eagerly invites Yukito to have a drink.

The animation and drawing style may be different, but Misuzu is still damn cute.

As the story of the movie progresses, a second side story is played which directly relates to Yukito. Kannabi no Mikoto, otherwise known as Kanna, is the last of the winged beings and is forbidden to leave her castle because the government has declared her a demon. Kanna, who is separated from the world and has never seen her mother, is desperate to leave. One of her bodyguards, Ryuuya, befriends her, and eventually they fall in love. Noting Kanna’s wish to explore the outside world, Ryuuya decides to help her.

Players of the visual novel and watchers of the anime TV adaptation will notice how the plot focuses on Misuzu and Yukito’s relationship and events between them are heightened. Some of the characters are noticeably different as well; Misuzu is more mature, Haruko is closer to and much more caring of Misuzu, and Yukito is generally more pessimistic and cynical. A few key characters of the anime, including Kirishima Kano and Tohno Minagi, are only briefly shown, never interacting with the main characters or being relevant to the movie’s plot.

After watching AIR (TV), the movie feels underwhelming. The lack of real substance and depth really prevents the movie from reaching its potential. Incorporating a few other characters should not have been hard. Merely letting appear in one scene without any talking unintentionally emphasizes the shallowness of the movie. Already constructed perceptions of the characters ruin the viewing experience of the movie, and the simplification of the plot to a love story almost deems it unacceptable; AIR was much more than that, and yet the movie fails to show that.

I didn’t know the ground could be white if it wasn’t snowing.

For someone that did not play or watch AIR, it should be a decent movie. The romance between Misuzu and Yukito is actually exemplified (it’s difficult to keep from blurting spoilers) so that may be more appreciated. Family is also wedged into the film through Haruko and her desperate attempts to help Misuzu. The movie channels the theme of love (both romantic and family) in a way that is much easier to understand, but the shortcomings taken to push that message hurt the overall film.

For visuals and audio, there is nothing amazing or even good with the exception of the OP and ED themes. The OP theme is Lia’s “Tori no Uta” ,and the ED themes are Lia’s “Farewell Song” and Eri Kawai’s “If Dreams Came True.” I already love “Tori no Uta” and “Farewell Song,” but I thought “If Dreams Came True” was decent as well. Some of the background music failed to match well with the scene, and the animation at times was terrible. The level of detail was noticeably lower when compared to AIR (TV), and the random use of stills was irritating. The heavy use of light was ridiculously annoying, especially in the Ryuuya and Kanna’s scenes in which the backgrounds were often entirely white. It was comparable to bad utilization of bloom or HDR lighting in a video game.

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Verdict: C+

As a standalone movie, AIR does a somewhat decent job at fleshing out its characters and drawing you into Misuzu’s problems and relationship with Yukito. Unfortunately, the movie had too many flaws, especially after watching the masterpiece of Kyoto Animation. I have to give a C+ because at the end of the day, it’s clearly an average movie that’s easily forgettable.

This post is tagged air, review, toei animation

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