Forum - View topicMy opinion on Air.
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Tony K.
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 11440 Location: Frisco, TX |
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So I finished the TV series and Summer specials about a week ago, and here we are. I'll try to keep it short.
Art was spectacular.. to a degree (I'll explain later). The actual artwork for backgrounds, coloring, shading, and all of that were top notch and very high. Animation is superb. Motions and movement are practically flawless. Anyone familiar with Kyoto Animation should know that I need not comment any further. Music was Good for the most part. The melody of the opening sets a sort of melancholy mood for the series, and the composer does a good job of tying parts of it into the score. Some of the music itself felt a little too synthesized, though, and I would've liked a little more variation in instrumentation. But then again, I hear this is based on a video game, so that probably explains it. Plot/characters, I'll get into later. Voice acting is Very Good, despite my frustration with some of the themes and one particular character. I'm glad to hear Daisuke Ono in another major role past Itsuki from Haruhi, and Aya Hisakawa (who I sometimes confuse with Ayako Kawasumi because of the 'Aya') does a great job with her Osaka accent. Anyway, the one thing that's bugging me lately, though, is how I keep happening to encounter all of these moe and lolita character designs. Not that I find a problem with cute characters, but it seems every female in this series had that look, regardless of age. I think cuteness can be appreciated, but in small or balanced doses (such as Chiyo-chan). Watching this series, I somehow got the forced feeling of "OMG, kawaii!" in that this franchise is trying a little too hard and to the point of where it just becomes distracting to me. On top of that, it really affects my perception of the plot/characters part. I don't mean to be offensive, but I found Misuzu's character to be way overdone and almost sickening with how much idolizing and attention to "kawii-ness" they made. All of that "Gao!" "V-wee!" and "-nya~" stuff just felt really, really pretentious and much too perfect for me to believe such a person would ever exist. I also could not stand her fits, though I'd say that's much more of a personal dislike because I work at a store where a lot of parents bring their crying kids. And the last thing I need at the end of a workday is another wailing brat (not that I consider Misuzu one as she's pretty well-behaved, but damn, I hate kids...). Aside from that, everything else between and beyond that was pretty good. Personally, I liked the backstory a lot more (with Ryuuya and Kanna). It didn't rely on that annoying moe element as much as Misuzu and all of those other girls in town and the struggle felt more plausible. And gettting to the second part of my post, how exactly is this series considered shounen? I've seen many a title of this genre and would even like to call myself an expert on it. But if you were to make a top 10 list, would you say: Rurouni Kenshin Hajime no Ippo Hunter X Hunter Yakitate!! Japan Bleach Fate/stay night R.O.D. the TV Saber Marionette J Shakugan no Shana .. and then Air? Clearly, just from the character aspects and drama one can easily call this shoujo, right? I mean, I'm sure you can have a shounen series without the use of action or violence, but someone please explain this. But for the series overall, the production values are great and their were quite a few emotional moments. I'm just really having a hard time accepting all of that overdone moe and can't bring myself to rate this any higher than a So-so at the moment. And carrying this over from my comments on Full Moon wo Sagashite in the Shelf Life thread, I'm also quite hesitant to check out Air the Movie and either of the two Kanon series. If you'd like to enlighten or convince me of any particular elements I'm just not picking up on, so that I may enjoy this series and others just a little more, then please feel free to comment. Yes, I read the past discussion threads and know that I'm probably lacking in experience from not playing or having knowledge of the games, but like I also mentioned about Voices of a Distant Star, I take what I'm given and work with it. Even if Air is based on a game, it should've effectively conveyed most of the same ideas, right? |
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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Removed. You should have reported. |
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undeadben
 Posts: 1212 Location: West Texas |
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Ah, it's been changed I was wondering about that too. I didn't think this show was shounen, and maybe my memory has gotten weak, but I think that it was listed as both shounen and shoujo in the Encyclopedia at one point.
Anyway, if the character designs, and Misuzu's character were a bit overboard for you, maybe you should actually take a look at the Air movie, you might like it more. It is an alternate remake and the character designs are quite different (I think only one "Gao" if memory serves). Most of the characters are a bit more mature actually and it has a smaller cast. Although one of the drawbacks, in my opinion, is that you get Hikaru Midorikawa, yes that guy, instead of Daisuke Ono. |
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
Posts: 9902 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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Most game purists prefer Midorikawa because he was the seiyuu of Yukito in the game (of PS2 version; original PC version had no voice acting). However, I perfer Ono personally, for Midorikawa's performance in the movie was way too mature and serious, thus losing Yukito's comedic side (especially spoiler[his "duels" with Michiru, whose role was removed almost entirely from the movie]). |
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Tony K.
Subscriber Moderator Posts: 11440 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Great, I guess I'm not crazy after all. I wasn't sure if it was a mistake or if I just didn't get it  .
Hm.. well I actually like him in the few key roles of his that I've heard. But I will check out the movie based on how you say it's a little different. Thanks. |
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KyuuA4
 Posts: 1361 Location: America, where anime and manga can be made |
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And if you like Air -- then watch Kanon (either version).
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PantsGoblin
Subscriber Encyclopedia Editor  Posts: 2969 Location: L.A. |
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Which he said he didn't. Since you didn't like Air, I wouldn't recommend watching Kanon. Their character designs are both very similar, they're both based on renai games, and you'll also be getting that cute moe vibe from both of them. They both basically cater to the same crowd, so if you didn't like one, I wouldn't recommend watching the other. |
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KyuuA4
Posts: 1361 Location: America, where anime and manga can be made |
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Hence, the converse. 
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HellKorn
Posts: 1669 Location: Columbus, OH |
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Kyoto Animation seems to like to really push the buttons when it comes to the droopy eyes and unbelievably small mouth. A friend of mine has yet to watch it because he is way too put off by the designs. He goes to an art college and isn't fond of stereotypical and mundane character designs, which I feel the same way though to a lesser degree. [quotepOn top of that, it really affects my perception of the plot/characters part. I don't mean to be offensive, but I found Misuzu's character to be way overdone and almost sickening with how much idolizing and attention to "kawii-ness" they made. All of that "Gao!" "V-wee!" and "-nya~" stuff just felt really, really pretentious and much too perfect for me to believe such a person would ever exist.[/quote] It seemed to die down as the series went on, it seems. The second half didn't have as many of those "KAWAI!" moments that were... common in the first half, which was something I appreciated, though I did enjoy some parts even then.
I myself struggled between a "Good" and "Very Good," and went with the latter. Some may say that is too geneous, but I found the second half of the series made it worthwhile. I liked spoiler[the flashback giving details on the "curse" itself, and I also strangely got into the last three episodes which lent itself to deal with themes about family.] I'd have to say that last element did draw me in and threw a fair bit of emotional moments towards the end, considering that Haruko was my favorite character in Air and also seems to be the best developed and handled one as well. I'm anything but an advocate of the recent trend of moé in anime, but I will admit to finding Air to be an interesting and worthwhile exception. It had amazing technical merits and had enough character and plot intrigue in the second half to draw me in; plus it also had a fitting ending.
Ironically enough while I haven't seen the original Kanon, I've seen the two episodes put out so far of the remake and I'm not what you would call "ecstatic" about it. It doesn't seem to have the elements and direction that made me overlook the moé overtones that were noticable in other KyoAni works (Air and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, to be specific). |
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 7580 Location: Wales |
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Most, if not all, of the music is taken from the game soundtrack so that does explain it (also explaining why, last time I tried to obtain it, I could not order the soundtrack CD as it was classed as "software" by places like cdjapan) |
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cheezisgoooood
Posts: 253 Location: Orlando, FL |
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I would have to agree with all that you've said, the characters were all just way too cutesy for me in the end, and it caused me to be unable to connect with them on a personal level because stuff like "Gao" and being as perfectly cute as Misuzu really makes her implausible as a human character. All of that crying, whining, and spoiler[dying] at the end also really ruined things for me, though I did enjoy some of the humor and the flashback arc.
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Animefreak6969
 Posts: 587 |
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I dont remember what i rated it, however this IS in my favorites and i might have rated it a Masterpiece, ill go check, I love this show, this was just one of my fav's EVER The music, although somewhat synthesized, was very beautiful and i listen to it all the time, I watched this like 30 times in a row when i first torrented it and every time i hit ep. 6 i cried and every time i hit around 9 and the end i cried, i couldnt stop. Moe animation doesnt bother me at all and i love this animation and character design anyway, Kanon is also one of my favorites, same with Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu, but i do see why just SOOO many characters in one show could effect it.
P.S. i rated it a Masterpiece, I checked 
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bluepita
 Posts: 465 |
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I had the same problem with the cutesy-ness that you did. Misuzu felt way too childish to me, and I could never get her body and personality to match in my head.
However, I did not like the backstory. Well, I did not like it in the context of the rest of the anime. It was good in itself. Had the whole show been similar, I would have loved it. But, it was such a departure from the rest of the series, I was left feeling lost. It wasn't the storyline, but the 'feel' of it. I downloaded the movie around the same time as the series, (months ago) but I still haven't watched it. Finishing the series felt like work to me and left me with no enthusiasm for the movie. Edit: Oops, quoted the whole OP. My bad. 
Last edited by bluepita on Mon Oct 16, 2006 9:47 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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selenta
Subscriber Posts: 1774 Location: Seattle, WA |
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The movie was terrible imo. It was strictly worse in every way I can imagine, but then again, Air is one of my top ten so it'd probably be hard to top for me.
Personally, I took a long break between watching the first half and the second, which I think helped a lot with the atmosphere. I was kind of put off by the atmosphere myself, and found I only really enjoyed the first arc. I didn't really like anything after the first arc but before the last one, I almost stopped watching. Then I got to the last arc, and that was easily one of the times in my life that I've cried the most. The only two other times I remember crying harder, were when I rewatched Hoshi no Koe, and when I found out Santa Claus wasn't real during lunch in 4th grade (nobody told me, and I really wanted to believe in him  ). Especially when you think about it, and watch the last episode for a second time, it's probably one of the saddest moments in anime history. The fact that I was as moved as I was, made me debate between an excellent or masterpiece rating (that decision didn't take long, let me tell you).
I can completely understand being kind of overloaded in the kawaii atmosphere of Misuzu, but at least it really dies down after the first arc. For me at least, it was because she was so indescribably innocent, while being so optomistic, and yet so unfortunate, that I cared so much. The worst part is: spoiler[right when she started to care again, right when she discovered her hope and will to live, fate took it all away. Some say it is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all, but Misuzu had essentially just discoverd she wished to love when she was on her death bed. The ending where Misuzu knew she was dying and forced her mom to wait for her at the 'goal', was almost too depressing to handle.] Great, now I'm all misty-eyed. |
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P€|\||§_|\/|ast@
 Posts: 3498 Location: IN your nightmares |
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I'm not going to spend too much time criticizing Air but I will say overall I was rather displeased with the story. A show with such great artwork and animation quality, an interesting musical score, and character development driven rather extensively by emotion and hardships should be a great anime. It's a shame that the story wasn't up to par with these other production values. My major gripes with the story had alot to do with its disjointedness and, how should I say it? "modular" plotlines. It was almost as if they could have made three entirely different anime series with just this one show. I like overlapping plots and subplots and most of my favorite shows involve epic-style storytelling but Air was just missing the right connection points between the different nuances of the storyline. It is something that I can't explain that should have been there but was obviously something that the creators were trying to convey that just didn't click with me or was too subdued compared to the brilliant animation work and characterization. I myself really like the personality of Misuzu, maybe it was not getting enough of her cute eccentricies that distracted me too much from the storyline. I think this is probably true because the only other character in the show that stood out to me was Yukito (well that is kind of expected since he was the other main character), but I thought it was cool how he had this kinetic power and even though no one really thought he was anything special, even Misuzu, he always kept trying to make a buck by performing puppet shows.
But anyway, yeah I did spend alot of time on my beefs about the show but one thing I wanted to point out is how lots of new anime out there is becoming more and more deceptive in terms of whether it's shounen or shoujo. Especially with shows like Honey & Clover and Gankutsuou. If I were to show those two series to anyone new to anime they'd say H&C is "girly" and Gankutsuou is an action show for guys. But as anime fans we know it's actually the other way around. H&C is shoujo to some regards but I think its true target audience is guys who like shoujo. And Gankutsuou has many elements to it that are meant to appeal to women. I think Air is also deceptive in that way. Last edited by P€|\||§_|\/|ast@ on Mon Oct 16, 2006 9:53 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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