Air (2005) User Reviews

Air: A Soothing Anime

[TheMrAdriaX · 8/10 · 21 June 2012]

Anime Review: Air: Please don't worry no spoilers contained.

Synopsis: Yukito Kunisaki is on a journey, seeking a girl with wings who flies in the sky, as mentioned in a childhood tale. During this journey, he settles down in a small town, trying to make some money. There, he meets a strange girl named Misuzu. Misuzu quickly makes Yukito her friend and invites him to stay with her. Yukito decides to stay in the small town, and continue searching for the winged girl his mother had searched for in her life.

Story: 7/10

Air has a complicated story, not too complicated unlike inception, but just more complicated than an average chick flick anime. It starts off with a puppet traveler Yukito looking for a winged girl who his mother has been looking for in her whole life. He meets a girl named Misuzu and he decided to live with her for a while. He then meets a few girls in the village. For the first 5-7 episodes it will be the story about these girls, about their life and how they are all connected to the winged girl Yukito is looking for. From 8 and 9th episode it is the story of the winged girl and who she was. The last few episodes from 10-12 is the story of Misuzu and how she bonds with presumably her mother but actually her aunt who just adopted her. Episode 13 is the highlights of the series.

Emotionality: 9/10

In Air I will guarantee that you will cry. It is one of the most powerful anime series I have ever seen. Cried probably more than Elfen Lied. I cried more because other than the winged girl part this anime is as realistic as the real world. You connect to this anime very deeply and the ending is one of the most realistic endings you can find in an anime. There is a minor cliff hanger which shows two familiar kids from another anime series called Clannad ( About to watch after this.). Crying is a normal thing that happens to you in this anime especially the final episode.

Animation: 9 1/2 out of 10

The animation was so detailed from the waves of the ocean to every strand of hair. This anime makes you feel soothed and relaxed because mostly in the anime there are a series of beautiful sunsets and amazing cloud formations and the breeze you can almost feel it. Simply amazing, the colours are bright and cheerful which suites this anime perfectly. The problem is that they're eyes are too big but I don't have a bother for that.

Sound / Music: 8/10

My favourite sound from Air is Natsukage it is a soothing relaxing emotional piano performance my favourite piano performance ever! The music in the background are good and does suit all the scenes especially in the final episode. To me the downside was the intro. The intro was catchy but it lacked on catchiness and often makes me sick listening to the song but the intro animations are really good. The voice actors did very well with the voicing and I loved it.

Overall: 8/10

I give this anime an 8 especially because of the emotional parts. If you want to find a good emotional anime I do recommend Air. It is a wonderful, relaxing yet emotionally satisfying anime.

I expected more

[sitetiki · 6/10 · 5 October 2015]

-- This review will NOT contain spoilers -- So I was recently up for watching sad animes. After finishing Clannad After Story and Anohana, I decided to watch Air.

General Opinion: It started off odd yet promising. The characters we're likable and the story seemed intriguing. But as I progressed through the show, I found myself finishing every episode saying "What the F***" in complete shock. And not because the show was surprising. The storyline was filled with plot holes and was jumping from one thing to the other without any logical order. That made the show quite hard to watch.

Summary: Plot: 5/10 Eventually the story was nice, but the franticity was just too much for me. It was hard to follow the story and there were many things I just couldn't understand without consulting the internet. Moreover, there was some stuff in there that were just plain silly.

Animation: 7/10 The animation is vivid and beautiful, although it has an odd touch that makes it look old and unpleasant at times.

Music: 9/10 In one word: beautiful. Especially the Opening theme Tori no Uta.

Emotionality: 7/10 Most of the show wasn't as sad and emotional as I expected, But there was one thing that made me shed a tear, thus i'm giving it 7, and not 4.

Overall: 6/10 Eventually, I believe Key should have added 2 more episodes to the show to fill in the holes in the plot. As a viewer, I can't stand not understanding what I see and not getting an explanation. This show is nice, And if you're thinking whether you should watch it or not, I'd say yes, but try to bear through the hard parts to get to the good slices. But if you want a good emotional anime, try one of the two I mentioned, not Air.

Chick Flick Anime

[mergatroid-1 · 6/10 · 3 November 2011]

Yep, it's sad alrighty. I bet your old lady will love it. Been trying to get her interested in Anime but could never find the right thing? Exploding robots and sexy babes just weren't doing the trick? Air is just the ticket.

The REALLY sad thing about this movie is that it's quite excellent in a technical way. The animation is great, and very detailed as others have already pointed out. Even the story is interesting. It sort of reminded me of old time twilight zone stories is a twisted-story kind of way. If you could take one of those stories, lengthen it over 12 episodes, add a bunch of tear jerkiness and give it a Japanese flavor you could end up with something like Air. You know those people who are always complaining about character development in movies? Well, they would o.d. on this.

So, it's OK except the entire time I was watching I wanted the story to move along, but I didn't want to fast forward because I didn't want to miss some important little detail that may pertain to something else later in the series.

My 6/10 is because this just ain't my cup of tea. However, I'm sure lots of people will love it (especially the ladies).

If you're just such a huge anime fan that you HAVE to watch it (like me), don't watch it with your buds. There are just too many parts where you "get something in your eye".

This anime's one of the saddest and best I've ever seen.

[windwhirl5000 · 10/10 · 20 July 2007]

I'm always on the look for good animes to watch, but for once I couldn't find any. I found Air then. It was all I could find & it looked okay, so I tried it. The beginning went by a little slow, but don't let that put you down. After a few episodes it gets really interesting. If you aren't up for the bloody, gory stuff need not worry. Blood's barely ever spilled. The animation, too, is great. At first I wasn't used to it, but then I realized that it was actually a lot nicer than most of the animation I've been watching. The details and hard work put into it is easy to spot. Another thing you might want me to warn you about is that this anime is really sad. Not depressing or anything, but soo sad. Mostly everyone I know cried when they watched the last few episodes, but I didn't. It was sad, but I think that it was also happy in a way. I didn't cry because I saw that happy part. In the end, this anime was just beautiful. I really recommend it. If you like mecha, blood & action it might not be for you but I know that it was for me. Enjoy watching!

Bring a Hanky

[ultramouse · 2 January 2008]

At times, Air felt dangerously close to "emotional pornography," but I think I'm OK with that because it rarely was cloying or saccharine. Even the basic concept of the story itself seems designed to choke you up. While some series ply you with ultra-violence, giant robots, unrequited love, or fan service, Air's stock in trade is a weepy assault of inevitable sadness on its unsuspecting victim-viewers.

That said, when inevitability strikes, it's about as sad as they come. The series is too short to cause you to be completely invested in the characters the "natural" way (although it's thankfully lacking in the kind of filler episodes you normally see in a run of 24), but the characters are well-written, likable, and three-dimensional enough to make up for it.

What I liked the most about the story was how open it was to interpretation. Depending on who you are, what your view on the supernatural elements might be (don't want to give too much away here), that will determine what the story actually means to you. But the central themes, largely about the nature of families, will resonate no matter what your opinion of the plot.

Technically, the show is top notch, no complaints. The art style is endearing, though you may find it overly "cute" at first, and the animation is smooth. The colors and style make Air dreamlike at times, which is appropriate. I've watched it dubbed and subtitled, and this may be heresy to say but I find ADV's dub to be very well done. Air is very nice to look at, and having to keep reading subtitles was distracting to me. Plus, this is all about character and there's something far easier about relating to characters speaking your language.

If you're ready to get a little choked up, this might be a good choice for you. There is no action, no real romantic love story, and little in the way of comic relief after the first few episodes. But there's plenty of good character-driven, emotionally striking story.

You might cry

[WeAreLive · 10/10 · 27 July 2020]

Yukeito a traveling puppeteer comes to a quite town in search of making money and find a girl with wings. He meets a young girl clumsy and joyful girl called Musuzu who offers him a ruff to sleep under with her mother. But little does he knew this girl is suffering a long term illness.

The story is pretty much a masterpiece get ready to cry I am not going to spoil any think other then the brief summary above so I will leave it at that.

The animation is actually pretty good, though it does take some getting used to in terms character designs.

The voice cast is very good both Vic Mignonga and Monica Rial were amazing in this. It's just a shame they may never be friends again after the recent drama. Which does make me upset.

I really love the soundtrack this has to offer as well.

This is definitely going in my list of favorites.

Hauntingly Beautiful

[arorashadow_2003 · 10/10 · 16 January 2007]

Well I must say I am impressed with this. Very impressed. I am very glad for that review that was posted that sparked my curiosity to check this Anime out, I did. Between the rocky road trying to stream this from YouTube's shoddy work, and hopping around YouTube finding the many parts, I enjoyed this. It's a hauntingly beautiful Anime, not since Fruits Basket has a mild mannered drama invoke that in me.

Now this is again one of the few Anime's that have made me cry my eyes out at points, that is how emotionally pact it can get. But I think this is the only Anime that has made me bawl on the spot! I had to pause and get tissues! Some moments you just paused and let it all sink in. Chills ran down my spine at many points. And my gosh when Misuzu got out of her wheel chair and walked to her mothers arms and just collapsed and finally died, or when Misuzu runs to Haruko crying "Mama!" I never cried so hard while watching Anime. No really I was in tears I had to pause and get a tissue! And not only that, it's funny at times. A great mix of drama with comedy relief balances out this Anime very nicely.

The art work is some of the finest with out a doubt in my mind.

And ah the characters, Misuzu she's so cute, and it's so funny the way she always falls flat on her face, she's so lovable and your heart goes out to her, and you just can't help but fall in love with all the characters, yet there are some you just want to bop on the head at times until you see their true nature but non the less great ensemble cast, one of the best I've seen.

Impressive music. A good drama like this needs a good music score and the three composers pull it off nicely. And a very catchy opening theme pulls it together nicely. Sometimes I can't help but think of the music from the movie Hook, they almost sound alike at times. :D But anyway, again a very nice original score, provides a strong soundtrack for the series.

Well overall I can say I'm really enjoying this series. What more can I say, it's truly Award Worthy.

What the heck is this?

[Aleta_Nook · 5/10 · 30 December 2015]

Misuzo is an annoyingly happy and hospitable girl, doing her best to get Yukito to stay at her house and be her friend, including using cunning tricks against her aunt, Haruko. She's like a robot, using Gao every time she's about to cry or troubled, tripping easily, asking a whole bunch of questions, and acting silly which somehow gets people to care about her? What? I mean why would the aunt at first disbelieve Yukito's reasons to stay and then believe him?

Too many tsunderes in the show makes it not that good even if there's fun to be had elsewhere. The amateurish writing makes Air a show that we've felt like we've seen before. Yukito is tsundere, sometimes acting cold and other times, acting likable, making him quite inconsistent.

Misuzu is a butt, at first I thought I would like her but she just turned out more foolish than I expected! She lies, whines and makes a big deal out of small things she could've fixed, constantly stops the world for Yukito just to play with him, unrealistically optimistic and seemed too nice. She also keeps too many secrets! Come on, Misuzu could've been well-executed, too! Being the innocent, childlike girl sounds cool but she needs to grow up!

Characters such as Minagi seem like they serve little purpose but could've been well-executed. I mean, none of the characters are that good, the best is probably Yukito because he can be funny getting annoyed with that annoying Misuzu! The auntie is the cliché of the neglectful caretaker acting like an idiot but then turns caring too fast. Michiru is too loud and obnoxious. And what's the point in Kana?

The history is inconsistent! There was no T.V. 1000 years ago! The show descends into melodrama, which is a bit too much for me, I guess not well-directed. I feel that the series should've shown some of that overly forgetful Misuzu at school! I mean, she takes care of animals? How so?

As for the animation, well, it's beautiful. The series is beautifully produced but Misuzu's eyes when she was crying in the card scene made her look like she was going to fall out! Though, the character design looked dated.

Misuzu's voices the only one annoying? Well, yeah, they're supposed to be. Maybe it's the directors' fault. Michiru's is well... annoying in the dub. Luci Christian is unrecognizable as Haruko.

Too bad that Air is a sub-par series best to watch if you're bored.

Heart Warming/Breaking

[LetsWatchSomething · 10/10 · 6 January 2013]

'Air' is the first ever show that I have actually shed a tear for.

It's perfect. Unforgettable. It's fair to suggest that 'Air' could be considered a stepping stone into the world of emotional Anime because essentially that is all it is. Just pure powerful moving emotions that continuously fly at the viewer and if like me, you watched it unprepared, then you're in for a real treat because being sad isn't the only emotion present in this Anime.

'Air' is filled with lots of fun and reminiscent of simple times as a child despite the characters being in their late teens (I think). It's surprisingly funny and packed full of interesting characters that are fully explored. I felt immersed in a world that I didn't have a clue about yet it was so easy to access, the town is specifically one of the things that stood out as memorable to me and really emphasises the power of simplicity.

The story is one that leads you one way then completely drags you off your feet and sends you another, considering it only consists of 12 episodes, it's amazing how much actually occurs. I don't wish to give away any spoilers, however some of the events in the series can be a little hard to understand and ultimately we are left with an ending that is open to interpretation about what had been achieved.

What truly makes 'Air' one of the best, is the soundtrack that is used throughout the series. I often find myself thinking about one of the pieces unintentionally because they are considerably catchy and add to the overall atmosphere that I believe would not be the same without it.

'Air' is truly a must see and definitely one I would recommend to someone who has never seen Anime before, but for other people who have, it's a great way to discover that there is more than just violence and smashes many negative stereotypes about Anime out of the water.

Tragedy spanning thousands of years

[happyflydream · 8/10 · 28 January 2023]

It is one of the trilogy of tears in Kyoto Animation, and it is also the first time that Kyoto Animation adapted the works of Key Society. The story is a good story. The curse and memory of the winged people are interwoven with the joys and sorrows of the world, which is full of emotion. The switching of perspective in the film is a magic stroke, which is full of sadness. The script of the original work can be seen as full of Mazi quasi-style, and the shackles of several core characters in a relatively closed and fixed environment, and the tragedy can be brought to the extreme through the characterization of the characters. The adaptation of Kyoto Animation is still good. The overall atmosphere is very good, and the emotional rendering is also in place. I like the last two episodes of Guanling going to my mother, which has a strong expressiveness. However, as an early work of Kyoto Animation, it can also be seen that the rhythm control of some places is not good, and there are also some problems in the choice of the animation as the 12th episode. Some of the settings are hasty and vague, which makes people feel a little obscure and difficult to understand, and a little affect the perception.