Air...just...Air

I admit, a lot of stuff really doesn't get me teary eyed very easily. Whether it be a death of someone I hold dear, the destruction of the world financially, or dramas on TV. It's just something about the plot lines in those that doesn't get to me. In the last couple of years during my time of training, many a thing was tear jerkingly sad for many, but I've not seen anything that moves me. That is, until now. And that I say is in the form of a VN named Air.

Air is the second in line of visual novels turned tv series. Created by Key/Visual Arts and animated by KyoAni who knows it's audience by making moe the new money maker. What is Moe? Moe is to boys as Yaoi is to women. Ok bad analogy. It's a wee bit confusing to put moe in simple terms. Think of a child budding into it's teenage years as it grows into an adult.

Air is part of a sub genre of visual novels known as Utsuge? The best way to describe utsuge is the saddest nostalgic moments x 1000 or in my case Smike dying under the tree in the home of Nicholas Nickleby. Either that or Steel Magnolias. Something like that but they made it a genre. It's supposed to pluck at your emotional side and make even the manliest men sob and weep. And Air is one of them. Though among the trilogy of Key's work it's still good.

Yukito is a street performer who has nary a yen in his pocket for food. He arrives in a town where it's summer and kids are frolicking among the harboresque setting. Yukito has a bit of a special ability to make his tattered puppet walk without strings. It doesn't get him much. As he collapses near the shore he sees a mysterious girl who happens to be next to him. Enter Misuzu, a girl who sees another girl with wings in the sky. The 2 have an awkward initial start, but they soon become acquainted more. Misuzu is an emotionally unstable girl who hasn't a care in the world. She loves dinosaurs and makes a weird "Gao" (rawr) when she gets sad or frustrated. And drinks thick peach nectar. Hey I've seen worse. Some people drink coconut juice.

Misuzu takes in Yukito into her household where we see Haruko, Misuzu's mom/aunt. She works somewhere I guess and drinks every time she gets home to unwind in nothing but a tank top and jeans. She's hot, I'll admit, but there's a side to her where she really thinks that Misuzu is not the brightest kid. Over time we get to see that she truly loves Misuzu as a mother and daughter.

In this town which I guess is based on Okinawa or Kyoto, Yukito meets other characters such as the quiet polite Minagi and her BFF Michiru, the magic believing Kano and her cute tumor inducing puppy potato. And eventually there is a story of love across worlds and lives as we see with each passing episode the background behind the legend in the town. Each of the episodes which is truncated to a short season is quick run through the arcs that follow the series.

Kano is first at bat as we see why she wears a ribbon on her arm as shes prone to subconsciously talking to herself, attempting to go "meet her mom in the sky". The only family she has is her sister who works at the clinic where Misuzu goes periodically. Kano has these dreams of a mother who committed suicide to save her child who was considered a curse where ever she went. As Yukito and Misuzu discover the plume that Kano plucked out of the shrine was what was causing her to have split personalities, Yukito uses his magic to glimpse in Kano's mindset. Kano then speaks with her mom and tells her that she wants her to not worry and that she will be fine with her friends. After that, Kano is "cured". this arc was very endearing as Kano was suffering from a personality disorder that in the end had to be influenced by Yukito to move on.

Minagi is a quiet polite girl who has a dark side which is explored in the next arc. Seems that Minagi used to have a little sister that didn't make it and that her mom was having dementia problems. That little sister was in the form of Michiru, a wish that came true and the both were inseparable. Because of this Minagi's mom had forgotten Minagi had such a friend and that the resolve was more heartwarming as Michiru fulfilling her purpose returns to the stars. The key item in this was the star sand that Minagi's dad gave her when she was little and Micihiru appeared as she wished on them. It was at that point where I almost teared up.

The next arc before the final arc was the relationship between Yukito and Misuzu as Haruko was fed up with taking care of her and Misuzu having her mental problems. Misuzu would cry and say gao if things were frustrating or if they didn't go well. Haruko would pick her up from school once she started crying. We find out later that Misuzu was having dreams of a winged girl in pain which is in relation to her panic attacks at night. If she falls asleep, she loses her life. Just as Yukito wishes for her to live, he loses his life and is never heard from again.

Your probably wondering why things are as they are. The whole girl with wings and the fact that this relates to Misuzu. Well a long time ago there lived a girl named Kanna who was the last of her winged people kind. Shes lands literally on newcomer Ryuya and the 2 hit it off. Kanna, Ryuya make friends with the helper Uraha. Suddenly the 3 find themselves in trouble as the priests in the areas are planning to sacrifice Kanna to appease the gods. So Ryuya and his pair of female companions escape from the village to find Kanna's mom. They arrive in some sacred mountains where Kanna's mom is imprisoned. Along the way they get to know each other through their journey as Kanna learns to juggle. When Kanna finally meets her mom, her mom dismisses Kanna as she has been violated by the priests and kept her there in the mountains as some kinda praying god. So much that she can't leave. As monks and priests arrive to kill Kanna's mom, for a sacrifice, she tells her daughter to escape as a flurry of arrows strike her. Kanna's mom unleashes a power wind that wipes out the humans that surround the mountain. With her dying breath she sees Kanna struggle to juggle to impress her mom. Happily as she sees Kanna getting along with Ryuya and Uraha, she passes on. Moments later, with nary a bit of water left, Kanna tries to fly to the sky as the last winged person but is prevented by a monk's evil chant as she struggles to escape her magical imprisonment. With Ryuya and Uraha left, to make Kanna happy, they promised to bear a child, that child would be a successor and ancestor by the name of Yukito.

The last arc is in the eyes of a crow who is the reincarnated Yukito who has no knowledge or memory. We see through him the events that occured. Misuzu picks up the crow and thus begins her trouble with her and Haruko. Turns out, Misuzu is Haruko's foster daughter and the thought of her being taken away by her father would devastate her. She tries to make it up to her by being the mother she wanted. Combing her hair, taking her to the festival, and all around keeping her happy. Misuzu wanted a chick who she thought was where dinosaurs came from as a kid. When Haruko and Misuzu go to a shrine, they see a dinosaur that was worshipped, but was the same dinosaur that Haruko threw out cause she thought even if she were to give it to her she wouldn't accept her love. In the end at the beach as Haruko and Misuzu's father see who Misuzu loves the most, it shows that she loves Haruko and continues to live with her. It was then my eyes teared up. It's very heartwarming and just heart wrenching.

Air is one those series that tugs at your emotions and doesn't pull away till the very end. An engaging story about a love from long ago and a girl who wishes to be with her mom. Or something like that. If you are in the mood for a tear jerker, Air is the way to go. With that out of the way it's time to spring along to Clannad, the final entry in the Key trilogy. I hear it's best noted as a new classic. Does it live up to the hype. I'll check it out.