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*** This review may contain spoilers ***
I bought Air off of ebay after seeing it at Otakon and i was equally impressed with the music and animation quality. The series is good but could have been better however. The first 6 episodes are very good and show Yukito's developing relationship with the three girls and the developing back-story. Unlike the original Air game for PS2 which was a dating Sim, the anime series followed a more concrete plot as Yukito slowly uncovers which of the three girls in the village possessed the 1000 year old curse of the winged being, Kanna. However, the budding friendship and compassion that Yukito and Misuzu have for each other is muddled in the last three episodes when Yukito transforms into Sora the Crow (yukito means "wandering crow"), Misuzu begins to die and the whole story is retold in 3 episodes from Sora's point of view. I felt that the producers were trying to cram a 20 episode series into 12 shows. The series reaches a climax during episodes 7-9 which take place in feudal Japan where the story of Kanna and how the curse came to be is told but then tails off with Yukito turning into a crow, not remembering who he was, Misuzu dying and her poor aunt Haruko trying to cope with the grief. The ending is bittersweet with Sora (yukito) becoming an adult crow and flying off into the sky to look for Misuzu and its implied that the curse is indeed broken for future generations. However, I believe that the producers could have done more with the plot and expanded the ending. You will surly need to watch the series at least twice to appreciate and understand the story and symbolism. That said, bring your Kleenexes because Air is a moving tale interwoven with tons of symbolism and great music. The series is only available in English subtitles off of YouTube or ebay or at anime conventions since Key/VisualArt never licensed it in America and I doubt they will ever. Also, check out the Air movie which is an alternate retelling of the anime storyline.
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