Posts in AIR Category
February 11, 2005
Go visit Satoshi for an excellent summary of what happened this time ;) I'll stop being lazy and write one myself next time, 'kay?
I'll write up a summary after school if y'all absolutely must have one ;) Anyways, we finished up Minagi and Michiru's story this time in pretty emotional fashion. I was just about crying as they said goodbye to each other (I couldn't bear the thought of us being without the kawaii and chou-genki Michiru)... thank goodness Michiru didn't really leave for long as we got a happy ending :)
Michiru told us more about that girl in the sky, tying together the girls' stories so far. Michiru was a feather from that girl, who's sad and keeps dreaming a sad dream.. scenes of Misuzu flashed by as she talked about that girl in the sky dreaming.. and we got a bit of a cliffhanger as Yukito finds Misuzu collapsed in her house. Next time is ゆめ - dream, so we'll learn more about that dream she's having then. Got 6 days to wait for it...
Updated summary and with more thoughts now ;) Thanks to the guys at Koi for doing a good job with the sub (though the video is rather jerky...). Thanks to the guys at l33t-raws for the excellent 856x480 raw this time, also, btw ;)
Misuzu wakes Yukito up from a dream from long ago when he was small with his mother... Misuzu's dreams have continued as well, but she had a different one recently, one of flying the sky then hearing people's voices.. after Yukito walks her to school he goes to the usual place to do his puppet show, and he actually has a couple of cute girls there watching it and actually enjoying themselves :) Potato is there as well, and now Yukito seems to be able to talk with him.
Kano's story wraps up this time as we learn why Kano seems to have 多重人格. Perhaps this episode overall felt a bit rushed, but still, it was touching, to sum it up in a word. And thank goodness we had a happy ending for Kano ;)
Some hints were dropped for Minagi and Michiru's story next time. Minagi says that she's a "fragment of a dream" to the woman who Yukito thought was her mother... The girl with wings in the sky will undoubtedly come up again, continuing the whole idea of flying, and the sky, and wings and such. And Yukito seems have more powers than just making that doll move, making that feather react to bring them into Shirahou's memories...
Anyways, check out Satoshi for a complete summary (I'm gonna have to switch to "quickie" mode for AIR if you keep writing up such good summaries, Satoshi, lol) and Stripey's thoughts as well. C'mon, Stripey, you can make it 'til the next episode! ;)
I'll summarize if y'all absolutely must have one (but there ain't much point in writing up a long one since a sub is out now), but anyways.
Yet another beautifully well-done episode, I have to say. Kano's story was the focus this time, and there were many good scenes as Stripey has already pointed out (apologies for not getting to blogging this yesterday, Stripey, lol). There was some humor to lighten things up from hearing about Kano's story; Hijiri about to go after Yukito with some scalpels, Yukito's impression of a cat, Misuzu being her usual self, Potato being a really good dog (I wish the dogs I had listened to directions that well) ;)
You can really see all the effort that the production staff are putting into AIR, with the absolutely beautiful animation and art, the attention to detail in the animation, excellent direction, so on, so on. I wish some of the other new shows (I won't name any) this season had the same amount of effort put into them :P Anyways, Kano's story continues next time, it seems, and because of all that effort by the staff I just spoke of, I'm very much drawn into seeing what happens next after that bit of a cliffhanger last scene this time :)
Yukito tells Misuzu that the person he's searching for might be the other Misuzu. He's been looking for a girl that flies in the sky and has wings. But before his mother could tell him any more about her, she died, leaving him with only that story and the doll as a guide.
Haruko comes home with a present for Yukito, a namakemono (sloth) doll for him to use instead of that beat up one he carries around. After Misuzu goes off to bed they have some drinks and Haruko tells him that she thinks she isn't cut out to be a parent...
The next day after walking Misuzu to school Yukito once again goes out to make some money, this time with the sloth doll. But he can't control it very well, so no money for him. Potato the dog ("piko, piko!!") shows up and starts imitating what the sloth doll was doing ;) He set up shop in front of a doctor's office where Kano's sister, Hijiri works, and she's been looking for someone to do some random jobs. She gives him permission to do his thing there again and he leaves Kano, Hijiri, and Potato to go pick up Misuzu.
Once back at the beach to wait on Misuzu, a little girl runs up and hugs the sloth doll. She's Shino Saika, 6 years old, and Misuzu mentions that she's going to be in the hospital soon, but not for anything serious, and since she made friends with the sloth it'll be fine :) Back at the beach, Misuzu tells Yukito about a dream she had, a dream about the sky...
The next day (how many days has this episode been through?), Yukito has no choice but to wear a "Gao, Gao, Stegosaurus" shirt of Misuzu's since there's nothing else he can wear. Hijiri gives him a bentou to deliver to Kano at school. And in front of the school gate, there are 3 very familiar girls.. or at least familiar if you've seen Kanon. Ayu, Makoto, and Nayuki (with the same seiyuu) tell Yukito where to find Kano :) Kano lets Yukito have some of the bentou and he asks why she was talking about magic the other day. She says that she can use magic.. well, when she becomes an adult she'll be able to. She won't say the first thing she wants to do when she can do magic, but she tells Yukito that the second thing she wants to do is fly in the sky...
On the way back, Michiru once again comes up from behind and runs over Yukito, taking his doll and running away. They eventually meet up with Minagi, who fixes up Yukito's doll... Back with Misuzu, Yukito and her go up to a shrine where people will be gathering at, or so Misuzu says. They end up playing around until dark, and walking back, the spot Kano going towards the shrine.. she's glowing.. And when the arrive at the shrine, something definitely out of the ordinary is going on with Kano...
I read on some Japanese blogs that the story is moving at a breakneck pace compared to the game (I haven't played the game), but it doesn't seem to be negatively affecting it, at least for me so far. It certainly has gotten interesting now, with all this talk of people in the sky, and now with something happening with Kano... and btw, Potato was awesome this episode. I want a plushie doll of him :) The cameo by the Kanon girls was also a nice addition (I'm glad I watched Kanon over break).
Hopefully, as other bloggers have mentioned, Misuzu, Minagi, and Kano will all get enough time in the spotlight to bring out their individual stories. Even right now it's doing a good job of bringing out each's unique qualities and habits, so on. Anyways, once again excellent stuff from AIR, easily making it the best (so far) of the shows this season. Kyoto Animation's done an excellent job so far (much better than anything else I've seen so far this season), and if y'all can, definitely check out the HDTV version (only in raw form for now) :)
A guy gets off a bus in a new town very hungry (for some ramen), but without any money. A group of kids walks by, so he takes out this puppet and makes it walk around and do tricks, no strings attached or anything. But the kids don't like it, so no money for ramen for him :(
When he wakes up the next a morning, a girl is standing there beside him. She buys him something to drink, and being a dojiko, falls on the way back from the vending machine. The guy promptly pours it on the ground since it's something he doesn't care for. She keeps following him around and asking questions. He's in the town for work -- doing stuff with that puppet like he did earlier... but he lost it, so they both search for it and find it. Now they can play :) She's Misuzu, he's Yukito.
Yukito ends up going home with Misuzu and having a nice big bowl of that ramen he wanted. He doesn't have a place to live in town yet, so Misuzu offers to let him stay. Her mother should be okay with it... said mother arrives at home on a motorcycle and comes in asking questions of Yukito (with a Kansai accent). But she'll let him stay, on two conditions. One, he keeps an eye on Misuzu (the girl is kinda.. well, you know) and rids her of that habit of saying "gau~~", and two, he has a drink with her. She's Haruko. Yukito's been traveling and came to the town to do his work just like his mother did, he tells them while doing his tricks with the puppet.
The next day, after walking Misuzu to school, Yukito finds a strange creature that looks like a dog, but sounds something like a Pikachu. It seems to like his puppet, so he takes it out.. and the dog runs off with it so he gives chase. And in the end he ends up in a stream... a girl that's taking care of the dog (its name is Potato) comes and helps Yukito up.
Yukito meets up with Misuzu after school and they to a train station so Yukito can earn some money... but the one Misuzu took him to is closed. There, they meet one of Misuzu's classmates, a very bright girl named Tohru. And Yukito also has a run in.. or gets run over by your usual hyperactive kid, Michiru (voiced by Tamura Yukari), a friend of Tohru's. She doesn't seems to trust Yukito, the "hentai kidnapper", and they fight a bit before everyone finally goes home for the day.
As the sun sets, Yukito and Misuzu are once again at the beach. As Misuzu looks up at the sky, she says that she feels like there's another her up there... For Yukito, this was the beginning of a summer that seemed as short as the twinkling of a star, and as long as eternity...
My first impressions of AIR are pretty much all positive. I guess this was one of the shows I was looking forward to most this season, having already seen the op/ed and various other promotions for it before, and rather liking the character designs for it. And speaking of characters, seems like we've got an interesting cast of them here. There were a few good laughs to be had during the episode, with Yukito's messing around, or Misuzu's dojiko-ness, or Michiru, so on... And Potato is rather strange for a dog ;)
Those last words of Misuzu seemed really interesting.. and the next episode preview makes it even moreso ("The thing I'm searching for might be the other you", etc.). Definitely looking forward to more :)
