Customer Reviews

Air: The Motion Picture

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I had the very unique opportunity to view Air the Motion Picture literally directly after having finished watching The Complete Series. As such, the emotions left behind from the original telling of this tale were yet burning bright.

The Motion Picture, for those who don't know, is essentially the retelling of the Complete TV series in condensed form. Now as a general rule, I usually shy away from motion picture adaptations of beloved series due to their tendency to omit critical details of the story to meet strict time restrictions.

I am very pleased to report that Air the Motion Picture is perhaps the first time in history where I actually appreciated the condensed story over the original. Die-hard fans of the Air mythos may disagree, but in my opinion the original television series seemed muddled after having viewed the Motion Picture.

The core of the story retains all of the important attributes that make the television incarnation so well respected: A mysterious traveler arrives to a small coastal village in modern-day Japan and meets up with a slightly abnormal (but adorably innocent) young girl.

His personal haunting prophecy, it turns out, is intertwined with the sickly girl's dreams and their love perseveres throughout space and time. However, where the original fails with poor transitions and way too many irrelevant characters along the way, the Motion Picture puts the prose on an extreme and very appreciated diet.

Let me begin this review by taking a moment to discuss the surface differences between the two incarnations of the shows. Where the television series used anime character models so intense that they bordered on caricatures, the Motion Picture presents character art that is a bit more realistically proportioned. The backgrounds, however, are definitely more impressive in the television version. Additionally, where the television version made it a habit to keep its animation quality consistent, the Motion Picture features prevalent manga-panel style freeze frames.

Beyond the superfluous differences, the beauty of the Motion Picture is that it isn't afraid to make several much-needed commitments between the lead characters. Not only is Yukito and Misuzu's meeting more realistic, it simply feels more "chance". Additionally (and much to the viewer's delight), they are portrayed as being closer to the same age this time around. Misuzu's illness is much better fleshed out in the Motion Picture as is her lack of social contact (since, after all, she misses a lot of school).

The Motion Picture moves away from the supernatural overtones that the television series constantly flirted with (but never fully explained) in favor of a more fluid flashback sequence based on Misuzu's reading of a history book. In other words, here we are given the tale of a haunted traveler, a terminally ill girl, and their love for one another. Shallow viewers can take the story at face value and still feel fulfilled. For those seeking a bit more prolific prose, the Motion Picture presents a much cleaner flashback-driven back-story that draws many parallels with the lead characters. However, it is not nearly as forced or as muddled as it is in the television version.

About the only complaint I can find in the Motion Picture is that those who haven't seen the television version first will not understand the significance of many of the smaller references made throughout (namely the black crow and little dog that appears on Misuzu's own television). These are small references that pay homage to the source material but are not openly explained.

In all, I am simply blown away by Air the Motion Picture. Perhaps because I had just concluded the Complete (television) Series literally minutes prior and it had left me feeling like there was a lot of potential within the prose that never came into fruition. The Motion Picture felt almost as if someone had said "look, let's cut out all of the fluff and keep only the elements that contribute toward the ultimate goal." Unnecessary side characters and their odd little tangents are axed and in their place is a much stronger connection between the lead cast.

Of course there always will be those that feel like a story as rich and deep as Air cannot be condensed down to 85 minutes and retain all of its charm. I agree that there is some logic here, however the Motion Picture ends up feeling like a breath of fresh air given the circumstances. The true beauty of the Motion Picture is that it is a must for fans of the show whether they own the Complete Series or not. I'm quite grateful to have discovered this gem as it did a wonderful job of increasing my appreciation for the franchise as a whole rather than take away from the well regarded source material (as I needlessly feared it might).

This is my first review on Amazon. I hope you find this useful.

I found the movie Air as a recommendation from Amazon and decided to give it a try. I did see the movie before the series and I can't help but but compare the movie and TV series. I do admit that I prefer the movie over the TV series. I have seen the movie once before watching the TV series and once after. I usually never, ever cry because of a movie but the first time I watched Air I teared up a little at the end. The second time the tears came running down. So prepare yourself.

A Brief Summary:
Air is about the cheerful, kind, thoughtful beauty named Misuzu Kamio, a traveling puppeteer named Yukito Kunisaki, and a 1000 year old legend that unfolds again in the small town of Kami, Japan. Misuzu has not been to school for the past year because of a mysterious illness that no doctor can treat. She asks for a summer project which leads her to the legend of Kannabi no Mikoto, or Kanna for short, the last of the winged people. Yukito is in the town of Kami for a summer festival to make some money with his puppet business. He meets the beauty Misuzu and assists in her research of the town, her summer project topic. Through narration by Misuzu, Kanna's story is told as Misuzu and Yukito become closer.

Before Watching The TV Series:
If you are going to watch the movie before the series, don't worry about being confused. You won't be. Unless, you are not following the storyline.

After Watching the TV Series:
If you want all the background information about the storyline and decide to watch the series before the movie, you will just understand some references to the series that pop through the movie. For expamle, Sky the crow, the dog on the anime that Misuzu watches, and the glimpse of Kano and Minagi with Michiru at the summer festival. The TV series left me with some questions, but the movie tied everything together in the end so you are not left wondering about something. I would tell you what left me confused in the TV series, but I don't want to give anything away.

Differences Between the Movie and TV Series:
Of course, I noticed these differences after watching the TV series then the movie.
1. Ryuuya in the series resembles Yukito, but in the movie he has darker hair.
2. Kanna seems older in the movie than in the series.
3. In the movie, Uraha has a very small role unlike the series.
4. You never met Kano, Minagi, and Michiru in the movie, just only see a glimpse of them.
5. Misuzu and Haruko have a closer relationship in the movie than the series.
6. Misuzu says "gao" only one time in the whole movie.
8. Misuzu has not gone to school for the past school year.
9. Yukito is really her only friend through the whole movie.
There are a few more differences, but I don't want to give everything away.

Hopefully, you found my review to be helpful. I have tried to keep this review spoiler-free, but if I slipped up a few times, I hope I didn't ruin the movie for you. I wouldn't want someone to tell me what happened and ruin it for me.

This is one of the best anime movies out there. Even if you are not into anime but somehow stumbled across this review, please give Misuzu and Yukito a chance. You will fall in love with the characters, laugh at Haruko's antics, and feel like you have known Misuzu and Yukito your entire life. If Air doesn't do something to our insides, then leave me a comment.

Note: This is more of a comparison to the TV Series than an actual review. It's mainly meant for those wondering if the Air movie is worth a purchase after having seen the series. Spoiler-free.

I liked the story of the Air movie a LOT more than the series. All the plot elements that I thought were silly and/or convoluted in the TV series were removed in the movie. Everything was explained clearly, and the story just made more sense. To me, it was a lot more believable and much more touching. I'm glad I didn't just dismiss it just because I wasn't crazy about the series.

If you enjoyed the series, however, I see no reason why you wouldn't also enjoy the movie. It's a completely new story, but the characters' personalities are left more or less in tact.

Air the TV series was a classic...it contained characters which represented various aspects of human emotion and explored the relationship between mother and daughter. Air the Movie explores similar concepts, but significantly diverges from the traditional Air storyline. Focusing on only Haruko, Yukito, and Misuzu, Air the Movie describes a mothers struggle to save her daughter's life, a wanderer's restless spirit being captured by the power of love, and a young girl's loss of innocence as she learns her life is coming to an end.

Unlike the television series, which tends to jump between two to three stories and leaves viewers somewhat confused at the end, the movie is able to incorperate the ancient tale of Kanna and Misuzu's daily life together to create a coherent, flowing work. Audiences, however, may not like the rushed feel of the movie (all events take place during the course of a week)or the lack of the other traditional characters which were an important part of Air the TV series. Misuzu's character in the movie also lacks some of the childish charm which the television series hilighted. She is instead a young woman who is aware of the graveness of her condition and wants to experience the joys of existance before she dies, among them being love.

The ending of the movie is just as sad as the television series. However, instead of focusing on Haurko's reaction after the tragety, Yukio, who remains a human, describes how Misuzu has impacted his life as he travels through the countryside the following autumn. He is a young man learning from his past and moving ahead towards the unpredictable future. The movie is a must-see for all anime fans, just make sure to bring a box of tissues.

Air Tv movie is different from the series because it gives you a realistic view of what happened. It's less fantasy and more interaction between the main characters. I loved it and will watch it again.

Reading reviews that claimed this movie "actually improved on the source material" got my hopes up. Sadly, they were let down.

May as well start off with the bad:

The story was significantly "trimmed" to fit in the time frame (read: dumbed down). Misuzu, Yukito, and Haruko, along with Kanna and Ryuya, are the only characters to get any attention. Everybody else (Minagi, Kano, Uraha, Michiru, and Hijiri) got their roles reduced to mere cameos. Even Potato is just a character briefly shown on a TV show. Of course, this is permissible and can't be helped.

Haruko's character got massacred (mostly thanks to these time constraints), which is a shame, since she was my favorite. She didn't get a chance to really foster up a relationship with Misuzu. The writers apparently felt she had to feign hatred of Misuzu to get her to go with her father, but she was never given a chance to reconcile.

The animation style was drastically changed for this movie. Most movie adaptations I've seen tend to be at least a LITTLE better than the series they're based off; sadly, the quality of animation--for the most part--was greatly reduced. For one, the number of frames per second seemed to be way too few (actions seemed choppy and erratic). Now that I think of it, most of the actions in and of themselves seemed unnatural and warped. The sky and sea--the two most beautiful things visually in the original series--are now pretty much crap. The water is all CGI, and the sky is hardly ever shown (when it is, it's mediocre looking). The only characters with pretty eyes are Misuzu and Kanna. Characters in general just seem poorly drawn. There just seemed to be a lot of visual "noise." At some points, it feels like I'm watching a bunch of pictures cut and pasted together. They tried to do some weird things too. Like one: making it look like the entire screen was curved around a convex lens. And two: cutting the frame in half to focus on two different things at the same time.

Now for the good:

You get the same basic story (I guess; it went on an insane diet). I guess it's okay if you have no time to watch the 12 episode original (although I REALLY think the series is WAY better than this). Misuzu's summer project makes more sense and ties in better with the back story of the girl in the sky.

I like Yukito's role a lot more here (there's an actual romance between him and Misuzu). There's also less of an apparent age difference between Misuzu and Yukito, so they seem about the same age. (I've heard they were supposed to be close in age in the original series, but she just came across as too young and childish for him.) She retains her clumsy charm, but not her childishness. AKA: She acts her age. Yukito's personality seems to have improved in some ways (he seems less aloof and detached, and more ballsy), but was butchered in others (he put on a little Shinji Ikari "run away from your problems and angst" act, which I didn't appreciate at all).

The good songs from the original series came back ("Tori no Uta," "Natsukage," "Aozora", "Farewell Song"). But there were also some random all-English songs thrown in (I don't know if it was this way for the original Japanese as well). The English VAs reprised their respective roles, but it just didn't feel the same this time around. They just didn't seem to have the feeling they possessed before.

The city the story is set in is also more believable. In the series, it seemed odd how so few people lived in the city, but now, it's... well, like an actual city. It makes more sense, but adds more distraction and noise.

All in all, I could only recommend this movie if you haven't seen the original series (or couldn't understand the story originally). If you can, I recommend watching the series over this. If you've seen the series, then view this at your own discretion.

PS: If you're looking at the S.A.V.E. version of the movie, just know that the annoying green sticker is actually part of the case sleeve--not an actual sticker. So if you buy it, you're stuck with it (even though it's cheaper).

While I certainly enjoyed Air TV, the movie for me left something to be desired. It seemed that the art style was changed, in a way I personally did not like. Also I noticed that they used stills and drawings in the movie, which left me feeling sort of cheated, as if the movie wasn't worth the cost. Since I own the series, I will probably sell this movie. For me it didn't add anything new other then annoyance. I felt much less connected with the characters, etc, which while it does make sense it still does nothing to justify my buying it. While I understand that many have an opinion different from mine, that is how I feel. If you own the series, you certainly don't need to add this to your collection as it adds nothing new. And if you haven't seen the series, buy it first. S.A.V.E packs are really cheap, and it's only $5 more for a much better product.

I bought this for my 13 year old daughter who requested it for Christmas. She has been drawn to Anime productions for over a year now and considers this one of her favorites. She heartily recommends it to others, believing that girls would enjoy it most.

Air the Movie continues to hold its identity & popularity from the hit Air TV series. The storyline is beautiful & well written with the spotlight shining on Misuzu & Yukito. The focus of the storyline surrounds the developing romantic relationship between the two main characters of the anime series & the consequence from that affection. The plot is paced quickly to cover a lot of the storyline in a limited time but still slows down to focus on critical events of the movie.
The voice acting within this movie by Funimation was perfect in portraying the emotions, thoughts, feelings, & personalities of the characters. The scenery of this movie is well developed & the music is very calming but very sad. This will definitely strike a chord in your heart strings about the power of love & the power of the pain from love.
I make this anime movie compulsory (required) to all anime fans.
Thanks.

I'm not going to rehash the plot , the other reviewers did a good job of that. This is a wonderful but incredibly sad movie . I've watched some sad anime before , but this one had me really weeping (now I have a headache from dehydration 'Thanks Air movie').
Air is a great movie. The character development is good for a 90 min. feature , the graphics are great and the story is really good , in fact you get 2 stories, the main story and the legend of the winged woman.
So if you're in the mood for a good tear jerker , make yourself comfortable and keep plenty of tissue handy and enjoy Air the movie .