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Air (anime)
File:Air (tv) logo (lesser whitespace).pngAir logo
Genre	Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Anime
Directed by	Tatsuya Ishihara
Studio	Kyoto Animation
Anime
'Air In Summer'
Directed by	Tatsuya Ishihara
Studio	Kyoto Animation

Air was first introduced in anime form on November 17 2004, when a teaser DVD named Air ~prelude~ was produced containing interviews with the cast, clean opening and ending sequences, and promotional footage of the anime itself. It was a limited edition DVD, with only 20,000 copies produced. On January 6 2005, a thirteen episode anime of Air following the plot of the Air visual novel began airing on TBS's BS-i satellite broadcasting network produced by Kyoto Animation with the episode Breeze (かぜ, Kaze). The series concluded with the recap episode aired on March 31 2005.

At the end of episode thirteen, there was a teaser for a special addendum to the series, entitled Air in Summer. The two episodes aired on August 28 2005 and September 4 2005 respectively on BS-i. A DVD was later released on October 5 2005 in Japan.

On December 22 2006, Air became one of the first anime series to be released in Blu-ray Disc format. The release came in a four disc box set containing the twelve main episodes and the two Air in Summer episodes. The box set retails for 29,800 yen (~$247.66), though this is still cheaper than buying the seven individual DVDs, including Air in Summer.

On April 27 2007, ADV Films co-founder and executive Matt Greenfield announced the acquistion of both the anime series and the movie during a panel at Anime Matsuri, South Texas' anime convention. Volume one of the four-disc Air series will hit store shelves August 14, and the Air movie is slated for release in late 2007.

Plot

Template:Spoilers

Dream (episodes 1-7)

The story opens with Yukito Kunisaki, a freeloader who just arrived in town. After a failed attempt to make any money with his puppet show, now starving Yukito falls asleep on the seawall. He is later woken up by a "flying" girl, or so he initially thinks; it turns out to be a regular girl named Misuzu Kamio. After a walk with Misuzu, Yukito notices that his puppet is missing. After a search, a crow manages to locate Yukito's missing puppet and return it to him. In the aftermath, Misuzu manages to lure Yukito to her house with food. Later they convince Haruko Kamio, Misuzu's foster mother and aunt, in allowing Yukito to stay. The next day after escorting Misuzu to her school, Yukito comes across Potato which steals his puppet. Potato leads Yukito to Kano Kirishima and after a brief walk Kano leaves Yukito for school. After picking Misuzu up from class, Yukito inquires where he can find a crowd to perform his puppet show. Misuzu leads him to the local train station encountering Minagi Tohno, Misuzu's classmate. A few moments later Michiru literally runs into Yukito.

Yukito is looking for "the girl in the sky", Kannabi no mikoto, as per a tradition held in his family. The cursed girl could be Kano, Minagi or Misuzu. Eventually, he discovers who it is, but she has already learned to love him and passed her 15th birthday. Once the girl in the sky does either of these, she is cursed to die. The remainder of this arc is dedicated to Yukito's attempt to save her.

Summer (episodes 8-9)

This arc reveals the events of 1000 years before the Dream arc. Before she was cursed to constant reincarnation and death whenever she finds love, Kannabi no mikoto, was a prisoner in her own castle. Because she bore wings on her back, she was not permitted to leave the castle walls, not even to see her mother, who was in a similar situation elsewhere. With Ryūya, a member of her samurai guard, and Uraha, a fledgling telekinetic, Kannabi no mikoto, or Kanna as she is called, escaped and traversed feudal Japan to find Kanna's mother. However, the rest of the guard and a sect of Buddhist monks followed. In this arc, Kanna becomes less of a detached entity and more of a sympathetic character. She learns about recreation and friendship, love and heartbreak. Whereas before she could be seen as a spirit "possessing" Misuzu and dooming her to her death, the Summer arc reveals her to be as much a victim as her present-day incarnation is, and just as incapable of escaping the curse.

Air in Summer takes place during the Summer arc.

Air (episodes 10-12)

Yukito's final wish to save Misuzu's life is heard. The series starts over from the Dream arc, although it is seen through Sora's point of view, and many new things are revealed that the viewer did not see following Yukito.

Music

Both the opening and ending themes are sung by Lia from I've Sound. The opening song is called "Tori no Uta" and the ending is called "Farewell Song". The songs were taken from the visual novel version, and were available in the original soundtrack; this entire album was used for the music in the anime version.

Trivia

• In the second anime episode, Ayu, Nayuki, and Makoto, characters from the Key game Kanon, appear as students at Misuzu's school.
• In the twelfth episode, Haruko can be seen wearing an Air t-shirt in a flashback.

References

• "Official site listing of TV episodes" (in Japanese). BS-i. Retrieved 2006-06-15.

1. "Air (TV) on AnimeNfo". Retrieved 2007-01-11.
2. "Air summer special on AnimeNfo". Retrieved 2007-01-11.
3. "Lesleysmith blogger with an entry on the Air Blu-Ray release". Retrieved 2007-01-12.
4. "Lesleysmith blogger with an entry on the Air Blu-Ray release". Retrieved 2007-01-12.
5. "ADV licensed the Air anime and movie". Retrieved 2007-04-27.

External links

• Air (TV) ({{{type}}}) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Air in Summer ({{{type}}}) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia

• Air (series)
• Animated series based on video games
• Anime of the 2000s
• Drama anime
• Kyoto Animation
• Romance anime