One thing is paramount above all else here – family is the most important thing.
What They Say:
Kanna’s reunion with her lost mother has left her even more confused and heartbroken than before. Forced to move on, she finds herself scrambling to pick up the pieces and searching for someone else entirely this time – herself. Misuzu yearns to discover herself as well. And in her case, the friends and loved ones around her stand to gain or suffer with each new question answered. Perspective becomes key. Misuzu will learn that a person is more than merely who they think they are. She will see that she is a friend, a daughter, a dream and after that, she is whatever she chooses to be.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
As we get closer to the very end of the series, I’m admittedly sitting there wondering what the point of all of it was. Not that every show has to have a point and more than enough of storytelling is about the journey as opposed to the destination. But when you come away from Air, the predominant feeling is one of sadness as things simply don’t end well for the core cast of characters. Most everyone that has been touched upon by either Misuzu or Yukito have come away better for it as their lives became clearer, but for the real core trio of Misuzu, Yukito and Haruko, there is nothing but sadness.
Sometimes you just need a good cry.
The four episodes here are fairly strange in terms of structure. The opening episode is the end of the Dream arc in which we see how things played out for poor Kanna a thousand years ago. After finding her mother and attempting to escape with her, it all ends quite tragically for both her and her mother. What is left from the tragedy is a belief by both Uraha and Ryuya that someday Kanna will be reincarnated and there will be a chance to let her find the happiness that she wants. The only way to help that future goal is for the two of them to sire a child together and pass down the story for generations. Tied with the strong magic that Uraha has learned, it’s the best hope that they have, and one that they must complete quickly.
When the series shifts back to the present, it does so in a slightly different manner by going back to just around the beginning of the first arc of the series which introduced us to Misuzu and Yukito. It’s shown through the eyes of a crow that Misuzu befriends and names Sky who is a reincarnation himself. Through the crow’s eyes, we follow events from the series in a slightly different view with pieces that were kept hidden from us. While much of it focused initially on Yukito’s perception of events, through Sky we’re able to see how other parts of it played out, mostly in regards to Haruko and how she was handling everything with Misuzu.
As much as this arc does focus on Misuzu, it tends to focus more on Haruko and her struggle to deal with Misuzu. She’s been an interesting character in the series but one who has so much possibly going on that getting only a fraction of it really doesn’t do her justice. Her attitudes with Misuzu seemed odd but not unexpected considering the situation that Misuzu’s father put her in. Her struggle with it is given quite a good look here, especially as time progresses and Yukito leaves. With both Misuzu and Haruko back on their own once again, and with Yukito’s prophetic words about dreams to her, she realizes that she’s become far more attached to the child than she could ever have imagined. The way she’s questioning everything about what she’s done over the years really makes her the most humanized member of the cast and really helps to sell these episodes with its great sadness.
In Summary:
But in the end, I’m still looking at this show as if I’m missing some key element to all of it. There is great tragedy throughout, much suffering borne by many of the characters, and ties to a storyline in the past that indicates that this will happen again and again. Uplifting and positives moments are certainly there but the come to the secondary characters that Yukito touches upon over the course of the series. For the core cast of characters, it’s simply a tragedy in slow motion. There is certainly appeal in this since if everything was light and fluffy it wouldn’t be good in the long run, but Air feels like it’s missing something that really makes it truly tragic, truly a striking and defining moment. The emotions are certainly honest though, and depending on where you are in your life you’ll find different people to sympathize with. These episodes left me feeling terribly bad for Haruko and has some imagery that will stay with me for some time.