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 Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 9:51 am
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Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 9:06 am
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Here's me posting in the inactive Guild again because I've just finished Air and being so late in having discovered the Key anime's, there's pretty much nowhere else to Post that seems more appropriate.
Gao... emo
Anyways, the one "up-side" to being so late is that I've had the benefit of reading what others have had to say about Air, so when they bring out the emotional sledge hammer and start wailing on my heart, I'm about as prepared for it as it's possible for me to be.
Fat load of good it did me though. wink
Air was completely beautiful, and entirely in keeping with what I've come to expect from the Key/Kyoto animes.
Yet again, the characters were sweet, kind and thoroughly beguiling. Anyone who could watch this series and not become personally invested in the characters is simply dead inside in my humble opinion.
I came to Air, thoroughly primed and emotionally fragile, having recently watched Clannad After Story and still feeling a bit of the emotional hangover from that. Needless to say, once Air kicked into full gear and started tearing at my heart-strings, it got kind of messy, and much kleenex was consumed.
Simply put, this story is sad, sad, sad.
Of the four basic arcs, only one has what I would consider to be a "happy ending", although it could be argued that Minagi and Michiru's arc also ended happily, but it was bitter-sweet at best.
The only "saving grace" to Air, from an emotional impact standpoint, is it's brevity. As much as I would have loved for it to be longer, being only 12 episodes meant that the viewer doesn't spend as much time with each of the characters, and as such, mightn't become as inextricably involved with them as they would had the series run 24 or even 48 episodes (looks through tear filled eyes at you Clannad crying ). However, the emotional impact of the series is profound to say the least, and this is a story that will haunt me for quite some time to come.
If anybody ever reads this, I offer one suggestion...if you've purchased the series as a set which includes the two additional episodes, "Air in Summer", I'd recommend watching them between episodes 8 and 9, as they take place during this arc, and fit very nicely between them.
Of course, that will extend the series to 14 episodes, so be sure to lay in even more kleenex. wink
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Posted: Sat May 18, 2013 9:35 am
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Minak0 Haha, to be honest, Air brought out my love for Drama and the love of character deaths overall. I do admit, it was a life changing anime for me in a huge way....that is why it will always be number one with me. smile
We're almost polar opposites on that point, as I have an awful time when characters with whom I've become involved die. As a matter of fact, that played a large part in me stopping reading Steven King's books, as he had this nasty propensity for getting you completely involved with a character for 500 pages, then killing them in the final chapter. gonk
That being said, there's something about Key's stories that drags me into them even though I know it's going to end in very real heart break.
I cried for days after finishing After Story, yet I waded head long into Air, cried my heart out at it, and will start on Kanon once I finish Fruits Basket (hoping that one will give me a bit of a break emotionally).
While I know myself too well to expect any real life change from Clannad, it certainly made me examine my life and the choices I've made throughout it, and maybe, just maybe, I will try to learn something from the experience.
This is probably way too familiar of me, but you've mentioned a couple of times, how Air had a profound, and life-altering effect on you....
May I ask what it was?
And now, so many years later, is that still the case?
I can certainly say that After Story made me regret a lot of choices I've made in the past, and if I were younger, it might have actually pushed me to do some things differently. Unfortunately, the opportunity to change those choices is long since gone and all that's really left is regret for opportunities lost.
That being said, while I might not be able to go back and make different choices, I certainly can choose to learn from my regret and behave differently going forward, and that is the true power of these stories. heart |
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