Forum - View topicREVIEW: Air DVD 1
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jgreen
 Posts: 1325 Location: St. Louis, MO |
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True enough, but I guess what I meant is that I disagree with the premise of your statement that "the first two episodes often are what sell a series," which is why I made the statement that presumably it's the entire first disc that would make or break the series, not just the first two episodes. But then, I guess I just connected with the Kanno storyline a lot more than you did, as I was pretty well hooked on the series completely by the end of episode 4. I hope you continue to review the series for the site, as I'm very interested to hear what you have to say about future volumes as well, to see how your perception of the series changes.
I'll be honest, I'm really not that familiar with dating sims or the anime based on them (though I will admit to enjoying End of Summer), so I was more judging it against harem series, and I was impressed by how it avoided the typical elements of that genre, particularly excessive fanservice (there is none) and broad slapstick (there's a little with Michiru, true, but it's not anything like Su and Naru beating the tar out of Keitaro 30 times an episode in Love Hina) to tell a story with surprisingly emotional depth....although, as you point out, much of that is only hinted at in the first volume.
Fair enough, although speaking personally, I'm not a fan of that particular character design style and I didn't find it affected my enjoyment of the series. EDIT: I will say I guess I have to begrudgingly agree you can't recommend it to just anybody, as there's a surprising amount of hate directed at the series over in the anime forum. Ah well.... |
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zrdb
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Thanks a lot for trashing one of my favorite shows so throughly! To be fair-Air does have it's weak moments, the direction that it will ultimately take is not readily appearent in the first few episodes, Misuzu does seem to be whiney and so on-but taken as a whole the show is close to being a masterpiece-I didn't say masterpiece-but close. It has a tragic air (yeah I know-ha ha) to it-I've watched it 6 times from beginning to end. I really wish ADV hadn't gotten their grubby paws on it-this show was much better in the originial japanese. Now let's see how they butcher Kanon 2006-if they manage to acquire it-god help us all!!
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Furudanuki
 Posts: 1874 |
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That's odd. I already owned the R2 DVDs for Air, and as near as I can tell the Japanese language track on the ADV release that I got last week sounds exactly the same. Are you sure you didn't buy a bootleg by mistake? |
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zrdb
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Do you spell bootleg "downloaded fansub"? I normally only watch dubbed anime-but 3 exceptions are Kimagure Orange Road (yeah-I know it was only released subbed), Maison Ikkoku, and the subject of this discussion-Air. I think the soundtrack is gorgeous, the art is breathtaking-it's one of the saddest things I've seen in a long time-I'm a guy and I was sobbing at the ending. The movie is kinda like a reworked readers digest version of the tv series. Air is niche kind of anime with a fanatical cult following, that's why most people (myself included) have such strong opinions about it.
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subaru
Posts: 120 Location: Australia |
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I have tried watching the series before too. But the first 2 or 3 episodes just totally lost my interest. Nothing significant happened AT ALL.
I know a lot of people have been saying it's a good series and it will get better. OK, I hear you say the first episode is an intro to a story......... cool, I buy that........ but 2nd episode, 3rd episode......... still nothing happens!!! I want it to be good right now!! I don't want to wait till episode 10 to be good!! Sorry, but they've just lost at least one viewer. A slow paced story doesn't mean a story with nothing happens in the first 2 hours of the story. Besides, the character design is just weird......... OK, I know its moe.......... but the facial proportion is just so weird........ their eyes are just way too big to be appealing, their nose is almost touching their eyes........... As an anime based on an Ero-game........ sorry, those girls didn't turn me on.......... I have seen waaaaaay more appealing female character design than that. And we haven't even talk about their template personality yet. I know there is a large fan base for this series. But sorry, this is not my cup of tea. And I think a C+ from the reviewer for its story was already a generosity from the reviewer. |
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fxg97873
 Posts: 211 Location: Houston, TX |
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I'll start off by saying that I absolutely adore this show. I consider it one of the best animes of this decade and holds a prominent spot on my Top 10 list (from an extensive viewing list spanning 4 decades)
Having said that, the reviewer seems to state that Air TV is a generic ero-game based harem anime. Air TV is no harem anime and certainly not generic. Air TV's origins are artistically best described as a Visual Novel. The story is not some competition as to who is going to "get" the male lead. Tale Elements: It's a story about Misuzu. A child desperate for friendship...not a boyfriend. It's a story about Kano. A child who is afflicted and subsequently outcasted. She too wishes for friendship and hopes to see her Mother once more...she's not looking for boyfriend. It's a story about Minagi and Michiru. Two souls interconnect by their mother's grief and illusion. They are not looking for a boyfriend. Yukito, a wondering puppeteer trying to fulfill his mother's wish...to find the girl in the sky. He's not looking for a girlfriend (especially underage ones). If you want to see a generic ero-game based harem anime...go check out Da Capo. Lots of episodes. If you want to see something beautiful and unique. A visual novel adaptation that crescendos into an emotional and intense atmospheric powerhouse...take a look at Air TV. mk2000 |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18235 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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I said nothing of the sort. It is clearly not a harem series, but it does at least initially have a "haremesque feel" (my exact words) because there's only one eligible male character at the center of a horde of cute (and mostly eligible) girls - and that point is not debatable. That none of the characters seem to be looking for sex or a romantic relationship so far is entirely beside the point; the set-up will, at least initially, give anyone who's seen a lot of harem series the impression that this one is headed down that same road.
Again, beside the point, because it's not disputable that it was an ero game before it was a visual novel - and no one who's played a few of the former will fail to recognize the set-up in the first episode as coming from that genre. It's just too obvious to those of us familiar with such fare. As for the "not generic" comment, the series hasn't shown enough substance in the first volume to justify that. (Remember I am talking about the first volume only here; I haven't even seen the rest of the series yet.)
Again, you're stepping beyond the bounds of this volume and evaluating the whole series. Look at some of the earlier posts; even some who are self-admitted fans have conceded that the first volume, evaluated as a stand-alone, is weak. And that's all I am looking at now since this is not a series review. You're certainly entitled to your opinion, but you're just going to have to accept that I don't (so far) have as rosy a view on it as you do. Heck, I could probably name several series whose block of first four episodes I've seen in just the past two weeks which get off to stronger and more interesting starts than this one does. (Let's see, Witchblade, Kashimashi, Sisters of Wellbur, and Mononoke/Monster Princess, just to name four.) |
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fxg97873
Posts: 211 Location: Houston, TX |
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We are all definitely entitled to our own opinion (as a Libertarian, speech and expression is the dearest thing in the world to me).
I'm post 51 on a 4 page forum thread. No one but a few will take the time to read what I said. Your review abstract was on the front page of one of the most popular English anime sites in the world. It was certainly read by thousands and thousands (if not millions). I'm only sad that your opinion will decrease the audience not only for Air but for other visual novel based anime (some whose licensing hang on the balance of Air's success). With great power... But of course, it's just bitterness I assume from not having the same kind of information vehicle to distribute my opinion on the show. If I had a multi-million hit anime website I wouldn't be posting on a forum thread. Sigh... Don't mind my comments (nothing personal). You're a professional who's done plenty of reviews that I've agreed (or disagreed) in the past. mk2000 |
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houkoholic
Posts: 83 Location: Japan |
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Your sentence makes no sense. Ero game is just a term used for games with erotic content (ero is just a shorten form of "eroitc"), it doesn't describe what type of gameplay it contains. Whereas visual novel describes a game which has its gameplay focuses on the player reading lots of text with little interaction. AIR started out from the ground up as a visual novel as that's how the entire game was build and written. It didn't suddenly became a visual novel after it got "cleansed", there is no debate about that either. |
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zrdb
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We can all nitpick about various details on how the show was adapted from a game, etc.-but most of us (at least I do) think that the show is very unique and well done. As I've mentioned the biggest draw for me is the storyline-"echoes of the past" as it were, granted the facial designs of the characters are quite unique what with the owl eyes, but I got used to it very quickly. Air seems to be a show people either love or hate-very little middle ground. Is it moe? I guess-there was a book of illustrations released a while back that paid some homage to the series hentai game based roots-even so there were no really offensive illustrations there. It can be tracked down on the internet and is very much worth looking into.
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Jeiku
Posts: 3 |
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I'll start off by saying that AIR is my favorite series -- number one on the list. However, I really can't say that the review isn't at all fair. It does get off at a rather slow start, and while I am content with the way it progresses, not everybody is going to think alike, and really, all there is about the overall storyline in this volume is Yukito briefly mentioning his quest to Misuzu. Although AIR is not really a harem show, it gives off the impression that it is, and I wish it didn't. I didn't agree with all the points the reviewer made, but they were still fair. Someone's cup of tea won't necessarily be someone else's.
Personally though, I do hope that the rest of the series will earn more positive reviews. |
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Cave
Posts: 80 |
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I saw all of Air and what a waste of my time. Ironically, I loved the first two episodes the most and whenever I talk about Air I usually say as a recommendation: Watch the first two episodes and just forget the rest. The only two girls that were cute are Misuzu and Minagi and maybe Haruko. The rest are amazingly annoying and bland~
I thought the series would have been a lot better if all the "supernatural" things weren't happening. Because the concept was really cool, they just could have done so much better. The animation, though, is spectacular. I agree the characters need more work. I'd say that was a fairly good review. |
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Mirrinus
 Posts: 230 Location: La Thiene Plateau |
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I really did enjoy AIR a lot, but I also perfectly comprehend how people would think it was pretty boring at the start. If anything, it really didn't make that much sense until the true story comes to the surface around episode 7 or so (although in retrospect, the earlier arcs do sort of tie in). It's a pity that it does take a while to distinguish itself...but I think the latter half of the show definitely made it worthwhile and more.
And I absolutely did love listening to Tori no Uta... |
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F.A.I.T.H
Posts: 22 |
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Agreed. Nothing much I can say about the review, except that the series doesn't really lack in storytelling, unless one is just talking about the first third of Air. It is indeed slow at the start, but that's where patience and preferences kick in. Ultimately, not for the impatient and the people who want something almost immediately out of the beginning. Nothing wrong with being impatient; it's normal to be so if you want to get entertained. IMO, the first three to four episodes were introductions and build-ups, and treated as such. If it is so easy to consider a series bland based on the first several episodes, I'm guessing that plenty of anime out there don't deserve good ratings at the end for slow starts and explosive/emotional endings. |
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fxg97873
Posts: 211 Location: Houston, TX |
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If any of you guys want to check out the first episode of Air TV, it's available for free at ADV's site.
http://www.advfilms.com/free-episode.aspx mk2000 |
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