AIR Air Arc Thoughts
by
, 05-26-2015 at 10:20 PM (5152 Views)
About time I posted this. Between university, Higurashi and Cross Channel I forgot about it for some time, but the bookclub still has me coming back to it every so often.
So Air is AIR's final arc. The arc's name is actually also capitalized, but to make a distiction I'll take the liberty to change that. They really couldn't have picked a more confusing name, could they?
Let's start with the setting. We're right back where we started. Quite literally, we're back to where Dream begins, only this time we view things from a different perspective; instead of Yukito, our POV character this time around is... a crow.
No, seriously. I'm dead serious. We're looking at things from the viewpoint of a crow. A crow that happens to befriend Misuzu. Misuzu calls our little fella "Sora", and that name sticks.
So what changes now that we look at things from this new perspective? Well, everything, really. Through Sora's eyes, we get a new insight on just about every character, especially Misuzu and Haruko. Sora, for the most part, only observes and exists. But his existence does have an influence on how things turn out around him. Whenever Misuzu and Haruko are alone with Sora, they lay their feelings bare, and simply saying them out loud changes things for them.
The first two thirds or so of Air is a repeat of Dream, more specifically Misuzu's route. The comedy is just as good as always, which is a nice buildup to the emotional climax you know you're headed towards because that's what Key does.
The real heart of Air is mostly centered around the relationship between Misuzu and Haruko. Back in common and Misuzu's route, Haruko was always a bit hard to predict and read, but now all that is presented to you outright, which puts many things in a different light.
But who is Sora, you might be wondering. Well as it turns out when Yukito made a wish to be sent back to when he first met Misuzu, his consciousness became Sora. However, he does not remember anything about it. When we reach the events of the end of Misuzu route is when he finally remembers and through a vision gives Misuzu the strength to go on; after that he forgets about it all over again and never remembers. Seems pointless? It's really not. The story of the Air arc isn't about Sora, or Yukito. It's all about Misuzu and Haruko. It wouldn't have worked well from a different perspective either.
As it turns out, when Haruko left near the end of the Misuzu arc, it wasn't because she felt like leaving on vacation, or leaving Misuzu behind, no it was to finally adopt Misuzu for good. See Haruko had Misuzu pushed on her by Misuzu's dad Keisuke back when his wife died, but Keisuke had every intention on taking her back at some point. So Haruko lived all those years with the anxiety and expectation of Misuzu being taken from her any day. For that reason she never got close to her; and now she's sick of that. She wants to finally be Misuzu's mother for good.
After Yukito disappears, Misuzu lives on by herself for a while. She makes up her mind to go on alone, so that neither she nor anyone else will suffer from the curse that's placed upon her. But, that determination does not last long...
Haruko returns with every intention to make up for all the time she lost never getting close to Misuzu the years before. And while at first Misuzu tries to reject her, she can't do it for long. For just a short while, mother and daughter really enjoy their time together. This was a very heartwarming part. Haruko is such a great character.
But naturally the curse returns as a result and Misuzu starts getting worse day by day. And while Haruko may think she won the rights to be Misuzu's mother, Keisuke doesn't dream of letting his daughter go that easily and when he sees Misuzu's state of poor health he is shocked and wants to take her back.
Haruko continues spending time with Misuzu as she gets worse and worse, forgetting about her past, more or less regressing into a child. Haruko is just about to give up on being her mother and returning her to Keisuke, but as it turns out Misuzu really does love her as much as she loves her, and seeing that Keisuke allows them to remain together.
Misuzu's memory returns and she claims her pain has gone away as well. Haruko is as happy as can be, but secretly Misuzu is lying; she knows that she is about to die. But she does not wish to try and survive by once again separating herself from Haruko, no she wants to leave this world with a smile on her face. And in one of Key's most notorious scenes, she does just that.
*sniff*
Air presents the mother-daughter-relationship between Misuzu and Haruko in a very beautiful way, and is one of my overall favorite parent-child relationships. The ending is bittersweet, but I wouldn't have it any other way. If the curse had just ended and everything would've been fine, it would've felt a lot more empty.
It's a very emotional route, and one that would set the standard for all of Key's final routes from that point on. After Story, Tomoyo After After, Refrain, all those take from what Air first established. I'll argue it's not as good as its successors, but that's fine, because it still lived up to every expectation I had of it.
Although in all honesty, I wouldn't think of Air as highly as I do if it hadn't been for the Kazamatsuri.org bookclub. All the discussion and speculation and delving into it really deepened by appreciation for it. If you ever plan on reading AIR yourself, I highly recommend listening to the podcasts as you go, they add a lot to the experience. At least they did to mine <3
On my own I probably wouldn't have made the connection between who the winged ones are, and why the curse was lifted, and just what the hell is going on in the first place. All the pieces are there, you just need to find and combine them, but if you don't know that you really don't feel like trying xD
AIR is classic Key. If you like Key visual novels and you've already read CLANNAD, Little Busters! and Rewrite, and you just want more of the sort, I'd say give it a read.
Cheers!