Air (2005 film)

2005 Japanese film

Air

American DVD cover of the film.

Directed by| Osamu Dezaki
Written by| Makoto Nakamura
Based on| Air
by Key
Produced by| Iriya Azuma
Mamoru Yokota
Starring| Hikaru Midorikawa
Tomoko Kawakami
Aya Hisakawa
Edited by| Masahiro Goto
Music by| Yoshikazu Suo

Production
company

Toei Animation

Release date

* February 5, 2005 (2005-02-05)

Running time

| 91 minutes
Country| Japan
Language| Japanese

Air is a 2005 Japanese anime drama film directed by Osamu Dezaki and written by Makoto Nakamura based on the visual novel Air by Key. Originally, the film was set for a release date in autumn 2004, but was delayed;[1] the film finally premiered in Japanese theaters on February 5, 2005. The film, animated by Toei Animation, is a reinterpretation of the original Air storyline which centers on the story arc of the female lead Misuzu Kamio. Yukito Kunisaki arrives in the town of Kami for a chance to earn money at the summer festival and meets Misuzu on his first day in town. They soon become best friends and a story one thousand years old begins to unfold.

Before going to DVD, a 30-minute sample of the film was streamed online by Animate from June 2–16, 2005, two weeks later.[2] The film was later sold on DVD and released in three editions: the Collector's Edition, the Special Edition, and the Regular Edition on August 5, 2005. The Air film was licensed for English language distribution by ADV Films and was released on December 11, 2007.[3] The license of the film was transferred to Funimation in July 2008 who will continue to release the film in North America.[4] To commemorate the release of the Clannad film, Animate streamed the Air film on their website which was split into three parts.[5]

## Plot

[edit]

Yukito Kunisaki (Hikaru Midorikawa), a traveling puppeteer with a goal to find the "girl in the sky" that been passed down his family for generations, arrives in a sea-side town of Kami in the hopes of earning money at the upcoming summer festival. At the same time, Misuzu Kamio (Tomoko Kawakami) is just leaving school after discussing her summer project. Choosing to do a project on the history of the town, Misuzu finds a book containing the story of Kannabi no Mikoto (Chinami Nishimura) in her town, the inspiration for the festival next week. After crashing her bike she encounters Yukito on the beach, Misuzu invites Yukito to stay at her home until the festival begins after learning that he has no place to stay. Meeting Misuzu's eccentric aunt Haruko Kamio (Aya Hisakawa), and getting a hangover the next morning from drinking with her, Yukito accompanies Misuzu throughout the town as she does research for her project.

As the two become closer, the story of Kannabi no Mikoto, or Kanna for short begins to unfold, telling how Kanna, the last of the winged beings, fell in love with her guardian Ryūya (Nobutoshi Canna) while being sequestered in a palace under penalty of death if she attempted to leave. The two eventually become lovers, Kanna reveals her desire to see the ocean and use her wings to fly to her mother, whom she was separated from at birth. Apparently, Ryūya decides to help Kanna see her dream of the ocean and the two plot their escape.

In the present day, Misuzu's mysterious illness from her childhood resurfaces, leading Haruko to arrange for Keisuke Tachibana, Misuzu's father, to take her to a hospital where she can be treated. In a flashback, Kanna is seen with similar symptoms and tells Ryūya that the reason for her illness is punishment because she has fallen in love with him, which goes against the laws of her kind. Yukito becomes conflicted by both his feelings for Misuzu and his wish to continue wandering and leaves during the night. However, soon after he arrives at the bus stop, the crow Sora, reminds him of his real reason for coming to the town: to earn money; Yukito heads back into town for the festival. Meanwhile, Haruko is preparing to take Misuzu to the festival when Keisuke arrives to take his daughter away. An emotional Haruko tells a shocked Misuzu that the reason she called her father is because Haruko cannot stand to see Misuzu becoming increasingly ill, but as Misuzu and Keisuke leave Haruko is seen crying at the loss. While driving through the crowds at the festival, Misuzu suddenly leaves Keisuke's car after seeing a float of Kannabi no Mikoto pass and prompts a panicked search by Keisuke and Haruko.

During her search, Haruko finds Yukito performing, and while he is at first unwilling, after recalling how he failed Misuzu in his past life as Ryūya, he joins in the search and frantically runs to the temple of Kannabi no Mikoto. Misuzu herself recalls her past life as Kanna and her fateful escape from her confinement, remembering that both Ryūya and her mother died soon after she took flight; the former by a barrage of arrows in retaliation from the guards and the latter by leaving her prison to see her daughter after hearing her voice calling. Kanna herself was impaled by hundreds of arrows, but strangely never hit the ground and simply remained in the air. As the film concludes, Yukito arrives at the temple and confesses his love for Misuzu, and after reuniting with Haruko, the trio returns to the Kamio residence.

A short time later, Haruko and Yukito decide to send Misuzu to a hospital to treat her, cutting her hair before she leaves and taking her to the ocean as per her request. At the ocean, a weakened Misuzu gets up and tries to reach Haruko and Yukito, the two most important people in her life. She finally reaches them only to collapse in Yukito's arms and die having finally reached her goal. Yukito is last seen leaving town in the autumn and promising to find Misuzu wherever she appears next in the hope that he will someday be able to break her curse and let her be free.

## Media releases

[edit]

### DVDs

[edit]

The original version of the film was later sold on DVD and released in three editions: the Collector's Edition, the Special Edition, and the Regular Edition on August 5, 2005. The Collector's Edition was sold as a specialized box set including, with the film DVD, a separate DVD containing four promotional images and four television commercials advertising the film. A 402-page booklet was included in the box set containing detailed storyboards, and a draft of the film's scenario.[6] The Special Edition was similarly released in a box set containing the film DVD, along with a 61-minute drama CD containing twelve tracks, and a 40-minute full orchestra entitled Shinwa e no Izanai CD featuring four songs in the film.[6] The Regular Edition contained no special features and was sold in a normal DVD case containing only the film DVD.[6] The English-language version of the film was released by ADV Films on December 11, 2007, who paid $20,000 for the licence.[7] In July 2008, the license of the film was transferred to Funimation who continues to release the film in North America.[4]

### Soundtrack

[edit]

The original soundtrack entitled Air Film Soundtrack was first released on March 25, 2005, by Frontier Works.[8] The soundtrack contained one disc with twenty-three tracks.[9] The first twenty-two tracks are the background music played throughout the film composed by Japanese composer Yoshikazu Suo. The final track on the CD, "If Dreams Came True", is a song based on the song "Futari" (ふたり, Two People) on the Air Original Soundtrack for the original visual novel; "If Dreams Came True" is sung by Japanese singer Eri Kawai.[8]

## Reception

[edit]

Theron Martin of Anime News Network described the film as a "more narrowly-focused love story" compared to the "emotional, familial-oriented moefest of the original series."[10] Chris Beveridge of Mania wrote, "If you're not interested in a TV series, the film really captures much of the same material in a compact way without losing the real emotions."[11]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Key's official announcement of the film" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on March 4, 2007. Retrieved March 26, 2008.
2. ^ "Part of Air Movie Free Online". Anime News Network. June 2, 2005. Archived from the original on May 16, 2007. Retrieved May 5, 2007.
3. ^ "ADV Announces Acquisition of Air TV Series, Air Movie". Anime News Network. April 27, 2007. Archived from the original on April 30, 2007. Retrieved April 27, 2007.
4. ^ a b "Funimation Picks Up Over 30 Former AD Vision Titles". Anime News Network. July 4, 2008. Archived from the original on July 7, 2008. Retrieved July 7, 2008.
5. ^ "Air Movie Streamed for Free in Japanese". Anime News Network. August 23, 2007. Archived from the original on August 26, 2007. Retrieved August 30, 2007.
6. ^ a b c "Air film official website on the DVD features" (in Japanese). Frontier Works. Archived from the original on October 27, 2010. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
7. ^ "ADV Court Documents Reveal Amounts Paid for 29 Anime Titles". Anime News Network. January 30, 2012. Retrieved February 6, 2012.
8. ^ a b "Air Film Soundtrack listing" (in Japanese). Retrieved April 30, 2007.
9. ^ "Air Film Soundtrack listing". MusicBrainz. Retrieved October 17, 2008.
10. ^ Martin, Theron (December 23, 2007). "Air: The Motion Picture DVD". Anime News Network. Retrieved February 10, 2011.
11. ^ Beveridge, Chris (May 29, 2009). "Air: The Movie". Mania. Archived from the original on October 16, 2012. Retrieved February 10, 2011.

## External links

[edit]

* Air film official website (in Japanese)
* Toei Animation's official Air film website (in Japanese)
* Air at IMDb
* Air at Anime News Network's encyclopedia

* v
* t
* e

Works directed by Osamu Dezaki

Animated series|

* Ashita no Joe (1970–1971)
* Hazedon (1972–1973)
* Jungle Kurobe (1973)
* Karate Master (1973–1974)
* Aim for the Ace! (1973–1974)
* Gamba no Bōken (1975)
* Nobody's Boy: Remi (1977–1978)
* Treasure Island (1978–1979)
* The Rose of Versailles (1980)
* Ashita no Joe 2 (1980–1981)
* Space Adventure Cobra (1982–1983)
* Mighty Orbots (1984)
* Bionic Six (1987)
* Dear Brother (1991–1992)
* In the Beginning: The Bible Stories (1997)
* Hakugei: Legend of the Moby Dick (1997)
* The Snow Queen (2005–2006)
* Ultraviolet: Code 044 (2008)
* Genji Monogatari Sennenki (2009)

Animated films|

* Aim for the Ace! (1979)
* Ashita no Joe (1980)
* Nobody's Boy: Remi (1980)
* The Rose and Women of Versailles (1980)
* Ashita no Joe 2 (1981)
* Space Adventure Cobra: The Movie (1982)
* Golgo 13: The Professional (1983)
* A Time Slip of 10000 Years: Prime Rose (1983)
* The Seven Friends of Gamba (1984)
* Sweet Sea (1985)
* Treasure Island (1987)
* Lupin III: Bye-Bye Liberty Crisis (1989)
* Lupin III: Mystery of the Hemingway Papers (1990)
* Lupin III: Steal Napoleon's Dictionary! (1991)
* Lupin III: From Russia With Love (1992)
* Lupin III: The Pursuit of Harimao's Treasure (1995)
* Black Jack: The Movie (1996)
* Eiyuu Banka Koushi-den (1996)
* Hamtaro Movie 1: Adventures in Ham-Ham Land (2001)
* Hamtaro Movie 2: The Captive Princess (2002)
* Hamtaro Movie 3: Miracle in Aurora Valley (2003)
* Hamtaro Movie 4: Fairy Tale (2004)
* Air (2005)
* Clannad (2007)

OVAs|

* One-pound Gospel (1988)
* Kasei Yakyoku (1989)
* Aim for the Ace! Final Stage (1989–1990)
* B.B. (1990–1991)
* Sword for Truth (1990)
* Sohryuden: Legend of the Dragon Kings (1991–1992)
* Takarajima Memorial - Yūnagi to Yobareta Otoko (1992)
* Black Jack (1993–1996)
* Golgo 13: Queen Bee (1998)

* v
* t
* e

Key

Brand of Visual Arts

People|

* Jun Maeda
* Shinji Orito
* Na-Ga
* Itaru Hinoue
* Naoki Hisaya
* Yūichi Suzumoto
* Yūto Tonokawa
* Magome Togoshi
* OdiakeS

Visual novels at Tactics|

* Dōsei
* Moon
* One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e

Visual novels|

* Kanon
* Air
* Clannad
* Planetarian: The Reverie of a Little Planet
* Tomoyo After: It's a Wonderful Life
* Little Busters!
* Kud Wafter
* Rewrite
* Angel Beats! 1st Beat
* Harmonia
* Summer Pockets
* Loopers
* Lunaria: Virtualized Moonchild
* Heaven Burns Red
* Stella of The End
* Anemoi

Animation and multimedia|

* One episodes
* Kanon episodes
* Air episodes
* Air film
* Clannad film
* Clannad episodes
* Angel Beats!
* episodes
* Little Busters! episodes
* Charlotte
* episodes
* Rewrite episodes
* Planetarian: Storyteller of the Stars
* The Day I Became a God
* Prima Doll
* Kaginado

Audio|

| Soundtracks|

* Kanon
* Air
* "Tori no Uta"
* Clannad
* Planetarian
* Little Busters!
* Angel Beats!
* Kud Wafter
* Rewrite
* Charlotte
* Harmonia
* Summer Pockets

|

Key Sounds Label|

* Discography
* Humanity...
* "Birthday Song, Requiem"
* "Spica/Hanabi/Moon"
* Ma-Na
* Love Song
* Key 10th Memorial Fes Anniversary CD
* Circle of Fifth
* KSL Live World albums

Other|

* Key Net Radio
* Owari no Hoshi no Love Song

Category

* v
* t
* e

Toei Animation theatrical features (2000–2009)

2000|

* Digimon Adventure: Our War Game!
* One Piece
* Digimon Adventure 02: Digimon Hurricane Landing!! / Transcendent Evolution!! The Golden Digimentals
* Ojamajo Doremi #: The Movie

2001|

* Digimon Adventure 02: Revenge of Diaboromon
* One Piece: Clockwork Island Adventure
* Digimon Tamers: Battle of Adventurers
* Kinnikuman: Second Generations
* Mōtto! Ojamajo Doremi: Secret of the Frog Stone

2002|

* Digimon Tamers: Runaway Locomon
* One Piece: Chopper's Kingdom on the Island of Strange Animals
* Digimon Frontier: Island of Lost Digimon
* Muscle Ginseng Competition! The Great Choujin War

2003|

* One Piece The Movie: Dead End no Bōken
* Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem

2004|

* Saint Seiya: Heaven Chapter - Overture
* One Piece: The Cursed Holy Sword
* Zatch Bell! Movie 1: 101st Devil

2005|

* Air
* One Piece: Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island
* Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart the Movie
* Zatch Bell! Movie 2: Attack of Mechavulcan
* Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart the Movie 2: Friends of the Snow-Laden Sky

2006|

* One Piece: Giant Mecha Soldier of Karakuri Castle
* Digimon Savers: Ultimate Power! Activate Burst Mode
* Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star: Tick-Tock Crisis Hanging by a Thin Thread!

2007|

* Dr. Slump: Dr. Mashirito - Abale-chan
* One Piece Movie: The Desert Princess and the Pirates: Adventures in Alabasta
* Clannad
* Yes! PreCure 5 the Movie: Great Miraculous Adventure in the Mirror Kingdom!

2008|

* One Piece: Episode of Chopper Plus: Bloom in the Winter, Miracle Sakura
* Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!!
* Yes! PreCure 5 GoGo! the Movie: Happy Birthday in the Sweets Kingdom
* GeGeGe no Kitarō: Japan Explodes!!

2009|

* Pretty Cure All Stars DX: Everyone's Friends - the Collection of Miracles!
* Digimon Adventure 3D: Digimon Grand Prix!
* Digimon Savers 3D: The Digital World in Imminent Danger!
* Fresh Pretty Cure! the Movie: The Toy Kingdom has Lots of Secrets!?
* One Piece Film: Strong World

Not including Madhouse-animated features produced by Toei
Category
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