So a thought just occurred to me, that I’m surprised I didn’t consider while I was reading.
Why exactly was Haruko immune to the effects of the curse? She never felt any pain no matter how close she got to Misuzu.
I’m thinking it might have something to do with Yukito. Maybe the curse specifically only targets the boy trying to save her. Or maybe the fact that Yukito kind-of escaped death by becoming Sora created a loophole in the curse which caused it to no longer apply.
That actually goes into my other question, which I pointed out some time ago:
It’s only natural that one’s biological mother would attempt to be close to her own child, and I don’t think Misuzu’s mother is an exception.
If she did, then Haruko must have felt some sort of pain eventually, right? If she didn’t then maybe it only affects the Ryuuya-Uraha bloodline. It’s pretty tough to assume one or the other
In this route specifically, right?
I’m assuming it’s because enough time hadn’t passed. It was only around three or so days that Haruko tried to get closer to Misuzu. Plus, Misuzu wasn’t entirely able to feel closer to anybody at that time due to losing memory relatively early on.
Whereas with Yukito, there was quite some time (not sure how long, a few weeks I think) before he felt anything from the curse. Granted, Yukito wasn’t exactly trying to be close either, so this part is almost stretching it.
I think it’s also valid to interpret it as Sora “healing” that aspect of the curse, or even Yukito doing so as a side effect of his wish.
Yeah, I know. I’m late. Like, beyond late. About as late as Haruko was for Misuzu. Oh well, I’m here now.
Before I went anywhere near this topic I had to sit for a couple of days. And I have to say, even after waiting so long, I was still very disturbed by AIR. Its ending made me… very uncomfortable.
At first I was just angry. Like, really pissed off. All of the AIR route up through Aozora was amazing. I could totally see several flaws in it as I was reading through, but I understood what Maeda was trying to do, and I appreciated it greatly. But that ending was just… I don’t know, the first word that comes to me is stupid.
Of course, as usual reading all of Kaza’s interpretations help greatly. At least I’m sort of able to comprehend what physically might have been happening, even if the meaning is still kinda lost on me. Now, I haven’t read all the posts, because I’m tired right now, but.
Honestly, the part that pissed me off the most was that Yukito never came back. Like, its totally my own fault too. I set myself up, completely convinced from the moment that he disappeared that he was coming back. It was the most anticipated moment for me; I was dying to hear his voice. Like, it was obvious to me that Sora was Yukito from the beginning, but Sora just never had the same great qualities as Yukito, especially when we progressively heard less and less from Sora himself as we neared the end.
Not only that, but no one really cared about Sora, which really made me feel like no one cared about my presence, which is really weird for a VN. I lost almost all personally relation and involvement with the story.
Second thing that pissed me off: Misuzu died, stayed dead… and everyone just got over it. (I know it had been a while before the next scene with Haruko, but still). For once, I was begging for some Key magic and instead all I got was a middle finger and some unexplained shit about the sky and infinity. Yeah, OK, so maybe the curse was broken, but then why was no one happy about it? The goal of the whole story was reached, and all everyone was talking about was moving on.
And how was the goal even reached in the first place? This one is really killing me. Like, first, Yukito seemingly did nothing. Like, yeah, he got to stay with Misuzu for forever (sorta?) or whatever, but SORA DIDNT DO ANYTHING. This goes back to how pissed I am about Yukito not coming back. Like, I kept expecting Sora to be there for some reason; to do something. But in the end it seemed like he was only there so we could see the end of the story.
And then what did Misuzu or Haruko even do? Are you telling me that to break this 1000 year curse, all Haruko had to do was stop being selfish and start showing her niece/daughter that she loved her; and all Misuzu had to do was STAY AWAKE FOR 3 DAYS STRAIGHT. Ok, yes, I understand. All she had to do was make a happy memory. But it just kinda seems preposterous to me that for 1000 years no one had ever been able to make the girl happy.
OK, breather time. Sorry for all my rambling. I really did throughly enjoy the route up until the end. I just didnt like the ending. Which (as many of us here know, whether it be with this or with other works), not liking the ending can really screw with your opinion of the story as a whole. I just wasnt satisfied.
And if any of you were wondering, yes it did make me lightly tear up a couple times, like when Giniro/Aozora were playing. Very different kind of feels from Key’s other games, though. I may not have even cried at all if it werent for the brilliant music.
It’s definitely weird for a VN and I think that’s what made it so revolutionary for its time. The players want to experience themselves saving a girl? Well too bad, you’re now a crow! Either way, it’s definitely something different and I can see why it would upset some people, yeah.
Reading that paragraph actually made me smile, because I feel it was one of the more powerful parts of AIR. That’s how the real life is, yo. There isn’t any Key magic to save people, and we, as humans, must learn to get over the unfairness of this thing we call life.
This is where I start arguing with you; Sora, whether directly or indirectly, helped give Misuzu the strength to live on. It’s something that Yukito couldn’t have done, because he himself was affected by the curse, and might have even died before he achieved anything. Sora was a loophole to the curse and thus, was able to help give Misuzu the strength to keep moving.
Plus there was the whole thing with the dinosaur, but that could’ve been done even by not an animal.
Yeah that’s actually a valid point. Were all the incarnations of the girl unable to become happy because of the curse? Did the curse really affect those peoples’ families to the point that it would be nigh impossible to obtain happiness? It’s definitely something worth speculating about, but Yukito’s mother pretty clearly states that they weren’t able to save any of the incarnations that they met.
Oh man, that’s exactly how I felt after reading Rewrite, and I know that feeling all too well. I’ve gotten to accept it after time, and I hope you will do so for the ending of AIR 
There’s a few ways to answer this. Firstly, I think Misuzu’s happiness is conditional to letting go of her attachments to life. My theory is that the past girls were all so determined to not burden others, to break free from the curse, desperately struggling for a happy ending while full of regrets over not being able to live a full life, that they never thought to merely focus on the present. All the other girls were focused on throwing off the shackles of the past, and hopeful for the future. Misuzu may have been the first to simply be content with the present, and accept her death. I believe that’s what makes her different, and what broke the curse.
You could also add in the interpretation that the force opposing the curse has grown stronger over generations. The example here would be in Yukito’s bloodline, with all of the descendants hopes and wishes accumulating in his doll over generations, granting him the power to oppose the thousand year old curse.
Both work, maybe it’s a mixture of both.
Yeah… I was sitting just thinking about this today. Thinking about, the ending aside, how absolutely terrifying this part was. Like, all I can hear is Haruko screaming with Aozora playing in the back. As I said, a very different kind of feels.
While I see that this is true to an extent, I’m saying it doesn’t really come off that way to the reader, or at least not to me. Instead I was left feeling hopeless and disconnected.
Both of these two points bring up something interesting: is this really a nakige? Like, they try to kinda play it off as if it all was a happy thing because the curse was broken. But it almost seems more like a utsuge to me…
[quote=“Pepe, post:57, topic:1173”]
I hope you will do so for the ending of AIR
[/quote]Although I couldn’t fall asleep again last night, thinking “AIR is one of those things that I’m really glad I read, but almost kinda wish I hadn’t”, today I finally started to get it… I think. I guess reading and writing help a bit.
Except I don’t agree that that works because it is stated repeatedly that the Houjutsu had been growing increasingly weaker.
Huh, maybe this is exactly why it’s been getting weaker; because every generation had put a part of their power into the doll.
Though then the obvious question arises why they’d do that if not doing that had kept the power strong.
Well… ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
AIR is definitely up there above most of the rest in terms of “emotional impact” to me, so yeah, it might just be more of an utsuge, as it was mostly utsuge that seems to do that to me, heh.
This route pissed me off. Legitimately I think it was a wonderful thing to end off with, I just was wondering when would it end. Truth be told, when Aozora started playing, I was heartbroken.
Haruko really stands out as the best character here. I’m more confused on what that ending was; who are those kids? I skimmed through this thread and didn’t really find an answer.
Misuzu doesn’t even have a happy ending as the happiest character ever T-T
Edit: I FOUND THE ANSWER? THOSE KIDS ARE WHAT??
You found an answer? Please enlighten us XP
Sora and Kanna???
Go listen to the podcast lol.
A compression/paraphrasing of my thoughts written specifically for the K.E.Y.:
The AIR route holds a ton of heart, and I feel Maeda wanted to convey something personal to him with Haruko and Misuzu’s struggle together. It stands apart from its sister routes in terms of both quality and emotion, and it taught me two important life lessons. First, it reminds me of how my mother is always there for me. She’s not a perfect soul, but I always look up to her, and even today she serves as the perfect role model for me. I think I’m pretty lucky to know someone like her, a woman who raised me with her delicate hands and forged me with her guidance.
Second, even after all I can do, even faith sometimes isn’t enough to make life-saving miracles happen. Everyone dies at some point in their lives, so the best I can do is make sure a dying loved one doesn’t regret living. Not only will it ease the passing of said loved one, it will change me for the better. My life doesn’t end at someone else’s death, so I must keep going knowing that they’ve passed on, and do everything I can to make sure they are not forgotten. Still, I believe in an afterlife, every day holding on tight to the belief that I will one day see a loved one again.
I’d generally tell you to just suck it up and read the VN, but I’m feeling generous today 
It has been a super long time since I looked up the background of AIR, but I’ll see what I can remember.
The idea of AIR, and this is obvious, is that reincarnation is a thing. Not only that, but reincarnation doesn’t work hand-in-hand with the concept of time. Misuzu is one of many reincarnations, as is Yukito and every other character. The other reincarnations can exist in the past, in the future, and in the present. There’s nothing stopping the same “soul” from existing within two people at the same time. I believe there was a specific religious belief that went in line with this, but I don’t remember.
Yukito isn’t the direct son of any of Kanna’s companions. He is a long descendant, hence why his magical powers have faded so much. The magical bloodline of which he descends from has been diluted by the constant mixing of normal human dna. One of Yukito’s ancestors gave birth to a normal human’s child, so did the next one, and so did the next one. Yukito’s mother was just his mother. Dunno why that’s a question, but yeah, his mother taught Yukito about his ancestors’ traditions.
AIR is ultimately a small part of a larger story. These characters are effectively meaningless to the grand scheme of things, but it is the only link of an endless chain that we know about.
Does that mean that the little girl that was walking at the beach with the little boy, is next in line for the reincarnation? And her soul will basically just fuse with the soul of Kanna? And if that story would have continued and the girl was miraculously cured, wouldn’t that mean that Yukito’s bloodline didn’t help at all, if the boy the next girl is with isn’t part of the main family ?
There’s no fusion, or any changes. The girl and the boy were there before Yukito even showed up in town, and they were both already on the same journey.
If that was the link to end the chain, then it’s all over. Yukito’s bloodline didn’t really help aside from sharing the story of the curse. Neither Yukito nor any of his relatives actually did anything, even with magic. I guess the lesson to be learned from the kids, if they did so happen to be the final link, is that a natural friendship beats searching for a specific person as a task. It could be possible that by simply being on the search for the angel, you are doomed to never break the curse.
I think that’s one of my biggest takeaways from AIR. Chasing your “destiny” will just cause you to forget the smaller things in life. So showing the little girl innocently playing with the boy on the beach signifies that this reincarnation will, hopefully unlike the previous tens of reincarnations (however many they may be), will find happiness in their companionship which the previous iterations seemed to have failed to do.
But isn’t the fact that they’re together without the girl being in pain a sign that the curse is broken?
