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.
