AIR - Common Route Discussion

[Bonecuss]

Discussion for the common route of AIR. Unlike some other Key games, the common route of AIR is vaguely defined, but for the purposes of discussion we will consider it as “all the events which lead to the bad ending”. Please mark references to any events outside of the common route with [spoiler], specifying exactly what you’re spoiling so people know whether to click on it or not.

This topic also hosted discussion for the AIR Bookclub, and was referenced in our Common Route Podcast.

What would you rate this route?

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[Aspirety]

Let’s get the ball rolling with some amazing fun I’ve started having.

[Misuzu]

I absolutely love the common route in AIR
And for people who have only seen the anime there are a lot of little side comedic moments that never made it to the anime but are super fun to read
(spoilers for those who aren’t very far into the common route - not really plot spoilers but still) Like Yukito stealing the neighbor’s milk or when he hits the kid of the bike and he and Misuzu “transfer” the pain to each other

One of my absolute favorite lines from the common route though is when Yukito is looking for somebody to show his puppet show to and he’s by the shops and there’s nobody around and he goes
~ “There were no cats.”
~ Cat: “Meow.”
~ “There was one cat.”

That line kills me every time.

Let’s get the ball rolling with some amazing fun I’ve started having.

I love this scene! And the one preluding it where Haruko asks what his name is and Misuzu just is like “Tabuchi” and Yukito’s juts like “…um no.”
Those three together = some amazing comedic moments.

[Kanon]

Rip Tabuchi ;-;7

[Bowiie]

Tabuchi route is true route!

[Bizkitdoh]

So the lore states that (pure nonsense within) Tabuchi is the ecchi shadow- and Yukito, destroyer of HScenes, takes control to prevent them from happening. How interesting!

In reality I’m going to get started here replying to things later on, but I’m reserving my place. Mwuahahaha

[Purple]

Is there a walkthrough to get to the bad end? I don’t want to go into a girl’s route by accident because I sometimes do that even when I don’t try to (like picking obvious chices but Air has a ton of them :/)

[Takafumi]

There’s one in the Winter Confetti patch if you use that.

[swiko]

The whole part about “there were no cats” is literally my favorite 3-line piece of dialogue in the entire game!!! I love it everytime it NEVER gets old

[JDAM_Cid]

I really love Haruko <3 She even made me fall in love with Kansai-ben and fanged girls.

[Pepe]

I’ve always enjoyed listening to kansai-ben abd the way haruko uses it is just so intense that I didn’t even realize at first that it was kansai-ben!

[Misuzu]

I’m playing the game in Japanese and I’m unfamiliar with Kansai-ben so whenever Haruko speaks it’s a little hard for me to understand XDXD
But I still LOVE her manner of speech

Where are you all in the common route?
I’m about to meet Minagi~

[Pepe]

I just finished the second day. I’m actually trying out all the choices before advancing the story so that’s making my progress a bit slow XD At the rate I’m going, I’ll be doing 1 day in-game for every day that I play (2-3 hours playtime per day)

[Aspirety]

I was wondering if anyone knows what ‘Houjutsu’ is meant to mean? (Winter Confetti translation, referring to Yukito’s strange power)

[Pepe]

I was thinking of installing the Japanese version side-by-side, just so I can check out some of the Kanji. Unfortunately, the IME I’m using doesn’t make intelligible suggestions for houjutsu.

Anyways, I’m playing Winter Confetti’s patch as well, and I’ve realized… It’s using the British English vernacular! There were a few small things that tipped me off but I only realized it when they mentioned “Hard-boiled sweets,” a term I have never before heard in my life. Now that I realize it, I can’t get it out of my head!
“Prioritise,” “Apologise,” and whatnot

[Takafumi]

Yup. It’s in British English~
Originally it was a lot more obvious, but they toned the Britishness down before release.

They were working on an American translation for it too.

[Pepe]

I
CAN’T
STOP
LAUGHING!!!

Where did that come from?? Was that an in-joke during translation??? Man it’s just hilarious!

[Takafumi]

Something Sheeta put out for April fools.

April Update

[HeliosAlpha]

Found it, says 法術
dictionary search