Now that my preparations are complete, it’s time to dish out my walls of text on the common route of Air.
This is my first time playing the Air VN, so the game itself is new to me. I am, however, familiar with the story from watching the anime and the movie. Also please note that I have yet to read the posts in this forum because I’m trying to keep my impression of the common route as clean as possible before writing this post. But I promise to catch up and fully join the discussion once this post is completed ^^
A young man on a journey.
He carries two pieces of luggage with him.
One is an old puppet he can move without touching.
The other is an ancient promise, passed down through generations.
The story begins as our main character, Kunisaki Yukito, arrives in a small town in the countryside. He is a traveling puppeteer who lives off his street performances. The setting itself is a bit unusual. Yukito doesn’t have a single acquaintance in the town and he’s staying with a stranger’s, a weird girl’s family that was kind enough to invite him. In order to move on, Yukito has to earn some money, which turns out to be quite difficult. His journey has a certain purpose: Yukito is looking for a girl he knows very little about.
It is the 17th of July, in the middle of summer. It’s very hot. Just being outside tires you out. But summer is also the time for children to play outside all day. Summer holidays will start soon. You can already see a strong contrast to Key’s previous work, Kanon. Kanon is set in a cold winter. Cold. Frozen time. Memories buried under the snow. By a bigger stretch, you can associate the cold with death, but I digress.
The choices presented to the player are numerous, but mostly insignificant. What’s most important here, to my mind, is how will he make Yukito behave? Will Yukito remain desinterested and stay out of poeple’s business, thus barely get to know anyone and leave the town in a week after getting fed up by the town? Or will our protagonist show his kind side, unleash the prankster within and open up to the people around him, thus getting to know them and their problems?
The main focus of the common route is the Kamio family Yukito is staying with. He’s getting along pretty well with both the mother (Haruko) and the daughter (Misuzu).
While being with Misuzu is quite taxing on Yukito’s patience, he’s fully capable of handling her just fine. Misuzu is a good girl, merely looking for someone to play with. The problem here is that, for some reason, Misuzu is always alone. Especially attentive readers might notice that the great majority of kids appearing in random scenes here and there do so in groups of two or three. But the bright and friendly girl Misuzu doesn’t have any friends. Nobody would notice her being absent, so she can be late to school and sneak in whenever. Nobody’s worried about her. She’s by no means antisocial, so why is she so lonely?
“The sky’s always been on my mind, ever since I was little. I don’t know [why]. It’s just that… Another me is up there.”
“In that case, the person I’m looking for is your other self.”
Misuzu might or might not be the girl Yukito is looking for, but doesn’t give it much thought. His mind is preoccupied with finding ways of earning money.
Haruko mostly uses Yukito as a drinking buddy and someone she can relieve some stress with. The Yukito-Haruko dynamic works pretty well and they’re quite funny to watch when they’re together. They have a similar sense of humor and overall, you could say they are a good match. Nothing bad ever happens even if they go all-out with their jokes. Haruko drinks a lot but upon closer inspection, she merely does so to stave off boredom.
After a while, you start noticing that something’s off about the Kamio family. The father is nowhere in sight and it’s unclear whether or not he even exists. Haruko is working during the day and only returns home by night while drunk. Misuzu doesn’t get to spend much time with her that way, since she has to go to sleep shortly after her mother’s arrival. The relationship between mother and daughter is strange indeed. They get a long ok, but at the same time, they seem to be disconnected from each-other. Haruko won’t spend quality time with her daughter, but she does order Yukito to watch over her.
“She never opens up teh me or anythin’ I’m too useless. I’m not cut out teh be a mother.”
“The likes o’ me aren’ fit to be with her”
Do mother and daughter simply lack mutual understanding? Did they give up on trying to improve their relationship?
Other characters do make an appearance, but they don’t get a lot of screen time.
There’s Kano, a childish, somewhat delusional girl, accompanied by her weird dog, Potato.
Hijiri, the town’s doctor, a strong-willed and independent woman.
Last but not least, Michiru and Minagi. They seem to be having fun, despite their mismatched personalities. Not much is known about either of them.
Despite the numerous glimpses at various problems, here and there, the overall mood of the common route is relaxed and easy-going. Yukito is stranded and broke, but not actually in a dangerous situation. Misuzu has nobody to play with, but she keeps smiling. Her family situation is not the best, but actual problems have yet to present themselves. Kano’s only friend is a dog, but so what? Everyone’s lives go on more or less smoothly as they carry on while smiling and playing around. Every day is full of laughter and fun that minor setbacks can’t ruin. Even the always-lonely Misuzu has Yukito to keep her company now.
The common route is full of funny events. Yukito’s everyday quest to earn money isn’t completely hopeless if he teams up with Misuzu. His map will improve (RPG-style) on a regular basis, and so will his relationships with other townspeople. If he does well with his puppeteering, a complete stranger just might give Yukito a sponge cake out of nowhere. The stranger actually has a sprite, so the readers are free to start speculating about his identity.
If Yukito fails to make a connection with any of the characters, the bad end will occur on January 24th. Fed up with his lack of progress and the town and unwilling to mooch off of the Kamio family any longer, Yukito leaves the town as he and Misuzu symbolically go their separate ways. It’s not that Yukito hasn’t been given enough information. He’s seen the problems and he’s gotten important hints, but he simply chose to not involve himself and look the other way.