AIR - Minagi Tohno Route & Character Discussion

Key Discussion
#73

I said a few times that I quite like the ending. I honestly feel like it signifies Minagi’s ability to move forward. I think one theme was that both Minagi and her Mother were too stuck living in the past. That’s the reason why Michiru was so afraid of showing herself to her Mom; she was afraid that if her mom saw her as “Michiru” it would cause her mind to regress even further. The fact that Michiru’s mom was able to call her “Michiru” and still consider her a different person (Minagi’s friend) shows that her mother was able to get over her pain over the loss of her own Michiru.

I think the same applies to Minagi’s case with her half-sister. The fact that she could call her “Michiru” and still see her as a different person shows that Minagi was able to get over her own pain. If she hadn’t gotten over, then she might have broken down sobbing upon seeing the letter from her father.

P.S. Minagi is Uraha

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#74

But whyyyy did they make the new Michiru look and sound exactly the same as the old one? I wouldn’t have minded so much if she were at least a different person. She feels like a replacement. The ending wouldn’ve been so much more impactful to me if there was no replacement.

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#75

I have always considered the new Michiru a ‘reincarnation’ rather than a ‘replacement’. Which is also why I liked the ending.

#76

If you buy into that theory… I dunno, I think it’s pretty poorly thought out.

#77

Hmm yes, that’s a valid argument. I guess it adds to the effect? Like if she wasn’t over Michiru, she might have still handled it well if her new sister didn’t look like Michiru? That’s a bit of a stretch, though

#78

That was the point, I think. You are supposed to be angry because that’s not what they’re supposed to be doing. It makes you feel bad inside but… it’s something that so many people end up doing in the real life.

On that note, IIRC, the sex doesn’t happen in the normal ending right? It only happens in the good ending? Or am I mistaken? :x

#79

Wat. The normal/bad ending sex scene was the most impacting sex scene of the series, how could you forget?

#80

By not actually reading the sex scenes?

(and by being pepe, that helps a lot)

#81

I read without h scenes, but the context of the moment they have sex is very significant.

#82

Well then I guess just being pepe with horrible memory is the sole cause of my forgetfulness

#83

So, in the Normal Ending, Minagi and Yukito are just running away from their problems? I mean, for her to be dependent on him and leave town together with him is upsetting because that won’t make the problems go away, it’s a temporary solution, not a permanent one.

In the Good Ending (the Canon Ending to Minagi’s route), Minagi herself was able to reconcile with her mother, and her father called her to tell her to visit his new family. She was able to solve her problems with aid from Yukito, who is about to leave town? (AIR Spoilers for the events in Misuzu’s Route, as well as for the True Ending to her route) Wait, wasn’t he suppose to look for the Girl in the Sky (Misuzu)? Why is Yukito leaving town now? Of course, before he even left, Minagi talks to him about the letter she got from her father. I just want to ask, isn’t the Good ending (the ending talked about in this paragraph) the True ending to Minagi’s route?

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#84

You’re right. It sort of feeds into Yukito’s character. He’s always trying to get out of town. And if you go down Minagi’s route, he’s already given up on finding the girl in the sky in that town. So him leaving town might be disagreeable to some, but it makes sense. It’s pretty lame that the dialogue choice that decides which ending you get is whether you ask for a kiss or not.

But yes, the Good Ending to Minagi’s route is the True Ending to Minagi’s route. Minagi and Yukito amicably part ways, and Yukito leaves town, which he had planned to do anyway.

#85

So, as you said, the Good Ending to Minagi’s Route is the True, Canon Ending to said Route, correct? What I mean is if the Good Ending is Canon to Minagi’s Route specifically, especially since unlike her Normal Ending, her Good (True) Ending has credits and it’s the resolution to her problems as she and Yukito part ways on good terms with him leaving town.

I wonder, didn’t Minagi go to her father’s home to see her little sister at the end of her route? Also, does Yukito stay in the town at the end of Kano’s Route? Why would he stay if he thinks that the Girl in the Sky isn’t there? Did he choose to give up on his quest entirely and live for his own happiness. Thanks for your answers, Rin. I hope that you can answer these new ones. Heck, can anyone here answer my questions? I’d appreciate it.

#86

@Aspirety Hello, Aspirety, I covered the spoilers about the events of the Good Ending, or most blatantly the True Ending, to Minagi’s Route with spoiler tags.

Also, is the Good Ending the True, Canon Ending to specifically Minagi’s Route? I talked about this in my spoilered post that has the spoiler tags. Can you answer my questions that are on that post? It was posted yesterday.

Now that I think about it, Yukito can only help out only one of the three heroines with their problems, the other two are blatantly forgetten. Doesn’t this bother you? I mean, by the time you get to the Air Route (the Final Route) (Air Route Spoilers as well as Minagi, Misuzu, and Kano’s Routes Spoilers) you’re basically going over Misuzu’s Route as you have done in the Dream Arc, only with Yukito as a crow while the Yukito in the Air Route disappears later when he sacrificed himself for Misuzu as he had done in her route in the Dream Arc, the first arc of the story of AIR. However, Kano and Minagi’s problems are not solved and are forgetten in the Air Route.

In fact, those two heroines have very short cameos in the Air Route, so I would very much like the ending to the Air Route (unlike what we got) to be better than their (Kano and Minagi) individual True Endings in their own Routes since you (and Yukito) are basically abaddoning everything you have done for those two (due to the fact that you haven’t interact with them at all in the Air Route as human Yukito) when going for the Final Route, which is basically Misuzu’s Route, revised. I don’t think that Death and Birdification are good consequences (for Yukito (both as a crow and human in Air Route and Misuzu’s route), Misuzu and the other two heroines) for not helping with Kano’s ghost psycho problems with her deceased mother and Minagi’s problems with her own family problems with her mentally-ill mother and estranged father. Also, Misuzu’s Route in the Dream Arc, what happens to Misuzu after Yukito disappears into light(?) after sacrificing himself to give her more time? I need some clarification on this.

#87

Minagi does indeed go to her father’s house at the end of her Good Ending, and it’s symbolic that her new half-sister has the appearance that Michiru had. As for Yukito leaving town at the end of Kano’s route, I don’t think he does,
since he’s got an established job and love life. Whether he gives up on his quest for the girl in the sky or not is entirely up for you to decide, but I choose to think he just decided he wanted to live life without worrying about it anymore.

After the stuff he’s seen, who can blame him?

#88

2 posts were merged into an existing topic: AIR - Kano Kirishima Route & Character Discussion

#89

“True Ending” is a very vague term… but for all intents and purposes, yes, it is. I think that’s what makes this route very mature for its time; eloping with the girl, which would in most other dating sims be seen as the “good” ending, is not the True Ending in this sense: more important than getting the girl is the internalization of Yukito’s character, and pushing him to not give up in his quest to find the girl in the sky, but still helping those around him while in the process,

Yes, that is heavily implied

@RickyNg1994 On this topic, you don’t need to put spoiler tags for Minagi’s Good ending. What you do need to spoiler tag is your mention of Kano’s route above.

It bothers all of us, don’t you worry :yahaha: It’s probably one of, if not the biggest gripe that most people have against AIR.

(Overall AIR Spoilers) What I think is the value of this is the learning that we, the readers, get from the character routes. Even if the characters themselves aren’t helped at the end of the AIR route, we, as Yukito, are able to experience this things which make us grow. And that growth, I feel, makes us appreciate what happens in the AIR route more as it involves themes that are echoed by the relationships in both Minagi and Kano’s route. While the plot wouldn’t change per se, I’d say the appreciation of the ending of AIR increases because we were able to help the other two.

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#90

(Questions about Overall AIR Spoilers) So, what you’re saying is that while characters (specifically Minagi and Kano) aren’t help in the AIR Route like they are in their individual routes, the themes and lessons we learned from their routes stick with us and grow mature with the experience? This helps us appreciate the ending of AIR because of the experiences of helping both Minagi and Kano in their routes in the padt, despite the fact that they aren’t helped out in the AIR Route?

I understand that while their (Kano and Minagi) problems aren’t resolved in the AIR Route (since Yukito hasn’t helped them), the lessons their resolutions gave us stay with us and echo in the AIR Route.
This is true even though the overall ending to the AIR Route ends with Misuzu’s death. Is that correct, @Pepe?

Also, However, isn’t the AIR Route very similar to Misuzu’s Route in the Dream Arc? Can you also answer my questions about Kano’s Route on her route discussion page? It’s on a post of mine there which was split off from here, and it relates to Yukito’s willingness to keep on searching for the Girl in the Sky for Kano’s Route.

#91

Yes, that is correct. Or, at least, that is my opinion on how you should view these routes.

#92

Hello, Pepe, that’s is very true from what you say about Yukito, about internalizing his character and pushing him to not give up on his quest to find the girl in the sky (even if she’s not in that town), but also helping those around him while trying to search for the girl in the sky.

In fact, he was able to help Minagi with her problems and get her reconcile with her mother and Michiru, who is the spirit of very likely her diseased sister in the past. This allowed Minagi to come to terms with her family problems, as seen as she tells Yukito the next morning before he leaves town to continue searching for the girl in the sky that she got a letter from her father that she can visit to see her new younger half-sister, who looks like Michiru (after she vanished in front of her and Yukito after seeing that Minagi can go forward and not have regrets). That is Minagi’s True Ending, the ending where Yukito was able to actually help her with her problems without runnning away and that he still hasn’t given up on his quest.

This is contrasted with Minagi’s Normal Ending, where as discussed here, Minagi is just running away from her family problems, and even Michiru can no longer help her. Sure, Yukito asked Minagi to come with him so that he can show her the outside world (and not a dream), but he’s forced to give up on his quest to search for the girl in the sky to do so! This doesn’t help with Minagi becoming dependent on Yukito, where she NEEDS to be able to handle things on her own. As we see, Minagi and Yukito leave town via bus, but it still isn’t on resolving her problems and it’s only a matter of time before they bite both of them in the butt.

That’s why I liked Minagi’s True/Good Ending because it helped her resolve her family problems with Yukito and Michiru’s help (before the red-haired girl vanishes after seeing that Minagi can now move forward with no regrets). Of course, Minagi tells Yukito that she’s going to her father’s home to see her little half-sister just before he (Yukito) leaves town. I think I’m getting this at least in the right interpretation, correct?

However, it doesn’t excuse that Misuzu and Kano are just blatantly gone in this route, with the former saying good-bye to Yukito. In fact, both of them no longer appear in Minagi’s route as we get into it. What the heck? Again, this is one of the biggest problems that AIR has, as you just stated, Pepe.

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