Air: Episode 01

Despite my initial nonchalance for the title, the pilot for the series Air left me intrigued for more. Possibly, this attitude is inspired by the fact that no female declared her love for the male protagonist on the first episode. Oh, wait, that’s a different genre, I think. *grins*

An impoverished puppeteer/traveler, Kunisaki Yukito, wanders to a quiet town where he meets a strange yet cheerful girl, Kamio Misuzu. Without any seeming knowledge of his background, Misuzu along with her mother’s reluctant approval offers the weary Yukito food and lodging. While acquainting himself with the place, Yukito is introduced to various individuals, Kirishima Kano, a girl taking care of a quirky canine called Potato, Tohno Minagi, possibly the resident smart and mysterious character, and an uber-spirited kid whose name I missed.

None of the characters have shown any annoying habits, thus far. A very good sign. The direction of the storyline is still questionable but brims with potential. And I can almost smell the angst coming from backstories from Yukito’s old puppet, Haruko (Misuzu’s mom), and Kano with her suspicious wound. Then, there’s Misuzu’s penchant for ‘turning her thoughts to the wind’ and questioning the existence of ‘another self’. I’m tickled. Not to be mistaken, the episode is fairly light-hearted and has laugh-out-loud moments from time to time.

Needless to say, I’ll be waiting for the next installment of Air. Hopefully, it’ll keep up the animation quality and will not devolve into something *really* stupid. (Um…define stupid.)