Air: Episode 02

Peek-a-boo. Nice cameo by three of the girls from Kanon.

For some reason, Yukito’s puppeteering skills elicit unfavorable responses from his potential audiences. The lack of spectators for his puppets forces him to accept odd jobs from Kano’s older sister, Hijiri, the only doctor in town. She seems to have hired him based on Kano’s demeanor towards him. Her reasons for accepting him are probably similar to Misuzu’s mother’s decision to let him freeload.

During the course of the episode, questions inevitably pile up. With Tohno presenting Yukito a rice voucher, one wonders of her association with the rice lady. Is there even a connection? Why does the dialogue constantly emphasizes dreams of the sky, wings, and flight? Who is the mystery man whom Yukito conversed with? How relevant is his presence to Misuzu? And as for the cliffhanger, WTF just happened? XD

My remaining resistance to this title is almost down to zero. If the series keeps up its storytelling ability, this might be one of my favorites this year. Though discussions amongst those who played the erogame repeatedly mentioned the significant amount of storyline compression, newcomers like myself hardly ever notice the necessary omissions. Whomever is in-charge of this production surely knows about pacing.