That’s Not Harem: Air TV

Still trying to think of a snappy lead-in line.

On its surface, Air is very much a harem show – it features cute girls in need of help and one token male in the cast. These girls each embody some sort of harem female trope, from cute noises to bizarre beliefs, and of course contain that central element of having a tragic aspect to their existence and/or past. And did we mention how moe they all are?

However, I would make the argument that, for all its posturing and its roots in an eroge, Air is not harem – what Air really is about is what Clannad was supposed to be about (but which I think ended up getting caught up in the poor pacing of that show): family. In the case of Air, this specifically deals with the relations of mothers and daughters, or, perhaps more correctly, mother-figures and daughter-figures, as two of our three heroines live with an elder female who is not their mother, although they operate as such. While Yukito is certainly important to the story, he operates as more of a bystander in many ways – this is made especially clear by his disappearance during the final arc, as Misuzu and her aunt, Haruko, finally become what it is implied they should’ve been all along – a mother and daughter. So, yes, Yukito is a bit of a catalyst, particularly for Minagi, but he is far from the center of the stories.

But this is really not a too difficult argument to make – at least, the fact that Air is ultimately not a harem show. Kano very clearly is not romantically interested in Yukito – she enjoys his company, but more in the fashion of an elder brother sort of figure, and not one which hails from some of the less illustrious denizens of the hentai sector. Also tellingly, she never blushes around him, which to me is a sure sign, for if the creators had wished for the audience to see this as a romantic attachment, the girl would’ve blushed at least once, as the blushing girl is a bit of a harem staple. But the point of Yukito to Kano is to help accelerate events to allow for Kano’s release from her past life, and from her feelings of guilt regarding her mother’s death. Kano’s choking of Yukito is a focal point, one which brings things to a do or die moment, and which allows Kano’s elder sister and mother-figure Hijiri to finally be able to completely step in and help Kano step away from the fragmentary memories and urges she holds.

In the case of Minagi, I do believe that the case can be made for her being romantically inclined toward Yukito based on her behavior. Truly, Minagi was the only female character in Air TV that I had a “Hmm…” moment about as regards whether or not she was attracted to Yukito. But even here Yukito does not truly act as a male love interest as much as he is yet again the catalyst in a larger drama. Minagi’s mother is alive, but the death of her younger sister has broken her mother, and thus ruptured her own ability to have a relationship with her daughter. This broken relationship is what has the largest effect on Minagi, as the appearance of Michiru proves – Michiru is a sort of make-believe being in the mold of the younger sister who has died, a figure for whom Minagi can act as a mother-figure towards, since her own relationship with her mother is in such disarray. And Michiru is a buoy for Minagi, there until Minagi can repair her own broken mother-daughter relationship. In this case, Yukito yet again acts as the turning point figure, as he asks Minagi to accompany him as he leaves, only to lead her back to her mother. Here, her mother finally recognizes her for who she is – her living daughter, not her departed one, and embraces her. The mother-daughter bond restored, Michiru must leave, and Yukito’s involvement in Minagi’s life for the most part comes to a close.

The case of Misuzu is a bit complicated, given the fact that Misuzu is also the reincarnation of Kanna, and that Yukito is the reincarnation of Ryuuya, her guard. I would make the argument that, ultimately, Misuzu was not romantically attracted to Yukito, and he was not to her, although Kanna herself was romantically attracted to Ryuuya. Misuzu truly gives no hint of a crush on Yukito – he is very clearly important to her, but in a manner similar to how Kano thought of Yukito, albeit quite a bit stronger. This is very much emphasized by the fact that Yukito disappears during the final arc, leaving Misuzu completely to Haruko’s care. This itself is the most obvious instance of the focus on mother-daughter relationships, as Haruko’s earlier distant behavior toward Misuzu recedes, replaced by her acceptance of the fact that Misuzu has come to be a daughter to her. Yukito is the one who breaks Misuzu free of her eternal cycle, but it is Haruko that comforts her during her final times in her last bound reincarnation before she sets forth, and one could argue that Haruko is also part of Misuzu’s being able to transcend the curses she’s been burdened with for so long.

Did I mention that I think Haruko was the most screwed-over character in the whole show?

Anyway, I digress. Kanna also has the mother-daughter thing going, as her escape is all about finding her mother. The tragic ending here, as mother dies after daughter is reunited, and daughter is soon thereafter similarly dispatched, echoes down into Misuzu and Haruko’s own situation, although Haruko’s acceptance of Misuzu as her daughter could be seen as running counter to Kanna’s mother’s rejection of her (which, admittedly, is done in an attempt to save her), and thus plays into Misuzu’s ability to finally break the cycle.

In addition to all this mother-daughter stuff, though, mothers also play a central role in general, as Kano’s medieval incarnation sacrifices herself for her ambiguously sexed baby, while Uraha operates as the vessel by which the need to save Kanna is carried down the generations. It is also important to note that Yukito’s mother is the one he speaks of, and it is she who talked about the girl in the sky, which encouraged him to similarly seek her after his mother’s death.

So, while in harem fashion, the focus is on the women, here it finds itself tracing the curves of mother-daughter relationships instead of the curves of buxom high school girls. And so, the argument here is that the most important bond is that with a mother, be she biologically one’s mother or emotionally such.

And you thought this was just about moe girls and making you cry.