Air ending question.

[mitchhamilton]

So I've watched the anime Air and was very confused after it was over and then a little upset. Most of my confusion and the reason I was upset comes from the last episode. Spoilers to anyone who hasn't seen the anime or played the vn. Also a little spoiler about Clannad the anime.

 

Ok so in the last couple of episodes the show felt like it had switched from being Yukito's story to being about Haruko, the aunt. It felt that way since she was the one getting character developing moments such as her getting fed up with Misuzu, to not only letting Misuzu refer to her as "Momma" but also recognizing herself as her mother. It really seemed like they were gonna start over again from the beginning. She was even teaching Misuzu how to walk. Then for some reason Misuzu had to die and I don't know why. Hey that rhymed.

 

I was sad at first, what with Haruko openly rejecting everything in the world if it meant Misuzu and her could spend their live together. Then I was getting more and more upset with that ending. Mostly because it would have been a good way to end the show. Like I said, they had Haruko come to terms with her being Misuzu's mother, they were gonna start their live over again as mother and daughter, without Haruko holding back like she did before. So why did Misuzu have to die?

 

It's like in Clannad when

Ushio died in Tomoya's arms. I was never sad when that happened (All my tears where gone after Nagisa died.) I was more upset. I thought "What was the point of having Tomoya reconcile with Ushio in such a heart touching way, and then with his father, and slowly moving with his life without Nagisa, if they were only going to hit the reset button?" It would have been a great story if they continued it after her death and him living with it. Maybe have him end up with Kyou. It makes sense. Which is why I wrote a fan fic about it.

 

In the end though I'm upset with the ending of Air because I don't understand it. Why did Misuzu have to die? Why did Yukito turn into a bird? Why focus and dramatize the moments with Misuzu and Haruko on the beach if they were just going to kill Misuzu anyway?

[Flutterz]

It's been a little bit since I've watched/read Air, but this is how I think it is.
From a story perspective, Misuzu had to die because her getting close to other people despite her curse only broke the curse from being passed on to the next girl Kanna's soul would reincarnate into, she still had to live and die with the curse. I don't remember if it's explicitly said anywhere, but the boy and girl that Misuzu and Yukito see on the beach on their first day are supposedly their next reincarnations, they are happily together with no curse.
From purely a writing perspective, well, not every story can and should have a happy ending. It would have been a much less depressing story if it were about the sick/cursed girl who went through hardships with her family but they reconciled in the end, rather than they reconciled but because the trigger for the curse is getting close to others, that makes it worse and kills her. VNs sometimes reference the hedgehog's dilemma in stories like this.
As for the bird thing, I honestly don't remember why it happened story-wise, but the point is to watch the story again from Misuzu's perspective without making her the player character in the VN.
Finally, I wouldn't say that having a character die negates any development and happy moments they had. And once again, it's because Haruko decided she wouldn't leave Misuzu that she died. If Yukito, Haruko and everyone else had left her alone, she would have lived a long and unhappy life.