Line #36 Film/AirDoll


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/air_doll.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:Being sentient is not all that it's cracked up to be.]]
3
4	''Air Doll'' (空気人形) is a movie directed by Creator/HirokazuKoreEda and based on the eponymous manga by Yoshiie Goda.
5
6	Hideo (Itsuji Itao), a socially awkward middle-aged man, has bought an inflatable sex doll for companionship whom he calls Nozomi (Creator/BaeDoona). One day, [[MagicalRealism for no precise reason]], Nozomi becomes sentient and decides to figure out what this "life" thing is. Putting on a {{Meido}} outfit, she ventures out of Hideo's flat and walks around in the city, learning her first words by repeating what people say and tentatively interacting with them.
7
8	She finds a job as a sales attendant in a video store, and every evening, sneaks back to Hideo's place where she fakes her earlier non-sentience. As she meets more people, she realizes that all of them are symbolically as empty as she is physically.
9
10	-----
11	!!Contains examples of:
12	* AccidentalMurder: [[spoiler:Thinking he's a sentient air doll like her and that she can later fill him up with air like he did with her, Nozomi cuts Junichi in the gut and stems the wound with adhesive tape. He bleeds to death as a result.]]
13	* AndStarring: The CBB has "with Joe Odagiri and Sumiko Fuji".
14	* BitchInSheepsClothing: Junichi and Nozomi's boss seems to be a benevolent old fellow, but he's revealed to be a DirtyOldMan who coerces Nozomi to have sex with him via blackmail thinking she's cheating on Hideo with Junichi.
15	* BlankSlate: Nozomi's eccentric behavior, (such as being amazed of trivial things like her own shadow, responding to abstract concepts such as life and death in a childlike way (smiling and saying "Hard to understand."), and mimicking other people's behavior) and seeing as she's just come to life and is essentially only a few days old
16	* CloudCuckoolander:
17	** Nozomi, which is justified, since she's just come to life.
18	** Hideo counts as well, albeit being a much more disturbing example than Nozomi.
19	* CompanionCube: As stated above, Nozomi is treated as such by Hideo. Contrary to what some might think, it's not as funny as it sounds.
20	* CradlingYourKill: [[spoiler:Nozomi to Junichi, thanks to a sexual foreplay [[AccidentalMurder gone terribly wrong]].]]
21	* DeathByDespair: [[spoiler:After her AccidentalMurder of Junichi, Nozomi becomes distraught and is eventually DrivenToSuicide.]]
22	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: [[spoiler:In order to reinflate Nozomi, Junichi lifts up her dress and blows into the valve on her belly. They later admit that it was an erotic experience for both of them, and they deliberately renew it.]]
23	* DyingAlone: [[spoiler:Nozomi allows herself to deflate/die amongst garbage in [[DeathByDespair despair]] of her AccidentalMurder of Junichi.]]
24	* FondMemoriesThatCouldHaveBeen: [[spoiler:Nozomi's DyingDream is a recreation of Moe's birthday celebration in an earlier scene but with her as the celebrant surrounded by all the characters in the film.]]
25	* TheHeroDies: [[spoiler:After her AccidentalMurder of her LoveInterest, Nozomi [[DeathByDespair becomes distraught]] and is eventually DrivenToSuicide.]]
26	* IdiotSavant: Nozomi can draw pretty well for someone who's just gained sentience.
27	* JobTitle: The title refers to Nozomi being an inflatable sex doll.
28	* KillTheOnesYouLove: [[spoiler:Nozomi [[AccidentalMurder accidentally kills Jinichi]] after fatally cutting him in the gut thinking he's inflatable like her.]]
29	* {{Meido}}: Nozomi initially dresses like one. People just seem to assume she's a cosplayer.
30	* MsFanservice: Nozomi, being a sex doll that gained sentience, is nude in most of her screen time, wears plenty of FanserviceCostumes, and her casual outfits provide plenty of LegFocus.
31	* NakedFirstImpression: {{Play\|ingWithATrope}}ed with. Nozomi is naked when she first gained sentience, but her actual first scene (as a sex doll) has her dressed in a {{Meido}} outfit.
32	* NoLastNameGiven: The actors are only credited with their characters' given names in the CBB and cast list.
33	* NoSocialSkills: Barely subverted with Hideo; sure, he treats Nozomi like she's alive [[note]] But Nozomi is animate, just when he's not around[[/note]], but his conversations with her indicate that he does talk to other people.
34	* NotSoDifferentRemark: The old man in the park remarks that the human race is somewhat similar to mayflies, which isn't exactly flattering.
35	* OhCrap: Junichi, when [[spoiler: he realizes that Nozomi isn't human.]]
36	* ProtagonistTitle: The titular Air Doll is protagonist Nozomi.
37	* SexualExtortion: Junichi and Nozomi's boss coerces her to have sex with him via blackmail thinking she's cheating on Hideo with Junichi.
38	* ShaggyDogStory
39	* [[SlidingScaleOfLivingToys Sliding Scale Of Living Sex Toys]]: Nozomi is a Type 2 to Hideo, but a Type 5 to everyone else.
40	* SuddenDownerEnding: Granted the film is already heavy with the WhatMeasureIsANonHuman theme towards the end, but then the titular protagonist [[spoiler:{{accidental\|Murder}}ly kills her LoveInterest and is DrivenToSuicide [[DeathByDespair as a result]].]]
41	* TitleDrop: Repeatedly done by a narrating Nozomi.
42	--> '''Nozomi:''' I am an Air Doll.
43	* UndignifiedDeath:
44	** [[spoiler:Junichi is [[AccidentalMurder accidentally killed]] by Nozomi during coitus and his remains are left in a pile of trash.]]
45	** [[spoiler:As a result of the above, Nozomi is DrivenToSuicide and waits to die/deflate in a different pile of trash.]]
46	* WeirdnessCensor:
47	** [[spoiler:Junichi finds out Nozomi's true nature]] when she accidentally deflates in front of him, but he takes it in stride.
48	** Nozomi doesn't seem to be too bothered by the fact that she was only made to fulfill sexual desires.
49	* WhamShot: [[spoiler:After their first round of sex, Nozomi gets up and to picks up some things. One is an adhesive tape and another unseen one, but whatever Nozoni did with it, it clearly hurts Junichi. The view then shifts to a fuller shot showing Nozomi cuts him.]]
50	* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Oh you best believe that this trope would be on this page.
51	* WorldHalfEmpty: Every human being Nozomi meets is lonely and sad. The world, in fact, is empty in more ways than one: [[EmpathicEnvironment the streets of Tokyo seem strangely deserted]]. The emptiness is lampshaded in Nozomi's conversation with an old man in the park.
52	-->'''Nozomi:''' I'm empty too.\
53	'''Old Man:''' What a coincidence, so am I.\
54	'''Nozomi:''' I wonder if there are more like me.\
55	'''Old Man:''' These days, everybody is.
56

Context Film / AirDoll