Air Trecks, also known as AT, are motorized and futuristic inline skates that are the new craze taking the nation by storm. Although each AT comes with a speed limiter, a community of daredevils known as the "Storm Riders" are brave enough to tamper with the device. Utilizing AT's in underground battles, individual teams wager valuable AT parts or team emblems—their symbol of pride—to dominate the streets.
Living in this era is Itsuki Minami, a middle school student notorious for engaging in street fights. Always wanting to reach heights no one else is able to, the reckless punk will break through any obstacle that stands in his way, alongside his best friends Kazuma Mikura and Onigiri. However, it is when he discovers a pair of Air Trecks in his house that the path to his true desire finally opens: to rule the skies.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
jupiterjazz
Story: 8/10 Not too bad all things considered. When I started up the first episode of Air Gear I was pretty skeptical. I almost let this one pass by just on the basis that it was based on kids with motorized roller blades. However by the third episode I was completely hooked. I then proceeded to cram 25 episodes in over the span of the night. I must say given the fact that this is based on roller blading I was very impressed with the story presentation, and by the end of the 25th episode I was left begging for a second season. I can onlyhope that the anime gods are working on granting me this wish right now. Along with Berserk that is.
Animation: 10/10 Gotta love the fan service.
Everything looks great. Women are well endowed as it should be, and a couple of them don't mind being slutty. Giggity giggity goo. Hell Ikki even busts out some master Roshi style nose bleeds. The scenes where they are racing or battling are truly amazing. It makes you yearn to be in their shoes as they race from rooftop to rooftop flying through the whole city, or how about kicking your worst enemy in the face going about 60 m.p.h? It does suffer from some pauses during the middle of battles, but it isn't enough to deter you as it really helps with character development.
Sound: 9/10
The music really helps set the pace of the series, especially during the action sequences. My only problem with it is sometimes it gives away what is about to happen. By that I mean they key it in during the end of a battle or when someone is about to make a big accomplishment. Still it helps to keep you on the edge of your seat waiting in suspense.
Character, Enjoyment: 10/10 Hand-in-hand.
An excellent job. The focus on character development is truly what makes the world of Air Treks enjoyable. I'll admit some of the characters are pretty anime cliche, but Air Gear goes a lot further by flushing them out well. Characters are easy to understand, and feel. Almost everyone in the series has their humorous moments whether it's being perverted, clumsy, or just plain sleazy you'll love it.
Overall my main enjoyment came from all the characters. Al though sometimes their actions are enough to make you wince, you'll still fall in love with them all.
VK11
Air Gear is one of those anime shows that you will either love to death or be turned away from it by its weird style. Its very....how should I put it, "open," in a way like Tenjou Tenje is. The girls are revealing, the main character, Ikki, has no shame (as this is shown by him taking a dump in front of EVERYONE while a skating match is going on). Nevertheless, if you enjoy this kind of humor or can get by it, Air Gear shapes up to be a good introduction anime from its manga counterpart. The story is relatively thesame, as with many other sport anime shows. Ikki wants to be an amazing Air Trek rider (that is what they call themselves) and what he does not know is that the people he lives with are part of the legendary Sleeping Forest Air Trek team. They try to persuade Ikki from rollerblading because they do not want him to be involved with the drama that comes along with it, but of course, they fail. Otherwise, this anime would have ended at episode 2.
Basically, each Trek team has the goal of reaching the top of the pyramid, to the A class - to be the best team and trekkers in the world. And in order for them to do so, they must compete in various kinds of competitions to win the badge of the other team.
Animation is top-notch, clean, smooth and colorful. They have done a great job and many of the characters and their details. The women in the show all look gorgeous, to say the least.
Since its been awhile since I have seen this show, I honestly don't remember how good the music is. However, as I listen to some of the songs that I have on my computer, I find it being so-so, so I gave it a rating accordingly. But don't trust me too much on this topic. Hehe. ^_^.
As I have already mentioned, all of the characters are drawn well and have somewhat different personalities. However, nobody is unique in the sense that you'll be like "Whoa! I have never seen that in any other anime before." As you will find that a lot of the personalties people have can be compared to other characters in other anime shows. Again, character development is mainly measured by development in their Air Trekking skills. There really isn't too much of a change in personality in each character to give it much distinction.
Overall, if you are looking for an intense, action-packed sport, look no further than Air Gear. The big disappointing thing I have with this show is that the first 25 episodes cover only a very small portion of the manga and I have yet to see any updates in a season 2 of the show. So I don't know the status of the future of Air Gear at the moment.
I haven't read the manga yet, but I heard from many people that it is amazing and a must-read if you have the time. So once you are introduced to the world of Air Gear with the anime, I would advise to pick up the manga and become even further immersed with the story.
Master10K
Air Gear is a pretty cool Shounen, Sports, Comedy anime about a teenage boy Itsuki Minami “Ikki” who ends up thrown into the competitive sport of Air Trek. Being drawn into this extreme sport, Ikki makes it his goal to reach the pinnacle of AT. Although it would have done better without the typical clichés, inconsistent plot and countless fan service. ^_^ At first glance you might just think of it as rollerblading, with add-ons in the form of an anime but Air Gear manages to pull of a pretty exciting anime with this basic concept. From the beginning something that helps this average-length showis the pace the story and the characters development that will leave you feeling satisfied after each episode. Speaking of the characters, most of their personalities are fairly clichéd like Ikki who is the sort of male protagonist who’s good at heart but doesn’t take crap from anyone. Apart from all the rollerblading there’s also some action in the series but sometimes it could have done better without. Well of course this can’t be a true shounen anime without the action, comedy and fan service.
The quality of animation is a good for the show, with it able to convey the sports, comedy and fan service side of things well. It’s only the lack of fluid animation that is a problem and this anime would have been so much better, if only a production studio like “Madhouse” took it on.
The music is perfectly incorporated into the show with a variety of hip hop, alternative rock and J-pop. The show’s opening theme is what exemplifies the possibility of these types of music complimenting each other.
Overall Air Gear turns out to be a pretty exciting sports anime to watch with the main story easy enough to follow that kids can watch it, but with all the fanservice, its not advised. Even though the story develops well enough, there is a lot of stuff that is randomly added in which further complicates this anime (like Regalia and Genesis). In the end this is an anime that deserves a second series and hopefully by then the animation quality would be better.
^_^
re11ding
All things given, this is my first review. Please don't hit on me too hard for what I say as I'm inexperienced when it comes to writing reviews. I'll get better as I write more. I'm gonna start things off with saying how I watched the dubbed version of this. Though I can't imagine it mattering much when it comes to this show, it'd be helpful knowledge regardless. Air gear.. was a bit disappointing. The show had great potential and yet was executed poorly. Story 5/10 Air Gear's story was bland. One kid finds these things called ATs, loves them, and apparently is the destined king orsomething. He comes naturally good at them. This kind of story has been retold in probably many anime; Air Gear just doesn't tell it as well as some others do. It's predictable, poorly paced where it feels there are filler episodes at strange places, and even the end was abrupt and boring.
Art 8/10
The art of the show is pretty darn good. The style represented the dark feel of the show when needed but had a light undertone when things were bright and cheery. Character designs were nice and very different from one another. Even if you couldn't remember the names of characters, each character looked so different that it would be impossible to mix them up. Props for that. The animation was pretty good too when it wasn't trying to intentionally be cheesy.
Sound 9/10
I'd be a liar if I said that the music of this show didn't pump me up when it needed to. It knew when to play sad, happy, intense, or whatever atmosphere you needed at the time. They reuse the same theme quite a bit, but it never seemed to get tiring.
Characters 4/10
I'm sorry but.. Tom-Tom.. Why was she a character? Rant aside, some characters were written pretty well while others just flopped. The main character was in between as he often did things that would seem just over the top, even for him. Some characters revolved around being pervs. Others improved themselves as the show went on. My favorite character however had a neat perk that's been done before in different ways. If people remember Lunch/Launch from Dragon Ball, it's sort of like that. The big difference being the character's split personality was triggered by an eye patch covering the other persona's eye and that said persona's were aware of the others existence and knew some of the things the other did.
Overall 6/10
I've watch anime that has me hooked with formulas like these and Air Gear failed to do that. It felt like a chore to watch with all the fan service it throws at you. It's enough to make someone sick. Not only that though, the story's blandness and the predictability the show has doesn't compliment the art or the sound well. The show also seems to forget a sub-plot they were trying to form near the end. The fact that the end is abrupt makes you assume there'd be a sequel of some kind, bringing that sub-plot back but nope. That was it. I'd stay away from this show.
PrettySammy
Air Gear is definitely an interesting series to review. I'm a rare breed -- a person who watched the anime before reading the manga, and thus, I think I have a fresh perspective on the story. I'm not comparing it to the manga as many fans do with anime adaptations. "OMG! They left out my favorite scene with the spatula!!11oneone This anime suxxr0rs!" is an exaggeration of a complaint voiced by fans of a certain series: the adaptation isn't true to the original work, therefore, it isn't as good as the original work. I, however, had nothing to compare this anime to, so I believemy review will be free of "fan-bias".
So what did I think of this series watching it from a fresh-faced, new-minded, open-hearted attitude?
Air Gear is an interesting piece. The premise is about motorized roller-blades (Air Treks) that allow you to skate fast and even fly in the air. (Awesome, right?) The premise sounds like a fabulous set-up for a futuristic shonen sports anime. However, this description doesn't accurately describe what Air Gear is all about.
The series follows Itsuki (Ikki) Minami, the leader of a small Junior High gang made up of his two best friends, Kazu and Onigiri. Ikki gets into loads of fights and is pretty much a deliquent. But when he gets thoroughly beat down by a group of a team of Storm Riders (those who ride Air Treks) he wants revenge, and he wants to do it their way.
Ikki gets a hold of a pair of Air Treks from the Noyamono sisters, a group of four (sexy) girls who have looked after Ikki since he was a small child. Rika, the oldest, is level-headed and maternal, but can lose her temper at times. Mikan, High school aged, is short-tempered and tomboyish. Ringo, who is Ikki's age and has quite a crush on him, is smart, sweet, and talented. And Ume, the littlest, is a bit creepy at times, but mostly cute. Little does Ikki know that these four used to make up Sleeping Forest, a top-ranked Air Trek team with serious street cred.
He learns to ride Air Treks and it becomes clear from early on that Ikki has talent. A prodigy, some might say. After various Air Trek adventures, he forms his own team, Kogarasumaru, made up of himself, Kazu, Onigiri, a former rival named Buccha, and a little psychotic Storm Rider with MPD, Akito/Agito.
The story chronicles Ikki's journey with Kogarasumaru, but it focuses more on Ikki has an individual. I wouldn't call this a "sports anime" by any means -- it's far too dramatic for that. Now, while I know sports anime can get pretty serious at times, this "sport" ended up being so dramatic, it came to life and death. Storm Riders do not compete for fun -- they compete to survive, to rise up, and to become the best.
Which brings me to the biggest question I have for this series:
Why?
To me, Air Treks sound like a bunch of fun. You get to skate around and fly in the sky and be awesome overall. So why in the world has this been reduced to such serious business? There's a whole hierarchy of Storm Riders, and super parts called "Regalias" that only Kings can possess. Oh, and if you want to be the Sky King, you have to defeat everyone else in a big Tower Tournament thing (it was explained rather poorly. Considering the anime never even got to the Tower, I didn't pay it much mind.) Throughout the whole series, I was stopping and saying, "Wait a minute...this is supposed to be fun, right?"
I'm going to say this right now. Air Gear had the potential to be fun. But it isn't. It's funny at times, but it's never fun. I never get that sense of frivolity and joy watching it that I get when I watch other sports anime. I'm never saying "Go Kogarasumaru!" because I'm too busy saying, "HOLY SHIT KOGARASUMARU YOU'RE ALL GONNA DIE!". Seriously, some Air Trek battles are nothing but street brawls on roller blades. How boring is that? The biggest team fight of the series is nothing but a big violent fight on Air Treks, and I think, "The hell? Take off the skates and just hit each other."
Now there have been pretty crazy premises in some anime. Far more crazy than this. I think the reason I don't buy this whole "I'm going to use this super fun piece of technology to beat people up so I can be the best" is because there is never adequate reason given. Why do they want to be the best? For the sake of being the best. Okay, so...why? To me, it makes no sense. They try to explain it with some mumbo jumbo about wanting to "grab the sky" or "fly as high as you can", but it all reads very forced instead of endearing or captivating.
Speaking of the "grab the sky" stuff, there is FAR too much time wasted in this series pontificating at length about how Ikki is going "to be the one to grasp the sky in his fists" or some Japanese random inspirational dialogue. If I heard one more person talk about Ikki flying in the sky, I was going to scream. "I get it!" I wanted to yell, "FLYING IS A METAPHOR FOR FREEDOM! Ikki flies without worry! I get it! You can stop it now!" The pontificating of Ikki also got on my nerves. One more revelation about Air Treks and how they've built his character, and I was ready to just vomit.
Now, all this makes it seem like I didn't enjoy the series. I'm not going to lie. Air Gear is by no means fabulous. It's not a gem of anime by any means. At times, it's downright boring. But when it comes to this over-the-top, far too heavy tale, the characters become the saving grace.
The characters of Air Gear are very real. I can imagine knowing them. Despite Ikki's annoying monologues, he's an endearing hero, and you actually want to see him succeed. His friends are great, although I wish they would've been explored a bit more. Ringo, who is explored very much, is by far my favorite character in the series. She has so many levels, she isn't just the "cute anime girl with the crush on the hero" by any means. She kicks more ass than Ikki on Air Treks, she's sweet without being a pushover, and she's flawed. She's overbearing and tries to hard to protect the ones she loves, which is such a human quality. Akito/Agito are also great. Both are very distinct, although I wish Akito would have gotten more screen time. We spent too much time on the rough and harsh Agito in my opinion. I can tell why most Air Gear cosplayers cosplay Akito/Agito. He's very lovable.
Another great thing about this show is the animation. It's detailed and clean, and the Air Trek battles are animated with style. I love effort being put into the art of an anime, and this one definitely shows effort.
The music is also FABULOUS. BEST music I have heard in an anime in a long, long, time. I found myself bopping to some of the tracks. The OST of this series is definitely on my wishlist (or my torrent list, lol.)
What this series, and all of Oh-Great's mangas, is full of is gratutious fan-service. That's right, busty babes wearing pretty much nothing, showing off what their momma gave them every chapter. People have complimented "Oh-Great!" on his "fabulous females". I assume they mean the art, because besides Ringo and Simca, every female in this series is nothing but a pair of walking, talking tits and ass. I don't blame Oh-Great! He knows what the readers like, I suppose.
Air Gear has been heavily criticized for its ending. It just kinda...ends...in the middle of the manga. There were only 25 episodes produced, and thus, the series ended rather strangely, with plenty of plot holes. Still, I thought the ending was handled very well. It was an ending that brought closure (not much, but enough) and gave me that "okay, now it's over" feeling. I think, however, it would have been in their best interest to have continued the anime. Maybe the ratings just weren't supporting it.
Overall, I think Air Gear is a great idea executed mediocrely. The series is too dark, too heavy, with no adequate explanation for its tone beyond some random flying and wings metaphors. Still, it has some good things to offer: great characters, fun animation, awesome music, and the opportunity to fantasize about flying roller-blades.
However, I've decided that I'm going to give the manga a try and see if it's any better than the anime. I've heard great things, so why not? I'll just catch up gradually I suppose.
Overall: 7/10
iSheep
I think I have a newfound respect for anybody that enjoys this show. Not because it's a bad show, but because it's a bad show that somehow gathers a respectable amount of fans. Air Gear is bad. It's not just bad, it's probably the worst show I've ever seen. Have you ever seen a review with big bold caps streaming the headline blatantly screaming to you "WORST SHOW EVER"? Everybody that writes a bad review often tells it that way, but it means there are about a hundred other "WORST SHOWS EVER". I admit to watching plenty of shows within the span of my daily life,and it takes me a while to rethink a show and decide whether or not I like it. Some for better, some for worse, but the truth is, I've never seen an anime show that I've truly regret watching, not even those I would want to watch again. Air Gear is radically different.
Story: I rated the story 7/10. This is well-deserved and dignified, because let's face it, how often do you see an anime show about rollerblades? In Air Gear's defense, it may be the only one of its kind. The issue I had with the story is the really quick pickup towards the last couple episodes, where suddenly the plot dove full-throttle into a wall, as if this was a show wishing for itself to end. What can I say to that, aside from calm down and flow a little more naturally? Nothing much, especially when the first couple of episodes emphasized falling over and over again. It was nice to see him falling without the slightest clue as to what he was doing the first times, but how about an episode where he DOESN'T fall from something every so often? You're not a factory, so please stop your blatant repetition.
Art: The animation is world-class, similar to how you would say Shingeki no Kyojin has some of the best art direction in an anime show, but for the first couple of episodes, I had to readjust my preferences until the art style sank in, unlike Shingeki no Kyojin which doesn't borrow elements from the "common" anime yet still managed to draw me in the moment it began (without regards to what was actually happening). The look as a whole did remind me of Samurai Champloo, especially with the presence of Minami Itsuki who vaguely resembled Mugen, and given the setting in a modern-day urban environment, I was pretty much sold. It looks good and the story is nice, that should give me an incentive to stick around.
Sound: Another anime with a badass soundtrack, a sick opening theme, and better sprites and sound effects than can be produced with a Korg synthesizer (of course I'm exaggerating), the music is something to behold for sure. If I could say so myself, Air Gear has one of the best soundtracks out there, behind a musical, in which music is the main focus. Based on Story, Art, and Sound, I was almost convinced that I would be watching another masterpiece.
ALMOST convinced.
Characters: I was thoroughly disappointed with the characters. Minami Itsuki lives in a world where he happens to be the main protagonist of a sports show, so what's up with this guy? He has no shame and even used the "public restroom" during one of the battles, and just like all the other guys in this show, they're ALL perverts. That brings me to the case of Noyamano Ringo, a girl that Itsuki lives with. She must have some insane type of unrequited love, especially to fall in love with a guy like Itsuki. In fact, what about Simca, who is supposedly "in love" with Itsuki? She obviously takes kindly to being the whore of the AT world, especially when it becomes a hobby to show up nude in front of a guy that you didn't like at the very beginning.These characters have a lack of common sense, and unlike a comedy that recognizes stupid characters, Air Gear simply allows them to happen, and to this day, I believe they're dead serious about it.
Enjoyment: What's the genre for Air Gear, sports? I also believe that they've thrown in a couple of other genres in there, like Comedy, Action, Romance, all the typical anime genres. That's the thing I found strange about Air Gear. Its genre is so confused, if Air Gear were human and you ran a sexuality test on it, the reading would come out as "inconclusive". Air Gear FAILS to recognize its own genre, and instead of giving it the right amount of comedy, action, and romance, Air Gear throws all of them into a blender, minces it, and hopes it tastes good. By this time, the formula is bitter, and you can't even taste what it was supposed to be to begin with.
And Air Gear doesn't stop at trying to mix the genres above. It also adds more to a formula that it can't get correctly. Instead of identifying what it's supposed to be and allowing them to exist without twisting them into a quite unpleasant experience, it's also trying to tell you, "oh yeah, did we mention we're also an Ecchi?" If you did not understand any bit of my analogy, this is what it means: Air Gear tries to blend Comedy, Action, and Romance, and also tries to get by on adding an ecchi scene "here and there". It's the reverse order, in reality. Air Gear is an Ecchi show before anything. THEN it gets to be a Romantic Action Comedy that doesn't happen to be funny, nor romantic, and it just happens to have action in it. Air Gear's genre is so confused that it allows serious events to be complemented with a terrible sense of humor, comedy that's hardly impressive and so lackluster that you could watch with a straight face.
Overall: The art is appealing, the sound is studded with quality, and the story is decent minus that enormous quirk at the very end, but the characters are hardly notable and trying to find the non-Ecchi parts of Air Gear is like searching for a needle in a haystack: you need to be searching actively to find those parts.
Don't get me wrong. The show has its incredible moments. High-velocity action sequences, a badass soundtrack, and some of the best art direction to ever be found in an anime show, but take it down to the other elements and there's no redeeming qualities in the fields of characters, enjoyment, and content. There's simply nothing about those three categories that could pick this show up off its feet and allow it to compete with even the most generic of shows.
Air Gear seriously has the potential to be something amazing, taking something generally "uncool" and giving it a reboot into something much easier to appreciate, but the very fact that it can't mix genres well and can't even identify what it is to begin with leaves it much to be desired. I know it has the potential to be amazing, but it can't be unless it throws out the Ecchi, the horrid Comedy, the forgettable characters, and learns to blend its own elements correctly.
However, I've just come to the realization that I described the entire show. I guess there's simply no way I will ever like this show.
VyseN
I first found Air Gear when I was looking for the anime Air, but I got this instead when I downloaded a torrent-file. Since I never delete any anime, I started watching the series and found my self enjoying it immensly! Who can say that they never wished they could fly? Minami Itsuki, or Ikki as his friends call him, really wants to spread his wings and fly. The closest thing in his mind is to start running around on motorized rollerskates called Air Trecks (abbreviated as AT), and become one of the storm raiders (Air Treckers). The story is about Ikki, and his quest to fulfillhis dream and reach the sky by his own strenght. Will Ikki become the greatest Storm Rider ever?
The animation is great, which is why I awarded it a 9. The characters and backgrounds are well animated, and the animation moves smoothly! Good detail!
Sound is as good as you make it! The voice actors fits very good to each character!
Overall grade ends on a 8/10
BlackPrism
Just when you think there are already too many battle shounens out there, here comes another. However, I appreciate the fact that Air Gear at least comes with a unique concept. Regardless, a battle shounen is a battle shounen and it all comes down to presentation that decides whether or not an anime stands out in its genre. Unfortunately, that isn't quite the case for Air Gear. It is definitely enjoyable but it doesn't present anything new to the table. If you plan to watch this anime expecting a masterpiece, prepare to be disappointed; but if you just come in for a good time, thenhelp yourself.
Story (25%) - 5/10
The plot starts out the same as any battle shounen; there's a special sport/power with a special tournament which has special people participating. The MC suddenly gets exposed to it, wants to join, forms a team, etc. This seems generic but would have actually been fine considering that the characters and city setting seem suited for this kind of plot. However, the writer suddenly got ambitious and decided to insert some epic, grand plot to keep everyone tuned in. From there, the plot becomes a mess as it keeps us begging for answers but obviously there isn't enough time to answer half of them in a 25 episode show. It would have been nice to know at least just how they seem to gain superpowers from using mechanized roller blades, but we don't even get that. All in all though, nothing gets too dragged out and the story is at least internally coherent and simple albeit incomplete as it only covers about 1/3 of the manga.
Art (20%) - 9/10
The backgrounds and character designs are simply breathtaking. There isn't a single frame which looks ugly and the characters are well-proportioned. Animation is fluid, which really does wonders for an action anime such as this. The way in which the city's atmosphere blends magically with the more surreal fantasy, supernatural-ish dream world thingy is also superb. If only they did a better job at explaining that world, the transition might have been flawless. There are a few things the art does kinda bad, but these are few and usually occur with minor details of supporting characters, so they can easily be ignored.
Sound (20%) - 10/10
This is where the anime truly shines. I swear to the god I don't believe in that the soundtrack is one of the best in anime. Considering that the opening song basically started the career of its creators, you know you can expect something good. More than half the songs in its soundtrack can be listened to on their own and every song fits its scene nicely. The atmosphere is not only preserved by the sound, it is greatly enhanced by it.
Characters (25%) - 4/10
This is definitely the anime's weakest point. The characters don't have much variation with other shounen archetypes. The only ones remotely interesting are Agito and Ringo. And even they aren't that different in the shounen genre. However, I think they make up for their individual blandness by their good chemistry with each other. Although even this gets ruined by the excessive fanservice the show shoves in your face. Nonetheless, the characters are likable (for the most part) and they move the story along well enough. Don't expect them to be serious though as basically every character is a comic relief character at some point, usually accompanied by fanservice. There also isn't much development among its characters. Only Ikki and Kazu get some degree of development and even that is rather superficial. But considering this is shounen, it's at least something.
Enjoyment (10%) - 7/10
This is popcorn material no question. It may suddenly give you some deep-sounding quote out of nowhere for no reason but you'd have to be a fool to take it seriously, especially considering the tits and ass shots outnumber those quotes 2 to 1. If you expect some action and comedy, you'll be pleasantly surprised when the anime gives you exactly that plus the great art and sound.
Overall - 7/10
It may have a great soundtrack and visuals but no story and characters to remember it by. It is entertaining but I seriously doubt that it will leave an impact on anyone. Still, it is worth your time if for the visuals and sound alone.
fr0z3nshad3
Story: (7.35/10) This story is about a weird sport. At first it looks like rollerblading with some special moves, but then it turns to be an interesting but unusual sport. It starts when a boy, ikki, get in the AT world. Then later he decides to form a team, with some friends, wich aim is to get to the top of the ranking. It´s interesting, quite funny, and better than i expected, but it didn´t really convinced me. Art: (7.50/10) I liked the battles, and the design is good. However, the pauses between the battles made the art look a little worse than it is, but stillthis aspect is better than the story.
Sound (9.57/10) : Really nice!! Opening and ending are great, the background music is well syncronized with the animation, it sounds well, in this aspect is maybe one of the best ive seen. I didnt like 1 or 2 musics that were chosen, but that´s no big deal, so a 10 is well deserved here, and trust me, i only give 10 when i consider it really amazing.
Characther (6.93/10): Some are very well develloped, others i really don´t know nothing about them after watching all the episodes, so just a 7 in this one.
Enjoymet (6.97/10): little better than the characther aspect, but not that great...it lacks some more battles, the pauses are anoying, sometimes story goes really slow motion, just not as good as it should.
Overall (7.3/10): Not bad, not that great, still a fair show to watch to spend some time, but i don´t recomment as a priority, there are much better anime to watch. ;)
pluslethatminun
Roller blades are cool, but motorized roller blades are waaaay much too cooler. This brings us to Air Gear. Air Gear is a show which obviously originated from roller blades. You either like the show or get annoyed at it for breaking the laws of physics (which most of the series out there do. dude, its anime). Since I’ve just recently watched Air Gear, I have no idea what the manga version is. So to be precise, I’ll be doing this review for the animation only. Story: 7 Air Gear’s story isn’t that different from the other shounen shows out there. We all got to admitthat shounen shows are jam-packed with cliché events. But that’s one of the many charms of the genre. As I was saying, Air Gear’s a generic shounen series. Minami Itsuki, or simply called as Ikki, is our protagonist. A hot-headed kid who got his assed kicked by a street gang member of the Storm Riders. Upon heading home he discovers a not-so-secret locked room in their house containing a pair of Air Treks, motorized roller blades. He wore the ATs and rode it for the first time in his life. Days after learning how to ride Air Treks, Ikki plans to build his own Storm Riders Gang. As he progresses deeper and deeper to the art of Air Trek, problems arise from left and right. To be able to reach the top, he and his gang needs to widen their territory and improve their rank to challenge stronger riders.
Art: 7
If you consider a show almost 9 years ago a classic (who am I kidding? 9 years is pretty damn long), then Air Gear’s art is pretty good. Air Gear’s arts differ in what’s happening currently in the show. For example: the background changes when they ride (AT riding, I mean) the art becomes CG enhanced; you know those cars in Initial D? Yes, they have those, too. There are different drawings for the characters, too. Like when Ikki makes a funny face which really differs from the original art. Some scenes were drawn a bit poorly though. There’s this one particular scene where Simca (one of the girls in Ikki’s mini harem) drawn really fat. I don’t know why, but I laughed way too much more than I should. Aside from the funny looking characters, Air Gear’s art is quite good.
Sound: 6
Music and soundtracks on Air Gear were fair. Background music during the show is decent, too. I kinda like the OP theme. As for the ED theme, I have no idea if the lyrics were English or Japanese. So I didn’t bother listening to it.
Characters: 8
Good thing the Oh! Great (Ooguri, Ito, is his real name. See the pun? I loled when I noticed it, too), the author of Air Gear didn’t name his characters wrestling names. Ito loves western wrestling. He named three dogs in the series Stone, Cold, Stunner (?). And there’s this one time when Ikki’s group is thinking of their group name, Kazu offered a name which contains a lot of wrestling finishing moves in it, I think it’s around stone cold stunner hammer pile drive and—ahh, I don’t know. Brushing off his love of western wrestling, Ito did a great job with the characters. He gave them the perfect personality and looks. They were drawn fairly well; Seiyuus did a fine job with the voicing (especially on Ume), too.
Enjoyment: 7
Air Gear’s pretty enjoyable. What kinda tick me off in the animation were the flashbacks. This may be biased basis but—it’s what I feel, no? So I’m going to say it anyway. I’m not a fan of flashbacks that much. And I seriously think Air Gear’s animation did a poor job in that category. The flashbacks were incomplete. You’ll be thrown into a what-the-heck-is-going-on situation most of the time. And honestly, Ito should’ve stopped with the useless love flashbacks for side characters. Apart from the annoying flashbacks, I have enjoyed Air Gear.
Overall: 7
Air Gear’s a good shounen series. It contains a lot of action-packed scenes; a mini harem; decent art; and likeable characters. I can’t say it’s a must watch shounen series, but it’s worth trying. 25 episodes (26 if you include the 1 special episode) for a shounen series is not that long. A fair warning though, if you don’t like or worse hate a show which breaks the laws of physics, you should probably stay away from Air Gear. Oh yeah, and it includes a bit of cliché moments—camaraderie moments to be more precise, which adds to the generic “shounen” series I was talking about earlier. Bottom line is, I liked Air Gear. It is definitely a decent watch for me.
BloodSlave
Air Gear +++Positives Air Gear is without any doubt COOL. Everything from the catchy OP and ED, the slick presentation and the surprising sophistry of ideas behind ordinary roller-blading scream COOL. There is a wicked sense of humour prevalent throughout the anime, and the frequent crude jokes will definitely get a laugh out of you. The sense of competitiveness which any sport inspires is very nicely captured, there's a lot of yelling and foot-stamping but it never gets boring. The characterization is very good, although full of the typical anime cliches - angry young kid with "hidden" talents, gorgeous shy chick who loves our hero and alsokicks ass when required, etc ... But it's very easy to like the characters, especially the leads, and you will definitely root for Ikki (!!!) as he progresses along the path of the Stormriders.
The art and animation is very consistent throughout. There are a lot of battles where the tension and the excitement is aptly captured. The overall
sound is really excellent. Although often recycled, all the music used is Great and the timing is perfect. I couldn't praise it more.
---Negatives
Air Gear suffers from the basic flaw of most mainstream anime, "Incomplete Manga-to-Anime Conversion". The first 15 episodes are brilliant, then the story starts meandering off course. You reach the 22nd ep and you start wondering how the series could possibly end in the next 3 eps. It seems very abrupt and suddenly, Ikki is the promised GOD. I don't know whether the manga continues the story (I've never read one in my life), but it was disappointing. The viewer is promised a showdown between Ikki and some very cool unnamed dudes (The 8 Kings ...), which never happens.
The side characters can get annoying. Especially the chick named Simca (the whole "mysterious" & desperate nude hottie who understands the hero's potential even before he does, blah...) and other oddities. Also,
there's a lot of Animation-Shortcuts used in the battles. It can get irritating when you see Ikki do the same move everytime although he calls it something else, or the way the animation is designed (the camera angles, etc).
Why You Should Watch...
Air gear is undoubtedly FUN. It's really pleasant viewing and for people who just wanna smoke a few joints and catch a good Sports Anime (which is not 100xx eps long), it's perfect.
The entire experience of wading through Air Gear definitely exemplifies the ideal of FREEDOM. You just wanna roam outside in the streets at night, even if it's not possible to go up the side of a building wearing blades. The show fulfills it's premise, as in, it provides solid original concepts and some breath-taking entertainment. Definitely Recommended...
Kakita_Ookami
Bad Plot, Amazing Everything Else. Enjoyment/Overall: 8.5/10 I love this show. It's a fun, hilarious, anime that you throw on to relax. Before you watch this, you need to accept that the plot is bad, random things happen regularly and there is excessive fan service. If you still want to watch it, knowing this, you'll probably enjoy it. Even going back and watching it again years later, I still laugh, and love the characters. Story: 6/10 You don't watch Air Gear for the plot. The plot sounds so stupid I almost skipped it, but i'm glad I didn't. The main character Ikki wants to be the best ATrider, and sets up a team. It's generic fighting Shounen anime... On Roller Blades....
Art: 8/10
Smooth, colorful animation to enhance the great fight scenes, beautiful characters, awesome visuals.
Sound: 9/10
Great soundtrack that gets your blood pumping, and will leave you smiling.
Really cool mix of Hip-Hop, J-pop and Rock.
Characters: 9/10
This is the shows main selling point. A lot of the characters are clichés, but they're done so well and they all receive enough screen time to really make them interesting and make you enjoy them. Even the small time bad guys get some development.
GhostofNexus
I will start out by saying I only write reviews on shows that I rate higher than 9. The music in this series is amazing it moves from Techno to Funk to Hip-hop to Rock. The characters where really like-able but as far as character development in the story, they didn't do such a great job. The art in the show is fairly good on par with shows like Zero no Tsukaima. The story is really good but can get complicated at times. I really enjoyed this anime and for me it reached my #1 anime pretty quick. I would also like to state thatthe show ends with an anime only ending that sucks, but that's only because the show covers only to chapter 104 in the manga and the manga itself has 357 chapters. One more thing I forgot to point out that the comedy in this show is dirty so if you don't like dick jokes and stuff like that than this probably won't be as enjoyable for you.
I would recommend this show to anyone who likes good comedy, music, and a good story.
I would like to say thank you to those who took the time to read this review and I hope that it helped you in anyway possible.
:)
cookingpapa
i usually stuck to cooking, but when i stumbled on this anime, i just had to watch it, because the main guy reminded me so much of my son. my son is a beast on the roller skates. people in the town actually call him rolling robby, which is very fitting, since robert, my son, always skates around time on his roller skates, much like the main guy in air gear, only robert probably goes faster, and that's without any rocket boosters. love my son, i am very proud of him and his roller skating ways. the anime is a lot of fun and very exciting,especially because it helps me understand how my son must feel when he goes fast on his roller skates.
time to cook for my son and my wife and my daughter, thanks for reading
7/10, could use my cooking in it, but good
ethann
Air gear is about a special kind of skates with a motor attached known as air treks. The story revolves around the life of Ikki a middle school student who learns about air trek and has humoungous talent and interest in the air treks and as a result is soon sucked into the world of air treks. I found the story a very unique and orignal shounen anime. Of course you would expect the usual qualities like perserverance, determination and stuff being eminated by the protagonist but what made this so attractive was how they created such an interesting story from skates with motors inthem. A good deal of action and a tinge of drama makes this a worthwhile watch and to top it off the comedy is at a decent level, though the anime can be quite eichi at times. The character development is quite good as well but of course there is a smaller focus on romance and more on freindship.The story will appeal to those who like action, comedy or shounen genre...a must-watch.
The art in this anime was average. It was at a decent level but nothing exceptional.
The sound in terms of OP and ED songs were not bad. I think the voice actors did quite a good job and the voices matchd the characters perfectly. The inserts towards the end of the anime were quite effective in bringing out the atmosphere but too bad they only used one song. Still a good effort overall.
The characters had some depth but most of the focus was still on the protagonist. Perhaps due to time constraints or budget problems the anime could not elaboate more on the characters as is done in many of the big time shounen animes like bleach, reborn! or naruto. Still the it was quite entertaining anyway for a 25 episode series.
I really enjoyed the anime because it was something fresh and new compared to the usual shounen animes with special powers and all. This anime was more realistic or closer to real life and the fights were spectacular.The comedy was also quite entertaining.
Overall, this anime is a must see for shounen lovers and those who seek originality. This anime had a lot of potential. If it had lasted longer or if there was a second series it would definitely have done better in attracting viewers.As it was a bit rushed towards the end of the series, it was a bit hard to enjoy it towards the end, there is a possibility of a movie coming up and i will definitely look foward to it and any future development in this series.
Seghe124
Story: 8/10 It’s Progressive but the ending is a let down. When I started up the first episode of Air Gear I was pretty amazed by the opening scene, from the male protagonist looking over the horizon searching for new experiences to the following up’s and down’s within the opening scene’s. The ability to over come his obstacles, seeking higher limits and soaring up to the expectations. I enjoyed the basis of the narrative that it was based on kids with motorized roller blades. I must say given the fact that this is based on roller blading, I was left beseeching for a second season. I canonly hope that FUNimation Entertainment is working on the next season.
Animation: 9/10
The animations themselves are very good even for a major fan base. Women are “gifted” as in other various anime’s. The scenes where they are racing or battling has been put together very well adding new elements were you least expected it. The desire to own their shoes as they race from rooftop to rooftop is unimaginable.
Sound: 8/10
The music really helps set the pace of the series, especially during the action sequences. The audio from the band Back-On with the song Chain goes very well with the opening theme as mentioned above…
Character, Enjoyment: 8/10
The focus on character development is truly what makes the world of Air Treks enjoyable every character has his/hers aspirations, goals in life and they way in which they can achieve it is by using Air Treks to do so. As most fan based anime’s some of the characters are pretty anime cliché from the supporting character Onigiri who is a pervert and characterized as a pig inwhich he rides up side down on his head in which he is referred to as a upside down Buddha, without giving to much away.
The understanding of the character archetypes/stereotypes are easy to understand, Almost every character in the series has their comical moments whether it's being perverted, goofy, or just ‘out to get you’
Overall my main enjoyment came from the narrative based about roller blading, not to say there aren’t other anime’s based on racing such as rideback, but the understanding that there is a subgenre for skaters is quite cool if I may say so.
Overall: 8/10
hinatasashybamf
Air Gear is a formulaic, typical Shounen anime. The concept is creative, and if you like hotheaded protagonists who keep showing everyone up, then you'll enjoy it. It's a sports anime with plenty of fan service, but the story is still enjoyable. It'll keep you entertained, it's full of action and comedy, and you find yourself rooting on the main character. I have to admit, I'm not a fan of pantyshots and other forms of fanservice, but I was able to look past it for the sake of the story. It was interesting and kept me entertained. Air Gear is not a show for peoplewho like complicated characters or deep plots. It's a lot of yelling, action, and big talk. It gets a 7 just for being simply enjoyable.
r4physics
A quick read through the plot summaries available for the anime on the internet would probably make one think that "Air Gear" is yet another shounen anime about a bunch of kids discovering values through some sport. While "Air Gear" is indeed a shounen anime, I think it is one of it's kind. A key aspect of "Air gear" that makes it stand out among other shounen anime is its seemingly "underground" aesthetic. The AT is essentially roller skates with some very novel upgrades, to the effect that, depending one one's training and skills, skating up buildings, jumping across rooftops and who knows what else, becomepossible. Perhaps fittingly, riding the AT is a somewhat discreet affair and most activities involving the AT, such as turf wars, are "underground". The AT world can be accessed only on the internet. Getting hold of an AT, learning tricks, upgrading your device, etc: - all is very DIY in spirit. Have we seen anything like this before? - Yes. Last Exile, for instance.
One could even make a cyberpunk anime out of this! But we have a shounen, which means that we have a protagonist who is a polar opposite of Ikari Shinji but perhaps refreshingly, not like Naruto. If anything, our protagonist is like Kurosaki Ichigo. We do have a nice set of characters in this show. You've got women with all sorts of personalities and brazen youths who want to find their freedom in the AT world.
The ecchi in this show plays really well with this aesthetic. It is used often in a provocative manner and makes the show very "punk" in nature. Having said all that, perhaps the largest driving force behind maintaining this aesthetic is the music. Coupled with slick hip-hop BGM and rap rock OP/ED, the music in the show sets in the right mood each time.
Alas, with so much potential, what we have is a shounen. So there are unnecessary exaggerations and forced values but nevertheless, "Air Gear" is an extremely enjoyable watch. There are some issues with the pace and animation of the show, but I think one can safely ignore them.
CataOrShane
Air Gear aired in Portugal in 2009, when I was 17 years old. I didn't watch it back then but it was very popular with teens back then. That made me add it to my Plan-To-Watch list. I'm almost 31 years old and maybe I should've watched it back then because as an adult, I lack the patience for some themes common in animes similar to Air Gear. Before deciding to watch this, people should know the following: - Expect a lot of ecchi and fanservice - Expect terrible voice acting from the main character - Expect very inconsistent animation If these three aspects don't bother you thatmuch, you could enjoy this.
The only good thing I have to say about this anime is that the cast has a bunch of very experienced seiyuus and that most of these have worked together in previous projects.
To me this was a chore to watch. I give it a 3/10.
