Anime: Air Gear

When there are so many words lying in one's head after finishing an anime, I guess review is a much better selection over a sole recommendation. Thus, I am here to write down everything that's been bugging me throughout the anime, even slightest little details. So....here I come.

Art & Animation

Personally, I am usually not much demanding. In this case, animation-wise. I thought it was pretty good for a 2006. anime. The only complaint I can come up with is that fighting/rollerblading scenes were poorly equipped with number of frames, making the racing look pretty much plain and weak at times. However, most of those balks and gaps were at least somewhat compensated and filled with some awesome, ass-kicking soundtrack! But...we'll get to that now.

Sound

Now, back to what I was saying in the paragraph above. This anime wouldn't have been appealing enough to make you stick to your chair for hours, if it weren't for one of THE coolest soundtracks I have yet heard. They perfectly fit together with any rough/casual scene, such as: battles/racing, chilling-time, gang-clashes, kinky moments, comedic moments...some of the music I don't quite recall off. As for the opening and ending songs and video: well combined, I'd say. If only the ending video wasn't as 'yawning' as it was...I mean it certainly was sort of interesting to see, at first. But then I slowly started to become satiated with it....basically, you don't even have to look at it. If you'd start to see it as too repetitive and a bit dull, just look aside and listen to the song.

Story

This one, from all aspects of an anime (animation, music, characters...), should be the strongest of 'em all! Sadly, in case of this anime, as one, it was like there were no limits to my range of disappointment. Of course, it starts off normally, main character somehow gets largely appealed by a new, and to him, yet more than mysterious and challenging Air Treks (a futuristic model of roller blades), but with story moving ahead, things started to get more complicated, and with less to none beforehand explanation why has anything happened the way it has, and why did this or that character do that...etc. Needles to write anything more in this section, I will just say that I'll explain my 'buried' expectations and disappointments more thoroughly throughout following sections.

Characters

Probably my biggest disappointment in this series. I'll name and specify some of the characters for whom I have a lot to say about, and the all the virtues and flaws they possessed (at least from my point of view). First of all, let's start with protagonist of this series, Ikki - your (hmm) average middle-school boy, who actually has guts. He's no sissy that starts mumbling every time he's insecure, and is horribly afraid of his 4 sisters (non-blood-related though). He's witty, persistent and resolved to make his dream come true, with the assistance of his school friends and some that later become a part of his team. But, he began to evolve and learn every new skill unrealistically way too fast, and especially for a beginner. Also, tags concerning any kind of ecchiness for this anime, did not include girls only. I found that pretty disturbing, especially since all the characters seemed so fine with it, as if nothing freaking extraordinary was happening. And that was right in front of their faces. Kazu - surprisingly, he got a pretty big spotlight in this show. Same as Ikki, started to develop some skills, with no apparent indicators as to when he might've got them. Practicing? a natural talent? a superhuman? Onigiri - he could freaking ride his head on a single AT! What? And since when did he become such an expert?? Also without any explanation. Buccha - at the time he appeared, I seriously had much much bigger expectations from such huge, muscular and 'tank-riding' dude. Yea...and that's where it all stayed...on expectations only. Agito - aah...the fang king, yeah. First time we got to see him in action, what you might've sensed afterwards was cold-bloodedness, perkiness and invincibility coming from him. I preferred that merciless form of his. He also made me sigh a lot...Simca first impression: a sexy, mysterious and a professional rider (also the leader of an extremely powerful team 'Genesis'), cool-looking outfit bla bla bla...I don't know why, but by the end of the show, she changed so much and I lost my interest in her, as a character...I won't tell on which way/s she changed, of course. And lastly, Sleeping Forest's Noyamano girls. What the heck, all of them except Ume (that is still a child) had huge breasts, which seriously got annoying to see, especially if the male crew got into a horny mood. Luckily, ero stuff weren't this anime's bigger props, therefor I'll just say that they weren't any special, and neither of them had some bigger role in the series. Most of this anime's characters were, in my opinion, done wrongly. Half of them without any special meaning of their presence in the series, and the other half was made of some actually decent characters, but with lacking explanations about their 'growth'.

Value

If you're a sports fan, you might find some likeable stuff in this series, but just don't go preparing your mind to get blown away for its numerous and spectacular action scenes, for they were just about average and ordinary. As I already said before, the awesome background music compensates for the story gaps and such. Personally, I think the show is rewatchable, though I, for one, wouldn't go running for it. I would welcome a sequel, even though we might never get one, in the end. That certainly would be a shame, because we are all aware that far worse anime series get sequels just like that.

& enjoyment

Depending on your own preferences is if you might like this show, or not. I won't say that there was nothing appealing to the audience, because I would just be lying to myself. I enjoyed in the soundtrack and the animation the most. Everything else was more- less of a downer, for me. All in all, a fairly entertaining and unique anime that is worthy giving a shot to.

Review
Air Gear is insane, not something you should take seriously. It's a shounen show with plenty of ecchiness and some great similarities with Tenjou Tenje that can be both good and bad. It's setting is a bit weird, considering that it tells about rollerblades users, but the complexity of everything behind it is surprisingly good. What Air Gear is really about is gang-fights, making it in fact far more similar with the recent Durarara!! than sports anime in general.

Its ridiculous concept can easily put the audience away. It's not everyone that will try to watch a rollerblade-themed show, but its depth is bigger then it initially looks like. Air Gear tells in fact a good gang-fighting story, showing the rise of the Crow's gang as he learns about the underworld of rollerblade gangs, relics and combats.

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1. A shounen heart
   There are typical shounen stuff like gang ranking, super-powers (yes, super-powers with rollerblades, even though the anime does not get there completely), secrets, ecchiness, lots of typical development, etc, but they're usually nicely balanced and makes the overall shallow story far more enjoyable then many would expect. The biggest problem with Air Gear is that, like hundreds of other shows, it does not end. In fact the anime stops right when things are still "human" and the protagonist is on the rise. The manga continues the story, but what you see there is that the show slowly becomes a super-power show-off with a confusing plot and uninspired twists. This is very similar to what happens with Berserk, leaving the anime only with the better part of the story and the manga with the bizarre continuation.
   
   Just a fraction of its manga counterpart
   Air Gear's manga is simply superb in its artwork and the show had everything to be as great. Sadly it's not that good, with only an average animation and a good artwork that is a bit inconsistent through the show. The character design is definetely nice, with some over-the-top costumes but somehow fitting to what the show tries to do. You'll be presented with many ecchi scenes, especially in the earlier episodes, and those are delivered with the common cartoonistic smiles and faces. Overall there's nothing superb in this department and it could certainly benefit from more detail and consistency, but at least it's never an issue to the show.
   
   Air Rythmn
   Sound-wise Air Gear is an average experience. The musics are fitting to the genre, with fast-paced rhythm and more mechanical sounds, the voice-acting is decent and the sound effects are fairly standard. There are moments where the sound direction can be awesome, but they're rare considering the length of the show.
   
   Typical cast
   The cast of Air Gear is very weak. The protagonist is typical, the girls are all taken from ecchi shows, the designs are good but many times you'll see bad excuses to make girls go naked or wear sexy clothes. In overall there isn't much of originality here, but despite being far to common, the characters can stablish a charismatic relationship with the audience because of the events that take place and the small amount of development they get with the story. The secrets of some characters are never truly awesome, but at least they add a illusionary depth to them.
   
   Craziness and good heart
   Air Gear walks on a very different and bizarre setting in its premise, but the real show is something more commonly seen in japanese animation. Gang fights, "combats", rollerblade matches, and an ascending group of heroes is not new to the audience, but are well used in overall. The fillers are more plentiful in the early episodes and after a while they go away, making the show pace slowly gets better and better.
   
   Yup. You can see the end in the manga only
   Besides not having an end, Air Gear can provide some nice moments. From dramatic duels and gang matches to refreshing ecchi moments, the show is a good mix of shounen elements that can grab those who like it. For those who prefer more depth, it still can be a bit good with its small secrets and twists, but nothing never outstanding. Those looking only for ecchiness may find the show lacking in its late half, but can also be pleased. Those who care for great characters or are expecting a serious show may step aside, as Air Gear brings almost nothing of either.
   

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Comments
Air Gear has some interesting story with me. I was completely unware of it until a friend told me in her awe that the show was awesome, etc. I searched about it and was instantly turned away when I saw it was about rollerblades and was filled with ecchi. My friend convinced me to give it a chance and I did, and I was never disappointed. The show is not strong, but it's a satisfying effort that brings many shounen stuff and put it together. You'll have good "fights", nice turns of events, the ecchiness is not overly abusive (except for the first episodes) and the late twists are very exciting.

I later dove into the manga and found a superbly draw work (something rare for japanese authors) and the same story as the anime. The late part of the manga, the part after the anime's end, however, is a complete bag of mixed chaos and bizarre super-powers, turning a rollerblade gang show into a Bleach-like stuff with god-like riders and hundreds of new characters that come and go as in most poor mangas. A shame, but that doesn't make affect the anime. There you'll see the best part of the plot, that even though it's weak, it's enjoyable enough.

Just remind you that while people and general knowledge would label Air Gear as an sports anime, this is mostly incorrect. There are very few moments that draw from sports, the matches are varied and usually more about fight than competition, the scenario is more like about a super-power show than school sports, and many other differences with the likes of Captain Tsubasa, Suzuka, Prince of Tennis, etc. For most of the anime there will be ony a few "dangerous" fights, but things do get bloody and characters are almost beaten to death, so it's not only about wits and courage of sportsman, it's more about gladiators with rollerblades.

This anime is particular is hard to review and since the reviewers so far had either gave too low or too high scores (honestly none had been fair) I decided to give my view of the animal.

I will keep things as simple as possible and give a straight answer, the anime IS good and IS worth watching "period". But its not consistent and as far as "shounen" goes you are far better going somewhere else specially for replay value because this show have none, its a one way ride you will enjoy but never want to ride again ¬¬

Animation: Its average, nothing beautiful and nothing horrible either. It does seem cheap with all the "photo" background that doesn't actually fill the style much and the ridiculous poor CGI they implement to explain the tricks but still.

Sound: Great OST and acceptable sounds. Can't give it a 10 because it repeats so damn much.

Story: do yourself a favor and go read the manga. They toned everything down and rushed everything they could to the point some emotions / relationships / situations doesn't even make sense... as good as the original material is, this butchered version gets from bad on ep.1 to abysmal with the pathetic "ending" (its not actual an ending, they just roll the credits in the middle of a sentence and makes no freaking sense at all) on ep. 25.

Character: the characters are the average shounen stuff but they are really well done and do have some characteristic traits. Sadly since the plot is rushed so much they lack motivation or any kind of dept in the anime ending up as nothing more then "accessories" to the main lead and this is really sad since they are all so cool on the original material. There are a few scenes where you can glimpse how they look like on the manga but its rare and lasts for a fraction of the episode.

Value / Enjoyment: Luckily the sum of the individuals make something better, also the echi is trow around EVERYWHERE to make up for some of the flaws (even if the censorship is annoying and disruptive) and the good OST makes you overlook some of other stuff making this a fun show in the end while never being even near to the enjoyment the manga provides.

Conclusion:In the end, I do recommend this but ONLY if you plan to read the manga after the show! If you read it first you will be amazed by how much they butchered it and won't be able to enjoy the ride, and if yon don't plan on picking that up afterwards then this is just an average incomplete anime and you could spend your time elsewhere.

Animation[br]The animation of this anime I think was both cooland amasing, some of the back grounds was awsome but at the same time Imissed a lot of movement in the anime. It felt like that was a lot offrosen pictures that just was puching forwards. I felt like they mixedup good animation with bad. For example; most of the character was gooddrawn, but some was done in a totally defferent style that just lookedweird to me.[br][br]Sound[br]The soundtrack I really like. Morethan like. I think the music goes well with this type of story and thesoundtrack did really catch me, I like the groovy sound of it and thereare some really great beats. There are some tracks that are poore, butmain time the sound i great. [br][br]Story [br]This story isabout Ikki, a 15 years old boy that start to ride "Air trek" a kind ofroller blades but cooler. We get to follow Ikki and hes friend andanime as he try to become better and better on this roller blades. Thestory is fun and good at least in the first half of the anime. In thesecond half the fights doesn't feel as good. The ending is some lame Iand I missed some thing that could have been more clear. But over all:OK. [br][br]Character[br]Well, all the main characters hastheir own personality and looks. Ikki and Kazu are relly good looking, and moste of the bi characters is also good, but some have aslight different drawing style and I think thay get some parodyfeeling. The characters are developing throu the anime, some in a goodway and some in a wierd way. [br]

Ok, to start off. What the hell man, what the hell?

Animation...
I really don't care too often about this as long as the rest of the story elements are there. so all i'm really going to say here is that a lot of the action scenes could've been a bit more detailed. but whatever. average animation for a show that, with it's concept, should have been better.

Sound...
Although fairly repetative, i do dig the music. Skankfunk is a pretty sick pop/rock band in my opinion. the opening song is great. the other music is fitting in places where it needs to be. everything is as it should be. 10 on my watch.

Story...
Here is where they REALLY screwed up. I mean, Air Treck is a pretty sweet idea. but the execution is all wrong. the show starts out going super fast, and then never realyl progresses. the ending though, is the most horrid piss-me-off ending ever. are we to just assume that the team keeps going and makes it to the top. The ecchi brought some comedic moments to the show, but probably could've been taken out almost completely and wouldn't have made the story much different. it actually almost seems like they spent more time trying to come up with scenes that they could use it in as opposed to what they could do to advance the story. another thing is that it was pointed towards too much of a young crowd. basically too many really cheesy conversations. and lastly, why couldn't we at least see Ringo finally admit that she loves Ikki, and act upon it. i mean, even a quiock kiss scene would have done, a little cliche but at least they would have tied up one loose end in the entire 25 episodes. still, with all these complaints, i did sit through the entire thing hoping that the series end would be good, but when it wasn't, i was quickly wishing they would have gone to a 50 ep series and finished what they started.

Characters...
the characters in this series are it's only saving grace i think. Ikki is a smart mouthed, hard witted punk, which makes him likable. Ringo is the cliche "i'm too scared to admit i love him" character, which i always liked in anime. altho as i stated before, i wish something would have panned out with that. the other sisters are a good support role for Ringo and Ikki as well. the other team members are a little off though, jsut couldn't really get into them, with the exception of Kazu. Simca, the mysterious rider, was a great character, you can never tell hner intentions for Ikki and it keeps you on your toes.

Value...
not relaly much to say here, it was an average anime.

Enjoyment...
So i'm going to contradict myself here but whatever. i did enjoy enough of this series, even with all it's horrid foul-ups,to watch it the whole way through. my suggestion to anyone reading this who may be debating on the watch, is to check it out, but only if you are having trouble finding anything interesting. sort of a "rainy day" watch if you will. just don't be expecting anything super spectacular.

Animation
Hmmm, ain't got much to say... could be bether, alot of crappy animes had bether animation then Air Gear... But hey, still great! 8/10

Sound
Nothing to say, just a pure 10 vote, really enjoyed the music from the anime, even downloaded the OST. 10/10

Story
Oh Dear God... Those who don't know, Air Gear was like "Berserk", few anime episodes, and the manga is still airing. I still give a 8/10 for the anime story.

Character
Wow.. let me say this.. every single character deserved my time watching them :D 10/10 specially Ikky The Prodigy.

Value
Dunno what it is, so I ain't gonna comment it.

Enjoyment
Alot.. even made me wondering when was the 2nd season coming out, and I heard it was discontinued... sad but true. Those who wanna keep watching this, have to read the manga. 8/10 not a 10/10 because of the incomplete Manga to Anime.