Air Gear

Synopsis: Minami “Ikki” Itsuki, is a student and a delinquent. Also known as the “Unbeatable Babyface,” Ikki is the leader of the youth gang by the name of “East Side Gunz.” Upon his return home after being humiliated by a street gang of Storm Riders called the Skull Saders, Ikki discovers a secret hidden from him by his benefactors, the Noyamano sisters. The sisters belong to a group of Storm Riders who go by the team name of Sleeping Forest. Keen on helping Ikki to regain his confidence and pride, they supply him with a pair of Air Trecks (abbreviated as “AT”). Ikki eventually settles his grudge with the Skull Saders, but in the process he receives more than the simple satisfaction of revenge. Determined to experience the sensation of “flight” for as long as he can, our headstrong protagonist is quickly sucked into the mysterious, yet irresistible world of Air Treck.
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Sorry to disappoint, but this time I do not really plan to dazzle anyone with my awesome review on this anime.  See, I wound up taking a bit of a break from all the note-taking and reviewing stuff to just enjoy leisurely watching this series.  I am sure if I really tried, I could put together something nice and spiffy and word-packed.  Instead, I am just going to give a few comments and an out-of-10 rating.

I really was not expecting to enjoy Air Gear at all.  Sports-themed shonen (shonen =  genre of anime based on action that targets mostly a male audience) is not exactly my thing, and gangs riding around on high-tech rollerblades struck me as pretty lame.  In addition to that, a lot of this anime seems to have been a rip-off of Jet Set Radio with a typical, formulaic shonen anime plot with typical characters.

Having said all of that, the art was nice.  The character designs were interesting.  The tricks were fun to watch.  For once, I preferred to watch the dub, as the use of slang actually added to the series without veering away from the original script.  The soundtrack was mostly really great.  In conclusion,I had way more fun watching this than I thought I would, and I am quite disappointed that the anime was canceled after only the first season.  I will be reading the manga, which is still ongoing, but it is a shame I will not get to see the tricks in motion in color.

I'm giving Air Gear a 7.5 out of 10.  Above average, and a lot of fun to watch, despite its copying of JSR and other flaws.

Up next, by request, is One Piece, Season 1!


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