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Studio : Toei Animation
Licenced by : FUNimation
Also involved : ADV Films
Length : 25 Episodes
Year : 2006
Genre : Comedy - Shounen - Sports
Synopsis :
Enter the world of Air Trek, or AT: high-motorpowered rollerblades that allow the wielder to perform incredible aerial feats and even ride along the sides of walls. Thirteen year-old middle school student and leader of the Higachuu Gunz, Itsuki Minami, a.k.a. Ikki, has been quietly enraptured by ATs. When he finally obtains a pair of his own, he unintentionally is drawn into the adrenaline-pumped lifestyle of a StormRider, individuals who compete in battles using ATs. Ikki soon realizes that not only is a StormRider's reputation put on the line, but also their very existence.
Alternative Synopsis :
"Baby Face" Itsuki is a rebel, he's not only bullied on the streets, but at home as well. The girls give him no slack and frequently tease him. At home alone, he enters the girl's room which has been marked "off limits". He then finds Air Treks. Inline skates that are controlled by motor and respond to your movements. As he's goofing around in his new in-line skates, he ends up in a meeting area where all Air Trek users hang around. He meets the stunning Simka and ends up (unintentionally) putting a challenge to the Skull Saders, a gang who has humiliated him once before.
Additional Notes: This series ranked #7 in Anime-Source's Best of 2006 poll.
This anime was originally licensed by ADV films, but ARMS Corporation transfered its distribution license to FUNimation Entertainment in mid 2008.
Added : 2006-04-09
Synopsis by : Alexiel
Last update : 2008-07-13
Last update details : Modify info
Score : 8.13
Number of reviews : 15
Link(s) :
Official #1 : MMV's Air Gear Website (Japanese)
Official #2 : Toei Animation's Air Gear Website (Japanese)
Official #3 : TV Tokyo's Air Gear Website (Japanese)
Song(s) :
Opening #1 : Back-on - Chain
Ending #1 : Skankfunk - Sky-2-High
Release(s) :
2006-09-29 -- Episode(s) 25 by Lechie. BT Link
2006-09-28 -- Episode(s) 25 by Lechie. BT Link
2006-09-28 -- Episode(s) 24 by Lechie. BT Link
Found 36 releases. Click here to [ Find them! ]
Hits : 68145
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Posted by : Stonewolf
Posted on : 2009-10-23  
I don't expect much when I knowingly start watching a mainstream shounen series. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised by Air Gear. Certainly you have to get past the lame teenage jokes and obligatory ecchi moments, but deep down it has a well driven storyline and an interesting cast of characters.
The animation is pretty well done, the action sequences were done well enough to keep me engaged and the character designs are solid. I loved the OP, the song was great, didn't care too much for the ED though.
The characters were surprisingly like-able, I found myself genuinely wanting Ikki to succeed, despite being the stereotypical teenage troublemaker. The story flowed extremely well up until the last few episodes, which is where this show really shot itself in the foot. The buildup to the final stage was impeccable, and then you never get to the end. I couldn't help but feel like everything was rushed and then cut short at a vital moment in the end, which really ruined how I feel when I look back on this series.
Posted by : Killswitch
Posted on : 2009-04-12
Warning. If you've read the manga, you would probably want to get the anime, and visa versa.
Don't get me wrong. The manga was and still is great, but if you are like me and have read the manga before watching the anime series, you would probably feel betrayed.
The anime series is actually pretty good, as it should be following a great manga. However, certain aspects bring the anime down.
The Artwork
I would say the artwork is above average but lacking real impact. It should be more vivid and detailed in order to properly portray this type of anime. It's a shame more thought wasn't put into the fight scenes, but the characters are done well, as are the backgrounds. Still, new types of artwork and styling should be used for new types of anime. Innovation = good, Imitation = bad.
The Sound
The intro and outro perfectly match this anime. I can't imagine anything different would work as well. The background music was also pretty good. But the sound effects could have almost destroyed the anime. They're a real let down. Sounds like they used copy and paste and probably took existing sound effects from other anime and used that. Example - Doesn't the motor of the AT's sound like something from Beyblade? Again, it feels like they were a bit lazy here.
The Story-line
The story-line can only be great coming from the manga ... you would think. But no, they chopped and changed the story. Though not a drastic change, the story does more or less follow the manga...even if there were key events left out that would drastically improve the anime if they were used. Also, the ending was horrible. It would've been better if it ended in a more open ended way that would lead us to believe there was more to come.
Anyway, doesn't change the fact that the anime is good. Worth watching.
Posted by : Raizen408
Posted on : 2008-09-26
After watching this anime, it left me with one feeling, DISAPPOINTED. But if you asked me if it was worth the watch, very much so. The reason why this anime displeases me so much is because of the unfinished endings. The ending lacked resolve, left many questions unanswered, and compels you to read the manga just to feed your curiosity of what happens next. This anime could have been epic if it wasn't for the ending.
As for the plot, the whole idea of the series is very good but the beginning repeatingly bland fight scenes with the small fries was annoying. It was until the ending of the anime that you start seeing characters and antagonist that actually matter. What made me keep watching was the action scenes.
The artwork was really great though, many dramatizations of expressions for the humorous scenes. It is an ecchi anime and there are a lot of fan service for the otakus.
I really believed they should have done more about the characters, don't get me wrong i think they did a great job on the main characters but there were way too many side characters popping out all of the sudden. I couldn't really remember anyone's names except 3 or 5 of the main characters. You have the main character who wants to be the best , a couple of fat companions, and many big chested girls whos always trying to get intimate with the main character.
As for music... wow the OP and ED was horrible. I hated it to the point where id stop the anime before it got to the ED. But for the sound and audio, it was good.
This is my 2 and a half cents for this subject matter. I do recommend this anime but to warn that it will make you read the manga.
SCORE: 8/10
Posted by : Himitsu 
Posted on : 2007-11-03
Air Gear wasn't very good... especially the ending. It wasn't a "Mai-HiMe" type of ending, but it was potentially worse because it didn't feel conclusive at all. Air Gear brought a huge turn around near the end, which I found was too late. There were a lot of questions left to be answered.
I didn't like the OP and ED too much, but the background music was upbeat; suitable for the action on screen. Actually, the Air Gear Soundtrack is probably one of the best anime OSTs out there.
The characters were attractive, but there was much too much sexuality in the girls. The fanservice was atrocious; Simca was an interesting character, but her behaviour was very off-hand. She was too forceful (though I guess there was a motive beind it). A lot of characters here reminded me of characters in Hunter x Hunter. Because this wasn't such a great anime, I don't remember their names... but there was definitely a Killua look-alike.
There were a large cast of characters, and none of them are really that great. At least I became fond of one, which would be Ringo because she has a very kind personality, yet is strong on Air Treks.
The competitive feel really kept me watching. It definitely had a "cool" factor going for it. In fact, Air Gear would have left a great impression if it weren't for their terrible ending. I watched all the way through and enjoyed the mini-competitions. However, their premise was all over the place, they had no solid plot, and the ending was too abrupt.
Posted by : fingrid
Posted on : 2007-08-03
The ending sucked big time. The main character got some fame, that's all. How much more anticlimactic can it get? All time during the series it's just some gangsta wannabe group that plays with skates "revealing" nerd ecchi references on their way, it's so abundant it doesn't even make any sense, people getting stripped of their clothes in one way or another, all for a petty otaku fanservice. The main character is some kind of a king of a superior talent with modded roller blades that fly by birth.
Air Gear has great artwork, mostly above average voice acting and a terrible script filled with unnecessary drama. You could fast forward most of the series and still miss nothing. It is much about people talking about other people while this is supposed to be shounen, not slice of a life or drama. Where's the action? All this roller blade idea with rap/hiphop BGM/OP/ED tells me that this for the skater dudes who stereotypically play skater games and listen to gangsta rap like this. There's no character development: Gunz-group beats enemies without fail that have been around for a much longer while than them. Shounen isn't just for winning, it's for interesting action and doing it Air Gear way it practically scraps the idea of entertaining action. It's about being cool roller blade dude, not about becoming one, hence the educational value is zero.
If you are up to some comedy with drama in an extraordinary conditions and don't mind the lavish ecchi references, go for it. For experimenters, go and try some random shoujo, it will satisfy better than this elongated waste of time ever will. Trying to be cool, not cool.
Posted by : daimean
Posted on : 2007-07-28
Art: 9/10
Overall the art was good though there were a few scenes in the series that were bad. the art effectively captures the sense of speed and agility one could obtain with the "Air Trek" skates. The crows covering the ecchi parts makes a nice bit of humor.
Sound Quality: 10/10
The music and other sounds in this anime is great. I doubt anyone can find anything wrong with the soundtrack of Air Gear. The music sets the mood of the air trek scenes as much as the animation does.
Characters: 10/10
The characters each developed their own sense of personality. Each of the main characters have their own depth to them. Some if not all of them have a side of them hidden.
Story: 9/10
The plot is very original. There are Air Trek teams (gangs) that rule the night underground. Ikki Minami is a newcomer to this nightlife but is filled with determination. Ikki takes on the role of a Stormrider and eventually becomes the hope of Stormriders everywhere.
Overall 9/10
This is a great series to watch. But without the manga it will a lot of questions unanswered. It has action, great music, and good characters.
Posted by : ikki-kun217
Posted on : 2007-02-26 
This was probably the best anime I've seen but hell, don't listen to me, go watch it.
The anime, unlike most animes I've seen, starts out super exciting and stays that way. There was not one boring moment in the entire anime whereas with Naruto, from episodes 145-215, there's nothing really going on.
The characters where perfect in every way. Hero builds up skills, suddenly his friends are great too, defeats teams and the join up, and then along comes an A-Rank to join the squads? not to mention he's a dual personality one of them demonic, the other homosexual... there's a good side-kick.
The story had great build up, beginning to end with great character devolopment. Plus every episode there's a killer action scene.
You have aboslutely nothing to loose and everything to gain but watching this anime and few good laughs at that so I give it 5 stars.
-tagg
Posted by : facelessenigma
Posted on : 2007-02-16
It comes off as a typical shounen with the way the characters interact with each other. But what stands out is the wierd quirks of the characters. The first episode doesn't really show off the depth of the characters but as the series goes on the characters develop well. Characters: 9/10
The music is great and helps fits the mood of the anime perfectly especially with all the goofy and strange charatcters that show up during the anime. Music: 10/10
The animation quality of the anime is great. It isn't the newest style out there and it doesn't do anything that breaks the boundaries of animation; but the animation is still good to look at. Art/Animation: 10/10
The plot of the story takes a while to develop but when it gets half-way through the series you really get into it. Unfortunately since the anime ends where the manga was still incomplete you can't really feel the depth of the story unless you read the manga. Plot:9/10
Conclusion: All in all what it boils down to is this is an awesome anime for everyone to enjoy. Overall: 9/10
Posted by : Mercuri
Posted on : 2007-01-15
I must admit, this is one of my all-time favorite animes. It all started with an innocent first episode. The basic idea of "Air Trek", the powered roller blade. However, the concept became so much more. From the story to the character to the animation, this anime captures so much inside it, I'm actually saddened that it ended.
The plot is entirely original. In the near future, Air Trek teams (powered rollerblade gangs) rule the night underground. Ikki Minami is a newcomer to this nightlife, but his spirit is strong with determination. Ikki takes on the role of a Stormrider and eventually becomes the hope of Stormriders everywhere.
The animation is unique in its own right. It effectively captures the sense of speed and agility one can obtain from the "Air Trek" skates. Additionally, the humorous gag-type animation fits well into the anime and, even though it stands out, seems to fit well with the overall feeling.
The characters each develop their own sense of personality. Each of the main characters have their own depth to them. Some, if not most, are hiding a certain side of them from the public. All these feelings and emotions are effectively conveyed to the viewer. This leaves a robust feeling of personality with each of the characters of the cast.
The music and general audio in this anime are superb. The soundtrack is original and uplifting. It's hard to imagine any other song fitting in with this unique anime. I would be bold to call the soundtrack amazing in it's own right, but combined with the animation, it gains it's own persona. The soundtrack is definitely worthwhile.
Plot: 10
Music: 10
Characters: 10
Art/Animation: 10
Overall Score: 10
I find this anime amazing.
Posted by : bakaranger713
Posted on : 2006-10-02
I like this anime alot because it involves the right amount of action in it and some ecchiness.
Characters:9/10
Although not as unique as Ouran High School Host Club I still would stay that this anime is pretty good. The characters are all funny and perverted.
Music:10/10
The music is good and that CHAIN by BACK-ON is ok and that the song actually goes with the anime.
Story:9/10
The story makes sense and is about right. Still I would say that the story is ok and that it just needs to link up to the next episode more.
Overall:9.5/10
I liked this anime alot and that it is good and I hope to finish the manga soon so that I can get a preview of what might be a second season to this.
Posted by : ghEttO-uNiT
Posted on : 2006-09-29
My all time fav anime ever!
Storyline: Ama-freaking-zing. I love these kind of story lines. Friendship helps a destined teen to stand above everyone else. As intriguing as it is, you can never peel ur eyes off the screen for one second! a definite 10/10!
Music: 9.5/10! The songs aren't what you expect from a gundam anime, but it definately suits the theme of the anime, flying to the sky . and the songs aren't bad either! I love it!
Animation: 8/10. The animation isn't as great as the ones drawn by the manga writers, however, anime artists did a great job almost catching up to the manga writers.
Characters: The characters are unique as always in each anime, and elegantly put together. The characters arent as unique as in Ouran High School Host Club, but it's still top notch.
Conclusion, 10/10
Posted by : aesop
Posted on : 2006-09-29
I waited to post a review until I had seen the entire series. As a huge fan of the manga, I can understand much of the criticism that some reviewers have posted. Ultimately, I have to agree with Kimusabi; you can't judge an anime by how it stands up against the manga. Considering that neither of Oh! Great's current manga series have any indication of concluding a coherent story arc, this is especially true of Air Gear.
Animation Quality: 9.5/10
Overall the animation quality is very good, though there were a few scenes in the series where the cgi stuck out like a sore thumb. The style of animation definitely adds a dynamic feel that you can't get from the manga. The crow covering the ecchi bits is a wonderful compromise between Oh! Great's gratuitous nudity and what can be easily broadcast. It makes for a nice bit of humor.
Sound Quality: 10/10
I doubt that anyone can fault the soundtrack to Air Gear. Skankfunk did an awesome job creating music. The music sets the mood and dynamic feel of the air treck scenes as much as the animation does. If anything, I have to say the music is probably one of the best parts of the series.
Characters: 10/10
Note that this is not the same as character development. The characters were great and felt fully fleshed out, even if we did not get their full stories. None of the major characters, and there are a lot of them, felt flat or 2 dimensional. With the exception of a few somewhat bishi characters all of the characters are likable. This is not the type of series where they feel the need to make you hate the protaganist's opponent.
Yes, the manga did a better job of developing each character, but then the manga had a lot more time to do it.
Story: 9.5/10
This series did a great job of telling a story. It is difficult to pin this anime down as being either character or plot driven, as it does a sufficient amount of both. There were some choppy bits in the early episodes, where it was obvious that the director was just trying to work in a couple of the 1 chapter story arcs from the manga. Overall, they did a great job of encapsulating the on-going Air Gear story; especially if you consider that Oh! Great isn't completing story arcs, he's collecting them.
Conclusion
This is a great series to catch whether or not you have read the manga. By itself, it does leave a lot of questions unanswered, but not enough to frustrate viewer. It has plenty of action, great music, good characters, quite a bit of fan service, and sadly even a tiny amount of bishi. If any of the above appeal to you, I highly recommend giving this series a shot.
If you enjoy the series, I definitely recommend reading the manga.
Posted by : kimusabi
Posted on : 2006-09-23
I have read the review on this anime and was quite surprised, to say the least. I do not think it is relevant to the Review of an anime whether it is good or not in comparison with the manga. This is not a what's better review, I think you whould review it more fairly.
The idea behind AirTreck is unique, one I never seen in any other anime to date. Although the series lack in-depth character development, it is not that bad if you are a fan of action and do not care much for character development. The series have some nudity, but it is all censored with flying crows, which makes it quite strange and unrealistic, as if the director wanted to have some nudity in it, but then changed his mind and instead of remaking the episodes he just said to cover the "hot spots" up.
Overall, this is not a must-see, doesn't have all that much to offer anime.
Posted by : hanms
Posted on : 2006-06-07
Roller blades with motor and wheels, competitions, and hot babes drawn by Oh! Great (same guy who did Tenjou Tenge)... Sceptical? Granted, the story at first does not seem to be too interesting, but it does get heavier, what with the sky king, the 'road', etc. Let's just say that it's got the potential...
The reason I give this a 6, is because I'm rating the anime... I completely agree with TrueXMachine in that the manga is on a completely different level to the anime; the manga is beatifully crafted, fast and smooth-flowing, whilst the anime is jumpy, skips some scenes here and there, and some of the time, it may be quite hard to understand what's going on until you read the manga (I certainly didn't).
But going back to the anime, yeah, it's really worth trying. The artwork is good (colours perfect to the mood of the scene), the music gets you exicted (seriously...), and the storyline... well, like I said, I've only watched 7 episodes so far (some rumours of there only being about 13??), but I'm beginning to get hooked, as it certainly does have the potential to be up there. Oh, and definately read the manga, whether or not you watch the anime.
Posted by : TwoXMachine
Posted on : 2006-04-26
"'Through the science of microtechnology, a miniature motor has been developed with power of a four-wheeled vechicle. After this deeopment, there are now crazy people who mod [modify] their rollerblades. Making them even faster, able to fly even higher. With these extreme devices, they dash down the streets at blistering speeds. Since these people's appearance, everything has been turned into a road. Even faster! Even higher!'
Ikki:'...What the hell's Air Trek?!'"
Episodes Watched: 3
But only as a manga!
The anime makes an attempt to catch the viewer up on seven VOLUMES worth of Air Gear in three twenty-minute episodes, which makes it feel a bit rushed, to say the least. Ikki's fear of flying, discovery of his "road" and several mysteries are simply passed by which obviously took away from their significance.
The animation pales in comparison to the illustration of the manga, which was expected, but if any of viewers have seen even one page of Oh! Great's work they would be justas dissapointed by the huge deviation in quality. There were several scenes where the original manga was well-represented, however there was too many shifts between the styles to really keep it flowing. Of course some of the gratuitous fan service Oh! Great is know for is kept faithful in the anime, but come on! Hovering crows used as censor bars?! In short, the anime lost all the syle of the manga.
And finally, the music. The opening song was actually pretty good! One gets a Linkin Parkish vibe from the japanese/english rap lyrics and the alternative rock. The background music was pleasing, fitting the hip-hop/techno tone of the story...but the ending song killed it. Great as a denouement, but what an anticlimax to the previews!
Overall Feeling: hopeful
I know, I know. Hopeful? This guy HATES the animation! It's true, but Air Gear is really too good a story to be broken down. It is only the introduction to the series, and who knows, it has the potiential to be so. Much. Better.
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