Air Gear - Final Thoughts
Posted on October 4th, 2006 by retsgip - 5,146 Views
Rating: 8.5/10
Not horrible, and not super awesome. I definitely enjoyed it despite whatever flaws it might have had. Maybe this is a perfect example of why I should be labeled as a fickle being? Maybe Air Gear was just a decent anime and people are stupid? Who knows?!?
I’ll admit, Air Gear kind of hit a downward slope here and there, but it didn’t last forever. There were lots of ups and downs through the series, usually dealing with the start and the end of certain arcs. Also, using various methods, writers can salvage a series from the depths of crapiness. Usually, this involved a rather well laid out sequence of events, a memorable ending, character development, or whatever. Air Gear showed this to be true with some pretty well thought out characters, and an awesome ending.
Although I may have enjoyed 80-90% of the episodes, I had no trouble recognizing that it wasn’t the best anime by any means. Don’t get me wrong, it has some great aspects to it, but also lacks quite a bit of depth as well. Lets see if I can explain myself a little better by organizing my thoughts.
Characters:
My favorite aspect of the show as probably the huge amount of personalities they threw at your face. Every single person who used AT’s had their own unique personality, and it was usually pretty easy to spot. Also, the original Kogarasumaru members are all awesome as well. If there’s one thing this anime is good at, it’s creating characters. The one thing that disappointed me was the lack of female characters. They had those crazy crows to cover up the crazy scenes, but there weren’t that many scenes, so it was kind of sad. It really got my hopes up and then tore me down every episode!
Favorite male characters(in order): Ikki, Buccha, Kazu, Agito
Favorite female characters(in order): Ringo, Simca
Plot:
Here’s where the anime fails for a lot of viewers. I’ve read a lot of comments about how stupid it is to watch a show about “high-tech rollerblading.” Well, I guess if you look at it like that, sure it’s stupid, but it offers a little more than that. The actual plot is not really that bad, but you need to get past the ATs first to see that. I like the message they’re trying to get across, and I think they did a pretty good job at it. There’s also not a lot of physical growth in this anime, which is unusual for a typical shounen story, but more the characters learn how to have fun and be around each other. Having fun as a team, and risking your life with your team, is what makes your bonds strong which allows you to win. The setting was the weak point of this show.
Artwork:
The artwork wasn’t always that great. There were times when the quality was pretty poor, but there were also some great still shots. Some of the stills were damn gorgeous! Like I really enjoyed seeing all of the panoramas and the artistic angles they did here and there. Most of the action scenes were drawn beautifully, allow the viewer to seem most of the action. I really hate when characters disappear by moving fast or shit like that, it kind of ruins it for me. I can’t not mention the crows. 90% of the girls were pretty hot, and almost all of them had crow moments. Ringo was probably the best candidate for ecchi and crows, which was alright with me because I like her the most anyway(Croissant Mask, and S&M Bag-face outfit)
Sound:
Thanks Skankfunk for the awesome music. I’ve listened to certain songs on the OST many times. I can’t think of a time when the wrong music was playing, or when it didn’t improve a scene by being in the background. Pretty solid in terms of music.
I never noticed any bad acting anywhere throughout the series. Actually, it was pretty good acting. I don’t really have much to say besides everything seemed good. Thumbs up to the sound in general.
Relationships:
The relationships in this anime were strongly male-male type relationships. I like to blame the plot for this because it focuses a lot on Kogarasumaru and their relationships with each other. Team sports allow for this sort of bonding, which can then allow for team accomplishments. All this builds character and also stresses the importance of friends.
There definitely could have been more male-female relationships, but the plot didn’t really allow for it. Kogarasumaru was pretty much always busy, and there wasn’t much time for any other sort of “pleasure.” They snuck in a “filler” episode where Buccha and Onigiri meet a girl, the relationship between Emily x Kazu, and kind of had a Ringo x Ikki thing going, but in general there wasn’t much depth to it.
Overall:
Decent anime. It’s a little rough around the edges, but definitely not horrible like people may think. I’ve definitely seen worse, and really, this wasn’t so bad at all. I bet if some of the people who dropped it actually kept watching, they might have ended up enjoying it by the end. That’s how strong the ending felt to me, and that’s why I gave the final rating a little boost from the 8.0 I had originally planned on giving it.
If you try and slap a single category onto Air Gear, it will turn out weak. But as a combination of a bunch of things, it holds our really well. Some of the scenes are hilarious, there’s some good fanservice, and a decent message. All together, it makes up something a little more solid that you first thought.
Anyone who likes classic shounen anime should at least give this a try. It’s only 25 episodes so it’s no big waste if you end up hating it (i.e., Strawberry Panic), but chances are you’ll end up enjoying something about this anime. I know I did. Did I say definitely enough in this entry…probably not.
-Retsgip
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Well I am sold.
In between the Panorama shots you made, Teasers of Croissant Masks and all the Skating goodness, I will most definitely pick up this series when I head back to Malaysia for my break.
Awesome work covering the series.
PS: Ringo is
I was thinking of doing a panorama entry ;p That might require me to rewatch the series which could take awhile. Maybe this weekend.
is there going to be a 2nd season? is that it? /cry
unfortunately, i do not know
I don’t think the manga is far enough along to make another season yet so it could be another year or so. But it seems to me that they left off on a happy note, and in the manga a lot of people got injured n shit (i dont even think the kyoto arc was in the manga but i don’t read it so i dunno)
Even so… you do think it will come out? Eventually, I mean. I really got hooked on this show. I started reading the manga and they are so different!
I wan another season of air gear!
please TOEI if you are reading this, GIVE US MORE AIR GEAR! SEASON 2!!!!!!!!
Good review, too.
I really hope it’s gonna be a second season
plz i love air gear, make another season, plz plz plz!!!!!!
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AIR GEAR
id really like another season it is one of the best anime’s that ive seen in a long time
& in mi own opinion i think this is better then the new eps of deathnote even though deathnote is the perfect anime:D
very good
Nice primier..
i don’t think another season is going to happen but on the official site is says a air gear movie is in production maybe it’s crap but it cannot end here:)
This was anime was da best ive watched it 5 times alredy and it never gets boring fuck that sux if there is no 2nd season
The Kyoto arc does appear in the manga but as i can tell you guys so far its only on its near ending of vol 18 through near middle of 19 for it being subbed manga. If you want to download the air gear manga
go to
http://www.sorascans.com/
Well all and all I like the anime series, Although the beginning and alot of the ending changed from the manga, which is still a thousand times better then the anime, and you get all those nice echii shots you were complaining about missing. lol Sadly because of the differences in story at the beggining they would have to rewrite alot of the anime to accomidate the new manga. It was a good atempt though at making an anime series out of it. The art was something to be desired, unfortunately to me it seems like the animator copped out on some of the none action seens by doing lots of still frames and bad/quick cell repeaters. This anime could have been great.
He looks like Renton from E7 =/