(L) Air Gear

[Starks]

Prophet, how did you create that collage?

[MrProphet]

Media Player Classic, some of the later versions. It's a nifty new feature. 8)

[phib]

The hell, the order and development is completely disappointing. Is really that hard to follow the same path as the manga? U_u

[Sonhex]

I must admit I enjoyed the first episode. It did the job of entertaining me which is all I ask from anime these days. But the crows were just bizarre. Are they relevant to the manga or just something TVTokyo cooked up to get around the full frontals?

I thought the animation was pretty good (considering it was Toei) and the use of CG was well handled. I liked that first person shot at the end of the OP which ended up on the roof-tops. I hope we get to see more of that kind of stuff. Actually the whole OP remind me of Jet Set Radio.

I'll probably keep watching it, least for a few more episodes to see where it goes. Mostly likely for Ringo and Simca .

[MrProphet]

The crow (called Kuu) is actually Ikki's pet/friend/mascot.

It isn't really prominent in the plot, but it is the reason why Simca nicknamed Ikki "Crow-kun".

[Skuld]

It... was different.

The opening animation already sorta turned me off. It was really low key, not much action... I actually expected something up-beat to get you excited and everything but meh... It just looks like it's an anime about rollerblading. Whee.

Spoiler:

As already mentioned, the story was completely out of whack. Ikki snuck into Mikan's room and all her AT stuff was just laid around in the open. And he ends up being good at it somehow. Then apparently everyone openly Air Treks around in the park at night just cuz?! Yeah, we're not dangerous or anything, we're just having fun praticing in the park. And somehow Kazu and Onigiri are there?? Then comes SpitFire, oh yeah, I hang around small fry just cuz I'm bored. Then hey, Kaitou, you're a bit too early.. Ah well, it's Midorikawa Hikaru, so I'm forgive him. Then came the background animation where Ikki was chasing the Skull Riders.. hmm.. needs work. Lastly, when he 'sees' the road, he somehow already knows it's the Wing Road... Wait, they didn't even call it the Wing Road.

There goes the whole first volume [and bits of the second] in one episode.

The voices are... meh. Surprisingly, Onigiri fits though? Not to mention, all the big name VAs are doing small parts... Simca, SpitFire, Rika, Onigiri...

rantrantrantrantrant...

[DaFool]

I didn't read the manga, so maybe that's why I have a more positive review for this title.

Yes, the animation sort of sucks and is low budget. The music is not perfect, but is pretty fitting. The fanservice is just great.

Definitely feels better than Tenten. The girls are really cute, and cool to boot. Their spunkiness just felt more natural than those in TenTen. If I can call this a harem anime I will definitely rank this as among the best this season. I will definitely be following this show.

[Starks]

Is anyone gonna sub this?

[DwArD]

I just watched the raw yesterday and I'm kinda glad that they didn't really follow the manga's order even though it looked kinda boring for ep 1. The manga is great but I find it a little too predictable if the anime just follow the manga too closely. The only thing I'm not too happy about the manga is the somehow....lack of romance between Ringo and Ikki so I'm hoping we'll see more of that in the anime. However, I somehow have a feeling that's not going to happen.......

[Linly]

Yay it has been subbed by Kyuuketsuki! Just watched ep1 and I have to say that it really caught my attention, I really liked it. I haven't read the manga maybe thats why my opinion about the anime is more positive than the most ppl here. But I can understand how u guys feel if you've read the manga and that the anime isnt really that promising. Because I felt that way with Ichigo 100% and it really sucked.

Anyways, the BGM was really fitting imo and this show reminds me of Air Master because they also have sorta "street fights/battles" here.

Definitely gonna follow Air gear till the end and when the anime has ended, I'll start with the manga i think...

[Kiva128]

Wow...I usually don't participate in fansub discussions but I can't hold this in.

I've been an avid reader of the Air Gear manga and I have to say this is by FAR the WORST adaption from manga to anime I have personally ever seen. I mean serious, wtf!? They cut stuff out, rearranged others, introduced characters WAY too soon.

Ikki's voice is terrible...doesn't suit the character at all. And this is coming from a guy who's liked every Japanese anime dub.

The animation is pretty lousy. I was expecting air treck to be fast, and elegant like in the manga, what did they show it as? A nice stroll through the park. All they did was grind...whoopee...

The music for lack of better words, sucks...bad. Well maybe with the exception of the song they played when he got the Air Treck from her room.

They butchered the shit out of the manga. I mean as someone else pointed out, they did the ENTIRE first VOLUME, in one friggin' episode. If that's not rushed, I don't know what is.

I personally am not watching anymore episodes as my eyes have bled enough.

It's a real shame too. When I found out this was becoming an anime I was so excited at the prospect. I thought it would be at up to Tenjou Tenge level - which I know many didn't seem to like but I'll you it's a shitload better than this.



And am I the only who thinks the colors they picked for some characters doesn't fit well?

[Glitch87]

not knowing jack about the manga, id have to say i liked it. my favorite part was the music. i thought it was all great! i dont know why ppl are dissing it. great music.

[[DOT].L]

I am inclined to agree the first episode is very much lacking in quite a few aspects. As the first episode of a deputting anime, Ep 1 is not doing its job effectively. Animation quality is sub-par, and plot progression isn't all that coherent. For the non-manga audience the first episode wouldn't appear as confusing, but I'd imagine most of the viewers will be fans of the manga. The OP and ED themes aren't very good either, although the ED sequence deserves credit for being somewhat unique.

Now for a little spoiler:

Spoiler for Kaito to Akito/Agito:

Kaito refers to Agito as Akito in the episode, but clearly the one in dominance of the body is Agito. If memory serves, in the manga Kaito explicitly corrects himself when he made the unintentional mistake of calling Agito "Akito". In Ep 1, Kaito did not correct himself. This is definitely a possibility for potential confusion among non-manga viewers if not addressed properly in the near future

[Shadowscar]

This anime definately shows some good possible humour, i think definately something ill continue watchin for a few episodes even though ive never liked sports anime before

[wingdarkness]

Ah that's great, that just what i like to hear, people giving up on a series based on only the first episode...To think how many great titles I wouldn't have seen had I prescribed to this...A tru-fan of Air Gear would atleast give it more than 1 episode even if it isn't as you first expected...Ya never know maybe the director and scriptwriter will have a pow-wow and change something or experiment less, but who knows? If you don't watch episode 2 you'll never know though...

The reason I'm interested in Air gear is because it seems like simply a fun, eye candy type of series...Where the characters outfits and clothing are as important as any plot-point...I got too many serious shows on my docket and need some light-hearted fun...When i saw some of the character designs and contemporary feel the series has (Kinda like BLEACH in terms of the colorful looking characters) I felt like I'd give a try...

[CaiSter21]

alright, first of all, HOW THE HELL IS IKKI 13!!!

that makes no sense!
and how is ringo 14!!!
her body does not look like its 14!!

btw, i found that the first half of the episode followed the manga pretty well, but the second eps just screwed up really bad

i mean akito/agito is shown before bucha!!!???
can you say WTF!!!

[MrProphet]

Originally Posted by CaiSter21

that makes no sense!
and how is ringo 14!!!
her body does not look like its 14!!

Um, you do realize this is Oh! Great, right?

And you do realize that Air Gear is actualy "the normal one" in this aspect, compared to TJTG? If you want to see real they-can't-be-this-young amazon women, look no further. 8)

i mean akito/agito is shown before bucha!!!???
can you say WTF!!!

Nothing could be simpler to explain!

Unlike Tenjou Tenge, where most of the audience is male, a significant portion of Air Gear's audience is actually female. I fact, Air Gear was from the start targeted for a wider audience, with smaller, more realistic T&A, a lot more bishounen and a lot less pretty babes. They are still there, but they are much less numerous.

Agito/Akito is one of THE major draws for fangirls. In fact, Oh! Great pretty much built all of his fangirl power base around Agito. There are other bishounen out there and they will reinforce that power base, but Agito has always been the key ingredient, so to speak, in order to get fangirl to read Air Gear.

Thus, if the series creator's wanted to establish that this show is not just a shounen adventure for boys, but would also have "smexy bishounen" (to steal a phrase from wao), they needed to have Agito (and Kaito too) right there in the beginning.

After all, Wanajima brothers didn't have any real impact on the story and were present in the first episode only as a teaser of things to come and as fanservice for girls.

[Shadowscar]

Originally Posted by wingdarkness

Ah that's great, that just what i like to hear, people giving up on a series based on only the first episode...To think how many great titles I wouldn't have seen had I prescribed to this...A tru-fan of Air Gear would atleast give it more than 1 episode even if it isn't as you first expected...Ya never know maybe the director and scriptwriter will have a pow-wow and change something or experiment less, but who knows? If you don't watch episode 2 you'll never know though...

The reason I'm interested in Air gear is because it seems like simply a fun, eye candy type of series...Where the characters outfits and clothing are as important as any plot-point...I got too many serious shows on my docket and need some light-hearted fun...When i saw some of the character designs and contemporary feel the series has (Kinda like BLEACH in terms of the colorful looking characters) I felt like I'd give a try...

actually the only reason i like this anime is cause of the first episode :P unlike most ppl here i really enjoyed how the first episode was nothing like any other shows

my reason for wanting to contiue watch it is its something different and something amusing

[ForeverGoNe]

This is just like JSRF with a mix of Tenjou Tenge.

Does this look too promising?

[[DOT].L]

I'd give it a few more weeks, even if the first episode isn't all that fantastic.