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is a Japanese
manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
series written and illustrated by
Oh! great , known professionally as Oh! great, is a Japanese manga artist best known for his manga series ''Tenjho Tenge'' (1997–2010) and ''Air Gear'' (2002–2012). In 2006, ''Air Gear'' earned him the Kodansha Manga Award in the '' shōnen'' category. ...
, serialized in
Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...
's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''
Weekly Shōnen Magazine is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published on Wednesdays in Japan by Kodansha, first published on March 17, 1959. The magazine is mainly read by an older audience, with a significant portion of its readership falling under the male high ...
'' from November 2002 to May 2012, with its chapters collected in thirty-seven ''
tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...
'' volumes. ''Air Gear'' revolves around the life of Itsuki Minami "Ikki or Crow", also known as "Baby Face", "Lil (and Little) Crow", and his friends. The story follows their use of Air Gear, an in-universe invention derived from inline skates. Initial sections of the plot carries out the introduction of characters that eventually join Ikki. As the story progresses, it focuses on their roles as Storm Riders and their quest to be on the top of the Trophaeum Tower, the pinnacle that all Storm Riders hope to reach. ''Air Gear'' was adapted into a twenty-five episode
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
television series by
Toei Animation () is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' ''GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' ''Mazinger Z'', ''Galaxy Express 999'', ''Cutie Honey'', ''Dr. Slump'', ' ...
, which aired on
TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...
from April to September 2006. A 3-episode
original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...
(OVA), titled ''Air Gear: Break on the Sky'', produced by
Satelight is a Japanese animation studio. Aside from several stand-alone projects, the studio is well known for producing the '' Aquarion'' and '' Symphogear'' franchises, as well as later installments of the ''Macross'' franchise. The company's Represen ...
, was released from November 2010 to June 2011. ''Air Gear'' had over 18 million copies in circulation as of August 2020. It won the 31st
Kodansha Manga Award is an annual award for serialized manga published in the previous year, the event is sponsored by the publisher Kodansha. It is currently awarded in three categories: '' shōnen'', '' shōjo'', and general. The awards began in 1977, initially w ...
for the ''shōnen'' category in 2006.


Plot

A new fad by the name of "Air Treks" (a futuristic evolution of aggressive skating) has swept the nation's youth and all over gangs are being formed that compete in various events using their A-Ts. Ikki is a middle-school boy who is the toughest street-fighting punk on the east side of town and part of the gang "The East-Side Gunz". He lives with four adopted gorgeous sisters who took him in when he was a kid. But what Ikki doesn't know is that the girls are part of one of the most infamous A-T gangs, "Sleeping Forest". It does not take long before Ikki finds out about the world of Air Treks and is propelled into a fate he had not foreseen, learning about his past and making a number of storm riding allies on the way.


Media


Manga

Written and illustrated by
Oh! Great , known professionally as Oh! great, is a Japanese manga artist best known for his manga series ''Tenjho Tenge'' (1997–2010) and ''Air Gear'' (2002–2012). In 2006, ''Air Gear'' earned him the Kodansha Manga Award in the '' shōnen'' category. ...
, ''Air Gear'' was serialized in
Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...
's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''
Weekly Shōnen Magazine is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published on Wednesdays in Japan by Kodansha, first published on March 17, 1959. The magazine is mainly read by an older audience, with a significant portion of its readership falling under the male high ...
'' from November 6, 2002, to May 23, 2012. Kodansha collected its 357 individual chapters into thirty-seven ''
tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...
'' volumes, published under its Shōnen Magazine Comics imprint, from May 14, 2003, to July 17, 2012. A one-shot chapter was published in the magazine on December 22, 2015. The manga was licensed for release in North America by
Del Rey Manga Del Rey Manga was the manga-publishing imprint of Del Rey Books, a branch of Ballantine Books, which in turn is part of Random House, the publishing division of Bertelsmann. History Del Rey Manga was formed as part of a cross-publishing rela ...
and the first volume was released on July 25, 2006.
Kodansha USA Kodansha USA Publishing, LLC is a publishing company based in New York, USA, and a subsidiary of Japan's largest publishing company Kodansha. Established in July 2008, Kodansha USA publishes books relating to Japan, Japanese culture, and mang ...
published the series under the Kodansha Comics imprint after Del Rey's shut down.


Anime

An
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
adaptation covering 12 volumes of the manga was produced by
Toei Animation () is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' ''GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' ''Mazinger Z'', ''Galaxy Express 999'', ''Cutie Honey'', ''Dr. Slump'', ' ...
, Marvelous and Avex Entertainment and directed by Hajime Kamegaki, with
Chiaki J. Konaka is a Japanese writer and novelist. He was the head writer of the anime series ''Serial Experiments Lain'', ''Digimon Tamers'', and ''Hellsing'', as well as the television drama ''Ultraman Gaia''. Personal life Konaka gave himself the middle ini ...
handling series composition and writing episode scripts, Masayuki Satō designing the characters and skankfunk, Wall5 Project and Masaki Sakamoto composing the music.
ADV Films A.D. Vision Holdings, Inc. (known simply as ADV and also referred to as ADV Films) was an American multimedia entertainment distributor headquartered in Houston, Texas, and founded in 1992 by video game fan John Ledford and anime fans Matt Gre ...
announced over the October 20, 2006 weekend at Oni-Con that they had licensed the anime for release in the United States; the anime in its entirety reportedly cost $780,000. Though few of the actual artists and inside creators of Air Gear were actually there. The few that were there included Loa Mitsoyagi (Ikki), Ian Miller (Agito), Jason Remmings (Kazuma), and the ADV representing team. The first volume was released on February 6, 2007. ADV released the uncensored Japanese home video version, rather than the broadcast version. On January 3, 2007,
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
released a special sneak peek of Episode 1 of the English dub. In 2008, ''Air Gear'' became one of over 30 ADV titles transferred to
Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...
. In Australia and New Zealand, the series is licensed by
Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, is an Australian distribution and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising in feature films, documentaries and television series across theatr ...
.
Avex is a Japanese entertainment conglomerate led by founder Max Matsuura and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1988, the company manages J-pop talents like Ayumi Hamasaki and internet sensation PikoTaro. It has also shifted into other busi ...
released one single and two albums covering all the songs and themes used for the anime adaptation. The opening theme single "Chain" performed by
Back-on Back-On (stylized as BACK-ON) is a Japanese rock band from Tokyo, Japan. They are recognized for creating anime and game opening themes such as the '' Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2'' opening theme, "fly away"; ''Air Gear'' opening theme ...
was released on June 7, 2006 and peak ranked 139th on Oricon singles chart. The two albums ''Air Gear original soundtrack: What a Groovy Tricks!!'' and ''Air Gear original soundtrack 2: Who wants more Groovy Trick!!??'' were released on August 23, 2006 and February 28, 2007, respectively.


OVA

In the 33rd issue of ''
Weekly Shōnen Magazine is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published on Wednesdays in Japan by Kodansha, first published on March 17, 1959. The magazine is mainly read by an older audience, with a significant portion of its readership falling under the male high ...
'', it was announced that a new ''Air Gear''
original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...
will be released alongside the limited edition of Volume 30 of the manga. Animation studio
Satelight is a Japanese animation studio. Aside from several stand-alone projects, the studio is well known for producing the '' Aquarion'' and '' Symphogear'' franchises, as well as later installments of the ''Macross'' franchise. The company's Represen ...
animated the OVA instead of Toei with
Shinji Ishihira is a Japanese anime director. In 2002, Ishihira was put in charge of directing an anime for the first time with '' Ichi the Killer: Episode 0''. Since then, some of the series he has directed include ''Fairy Tail'' and ''Log Horizon''. Biography ...
as director, Atsushi Maekawa as script writer, Osamu Horiuchi as character designer and Stanislas Brunet as mechanical design.
Nobuhiko Okamoto is a Japanese Voice acting in Japan, voice actor and singer affiliated with Raccoon Dog. He won the Best New Actor Award at the 3rd Seiyu Awards and Best Supporting Actor Award at the 5th Seiyu Awards. Voice acting career In an interview held ...
plays Ikki,
Haruka Tomatsu is a Japanese voice actress and singer, employed by Music Ray'n. She received the Rookie of the Year award at the 3rd Seiyu Awards and the Synergy Award at the 9th Seiyu Awards. Tomatsu voiced Asuna Yuuki in ''Sword Art Online'', Zero Two in ...
plays Ringo, and
Yukari Fukui is a Japanese actress, voice actress and gravure idol known by the nickname in Japan. Filmography Anime *''7 of Seven'' as Nanarin *'' Dragonaut -The Resonance-'' as Saki Kurata *''Gundam Reconguista in G'' as Raraiya Monday *''Highschool ...
plays Kururu. The first OVA was released on November 17, 2010 and adapted the confrontation between Ikki and Ringo from volume 16 of the manga. The second OVA was released on March 17 and the final third OVA was released on June 17, 2011. The latter two OVAs adapt the legendary battle between Kogarasumaru and Sleeping Forest from volumes 24 and 25 of the manga.


Musical

''Air Gear'' was adapted into a musical called Musical Air Gear, which made its debut on January 7, 2007 and ran until January 21, 2007. The musical is loosely adapted from the manga and all female roles are eliminated from the plot. The cast featured
Kenta Kamakari is a Japanese actor, voice actor and singer, famous for his role as Ryo Shishido in the '' Prince of Tennis Musical''s. He was hospitalized on April 21, 2007 and was unable to play the role of Minami Itsuki in ''Musical Air Gear'' vs. Bacchus S ...
, KENN, and Kenjiro Tsuda reprising their roles from the anime respectively as Ikki, Kazu, and Spitfire with
Masaki Kaji is a Japanese actor and singer. He is known for his role as Takeshi Momoshiro in the ''Prince of Tennis'' musical series, ''Tenimyu'', and the live film adaptation. He was also part of a young men's stage acting troupe, D-BOYS, which perform in ...
(who had also starred with Kenta and KENN in the Prince of Tennis musicals),
Run&Gun Run&Gun (stylized as RUN&GUN) is a Japanese boy band and performance troupe associated with Yoshimoto Kogyo. The group was formed in 2001 by Antinos Records. The members consist of Yuya Miyashita, Kosuke Yonehara, and Akira Nagata; Ryuji Kami ...
, etc. as their co-stars. In the musical, team Kogarasumaru opposes team Bacchus, whose names all come from works of
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
. (Romeo, Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth and Puck). Due to the success and popularity of the musical's first run, the musical had a rerun in May, 2007 titled, with the entire cast, except for
Kenta Kamakari is a Japanese actor, voice actor and singer, famous for his role as Ryo Shishido in the '' Prince of Tennis Musical''s. He was hospitalized on April 21, 2007 and was unable to play the role of Minami Itsuki in ''Musical Air Gear'' vs. Bacchus S ...
due to illness, reprising their roles. Ryuji Kamiyama (originally Romeo) replaced Kamakari, subsequently Kosuke Yonehara (originally Hamlet) took over the role of Romeo and a new actor was brought in to play Hamlet. In April, 2010 there was a third run of the musical, It was titled Musical Air Gear vs. Bacchus Top Gear Remix.' ''Many cast members reprise their roles, Kenta Kamakari returning as Ikki. Remarkably, Agito's actor was replaced by a younger actor and the original actor now played the part of Juliet. The role of Spitfire was replaced by Aeon Clock.


Reception

As of August 2020, ''Air Gear'' had over 18 million copies in circulation. It won the 2006
Kodansha Manga Award is an annual award for serialized manga published in the previous year, the event is sponsored by the publisher Kodansha. It is currently awarded in three categories: '' shōnen'', '' shōjo'', and general. The awards began in 1977, initially w ...
in the ''shōnen'' category. Both the manga and anime have gained a lot of popularity, both in the east and the west and now has quite a large fan base. BlogCritics said "It mixes this action and comedy quite well with a storyline that doesn't fail to leave a reader wanting more." The anime has often been criticized for not remaining true to the manga, story and skipping parts, but is praised for its soundtrack. The English dub has received positive reviews since its release. AnimeOnDVD said "The concept of the show is one that is pure anime though and something that visually can be done very well". The anime's ending was cited as underwhelming despite its mostly positive reviews.


References


External links


Air Gear at FunimationOfficial Japanese Anime Site
* {{Satelight 2002 manga 2006 anime television series debuts 2010 anime OVAs Action anime and manga ADV Films Del Rey Manga Fictional sports in anime and manga Funimation Kodansha manga Madman Entertainment anime Oh! great Satelight Shōnen manga Toei Animation television TV Tokyo original programming Winner of Kodansha Manga Award (Shōnen) Works published under a pseudonym