-------------------------- Username: Asahn User Rating: 10 User Review: So, as of the end of Volume 9 of Air Gear, I have to say, what a spectacular Manga. This is one of those series that I just cannot resist, it is just so stylish. It amuses me, in that Air Gear is one of those Manga where you either love it or hate it. There does not seem to be many people who think it as average. A lot of people write it off as your generic be the best -insert profession/class here- Manga, and to be fair, it is. Then you get your people who swear by Air Gear as the definitive in stylish shounen-punk. In all honesty is was the Anime that hooked me on the series, though I did read Volume 1 of the Manga first. After Volume 1 I watched all 25 episodes of the, hopefully, unfinished series. The animation was above average, and colours were bright but not offensive, and the characters and story were intrigueing. The soundtrack is the the most original, and unfathomably addictive, that I have ever heard. Props to skankfunk on that one. Back to the Manga though. As this is a work by ohgreat!, you can expect an enormous amount of fanservice. If you have read Tenjou Tenge, you will know what I mean. Air Gear though, is actually aimed at a younger audience than Tenjou Tenge, so expectedly there is less in the way of explicit content. By that I mean no actual sex, which in my opinion, is a good thing. It is my opinion that Air Gear has a perfect level of fanservices without going overboard, which is saying alot with Onigiri around. In regards to the art style, I have to say, ohgreat! is good at what he does. His style is clean and clear, with awesome detail in the appropriate places. Even the notable lack of detail for humorous effect is done expertly. The SD-bubble characters amuse me to no end. One thing you will notice when reading Air Gear, is that ohgreat! is a master of drawing well-endowed girls. It is ohgreat! after all. Seriously though, Noyamano Ringo, oh my sweet zombie lord. He has a flair at panty-angles and cleavage-shots, and he knows it. Another aspect of the art I feel I need to point out are the wheels on the Air Trecks, and the AT designs in general. They are very fluid, and are are quite pleasing to the eye. They appear attractively mechanical, without feeling cold and robotic. He makes the ATs a part of the character, and that is something I can really appreciate. Story wise, do not expect anything mind-blowing. It is a punk-shounen series, dude. If you want a mind-raper, go tap Texnholyze or Serial Experiments Lain. I do love the characters in Air Gear, as I have mentioned before. Ikki is a lovable main character. Not the most intelligent guy on the earth, as is custom in shounen series, but he has got the whole perserverance and rebel-attitude that I am unable to resist. Plus, he is freaking hilarious. When the gang was watching the The Bulls vs Agito, oh man, I series died laughing, raised myself, and died again. I will not spoil that one for you, heh. Onigiri and Kazu, for much of the series, so far, have been hidden from the limelight, but that does not stop them from being awesome. Kazu, living in the shadow of Ikki, has got to be one of the coolest "sidekick" characters I have ever seen. I do admit to being an unrepented fanboy, but Kazu is awesome. Especially his ownage in Kogarasumaru VS the team with the hot tan-chick. Stealth, for the win. Onigiri is the resident pervert, and with him ohgreat! takes it to a whole new level. Onigiri is not simply perversion incarnate, he actually uses it was an advantage in battle. It is not only refreshing, but ungodly hilarious. Especially in the way the other characters react to it. Fats Bucca is just awesome. Fats Bucca for the win. He is freaking enormous, and he can go from being a teddy bear to a freaking panzer. Bucca just amuses me. Akito/Agito are cool, and the split-personality amuses me. I loved the line from Agito: Super Fucking Baka. Classic. Nice characters. Other than Kogarasumaru, the characters remain good. The Noyamano girls, the track girls, Ton-chan, Behemoth, Tsubame no Simca, Spitfire, Kuu... They all are cool in there own way. I believe I have ranted incoherently long enough, so I shall finish up by saying, Air Gear for the win. I was hesitant to give this a score of 10, but seeing as 9.5 was unavailable... Anyway, I think the Manga and Anime would both get 9.5s from me, but for different reasons. Each has their own strengths. I endorse them both. -------------------------- |