'Air Gear' deserves a proper anime adaptation

The phenomenally fast-paced rollerblading manga deserves to tell its complete story on the screen

As a teenager playing football in the park, I used to watch younger kids zooming by on their rollerblades across the street. I was mesmerised by their ability to glide smoothly on their inline wheels. It always seemed an impossible feat.

Soon afterwards, I came across a manga that took this fantastical aspect of skating – the speed, the drama, and the grace – and dialled it up to thrilling heights. Air Gear, written by Ito Ōgure (known professionally as Oh! Great), supercharged rollerblades using high-tech gear called Air Treks, or A-Ts, that propelled them to even faster and more extreme heights, even adding in a few supernatural aspects.

Released in 2002, the manga capitalised on the popularity of inline skating and became a worldwide success.

It even got an anime adaptation in 2006 from Toei Animation, Marvelous and Avex Entertainment. Unfortunately, it only covered the first 12 volumes of the manga. Still, at least it had an excellent, propulsive soundtrack.

So why does Air Gear deserve a more complete anime adaptation?

Air Gear tells of Itsuki Minami, nicknamed "Ikki" or "Crow", and his dynamic group of friends who form gangs of A-T users called Storm Riders.

In the tradition of many great shonen protagonists, Ikki is a rambunctious, free-spirited optimist with a natural affinity for the sky.

After his parents' passing, he began living with the Noyamano family, who introduced him to A-Ts. He eventually creates his own A-T team Kogarasumaru to take on the Trophaeum, a tower that represents the struggle of Storm Riders to ascend.

He joins forces and clashes heads with several memorable friends and rivals along the way.

Kazuma Mikura was bullied by Ikki when they were young but later became his friend. However, years of living in Ikki's shadow have made him shy and insecure. Still, he is intelligent, dedicated, and a hard worker. Issa Mihotoke, aka Buchha, is the tank of the team. Though he appears obese, his body actually contains only 10 percent body fat. Though he seems preoccupied with eating and relaxing, he becomes a lethal killing machine when it comes time to battle another Storm Rider team. Onigiri, another childhood friend of Ikki, is a pig and pervert with a particular knack for manipulating his sweat to produce illusions and rides on his A-T upside down.

The manga's main villains are the Takeuchi Twins, Nike and Sora. They seem like an odd pairing, with Sora coming off as laid-back and fun-loving while Nike is severely mentally disturbed. But the two are closer in temperament than it appears at first. Nike might be colder, crueller, and physically stronger, but later in the series, Sora has a sharp shift in demeanour to a sombre and vicious competitor.

The manga gives each Storm Rider their distinctive 'Run', which establishes the type of A-T user they are. Each specific style and trick set makes up the eight major 'Roads' at the heart of the sport.

Oh! Great brings these characters and styles to life through a highly unique look chock full of well-considered designs that sets it apart from the rest of the shonen set. They are each unique and exude an immediate sense of 'cool' with their expressive attitude and individual looks. When they bust out their special tricks during challenges and battles, it is a pivotal moment of personal expression that showcases what makes them great. The dynamic, stirring art is exhilarating, vibrant, smooth, and easy to follow. The detailed environments add to the tactility of the world, giving the heightened action a grounded sense of reality before breaking through those barriers to reach poetically for the sky.

The manga also manages one of the trickier bits of longer sports stories – raising the stakes without jumping the shark. The series starts small, with Ikki discovering the simple pleasures of speed, momentum, movement and the sky. But slowly, it adds new elements, such as legendary A-Ts and challenges against the Kings and Queens of different styles.

The secrets of the sport, the Riders, and the Trophaeum carry readers along, while spotlight arcs develop the quirky characters and invest you in their struggles.

The exuberant action, goofy humour, imaginative designs, and over-the-top story are the hallmarks of Air Gear, making it ripe for adaptation. To see the wild designs and concepts of the later arcs in motion is a tempting prospect. After all, the energetic action already flies off the page. But, with the shift to animation, it could truly soar.

This article is part of Stripe, bdnews24.com's special publication focusing on culture and society from a youth perspective.