Air Gear Volume 1 DVD Review

By sothis Published: January 21, 2007

PACKAGING AND MENU

6 / 10

Air Gear Volume 1 sports an attractive and unique front cover, but it is not without its flaws. First, the front cover shows a close-up shot of Ikki and a love interest as they fly towards you, Air Treck skates extended. A bright logo and volume title frame the bottom of the image, and a small “uncut version” blurb separates the characters from the text. The background image is comprised of a grid of blue diagonal squares with a white outline. The design vaguely reminds me of a high rise building; perhaps that’s the look ADV was going for? Regardless, the shapes are a bit too simple and out of place for me. Having a nice picture of the city at night could have been a better approach. The spine lists the title and volume title in the chosen Air Gear font.

The back cover has a wonderful layout, but a major problem. At the top of the image is an expertly placed catch phrase which reads “Spread your wings and fly”. The text appears to be launching off of the image, due to a well-placed set of geometric shapes. Slightly diagonal screenshots frame the sides of the image, and text about the series is placed in the middle. Unfortunately, there’s one major issue with the back cover: the screenshot quality. Each image appears to have been photocopied four times, and then run through the washer. The image quality isn’t grainy or bad enough to imply it was done on purpose, but definitely isn’t good enough to insinuate that it was. As they are now, the images are a poor representation of the series and don’t do the gorgeous colors much justice. One example is a screenshot of Simca in a pink dress, on a pink background. The lines and contrast are so faded that it’s difficult to tell where she ends and the background begins.

Since this is a screener, I have no packaging to review. The menu is decent, but not anything spectacular; it is simply some blue and white geometric shapes, with Ikki on his Air Trecks in a still shot. Music plays in the background.

FEATURES

1 / 10

Only a clean opening and closing are available; definitely disappointing. Even an interview or character artwork would have added more value to the disc.

VIDEO

9.5 / 10

Air Gear V1’s video quality is superb, with barely any problems. Colors are vibrant and solid, dark patches are overall good, and I have nothing worth mentioning to complain about.

AUDIO

9 / 10

The main item worth mentioning is that the Japanese audio is much lower than the English audio. I’m not sure if this is something consistent with ADV releases, but it would be nice for the tracks to both be similar.

In the last year ADV has consistently produced high quality dubs, and Air Gear is no exception. The Japanese track admittedly is fantastic; but the dub also holds its ground with style. I specifically was fond of the decision to give certain characters different accents. The shady parts-store dealers, for example, have a thick Russian accent. A fiery-haired suave fellow speaks in a British tone. Each accent enhances each character and makes him or her more likeable and believable, so I chose to watch the dub for this viewing. As always, creative control was given to some extent, and plenty of slang could be heard.

CONTENT

9 / 10

Skates, babes, and races galore; if there ever was a series I wouldn’t enjoy, it’s Air Gear.

…or so I thought!

Air Gear’s plot centers around a boy named Ikki and his trek into the underground world of Air Trecks – motorized roller skates. Along the way he encounters feisty gangs, tempting women and a whole lot of fun. There’s not much more to it than that, at least not yet. We do see hints of something more going on behind the scenes with Ikki’s natural abilities, but what the mystery is has yet to be revealed.

Air Gear lives and breathes “cool”. Though the “plot” is simply a light-hearted version of the 80s film “The Warriors” , it still doesn’t fail to disappoint. With a blend of comedy, (reasonable) ecchi and action, Air Gear is a fantastically fun watch. It’s hard to explain why it’s as cool as it is; I just know that I was hooked after seeing the intro. Air Gear has a certain tone and mood that would work well for a variety of viewers and is engaging in every way.

Air Gear’s animation doesn’t fail to disappoint. The character designs are unique and very colorful, the action scenes are superb and in general the series is a visual treat. The music, like the animation, is very original and I found myself very drawn into it. Combining hip hop, techno, and good old funky J-pop, Air Gear’s soundtrack was a catchy addition to an overall kickass series.

In only four episodes, it’s difficult to ascertain the quality of the characters. First, it’s worth mentioning that there are a LOT of characters. In the Air Treck underground world, there exists a variety of gangs. Each gang has its own style and demeanor; each of which is highly entertaining. For example, there’s a gang of “dogs” whose leader sounds and acts like Elvis Presley and a gang who sport skull masks. Each gang has its own insignia as well. Again, this concept could have been pulled straight out of “The Warriors”.

There are a variety of secondary characters as well, whose English-dubbed accents give them more personality than may have been normally portrayed by the Japanese voice actors.

As far as individual characters, I like Ikki. He’s a bit younger than most protagonists, and has a refreshingly comedic bad attitude as well. Simca is a typical flirt, but she’s also a devious and conniving flirt, which makes her more interesting than a generic and brainless huge-breasted bimbo. The sisters probably are my least favorite, as they don’t seem to have any unique characteristics.

Now, I’ve heard a lot of people say that they didn’t like Air Gear because the manga is much darker and/or that the anime didn’t live up to the creator’s usual work (Tenjho Tenge, etc). My review is coming from the standpoint of someone who has not seen any of his others works, nor have I read the manga. Does that make my opinion more valid than others? No, not at all; but it’s something to consider. As for me, I thought Air Gear was fantastic and am very excited to watch the rest.