Be Vewy, Vewy Sucky. And Air Gear Obliges

Air Gear disappoints me somewhat. Really, I'm sorry you fans. 13 episodes and there isn't much light at the end of the tunnel. It's like freaky deja vu, because I feel like I'm watching Naruto on rollerblades. Oh, brother. First, the premise of the whole thing. So, we have these awesome Air Trecks, the new fad in Japan. Or 'old' fad, since some of these Riders are stated to have been around for more than 10 years now. Considering the technology level in the show (read: pretty similar to present day, 2006), it's quite unbelievable that more than 10 years back, people were jamming engines in their blades to hop over buildings and scale walls. Right, fine. It's an anime after all. Then the sheer twisting of any basic moral values you have ever learnt. It's really normal for 13 year-old kids to be in a gang named East Side Gunz with no repercussions from school or neighbourhood authority. And I guess in Japan there's nothing wrong with kids going around punching people to gain territory and using their motorized Air Treck wheels to rearrange another person's facial features. I'm what you would probably call 'desensitized by violence'. And I still felt unsettled by the meaningless 'gang activity' shown in every episode. It's all, 'you're in my way, so I have to punch your teeth down your throat' crap. Simca (and Ringo) make this a bit more than Air Crap. The story itself is pretty shallow, at least up to this point. Ikki is this middle school failure who suddenly finds out about Air Trecks. Long story short, he finally puts a pair on, and obviously he's a prodigy. So, as carefree as his life is, he chooses that he'll make a living out of rollerblading. Whee. Then we have the hundreds of Air Treck 'gangs' vying for AT parts, territory and emblems. Emblems have got to be the silliest idea yet. These people put their life on the line for nothing more than a sticker. Oh man. That is SOOOO cool. Not. Just like Naruto, Ikki learns techniques faster than you can say 'idiot'. 'Rasengan' in 3 weeks for Naruto, 'Spinning Wallride Overbank 1800 Buccha Special' in a minute for Ikki. And of course, everyone, including the topmost, legendary, L33t Stormriders are awed by this. Oh, and he also has that Naruto tendency to make friends with everyone he beats. Even the maniacal Agito, Fang King, ruler of the Bloody Road, who loves saying F#%$! for some reason, ends up literally loving good ol' Ikki. "I see the Wind Road". Yeah, um...whatever floats your boat. And the animation is like something from 1996, not 2006. It's really inconsistent, with some rather detailed drawings one second, and a pile of glop the next. And I really find nothing particularly amusing about how the scenes where Ikki (or whoever else) has their faces turn monstrous/weird are done. Hey, these scenes happen in almost any anime, but here it's just so...fugly. And what is with the @#&&*! crows??! Get them out of the way and show ecchi like it should be shown. If you're going to have 13 year-olds bashing each other (granted, some are probably 18, lol), the least they could do is let those scenes be. The crows are so big sometimes, I can't even see the girl's neck, let alone anywhere else. If not, then I really wish they wouldn't go with this half-hearted attempt at fanservice. Crows turn me on big time. Who cares about girls? It's also rather weird to have Ringo saying she kept Sleeping Forest a secret from Ikki for 10 years already. I think 10 years ago Ikki was 3 years old...and was probably more worried about pissing straight than what Air Trecks were. And wouldn't Ringo be only four? Umm... I'm sorry, I haven't really read the manga. If it's like this, I probably won't be anytime soon. Though I did read that it's further ahead, and slightly cooler. Anyway, I'm watching the show to see Ringo and Simca, who has been missing for the past 3-4 episodes. And the tricks and powers, especially Spitfire's Regalia, are not too bad. There also seems to be SOME story development, with Rika-nee and Sleeping Forest. But these 'histories' of their AT activities just feel so made up, I just can't seem to care. I hope something changes my mind. It's not ALL bad, but really, if this was the only anime in the world, I'd probably die. Hohoho. Err, yeah. =/ P.S. Oh, anyone using (or ever used) blogger know what this problem I have is? I come to the posting page, and those little buttons and stuff to format my post, post pictures etc. are not there. I've got to put in all the coding myself, which really slows things down. Urk. Help! >>> Animania Tags: Animation, Anime, Japanese Animation, Manga, Air Gear, Air Gear Anime, Air Gear Sucks, Tenjou