Air Gear Volume One Cover

 

Publisher: Random House/Del Rey Manga
Author: Oh! Great
Rating: OT 16+
Genre: Shonen/Futuristic

“Wanna Fly?”

What do flying, wrestling, technologically advanced shoes and a high school student named Itsuki Minami all have in common? Well, Air Gear attempts to combine all of these elements to deliver a compelling and riveting manga that will change the way you think of roller skating… forever.

Air Gear: Volume One is one of the coolest manga to be released this year. The story line is refreshingly unique and inspirational and takes the reader far, far away into the violent and chaotic world of the not-to-distant future, courtesy of one messed up teenager, Itsuki Minami.

Itsuki spends his life either running from someone or running into someone, head first! The way Itsuki lives his life revolves entirely around violent encounters with members of an opposing local neighborhood gang called the ‘Westside Punks’. Heralded as something of a hero, Itsuki ‘Babyface’ Minami spends his days wrestling with anyone who challenges him or looks at him the wrong way. Of course, living with the Noyamano sisters probably doesn’t help matters. They seem to be more of a hindrance than a help to Itsuki, especially since they beat him up every other day!

An odd storyline to be sure, Air Gear: Volume One will certainly keep you on your toes, turning those pages and wondering what might happen next. Itsuki’s blatant disregard for his own safety really puts things into perspective as the storyline becomes a little grittier and darker. The Noyamano sisters might seem like ‘Sisters of Mercy’ in disguise, but we don’t really know whether they're helping Itsuki or making matters worse.  On top of that, Itsuki has landed himself in hot water with the rival gang and ends up getting beaten to a pulp. Suddenly, his ‘Hero’ status plummets to less than zero and Itsuki finds himself abandoned and alone.

The characters in this manga are well developed and compliment each other effectively, which gives the storyline structure.  Although much of the storyline focuses on Itsuki, it’s nice to see the spotlight shine on some of the other characters as they weave in and out of Itsuki’s world. In particular, Itsuki seems to be developing a bond with Ringo Noyamano but it’s hard to put a finger on exactly what that bond is. For the most part, the Noyamano sisters remain a mystery and there are a few questions that need to be answered, hopefully in the next volume.

As for the villains of the story, the gangs portrayed in this manga seem to do what is expected of bad guys with nothing better to do than cause trouble. It’s nice to see good triumph over bad, but we really do hope that Air Gear doesn’t turn into another predictable manga. So far, the original storyline of Air Gear is its best asset and we hope it stays that way. The art work is also quite lively and well drawn and the emphasis on the humour in the animation is fun to read. The character detail is also very reminiscent of the character detail in Bleach.

We thoroughly enjoyed the first volume of Air Gear and we can’t wait for the next one . You can take a look at the manga series here on Del Rey’s website. Air Gear: Volume One also includes eight glorious, full color splash pages at the beginning of the book, extensive translation notes, detailed character portraits and a sneak preview of the second book in the Air Gear series; Air Gear Volume Two in original Japanese.