Air Gear Vol 1

Tenjo Tenge: Where the boys are bad, and the girls are badder.

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Agent_Wax
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Air Gear Vol 1

Post by Agent_Wax »

Dear all,

In case anyone is interested, the first volume of Oh! Great's Air Gear (from Kodansha) went on sale in Japan on May 16th.

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Post by The Guilty Gear »

do you know if it is any good, and what it is about
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Post by Agent_Wax »

No idea. Perhaps you can convince Fugu to scanlate it.

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Post by blackkenshi »

From looking at the picture this series seems like its about rollerblading or skating. I dunno I'm just making a guess
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Air Gear

Post by FuguTabetai »

There was a post about this a month or so back, and I checked it out. Yes, it is about rollerblading, and the few pages I saw on (I believe it was a Shueisha) publicity site looked fairly lame. I'll pick it up when I go to Japan next month, and let you all know what I think...

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Post by Agent_Wax »

Dear all,

OK, I just bought the chinese language edition of AG yesterday on a whim. I was prepared for lameness, but it's a surprisingly decent read, IMHO.


Yes, it's about Extreme Rollerblading. With exaggerated actions. of course. Just as some of the techniques used in TJTG are exaggerations (or 'literary license', if you prefer), some of the tricks in AG are physical impossibilities. Unless you count wuxia-style skimming across rooftops to be typical of your average extreme rollerblader. (Oh, BTW, I'm not into blading, so I don't know the significance of the usual 4-wheels-per-foot to the 2-wheeled blades used in the manga). There's also some wrestling/grappling and fighting involved, and something in there somehow reminds me of Jim Krueger's Flyboys.

The art is classy Ito, circa TJTG vol. 7 or 8. Some pretty nice action sequences and character designs. But the big, noticeable difference here is that, unlike TJTG, the female characters here have cup size gradations from A to an E. Oh, and Ito must really like birds. The bird motif is all over the place in AG. The lead male (the kanji for his name literally means 'Tree') has a pet crow, AND is friendly with pretty much any of the species of birds you find in your neighbourhood. Birds nest in trees, get it?

The chapters here are named 'Tricks', and there are 5 Tricks in Vol. 1.
The first 4 make up what would be the first arc, introducing characters and setting up exposition. It's a pretty straightforward story detailing the lead's induction into the world of extreme rollerblading after a particularly nasty run-in (it can't be good when you wake up bleeding and pants-less) with a particularly nasty blading gang calling themselves the Skullsaders. With the aid of the 4 sisters he lives with (his landlord's daughters), he gets revenge on them and learns how to fly (with wheels, of course). Trick 5 is when it starts getting weird, with shrunken old men and fat ladies on blades (you have to see it to believe it). Apparently rollerblading isn't just a sport or past-time that the general public is familiar with. There's a darker, more mysterious, and much more dangerous aspect to it. The bits that all the 'sleeping awake' people who have normal, safe lives and hold normal, safe jobs, and return home to watch Harumi Nemoto win big-boobed model contests while eating udon are unaware of. Or something. I don't know. I didn't write it.

Anyway, that's probably enough spoilers for now. OK, so I didn't understand all of it. It's still too early to judge whether it's good or bad, but if you're an Ito fan, the art itself is likely worth the price of admission.

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Post by FuguTabetai »

Like I said before, it sounds pretty lame.

I'm not big into extreme anything. But I'll probably still pick it up when I head out to Japan next month...

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Post by Rain_Cassidy »

I've read and enjoyed manga about golf, fishing, cooking, dancing, and horseracing.

I don't golf, fish, or race horses. :P

I skate but I certainly don't extreme anything (I'm allergic to violent pain). But I've learned that the quality of a manga's story is based on the author, never on the subject matter. :wink:
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Post by Dart »

There's supposed to be a manga about the drama of "break-dancing"...or so the legend goes...
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Post by arpl »

someone has already translated it
go to
http://ushi.cjb.net/

cheers
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Post by Dart »

I read it, it was alright... I'll have to read what happens next to turely judge it.
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Post by GreatTeacherStone »

well to me it looked pretty lame but I will make some notes.
the main chick character is the hottest chick Oh!Great has ever drawn, she also has the smallest tits. infact, the fanservice, while definitely still there, can't even compete with TT. on a side note rollerblades are the single stupidest things EVER invented by man. Skateboarding is a REAL sport, with ACTUAL tricks!
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Post by Gin »

I just finished reading the first two chapters of "Air Gear". I have read Majin devil, himiko-den, and (of course) Tenjo Tenge. I have emense faith in Oh! Great and his abilities, however he is really testing my faith to Him or Her. The others started out with a basic sense of "Cool" genre, but i can see very few possibilities as to how air gear could become a "classic". Or maybe he is not aiming for "Great"ness, perhaps he is looking for a different project to blow of Tenjo Tenge steam. I feel that the transaction from Tenjo Tenge to Air Gear will be somewhat of a disapointment. Tenjo Tenge came a long way from the very first page and to stop now and try to replace it with Air Gear will be an atrocity to the fans.

P.S. I will hope and pray for two miracles from heaven that Tenjo Tenge will be finished by Oh! Great and Air Ger will (somehow) become a credit to manga and Oh! Great's already impressive resume.
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Post by The_Shape »

The art is definetly better than in TT and the chicks are sooo much hotter too. But that's it. The drama was awfully done and the ammount of clich
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Post by burrowowl »

Roller blades! Dudes in Roller Blades wearing deaths-head masks that make them look like muppets! A dude living with a bunch of hot chicks that treat him like dirt! Bring it on!

Having read the first chapter of Air Gear and the first chapter of Vulgar Ghost Dream, I'm glad Fugu picked the one he did for his current project. Hot chicks in odd footwear may work for Masakazu Katsura (I swear that guy has a shoe fetish) but give me an intricate plot any day.

disclaimer: I really have only read one chapter of each of these, so really I'm shooting my mouth off

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Post by The_Shape »

burrowowl wrote:Roller blades! Dudes in Roller Blades wearing deaths-head masks that make them look like muppets! A dude living with a bunch of hot chicks that treat him like dirt! Bring it on!

Having read the first chapter of Air Gear and the first chapter of Vulgar Ghost Dream, I'm glad Fugu picked the one he did for his current project. Hot chicks in odd footwear may work for Masakazu Katsura (I swear that guy has a shoe fetish) but give me an intricate plot any day.

disclaimer: I really have only read one chapter of each of these, so really I'm shooting my mouth off

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I''s and VGAi have VERY good writing. At least on the same level of TT.
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Where can i get a copy?

Post by shock »

I got the 1st volume of Air Gear and i thought it was great! Does anyone know where I can get a copy of the second volume?
I found one online shop that even allows orders thru IPMO (which I find the most preferable method) but I am not sure if I can trust it... can't wait to get a copy of the second volume.
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Post by Banorac »

I read the chapters found on the before mentioned webpage . I didn't quite get it ... Did they screw up the translation, or is there just no point to the story, ... I don't know, but it didn't seem all that good story-wise, the animation is nice, though I don't like that stupid patch under 'Tree' his eye, it looks stupid, the girls look nice though ^_^
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Post by Christian »

I read the one on the webpage. In my opinion it sucked :?

Great art do not save the bad story, the clishes. You don
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Post by The_Shape »

[quote="Christian"]You don
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Post by Kiseki »

You know, Air Gear isn't really about skating. :/ It's about flying. :/ Hence the whole bird theme. :/ And I've read the first 2 volumes, and I can honestly say there's a plot, and it isn't as crappy as you lot make it out to be. :/

And no, he's not the one to beat the shit out of the people, the chicks do. :/ Yeah. The girls basically are all stronger then the main char. :P At least when it comes to the people busting his ass. :P And people still treat him like shit anyway, because they think he's bsing when he says he beat the skulls.

I find it extremely enjoyable, but if you don't, there's nothing I can do. :/
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