The art in Air Gear is handled very nicely with appropriate distinctions between action, comedy and emotional panels. Since the characters use Air Trecks in almost all the fight sequences, a lot of the action panels feature motion blur and speed streaks. While there are a few panels in which this may lead to a little confusion over what exactly is going on, the sense of speed and adrenaline is accounted for and is further fueled by graffiti-style onomatopoeia kanji.
Overall, the translation process for Air Gear was handled very well. The writing ties the symbolism of all of the birds in the story and the personality of each of the characters is very evident in the way they converse with each other. The text is also very easy to follow and doesn’t get lost in any of the panels.
For the most part, Del Rey Manga has kept all of the original Japanese context and culture references intact for the U.S. printing, but since a good portion of the manga’s jokes and references are based on Japanese professional/sumo wrestling, some readers will have to do a double take on some of the script or refer immediately to the translation notes in the back. Most glaringly, however, the script is not free of typos in the first edition (“just a couple of days ag [sic] until” on page 176 for example).
While the beginning of the storyline is a little on the borrowed side, Air Gear infuses plenty of its own elements and balances evenly between action, comedy and seriousness to prevent it from becoming another school-brawling knockoff. The Air Trecks, high-speed sequences and hip skater clothing give Air Gear a fresh Jet Set Radio-type edge to the environment and by utilizing the skates, the characters can take to the rooftops just as well as the streets.
Article comments
1 - Christina Little
Great manga review! Glad to see your first manga review turned out so well.
2 - Sterfish
I enjoyed what I was able to read of this series before it was licensed for U.S. publication. This review made me hopeful that this series will come over intact (and not heavily edited like Oh! Great's previous series Tenjho Tenge).
3 - tihan
what else new episode of air gear ?
hwo i can download free chapter & film of air gear?
thanks so much