Air Gear: Wiki, Main Characters & Similar Skating Anime

There is no shortage of good anime in the sports genre but most of them feature popular sports like baseball and soccer and such. Very few anime focus on the lesser known sports, though some of the anime featuring them are great. One such great anime that focuses on an underrated sport like inline skating is Air Gear. We’ll be taking about this anime on this Air Gear Wiki.

In this article, we’ll be discussing the details of the anime as well as its main characters and few similar anime that center around any form of skating.

Air Gear: Wiki

Air Gear premiered in 2006 and caught the viewers unaware with its fun premise and exciting skating scenes. The uncommon sport it chooses to showcase makes it more intriguing since Air Gear is the only inline skating anime out there. Judging by how awesome the show is, fans won’t mind another anime on this thrilling sport.

As we said earlier, we’d be discussing the anime in detail in this Air Gear Wiki. To do that, let’s get into the plot of the show and whether it’s an anime worth watching.

Wiki

Plot Review

Air Gear puts a fun and futuristic twist to roller skating and features Air Trecks, motorized inline skates. These Air Trecks or ATs are the current trend in the country and come with a speed limiter to ensure the safety of the user and everyone around them.

However, some of the younger generation is brave enough to tamper with these devices and remove the speed limiter, and are called Storm Riders who form teams to battle in the underground races.

Itsuki Minami is the protagonist of the story who forms a team called Kogarasumaru with his friends as he becomes a fan of the ATs.

Is It Worth Watching?

Air Gear is a great anime to watch if you’re in the mood for something exciting and light-hearted. It’s only 25 episodes long and is easier to binge than some of the other sports anime with several seasons. The characters of the show are pretty fun and easy to root for, though some will surely get on your nerves.

The ecchi elements of the show also appeal to a lot of fans. The story is pretty decent too and the animation is quite smooth for its time. For some light-hearted adrenaline dose, you can give Air Gear a try on Funimation. Now let’s see the main characters of the show in this Air Gear Wiki.

Air Gear: 10 Main Characters

1) Itsuki Minami

Protagonist of the show, Itsuki is an energetic teenager hooked on AT racing. He lives with the Noyamano family and it was them who introduced Itsuki to AT racing. He also forms the AT racing group, Kogarasumaru and is often called Ikki and Crow.

2) Kazuma Mikura

Kazuma Mikura is Ikki’s childhood best friend and joins Kogarasumaru after Ikki forms it. He is a very fast AT racer, having several tricks up his sleeve. While Ikki used to bully him when they were kids, their friendship has improved since then. Kazuma considers Ikki to be one of the most important parts of his life.

3) Akito/Agito Wanijima

Akito Wanijima is the Fang King of the Bloody Road along with his dissociative personality, Agito. Both personalities are contrasting, with Akito innocent and mellow while Agito is aggressive and violent. Akito and Agito leave the Wind SWAT team to join Kogarasumaru.

4) Sora Takeuchi

Sora Takeuchi is the main antagonist of Air Gear. He is the one who formed the Sleeping Forest and became its first Wind King. Sora is originally a gravity child and that’s why he wants to find the Sky Regalia. He outwardly appears as a carefree and perverted man but his true cold and manipulative nature rests behind the facade.

5) Ringo Noyamano

Ringo is the third Noyamano sister who succeeded the Sleeping Forest and the title of Thorn Queen from her sister. She grew up alongside Ikki and has deep feelings for him, though she never expresses them. Ringo is shy and studious in her normal life while becoming more confident and assertive as the Thorn Queen.

6) Issa Mihotoke

Formerly the leader of Night Kings, Issa Mihotoke joins Kogarasumaru after Ikki defeats his team. Issa is a huge man that appears obese but isn’t. His large body is a result of the blood pooling in his gut because of his overreactions. His nickname is Buccha.

7) Onigiri

Onigiri is the perverted childhood friend of Ikki who joins Kogarasumaru. He has a special way of riding an AT: he sits on it upside down and peeks up girls’ skirts. Onigiri sweats a lot and calls that sweat “Smell Road”. While it is a nuisance most of the time, it has its moment in racing.

8) Emily Adachi

Emily Adachi is one of team Kogarasumaru’s friends and supporters. She has a crush on Kazumi and always tries to help him when she can. Emily is in the track team and has a surprising amount of tenacity and endurance. She’s also a good friend of Yayoi and Ringo.

9) Yayoi Nakayama

Like Emily, Yayoi Nakayama is Kogarusumaru’s friend and supporter. She initially bullied Ikki with Emily under Bucchi’s influence but later became good friends with him. Yayoi also has a special bond with Agito.

10) Rika Noyamano

Rika Noyamano is the eldest Noyamano sister and the first Thorn Queen. She used to be Sora’s lover during their reign but their relationship broke apart after Kilik betrayed Sora. This also prompted her to quit AT and she worried Ikki will suffer the same fate as her.

5 Skating Anime Similar to Air Gear

1) SK8 The Infinity

Out of the five anime listed in this Air Gear Wiki, SK8 The Infinity might be the one most similar to Air Gear. The show features a new and exciting theme of underground skateboarding and caught the attention of its viewers on the very first episode.

The story is about Reki, a teenage boy obsessed with underground skateboarding and a Canadian transfer student, Langa, who has never skateboarded in his life. As the two become best friends, Reiki teaches skateboarding to Langa who turns out to be a genius in it.

The series has several thrilling skateboarding races that makes it such a fun watch. It also has plenty of comedy to keep things light and entertaining. All in all, it’s a good watch for sports enthusiasts.

2) Yuri!!! On Ice

Yuri!!! On Ice captured the attention of anime enthusiasts with its intriguing characters, moving storyline and jaw-dropping animation. Even the music and the whole vibe of the show is noteworthy. The story is about Yuri Katsuki, a Japanese figure-skater at the bottom of his short career and Victor Nikiforoz, the famous figure-skating world champion Yuri has admired forever.

When one day Victor suddenly comes to Japan, declaring he’d coach Yuri, his life begins to change. But the change isn’t instant and Yuri will have to reach inside himself that makes him great to reach his true potential. In the process, a beautiful and enduring bond forms between these two men.

For every anime fan, Yuri!!! On Ice is a must watch. Its popularity reaches beyond mere suggestion, so we’ll leave it here and move to the next.

3) Skate-Leading Stars

Skate-Leading Stars also feature figure skating, but instead of Singles, it focuses on team skate-leading. The protagonist of the story is Kensei, a talented figure skater who loses his interest in the sport when his rival, Reo, refuses to acknowledge him.

As he enters high school, he stays connected with various sports but never commits to one. When he hears Reo has left single figure skating to join skate-leading, he does the same with the insistence of his classmate, Hayato.

With an almost all-male cast, Skate-Leading Stars is a typical sports anime. The story is fairly predictable and the animation isn’t too smooth. But if you’re a skating enthusiast, do give it a try.

4) Bubble

Bubble isn’t strictly a skating anime but it has some heart-pounding moments of the sport. It is set in a futuristic world where there has been a sudden downpour of bubbles on Earth, submerging Japan into an ocean that defies gravity. 

With this ocean comes a thrilling sport where teenagers jump from one bubble to another. Our protagonist, Hibiki, is particularly talented in this bubble-hopping. One day when he hears sounds from the Tokyo Tower, he goes to explore it, only to fall into the sea.

He is saved by Uta, a strange and mysterious girl. With Uta, Hibiki will have to find out the truth about the sound he’s been hearing. The anime movie is very beautifully animated, an expected result from Wit Studio, and is enchanting to watch.

5) Ginban Kaleidoscope

Unlike the rest of the anime we mentioned here, Ginban Kaleidoscope focuses more on romance and drama than sports. It is a story about Tazusa, a young Japanese figure-skater who got into an accident and Pete, a Canadian stunt pilot who dies in the same accident. It is with Pete’s heart that Tazusa survives, leading him to haunt her as he waits 100 days on Earth before moving to the afterlife.

In this inmate setting, romance soon blossoms between the ill-mannered girl and the ghost. Though it is primarily a love story, it features some very beautiful figure skating routines. Give it a try if you like both sports and romance.

With this, we conclude the Air Gear Wiki. The popular show ended years ago but its legacy carries on. It may not be one of the best made sports anime or even one with the best story, but the show certainly has its own charm and appeal. Go watch the show as we bring you more exciting contents like this.

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Anamika Das

Anamika loves words and stories and putting them to pages. She also loves anime, manga, books, movies and everything fantasy. She has been a fan of anime since childhood and her admiration for it only grew with years. Her passion for writing is even more elevated by writing about the things she loves.