Archive for the Air Master Category


Air Master Anime, Volume 2

May 21st, 2005

No, you didn’t miss a review of Air Master Volume 1. Anime Castle was out of that volume when I was there to pick it up. Since I already know the story, I just took it from Vol. 2, and there we are.

To start, I reviewed this series way back on November 17, 2003 (it’s still running and yes, I am still reading) and the anime on February 26, 2004. If you want to know what the story is about and why we care – read those reviews.

Now, here is my review of the Geneon release of Air Master on DVD:

Geneon Entertainment Customer Service
c/o The Right Stuf International
PO Box 71309
Des Moines, IA 50325

Dear Sir or Madam;

My name is Erica Friedman, the President of Yuricon. The over 1200 members of Yuricon greatly enjoy many Geneon anime series, so we take it rather seriously when we feel that the quality of a DVD is exceptionally low. I am therefore writing to address two issues on behalf of my organization.

(I have snipped a portion here that is not relevant)

But far worse is the DVD of Air Master. The subtitles are incredibly small and hard to read – and they appear to actually be a close-caption track, rather than subtitles. It is incredibly annoying to pay good money for such a shoddy product. I and many of the members of Yuricon are perfectly aware that Toei anime seems to tend towards sub-par quality, but we do believe that the translation – which *is* yours – is poor enough that, at times it seems as if we are watching a bootlegged translation from Hong Kong, rather than the legally licensed version for America. It seems utterly strange to us that your translator was not familiar with shumai, a common Japanese dumpling (translated as siu-may) or Lucha (translated as Roo-cha) Master being named after the luchadores, Mexican masked wrestlers. Neither of these are particularly obscure terms…

We at Yuricon look forward to the day when Geneon licenses Maria-sama ga Miteru for the American audience, and we very much hope that your company strives to improve the quality of your translation and subtitling by then. And we do expect to see a revision in future volumes of Air Master. The current subtitling is simply inexcusably bad.

(Another small, irrelevant snip)

On behalf of the members of the Yuricon community, we thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Erica Friedman

***

You will notice that I left in the address for Geneon. Please feel free to write them and politely express your disapproval of this product. It’s the only way they will know what we think.





Yuri Manga: Air Master

February 26th, 2004

Okay, I’m a little tired of talking about shoujo Yuri titles, so I thought I’d cover a few shounen Yuri series of note.

Air Master

I’ve talked about this one before, I know, but it bears repeating. The basic plot is…well, there isn’t really a plot. It’s about an ex-gymnastics champion turned street fighter. Her gymnastics skill manifest as a distinctly unique fighting style which involves seriously BIG air. Hence the name, “Air Master.”

Aikawa Maki is a great heroine. Competent and cool in her millieu, sort of dorky and insecure outside it, she’s surprisingly human and likable. Her friends are quirky and funny, and her enemies even quirkier and, in many cases, funnier. Of these, the best, by far and away is Sakiyama Kaori, who may possibly be the funniest, most imaginative and most likeable psychotic to ever grace a manga or anime.

The Yuri comes in right at the start, as Maki’s new friend Mina develops a raging crush on Maki, which quickly develops into a raging lust for her. In the anime, this is seriously minimalized, but in the manga, there’s some terrific scenes as we get to see what Mina’s actually thinking (hoping/wishing/fantasizing ) about in regards to Maki.

There’s a few downsides to this series – for one thing, the manga art is *seriously,* distractingly ugly.  There’s some intense fighting violence (which I quite like) and some serious sexual violence, as well (which I don’t.) Episode 24 of the anime is one of the single most violent 20 minutes I’ve ever seen animated that didn’t involve guns or mutating things. The little old lady who sat next to me on the plane while I watched it on my computer, almost had a heart attack, poor thing. And there is unneeded and egregious, yet expected service.

On the good side, you have great characters – I mean REALLY great. With the exception of one or two characters, even Maki’s opponents are engaging and fun. In the tradition of shounen fighting anime, most defeated opponents become allies, so it’s nice to have them stick and around and keep coming back. Rematches with defeated opponents are actually better than the original fights, as Maki’s skills keep improving over the series.

Ratings

(Manga) Art – 2
(Anime) Art – 6
Characters – 9
Story – 7
Yuri – 8

Overall – 8





Yuri Manga: Air Master

November 17th, 2003

Air Master is a decidedly Seinen series about a former gymnastics star turned street fighter. Don’t look for complexities of plot here, kids – the fights *are* the plot. Despite the silliness of the basic story, I cannot recommend Air Master enough to anyone who doesn’t mind sheer mindless violence and some explicit sexual situations, not all of which are pleasant.

Aikawa Maki, aka “Air Master” is a 16-year old transfer student to Tomato Girl’s High School. She’s befriended by Yuu, Michiru, Renge and Mina at a local game center. Yuu, a kogal, picks a fight with two guys who are gaping at Mina’s enormously oversise breasts, and ends up on the ground, beaten and bloody. Renge, an immature, repulsive whelp, can only cry, but Maki steps up and beats the heck out of the guys – securing her a place in street fighter history, and four lifelong friends.

Each of the girls is a blast, with perhaps, the exception of Renge who is *so* horrible and repulsive, that she becomes funny in an appalling way. Yuu is, as I mentioned, a kogal, and proudf of it, while Michiru is a pretty normal, responsible girl and Yuu’s best friend. Mina is described as a “real live rich girl.” She goes to a different school than the others, but has been Yuu’s friend since childhood. Almost immediately, Mina takes a liking to Maki, but after Maki saves her from the mashers…Mina’s like turns into a crush, which quickly escalates into full-blown love and lust. (Some of the most fun scenes are those where Mina indulges in fantasizing about what she’d do with Maki if she had a chance.) Maki eventually comes to return both emotions, but don’t expect it to be played for anything but giggles and fanservice – this is a *really* seinnen manga.

There is a surprising amount of genuine character development, considering the point of the manga is the fighting, and with the exception of one really awful character, everyone is pretty likeable – Maki’s opponents tend become her allies after she defeats them, in fine old fighting manga tradition.

The biggest downside is the art, which is REALLY bad. But the story and characters more than make up for it, IMHO. 19 issues are currently available, as is a 27-episode anime (which I’ll review next month), so don’t hesitate – go find a Kinokuniya or other manga store or click the picture above for the Amazon JP page, and order Air Master today! You’ll be glad you did.

Ratings:

Story- 8
Art – 2
Characters – 10

Overall – 8