Air Master

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Air Master
Manga volume 1 cover
エアマスター (Ea Masutā)
Genre	Action, comedy[1]
Manga
Written by	Yokusaru Shibata
Published by	Hakusensha
Imprint	Jets Comics
Magazine	Young Animal
Demographic	Seinen
Original run	1996 – 2006
Volumes	28
Anime television series
Directed by	Daisuke Nishio
Produced by	Hiroshi Yamashita Manabu Tamura Atsushi Kido
Written by	Michiko Yokote
Music by	Yoshihisa Hirano
Studio	Toei Animation
Licensed by	NA Geneon USA (former)
Original network	Nippon TV
Original run	April 1, 2003 – September 30, 2003
Episodes	27 (List of episodes)
Anime and manga portal

Air Master (エアマスター, Ea Masutā) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yokusaru Shibata. The manga was serialized in the Hakusensha seinen manga magazine Young Animal from 1996 to 2006, with its chapters collected 28 tankōbon volumes. The story focuses on Maki Aikawa, an ex-gymnast turned street fighter. A 27-episode anime television series adaptation was directed by Daisuke Nishio and produced by Toei Animation, Nippon TV and VAP. The anime was licensed in North America through a partnership between Toei and Geneon USA. However, only a few episodes of the series were released in the region before the cancellation of the deal, which was due to the poor quality and large number of DVD returns to Geneon.

Plot[]

Behind the scenes of the hustle and bustle of everyday life in Tokyo, there exist many people who strive to become stronger by competing against each other in street fights. Maki Aikawa is a 16-year-old high school student. A former gymnast, Maki adapts her skills to a different way of life — street fighting. The only thing that truly makes her feel alive is the rush and pressure experienced while fighting. With amazing power and grace, she fights opponent after opponent, repeatedly demonstrating the gymnastic talent that earns her the street name, "Air Master". Eventually, Maki is exposed to a fighting league of sorts, known as the "Fukamichi Rankings".

The Fukamichi Rankings consist of the world's greatest street fighters and martial artists. The Fukamichi Ranking fights are held for various reasons. Firstly, many fighters wish to test themselves, achieving the highest rank possible and stretching themselves to their physical limits. However, there is also a corporate side to the competitions, with many viewers around the world eager to watch the brutal yet awe-inspiring showdowns. Each Fukamichi ranker is paid a respective amount for winning within their fight. Maki, seeking to quench her thirst for that pressure or buzz she experiences only through fighting and to find her place within this world, scales the Fukamichi Rankings, clashing with the world's greatest fighting prodigies.

Characters[]

• Maki Aikawa (相川 摩季, Aikawa Maki) Formerly a gymnast who trained under her now-deceased mother, Maki uses her acrobatic skill in her fighting style to increase freedom of movement. Her attacks combine vertiginous leaps and somersaults with the fearsome, furious power of her kicks and throws. Maki has the ability to replicate most nearly any move she gets hit with or sees, and when in combat possesses an awe-inspiring resilience, presence, and strength of will. Since her relationship with her father is conflicted, she lives alone. Maki seems to enjoy street fighting for the 'rush' rather than any sense of revenge or honor. When not fighting, Maki tends to stick out in a crowd due to her unusual height (6 feet, which is very tall for a Japanese girl) and appearance, preferring to follow her quartet of friends quietly. Her younger sister comments that Maki is somewhat simple-minded and, despite her great strength, is reluctant to deal with several people obsessed with her. She becomes vulnerable to attack, for a moment, whenever she gets approached in any romantic way, especially with Julietta Sakamoto. Her signature moves are the "Air Spin Driver" and the "Air Cutter"; she is later shown to master the art of Air Flow. Maki is voiced by Romi Park.
• Yuu Takigawa (滝川 ユウ, Takigawa Yū) Yuu is a friend of Maki and shares some of the same interest as Renge. She is a fan of the singer Uzumi Mika. She is taking karate lessons and also has a crush on Shinnosuke, and sometimes she fights with Michiru about Shinnosuke. Yuu is voiced by Mariko Suzuki.
• Michiru Kawamoto (川本 みちる, Kawamoto Michiru) Michiru is a friend of Maki. She also has a crush on Shinnosuke, but becomes upset when he admits his love for Maki. She is a fan of the model, Nono Rakuko. Yuu and Michiru make a great duo and are seldom seen apart. Michiru is voiced by Masumi Asano.
• Mina Nakanotani (中ノ谷 美奈, Nakanotani Mina) One of Maki's shyer friends, who goes to a (presumably rich) private school and is most noted for having natural but oversized K-cup breasts that she is extremely self-conscious about. In addition to this, Mina is hopelessly in love with Maki who reacts very friendly but discombobulated to Mina (she would even go as far as stealing a kiss from Maki, pressing up against her, and doing one act of nude sexsomnia to her sleeping but injured body), making this the main reason why her friends shame her for having a creepy school-girl crush. However, like Maki, she has her share of fans and admirers as well; including Reiishi Mishima and many members of Kinjirou's Black Suit gang. Mina's favorite food is Belgian chocolate cake, she has been a fan of Nanjou Remon's novels since she was a child and her measurements are claimed by herself to be 105-61-92 in centimeters. Mina is voiced by Yukana.
• Renge Inui (乾 蓮華, Inui Renge) The group's extremely short friend. Renge has a penchant for eating obsessively, yet she is always thin (sometimes when she eats a lot, she is shown to have a belly). Renge is the stereotypical overexcited kid with a tendency to whine, but she serves as a cheering squad. She later acquires a kitten that she carries with her most of the time. She also has "psychic" powers. Her character was not well received by fans because of her annoying voice. Renge is voiced by Tomoko Kaneda.
• Shiro Saeki (佐伯 四郎, Saeki Shiro) Maki's estranged father who was only 15 years old when she was born, which would make him around 31 when he is first introduced, Shiro is a four-time pro-fighting champion. He runs a dojo and raises Maki's half-sister, Miori. He is later beaten by Sakamoto, but they manage to become friends later on. Shiro is voiced by Toshio Furukawa.
• Miori Saeki (佐伯 みおり, Saeki Miori) Maki's (somewhat) bratty, younger half-sister. Do to having the same martial-artist father, Miori also shares some of her older sister's fighting ability, although she lacks her gravity-defying gymnastic skills, which Maki evidently inherited from her mother. In her first appearance, she suddenly attacks Maki. She is about the same height as Renge, though she is younger. She later decides to move in with Maki and grows to idolize Sanpagita Kai. Miori is voiced by .
• Kaori Sakiyama (崎山 香織, Sakiyama Kaori) A wannabe model with an obsessive, one-sided rivalry with Maki. Kaori later becomes a moderately good fighter, and accomplishes things by sheer force of will and determination. She is loud and over-dramatic but during extended fights will devolves into a berserker that will not admit defeat unless violently knocked out. A running gag in the show is how most characters refer to her by her full name in a dramatic fashion, probably due to her tendency to do the same. When enraged, her appearance has been compared to Devilman. Due to a brutal assault she suffered in high school, Kaori is deaf in her right ear. Kaori is voiced by Mika Doi.
• Julietta Sakamoto (坂本 ジュリエッタ, Sakamoto Jurietta) A scruffy but handsome ghost writer who becomes obsessed with Maki, while the latter is totally uninterested in him and finds his behavior very creepy. He is a smooth talker but prone to overly aggressive declarations of love, sometimes bordering on assault, towards Maki, who he calls "My Jenny" after a woman whose picture he was obsessed with as a child. He tends to always kiss her and declare his love for her when they are together, even during their fights, throwing her off balance (this is usually done for comedic effect). He has three women who are head over heels for him: Uzumi Mika (a famous singer), Nono Rakuko (a famous model), and Nanjou Remon (a famous novelist). He ignores them all since he is fixated on marrying Maki and making her move in with him. Maki is physically capable of beating him down in his insane-like "distracted" state of mind ; however, she did have a hard time with him at first. He can take a huge beating and still be able to fight. In a fight with another opponent he once had both his legs and one of his arms broken but he was still able to fight. Sakamoto usually only fights with extremely fast and devastating kicks. He usually leaves his hands in his pockets while fighting even though he has a powerful punch. It is said his strength is legendary on the street. He becomes rank seven in the Fukamichi Rankings after defeating Nobuhiko Fukamichi in a single kick. Julietta is voiced by Kenyu Horiuchi.
• Kinjiro Kitaeda (北枝 金次郎, Kitaeda Kinjirō) Leader of the League of Black-suited Gentlemen. He claims to hate women yet he likes Maki because he thinks she is different. He is a good fighter and has great punching power. He once took down a bear with one punch. He has a technique where he can create an afterimage of himself attacking so the opponent will be fooled into acting prematurely. He had his first kiss stolen by one of his male subordinates, Nagato the Long Fist, while Nagato was fighting Fukamichi. Kinjiro is ranked ninth within the Fukamichi rankings. Kinjiro is voiced by Kentaro Ito.
• Kai Sanpagita (サンパギータ・カイ, Sanpagīta Kai) Though she is not initially involved in the street-fighting tournament Maki joins, Sampaguita Kai was one of her most difficult opponents. Using a similar fighting style to Maki, Kai faces her in a tag-team match during a women's wrestling tournament. She becomes obsessed, like a number of Maki's earlier opponents, with beating Maki. She's the younger sister of Lucha Master, who taught her how to fight ever since she was young. Kai gained the ninth rank within the Fukamichi Rankings after beating Shun Yashiki, however she is narrowly defeated by Kinjiro Kitaeda, which leaves her ranked ten. Kai's signature moves are the "Izakaya Bomber" and the "Ultimate Sky Screwbomb", she learns the former from her former mentor/wrestling partner Hayase Mio and the latter is of her own creation. Kai is voiced by .
• Shinnosuke Tokita (時田 伸之助, Tokita Shinnosuke) A guy who challenges Maki early on, but later temporarily joins the group. He seems to have a crush on Maki. He fights with a long staff that can separate into a sansetsukon that he's been training with since age of five. He later gets into a fight with Reiichi, and gets the upper hand on him, but Tsukio saves Reiichi and overwhelms Shinnosuke with his "Jack Hammer Punch". He seems to know kung fu, but his style was not specified in the anime. Voiced by Tomokazu Seki.
• Lucha Master (ルチャマスター, Rucha Masutā?) Lucha Master is, as the name implies, a masterful wrestler, styled after Mexican Luchadores. He always wears a mask, and he is the first major challenge Maki faces. He is one of only three characters who can use a similar sort of aerial combat to Maki. He is the older brother of Sanpaguita Kai, another character with a similar fighting style. Lucha Master is ranked twenty-first within the Fukamichi Rankings. Lucha Master is voiced by Unshō Ishizuka.
• Tsukio Taketsugu (武 月雄, Taketsugu Tsukio?) Another early opponent. He is a construction worker who has a furious punch similar to a jackhammer, but is not as fast as some of the other street fighters. Maki often overlooks him (especially since, after his first appearance, Lucha Master quickly showed up) and this makes him furious. Tsukio is ranked twenty-second within the Fukamichi rankings. Tsukio is voiced by Kihachiro Uemura.
• Reiichi Mishima (三島麗一, Mishima Reiichi) A sort of hanger-on to Tsukio Taketsugu, Reiichi is sometimes a coward and a klutz. Though he could only fight well with a bike, using it like it is part of his own body, he is still only a moderately skilled street fighter. He also has a crush on Mina Nakanotani and often fantasizes about being her hero; when faced with the actual necessity of saving her from Kinjiro's mob he fights bravely but is eventually overwhelmed and is forced to yield leadership to stronger fighters. Reiichi is voiced by Daisuke Sakaguchi
• Fukamichi (深道, Fukamichi) The man who runs the street fighting tournament, and who gave his name to the ranking system, Fukamichi is the one who decides who's qualified to be in the Tournament rankings. He watches the fights and has videos of them streamed to his laptop, which he then broadcasts all over the world on the internet. He does not participate in the fights, but he has been shown to be extremely strong and fast. He has a younger brother, Nobuhiko Fukamichi, who participates in the competition using weaponized fireworks. He has a hobby of critiquing restaurants and posting the results on the internet. In the final episode, Fukamichi reveals that he created the ranks to gather warriors who could defeat Eternal, the first ranked fighter. Voiced by Takehito Koyasu.
• Shun Yashiki (屋敷 俊, Yashiki Shun) Tsukio's younger cousin. Originally ninth place in the Fukamichi Tournament, but after losing his rank to Kai, he decided to beat the eighth place holder. He is a ki manipulator and uses a technique where he uses his ki to create an osmotic punch, inducing large amount of pressure within an opponent's body and resulting in a loss of a massive amount of liquid within themselves, incapacitating them. Since he uses his ki for this technique, he can only use it a certain number of times until he needs to rest to build up his ki again. He teaches this technique to Kaori Sakiyama. Voiced by Kazunari Tanaka.
• Yuki Minaguchi (皆口 由紀, Minaguchi Yuki) is ranked number four and has been labeled "The Strongest Woman" in the Fukamichi rankings. Her full fighting style emphasizes on counterattacks as well as cutting and stabbing techniques with her hands. She is the second person to ever beat Maki in a fight. She starts her fight as a calm and collected individual, though Maki sees through her and knows that she likes to fight. It is implied that she was killed during her fight with Eternal, as she was knocked unconscious by him slamming her into the ground and was thus incapable of escaping the building collapsing from the sheer force of Maki and Eternal's final attacks.
• Yoshinori Konishi (小西 良徳, Konishi Yoshinori) The third place holder in the Fukamichi Rankings, Konishi believes he has attained perfection and specializes in grappling and submission techniques. He is shown to easily beat Shiro Saeki, who's also proficient in submission techniques, and is capable of fighting on par with (and eventually) defeating Sakamoto. Voiced by Katsuyuki Konishi
• Eternal (Eterunaru) The first place holder in the Fukamichi ranking, he seems to be one of many "Eternals" throughout time and is followed by an enigmatic female medium capable of contacting them. Eternal is one of if not the strongest fighters in the world, capable of leveling an entire building in one punch. He is defeated only by the combined efforts of Maki and Yuki, both of whom he decimated in a one-on-one fight. He disappears after the building he and Maki fought in collapses, implying he was either killed by the collapse or left the building before Maki woke up.

Media[]

Manga[]

Air Master was serialized in the Hakusensha magazine Young Animal from 1996 to 2006. The individual chapters have been collected into 28 tankōbon, which were published between July 29, 1997, to May 29, 2006.^[2][3]

Anime[]

An anime adaptation of Air Master was produced by Nippon Television, VAP and Toei Animation, and originally aired on NTV from April 1 to September 23, 2003. It was directed by Daisuke Nishio, with Michiko Yokote handling series composition, Yoshihiko Umakoshi designing the characters and Yoshihisa Hirano composing the music. At the time the adaptation was produced, the original story had not yet been finished, so it has its own unique twists, including changes to the endgame storyline. The episodes were compiled onto nine separate DVDs, which were released in Japan by VAP between July 24, 2003, and March 24, 2004. Each DVD contains three episodes and a bonus yonkoma by manga author Yokusaru Shibata.^[4]

Geneon Entertainment had signed an agreement with Toei to license an English-dubbed version of the anime in the United States and Canada. It was also announced that the series would air on the Canadian cable channel Razer, though it never earned a timeslot and was cancelled before broadcast.^[5] Ultimately only three DVDs of Air Master were released in North America, with the fourth and fifth being solicited but cancelled due to an abrupt termination of partnership between the two companies.^[6] Region 1 DVDs for the anime, along with two other Toei titles, received very little advertising and suffered from poor quality, resulting in dismal sales and a large number of returns to Geneon.^[7] In 2009, Funimation gained the rights to Air Master and began streaming it on the company's official website.^[8] The anime was also streamed on Joost.^[9]

Episodes[]

Reception[]

Eric Friedman reviewed the anime and manga for Okazu. She called the manga "a few shounen Yuri series," calling Aikawa Maki is a "great heroine" with Maki's friend, Mina having a crush on her. She criticized the manga's art for being "distractingly ugly" even as she praised the characters as great.^[10] She described the anime as "great" despite the fact that the art is "ugly," arguing that there is a "nice handful of yuri to hold onto" in characters like Mina's love for Maki. She also praised Sakiyama Kaori as "totally psychotic, violent and strange," while also admirable and lovable, and the music score even as she noted the amount of fan service in the series.^[11]

References[]

External links[]

• Official Air Master website (Toei Animation) (in Japanese)
• Official Air Master website (VAP) (in Japanese)
• Air Master (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia