Air Master (エアマスター) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yokusaru Shibata. It was serialized in Hakusensha's seinen manga magazine Young Animal from 1996 to 2006, with its chapters collected in 28 tankōbon volumes. The story focuses on Maki Aikawa, an ex-gymnast turned street fighter. A twenty-seven episode anime television series adaptation animated by Toei Animation was broadcast on Nippon Television from April to October 2003. It 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. Since then, the series has been made available for streaming on Crunchyroll.

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", which involves both her and many other fighters making a roster total of 44 competitors. 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

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by Yokusaru Shibata, Air Master was serialized in Hakusensha's seinen manga magazine Young Animal from 1996 to 2006. The chapters were collected in 28 tankōbon volumes released from July 29, 1997, to May 29, 2006.

Anime

A twenty-seven episode anime television series adaptation, produced by Nippon Television, VAP and Toei Animation, was broadcast on Nippon TV from April 2 to October 1, 2003. The series was directed by Daisuke Nishio, with Michiko Yokote handling series composition, Yoshihiko Umakoshi designing the characters and Yoshihisa Hirano composing the music. The opening theme is "Retsu no Matataki" (烈の瞬), performed by Japaharinet, and the ending theme is "Rolling1000toon", performed by Maximum the Hormone. VAP collected its episodes onto nine DVDs, released from July 24, 2003, and March 24, 2004; each DVD contained three episodes and a bonus yonkoma by manga author Yokusaru Shibata. In 2004, Geneon Entertainment signed an agreement with Toei to distribute the series in North America. 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. Ultimately only three DVDs of the series 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. The DVDs for the series, 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. In 2009, Funimation gained the rights to Air Master and began streaming it on the company's official website, and on Crunchyroll; it was also streamed on Joost.

Episodes

Reception

Erica 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. 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.