Search - Air Master, Vol. 3 on DVD

THE MOB RULES!

Sesho | Pasadena, TX USA | 06/06/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The first three episodes of Air Master Volume 3 concern a gang of high school thugs known as the "Black Union of Righteousness and Sincerity". They have supposedly come on a field trip to Tokyo but their real purpose is to proclaim their dominance over all the fighters in the area. They also have a lecherous interest in Mina Nakanotani, the well-endowed member of the Air Master cast. She is famous throughout the country from perverted photos passed among the male populace of Japan. The Union decides to kidnap her and take her back with them. The first three episodes are mainly concerned with almost all of the characters in the series banding together against the seemingly endless supply of Black Union fighters as they attempt to kidnap Mina. Their leader might even be able to defeat Maki! The last episode is about Maki and Sakiyama, the hopeless supermodel and wanna-be rival of Maki, teaming as pro wrestlers. A surprise is in store for Sakiyama as their first opponents include an old school enemy of Kaori.

As usual, the fight sequences here are second to none. It was also nice to see all the characters working for a common purpose. No matter how bloody things get, the show still retains its humorous edge by never taking itself too seriously. Some of the moves are ludicrous in order to remind you of the fun. But there are some deeper themes here, like sacrificing for your friends, and even Sakiyama has some tragedy in her past that needs to be revenged. The close captioning of the first two volumes in the subtitles seems to have been gotten rid of. Also, chapter stops have been added to this disk, which were also missing from the first two. There are no extras whatsoever."

Take to the Air

Neil Ford | Sydney, Australia | 09/29/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Air Master" suffered a lot of problems on its aborted American DVD release. Subpar DVD programming was compounded by unhelpful "funny" subtitling, and although things had improved by volume 3, all commercial momentum had been lost, and the project stalled. Because of this, I was able to pick up the three existing volumes for $3 each, and, to be honest, I wasn't expecting much for my money. But I was pleasantly surprised, despite the above-mentioned problems, and liked it enough to get the rest of the series on "import".

This is, of course, a fighting show, which means you can expect long fights combined with interior monologues, an emphasis on victory and personal growth through strong "fighting spirit" (with no allowance made for the laws of physics or biology!), and the hero becoming firm friends with each foe she defeats along her journey. She? That's right - the twist is that the Air Master is a girl. But don't worry, no concession is made to prettiness and sweetness. Maki and her schoolgirl friends are all fun characters, but when they're together, the emphasis is on undermining the typical shoujo conventions: Maki is gangly and pretty much a dope, Mina has economy-size breasts and is overtly in love with Maki, and Renge is an horrific parody of the stereotypical super-kawaii child-like friend - she's short, sure, but ugly as hell, greedy and loud - and everyone thinks she's adorable.

I was inspired to post this review after I finally got around to listening to the dub. I'm definitely no fan of dubs, and, given this release's reputation, I was expecting a disaster. This dub is actually quite good, with its core of female characters who for once don't all sound the same. Maki is pretty close, though not as dopey as the original. Julie Lemieux does a terrific job of matching the original Renge, and is the highlight of the dub. The dubbed Sakiyama Kaori was a bit disappointing, if only because the original Japanese performance (by Doi Mika) was so brilliant - Kaori's manic determination to succeed made her the highlight, and ultimately the most likeable character, of the original version.

Anime fans should be able to pick these up cheap, and be well entertained. (If you are insistent on subs you'll have to go to an alternative source for a better version.) It's true that you won't get the second half of the series, which has more fighting and a boss battle at the end, but, like most fighting shows, the ending isn't really conclusive, because of course they're following the manga, and also hoping to become an ongoing series (which hasn't happened as far as I know). However, volume 3 contains Sakiyama Kaori's shining moment (final episode of this DVD), which for me was really the highlight of the series."