A long delayed review: Air Master aka The Secret Life of my Friend, Emily
So over Christmas break, yes, eight months ago, I sat down and watched Air Master. I had just listened to the Anime World Order review of it, done by Clarissa, and the show intrigued me again, so I dialed up the fansubs I had from years ago when I had basically downloaded the internet, and I began to watch.
I want to echo what AWO said about this show without just plain stealing it: this is the best show about fighting that has come out in the last two decades, possibly more. Air Master has all of the action that a fan of fighting, MMA or pro wrestling could want without the constipated looks and ten episodes to cover five minutes of time that one might find in a lesser show like Dragonball Z. The plot of the show is that ex-gymnast and very tall 16 year old Aikawa Maki has decided to become a street fighter. Because of her gymnastic training, she has amazing levels of control of her body while in the air, thus she is dubbed the Air Master. Maki fights after the death of her mother to find a sense of wonder that she lost in gymnastics when her mother died. So, no boys to impress, no family to avenge, Maki fights just for herself because she loves to fight.
This is pretty much the basic plot. Maki likes to fight, she wants to fight stronger people, she fights stronger people, adventures sometimes happen, but to directly steal Clarissa's line (and I've been stealing this a lot) this show is about fucking up someone's Christmas because you kicked them in the face.
If this show were just about fighting, that would make it worth watching, but Air Master manages to one-up a fighting show by using Maki's friends as parodies of otaku fetish stereotypes. So, one of Maki's friends, Mina, is a fanservice parody, in that she has giant boobs and a lesbian crush on Maki. Normally, this would be really annoying, but instead, because it's a parody, it's hilarious. Mina's boobs are the size where it's not attractive, and if you think it's attractive, there might be something wrong with you. Mina's boobs are the size where you wonder how she can stand up and it's actually kinda gross. So instead of making all the fanboys happy, they watch expecting something to wank to, Mina is designed to mock their desires, which gets increasingly hilarious as the show goes on. Another character, Renge, is the parody of the petite childish high school girl, in the vein of Chiyo from Azumanga Diaoh, only instead of being cute, Renge is quite possibly the most annoying character in all of anime. If you are watching this and you do not know the trope and you don't know it's a parody, Renge can turn you off to the show, but when you realize that not only is it a parody, but the voice actress who voices Renge is the same as the voice of Chiyo from Azumanga Daioh, her annoyance just gets more hilarious and insane as the show progresses. The show is chalk full of these parodies and references to things otaku like, things about other fighting shows that are bad, and general knowledge about fighting, MMA and pro-wrestling. Do you have to get all of it to enjoy it? No, not really, but you do have to understand enough to be able to understand a bit of it, or all of these parodies will overwhelm and annoy you.
The big negative that Air Master has is that it is not pretty. The character designs are more realistic and much less in the vein of what most people consider to be "anime" style (even though there is no such thing as anime style, and if you think there is, you're an idiot). I suppose someone could find them attractive, but I don't know who. While the designs are not pretty, the animation is stunning. There isn't a lot in the way of reused cells or scenes, the fights are amazingly choreographed and superbly animated, so while the designs are not pretty, every thing moves as perfectly as possible and the show never drags. It's impossible to get bored with what you are watching in this show.
So, should you watch Air Master?
If you have any familiarity with fighting, martial arts, pro wrestling, or you have liked and enjoyed fighting anime in the past, then this show is something you will probably like and should watch at least the first two episodes.
If you know a lot about anime tropes and enjoy well-executed parodies, Air Master has a lot to offer.
If you are one of my friends who doesn't watch much in the way of anime and you have no interest in fighting, this show will never grab you. If you've never seen a preview for a Jet Li movie and thought "That looks awesome," then there is nothing in Air Master for you.
If you are a hardcore Dragonball Z fan and you actually like it when Goku or Vegeta spend five episodes powering up looking like they are about to shit their pants, you are a bad person and you will not like Air Master.
At 27 episodes, you can plow through Air Master in a week, and it's readily available on Crunchyroll, Hulu and Funimation's site. The only problem is that the official subtitles are renowned for being horrible, so be wary of that. I watched this on fansubs, so I didn't have any problems with the subtitles.
The big reason why a lot of my friends should watch this show is if you know Emily, you know she went to China to be an English teacher for a while, or so she tells us. I believe that Air Master is the true story of what Emily actually did. She wasn't a teacher in China; she was a street fighter in Japan. I don't know... you watch and tell me... and let Emily know that it's time for the truth to come out.
I want to echo what AWO said about this show without just plain stealing it: this is the best show about fighting that has come out in the last two decades, possibly more. Air Master has all of the action that a fan of fighting, MMA or pro wrestling could want without the constipated looks and ten episodes to cover five minutes of time that one might find in a lesser show like Dragonball Z. The plot of the show is that ex-gymnast and very tall 16 year old Aikawa Maki has decided to become a street fighter. Because of her gymnastic training, she has amazing levels of control of her body while in the air, thus she is dubbed the Air Master. Maki fights after the death of her mother to find a sense of wonder that she lost in gymnastics when her mother died. So, no boys to impress, no family to avenge, Maki fights just for herself because she loves to fight.
This is pretty much the basic plot. Maki likes to fight, she wants to fight stronger people, she fights stronger people, adventures sometimes happen, but to directly steal Clarissa's line (and I've been stealing this a lot) this show is about fucking up someone's Christmas because you kicked them in the face.
If this show were just about fighting, that would make it worth watching, but Air Master manages to one-up a fighting show by using Maki's friends as parodies of otaku fetish stereotypes. So, one of Maki's friends, Mina, is a fanservice parody, in that she has giant boobs and a lesbian crush on Maki. Normally, this would be really annoying, but instead, because it's a parody, it's hilarious. Mina's boobs are the size where it's not attractive, and if you think it's attractive, there might be something wrong with you. Mina's boobs are the size where you wonder how she can stand up and it's actually kinda gross. So instead of making all the fanboys happy, they watch expecting something to wank to, Mina is designed to mock their desires, which gets increasingly hilarious as the show goes on. Another character, Renge, is the parody of the petite childish high school girl, in the vein of Chiyo from Azumanga Diaoh, only instead of being cute, Renge is quite possibly the most annoying character in all of anime. If you are watching this and you do not know the trope and you don't know it's a parody, Renge can turn you off to the show, but when you realize that not only is it a parody, but the voice actress who voices Renge is the same as the voice of Chiyo from Azumanga Daioh, her annoyance just gets more hilarious and insane as the show progresses. The show is chalk full of these parodies and references to things otaku like, things about other fighting shows that are bad, and general knowledge about fighting, MMA and pro-wrestling. Do you have to get all of it to enjoy it? No, not really, but you do have to understand enough to be able to understand a bit of it, or all of these parodies will overwhelm and annoy you.
The big negative that Air Master has is that it is not pretty. The character designs are more realistic and much less in the vein of what most people consider to be "anime" style (even though there is no such thing as anime style, and if you think there is, you're an idiot). I suppose someone could find them attractive, but I don't know who. While the designs are not pretty, the animation is stunning. There isn't a lot in the way of reused cells or scenes, the fights are amazingly choreographed and superbly animated, so while the designs are not pretty, every thing moves as perfectly as possible and the show never drags. It's impossible to get bored with what you are watching in this show.
So, should you watch Air Master?
If you have any familiarity with fighting, martial arts, pro wrestling, or you have liked and enjoyed fighting anime in the past, then this show is something you will probably like and should watch at least the first two episodes.
If you know a lot about anime tropes and enjoy well-executed parodies, Air Master has a lot to offer.
If you are one of my friends who doesn't watch much in the way of anime and you have no interest in fighting, this show will never grab you. If you've never seen a preview for a Jet Li movie and thought "That looks awesome," then there is nothing in Air Master for you.
If you are a hardcore Dragonball Z fan and you actually like it when Goku or Vegeta spend five episodes powering up looking like they are about to shit their pants, you are a bad person and you will not like Air Master.
At 27 episodes, you can plow through Air Master in a week, and it's readily available on Crunchyroll, Hulu and Funimation's site. The only problem is that the official subtitles are renowned for being horrible, so be wary of that. I watched this on fansubs, so I didn't have any problems with the subtitles.
The big reason why a lot of my friends should watch this show is if you know Emily, you know she went to China to be an English teacher for a while, or so she tells us. I believe that Air Master is the true story of what Emily actually did. She wasn't a teacher in China; she was a street fighter in Japan. I don't know... you watch and tell me... and let Emily know that it's time for the truth to come out.