FROM MANGA TO VIDEO GAME: Air Gear

Manga: Air Gear
Publisher: Kodansha
Mangaka: Oh! great
Genre: Action, Sports, Science Fiction, Bopunk, Comedy
Concept Game: Air Gear
Genre: Action RPG

Air Gear is one of those manga that I put on hold because of too many redundancies in the story which created a stagnated feeling while reading the manga. It was once one of my top 3 manga but slowly lost that spot to bleach of all manga lol. That aside I believe this manga has the perfect setting for a game, maybe more so than most.

Air Gear is a manga about a boy name Iksuki Minamai (baby face, Crow, Sky King), a 15 year old boy that lives with a family of sisters. The circumstances of how he came to be with these girls that are biologically unrelated to him are one of the many mysteries that attracted me to this series when I first saw its anime adaptation. Ikki as he is known by his peers is a free spirited, cocky type of character. Ikki and the girls he live with don’t seem to have parents, and as far as the story lets on his parents died in some unknown circumstances. One day Ikki comes across some ATs (Air Treks) in the house and decides to try them out. ATs are a kind of futuristic roller blade with a special engine in them that allow the rider to move at incredible speeds and do some amazing feats like riding up walls.
Ikki soon after trying the ATs realizes that he’s a natural at using them, and then forms a team (kogarasumaru) to compete against other teams with his ultimate goal being Trophaeum. Along his journey to the top he soon realizes that he is one of the few that can see the wing road;

• The first principle of the Wing Road is to run a low pressure by breaking the barrier front. the rider may also dissipate impact forces throughout the body.
• The second is “Gravity Control”, or the shifting of one’s centre of gravity in order to extend the height and distance of jumps.
• The third is “Wings”, a phenomenon which takes an existing tailwind and adds the user’s own wind to it.
• Number four is the riders ability to predict wind and pressure through scattering light.
• The final principle is “Catching Moon Drops”, or interfacing with the air. the rider creates a surface of air through differential pressure. This principle is required to master the Wind Regalia.

Ok now that we have a, bit of an intro to that world of Air Gear time to turn it into a game. So what should an Air Gear game be like? The first thought that may come to mind is jet set radio, but I’m not thinking that, or at least not too much of it. From a totally biased point of view I’ve found most anime series with huge casts and varied environments that are constantly changing and getting bigger and much more extravagant are best made into RPGs. Air Gear is one such anime/manga that I think would benefit from an RPG setting. It has a huge cast and many teams to consider. There can, should even be new on cannon teams that were not in the anime/manga. So let’s start painting this picture.

Picture the world of Air Gear, you create your character, you create your badge, and name. After that you visit the AT shop and get a basic AT setup. To get more money the main character has to do odd jobs like deliveries till he or she is competent enough to challenge other AT riders. Once the character is strong enough they can proceed to challenge any AT rider on the streets and may even be challenged by an npc while they are skating by. The likely hood of winning or losing should depend on the player’s level, type of AT, challenge and more factors. As the player wins more challenges he/she will begin to be noticed by more and more AT riders. This will be the point where they will have to start building a Team. This team will gain members as the player defeats other AT riders who may ask to join you or by some story plot line that puts the character among your ranks. The 5 main members of your team will be seen following your player as you skate down the streets and up walls.

For the mechanics I think the game can play like a blend between Jet set radio, Sonic and tony hawk games. The speed of sonic games is a perfect fit for an Air Gear race challenge, while adding some other features like the ability to attack your opponent while riding and even call in for support from your team. Also, the teammates that follow the main character when skating around the world shouldn’t just follow in a straight line but rather finding jumps, grinds and other obstacles along the way to perform skills on. This I believe would make for a more believable Air Gear game because the characters in the Anime/manga don’t ever really skate in a straight line, heck one of the characters skates upside down with the AT on his head. Other Challenges can be skill based and use less speed and more Tony Hawk like mechanics like the race Ikki did against Bucha in the school which required less speed and more skills to traverse the environment and collect the badges at the end. As the player levels up or beat boss characters they could earn points that can be used to customize their Tricks and even win new regalias for their ATs. The teammates should also not just be for support but also interchangeable characters that the player can use because of their unique skill sets to beat individual challenges that the main character may not be suited for or in a team battle where each team has a member pair off to challenge someone from the opposing team. When in an actual battle a battle system similar to that of the Naruto storm series could be a perfect match for the frantic over the top battles that take place in the Air Gear universe.

This concept can boast a large expansive world that can include Multiplayer, though I’d prefer to play it alone. With the right dev, script and team this game can be an amazing title that can entertain both western and eastern gamers alike without having to change any fundamental things for each version and also staying true to the source material while adding to the lore in a new and unique way.

This is my proposal for Air Gear: the Game. Did I miss anything? What is yours?