SK∞

So, this is my first mal review ever and I'm not a native English speaker but I hope that doesn't affect the review.
This review includes spoilers!

First of all I have to say: I'm absolutely disappointed. This anime wasted it's whole potential.

It starts of really nice, I liked Reki and Langa, even though they are a bit cliche but that wasn’t a big problem. Later some other characters were introduced, for example Cherry and Joe (who had a great dynamic together, gotta say).
The anime first focuses a lot on Reki and Langa and skating in general.
I myself have no clue about skateboarding so I don't know ... whether "S" is realistic or not but I was fine with it because it was kinda fun to watch the beefs. But then a certain someone showed up to ruin the mood.
I don't know what the creators were thinking when they planned Adam but this guy ruined the whole anime in my opinion. He is a really, really bad copy of Hisoka from HxH and he is one of the cringiest characters I've ever seen. His blabbering about marrying Langa and finding his Eve was so hard to watch, I cringed every time he opened his mouth. Also his whole behaviour was just ridiculous (I mean, hitting someone with your damn skateboard has nothing to do with skating anymore).
He is one of the most unnecessary and worst written antagonists I've ever came across (he is nearly as unnecessary as the red haired police officer, like, why was she even there?) And he RUINED the whole anime.
Also something that was quite weird (and unrealistic) were the people watching the beefs. They give a shit about Cherry getting hit by Adam with his skateboard because he is to "boring" in Adams opinion (which is just a big WTF).
Another character worth mentioning is Adam's... secretary (I guess? I already forgot his name lmao) because also WTf!? He’s getting treated like shit by Adam (he calls him dog and it didn't bother the secretary at all) and his only purpose is to bring a bit of "tension" into the tournament and a "sad backstory" for Adam (at which they fail miserably btw).

What I kinda liked was the "arc" focusing on Reki after he realised he is nothing special in comparison to Langa. I know this feeling very well and therefore could empathize with him easily. It was also nice that he didn't overcome this feeling within one episode and actually needed some time.

The last episode was just a cringefest and they didn't spare with cliches. Suddenly Langa makes Adam realise that skating is about fun and not only competing (who would have seen that coming?! Lmao) and they are all best buddies now. Aha.

Overall the anime is full of unrealistic scenarios, bad written characters and a lacking plot (well, if you could call it plot...).
I would have been totally fine watching Reki and Langa improve, competing with "normal" characters and Rekis down phase. That would have been enough...
I wouldn't recommend this anime bcs you don’t really learn anything about skating and the character cast is… something. It had some nice moments but that’s it. Overall it made me incredibly angry lmao (thank you Adam).
Yeah, that's it. Thanks for reading^^

So generic, so often seen, so clichéd...and yet so fun to watch. 'SK∞ The Infinity', a disappointing and at the same time highly interesting show, of which I think that it not only offers something for fans of the shounen or the sports genre, rather something for every person out there that loves anime.

Story - 4/10

Firstly, I have to admit that the idea of a skateboarding anime for sure is revolutionary, because until this show started airing, no other anime featured skateboarding as the main topic. But after all, you could also say that it's just another sports anime with comedy elements. And the concurrence ... in this genre with the likes of 'Haikyuu!!' or 'Kuroko no Basket' is pretty big.

So is this show able to offer something that hasn't been there yet? In terms of the story, sadly not.

You have your funny moments e.g. when Langa tries to learn some tricks and fails, you have your epic moments when Langa pulls off some cool tricks, you have your sad moments when some flashbacks kick in, and so on. And even though I've seen many scenes like this this in different anime, many shows managed to deliver these moments in their own special way. SK∞ relies on something that has been shown so many times in the past, that the effect that it wants to create touches the viewer on such a platonic level that they e.g. may smile about it, but do not really find it laughing because of the lack of creativity. And this is such a shame considering what a writer like Ichirou Ookuchi (Code Geass) is able to deliver. Everything seems so simple and ill-considered that one or the other viewer might even be bored.

Apart from the individual moments that I just mentioned, the story as a big construct isn't really any better. Almost everything is predictable, the actions of the characters, what they are going to say, my god, I could have told you the life story of all of them without knowing anyone. As I said, from someone who created something like 'Code Geass', probably one of the most intelligent stories that were ever written in the anime universe, this right here is a big downfall in terms of complexity and dramaturgy.

Skateboarding for the male audience, hot & cute boys for the female audience. This anime tries to appeal to everbody while at the same time failing miserably to be something innovative or special. And of course are a massive amount of people likely to be drawn to the familiar, but lovers of a well-considered and clever plot are less likely to be satisfied with the story that this anime offers.

Characters - 5/10

Talking about the characters, they show almost the same problem that the story suffers from. And this is, how could it be otherwise, the extreme simplicity of their personalities.

Reki, one of our protagonists, is the loud and slightly dumb kind of person, which also has a strong sense of justice (as seen as in the end of episode 3). The cool dude, which is loved by everyone, apart from the villain of course. You know, the kind of guy that never gives up and believes in the power of friendship. Does this sound familiar? Well, if you think about the fact that characters like this have appeared hundreds and thousands of times in older anime, it's really no surprise at all.

The same goes for Langa, because even though his rather quiet and thoughtful personality might feel a little refreshing for the viewer, this isn't something new, too. Langa serves as the absolute contrast to Reki, which shall create an effect of diversity. The chance that the viewer can relate at least to one of the protagonists is much higher now because of this diversity.

And I want to point out, that those character personalities could have suited the anime very well, e.g. 'Diamond no Ace' does this wonderfully as a sports anime with Sawamura and Furuya, who are constantly fighting for the starting position in their baseball team. However, if the characters have as little depth as Reki and Langa, this can't work.

Both seem to be a mixture of clichéd character traits that typical characters of a shounen anime do possess. The writers try to balance this with the enthusiasm for skateboarding, but just like a story, nothing can just replace a personality.

And like our two main characters, the personalities of the supporting characters are also as intriguing as a blank sheet of paper. Adam as the main villain doesn't differ from those "I want to rule the world for the sake of it" kind of idiots, even though his mysterious appearance gives him at least a little extra in terms of personality. Shadow's appearance as the bad guy who's actually not that bad, Cherry Blossom and Joe as the ones with some kind of rivalry, which just exists to entertain the fans and doesn't have a real meaning at all, Miya as the tsundere, which the viewer is intended to sympathize with, because of his 'sad' past, etc.

I can only say the same thing again as before: None of the people in this anime have anything that sets them apart, that makes them stand out, that makes them special. The roles are clearly distributed, and the fact that I'm able to recognize roles isn't really a good sign, because that means that a well-known pattern has been used here, in which everything is represented as standardized as possible. And something ordinary, something familiar, something worn out can't entertain anyone, can it?

Having said that, after digging through the personality issues, however, I have to give the developers credit for the fact that the character designs are really exceptional and outstanding. The outfits are pretty cool, a crazy and wild style, which perfectly reflects the theme of skateboarding.

Of course, the characters have been designed from their natural appearance in such a way that they correspond to their role model. Although I may have complained about classic role allocations, this fits here perfectly; especially Reki looks exactly how I would imagine a skater (in an anime). But also people like a Shadow or Miya are so well designed, that you can tell that the people who created them actually put some love into their amazing work. These are some great looks right here!

Art & Animation – 8.5/10

And since we were speaking of character designs, I have to admit that the art and animation in general are in a class of their own. I may have complained a lot about the story and the characters, but that is especially well done.

Let's start with the setting: The island of Okinawa, on which our story takes place, is perfectly represented by warm and pleasant colors. I've never been there, but this classic island feeling is conveyed very convincingly.
A scene that convinced me in this regard was when Reki and Langa were practicing tricks and then having an emotional conversation with each other, while the sun was going down in the background. Sitting side by side, both were looking at this beautiful scenery, which highlighted the scene in a wonderful and pleasant way, marvelously illustrating the mood of a perfect summer.

In contrast, the skateboard races and the underground world have a rather dark and dodgy atmosphere. This creates a more exciting mood, very different from the relaxing feeling that is delivered by the setting of the island. But that's exactly how it should be, because through a charged atmosphere, the anime can pull the viewer more into the spell during a race, if the colors had been chosen as with the island, it would not have worked. The rough, which emanates from this other world, fits perfectly.

In general, a wide range of colors has been used in this anime, which adds charm to everything. Using these colors correctly and not just painting around wildly is an art in itself. In this respect, it can be said that creative and inspired people were definitely at work here.

Imaginative, special, colorful, lively, so many words could be used to describe all of this. To get to the point: Great!

As for the animation, it's not a single bit worse. And this can actually be demonstrated in every scene, and not just in the key moments. And that, my dear friends of good animation, is a feast for the eyes.

The characters' movements are flawless, no budget cuts have been made in the skateboarding races, and even the CGI is so damn good that the viewer doesn't even notices it. And apart from 'Ufotable' there are a few exceptions that have managed to do this in terms of animation. And 'Bones' has definitely done this in the past, see e.g. my personally beloved 'Mob Psycho 100'.

To keep this short, the animation is wonderful. There is basically nothing to complain about. Of course it can still be done a bit better, but that would cost so much money and time that this is absolutely secondary. And in that sense, this anime does everything right in that regard.

Sound - 7.5/10

Even though this aspect is often ignored, good soundtracks and songs are irreplaceable for an anime. Well, it seems like this anime solved this in a perfect way.

I don't intend to write a novel about it, so I just want to say that the tracks always underline the scenes very nicely. The mood of the individual moments is reflected excellently in combination with the art and animation; this mostly funky style goes perfectly with the topic and in principle doesn't go wrong.

The opening and ending songs are sensational, especially the opening song is one of the best I've heard lately. All in all very well done and in tune with the anime.

Enjoyment - 7/10

Now one or the other may be wondering why my 'enjoyment' score is so high, even though I was pretty rubbish about characters and story. Well, I'm also only a human, and that's why the cool skateboard races impress me like everyone else. And although the story isn't really creative (I won't change my mind), this show gives me a strong sense of nostalgia precisely because of its similarity to so much anime that aired in the past. I remember my childhood and anime like 'Naruto' or 'Dragonball', which really shaped these shounen cliches. In this respect, 'SK∞ The Infinity' probably won't satisfy lovers of an intelligent story, but I think it still entertains all those who grew up with such shows.

Sometimes you shouldn't think too much about something and detach yourself from your objectivity. Anime like the aforementioned 'Code Geass' may impress the individual much more strongly and intensely, but that can't be the reason why one should only regard such anime as the only ones that are good. Because even something as simple as this anime can make the viewers happy while watching and, even though only for a short time, let them feel very, very entertained.

Overall - 6/10

What should I say what I haven't said already? This anime is far away from being a masterpiece, and the story and characters aren't also that well thought off. But after all, being a dude that simply loves watching all kinds of anime and not trying to be too objective, I quite enjoy watching every episode of it, and I think that many people can understand me very well. So I believe that even if there exist better shows than this, 'SK∞ The Infinity' knows what it is, and because of that, everybody out there can watch it without feeling bored.

Cheers🎶

The anime comes off as both knowledgable and uninitiated in the sport it's trying to portray. It’s both futuristic and backwards at the same time. Some parts of the show are astoundingly realistic, while other times throws logic out the door completely. One of the main characters (Langa) has been a snowboarder since he was 2 years old, yet he’s never been exposed to skateboarding before. And when he tried for the first time, he lost his balance just standing on the board.
I’m sorry, but I haven’t met a snowboarder that couldn’t skate, let alone a snowboarder that’s been doing it for 15 years.
He said ... he couldn’t even do one push, but snowboarders push all the time when they’re on flat snow. This should just come naturally to him.

And they keep saying how it’s unprecedented if he could switch to being a pro skater as if this hasn’t happened in real life.
Like currently two of the best snowboarders in the world are also pro skaters. Ayumu Hirano - olympic snowboarder and skateboarder - was literally their consultant on this anime, how could they not even acknowledge this fact despite his involvement.

Don’t even get me started on the shoes. I don’t care if this was set in the future or alternate timeline, you can’t wear geta on a skateboard. Do they want to die? Even the guy on Tiktok who wears hanfu on his longboard wears skate shoes when he’s riding. I can’t believe such an important aspect of skateboarding is ignored like that. Shoes are as integral to the culture and the sport as the skateboards are themselves.

I also hate how they just combined all the disciplines as if they’re all the same thing. Freestyle skateboarding (Miya) is not the same as downhill (everyone else in that dumb street race), and neither are park or street (Reki). Racing and tricks are two distinct philosophies in this sport. The ollie that the main character Reki was so proud of (to the point he made a whole monologue about how you could skate your entire life without ever learning to ollie, but when you do, your whole life changes), aren’t even a part of racing, yet that’s the event he partakes in every night.

The lack of understanding of each others’ sports as the source of Reki's feeling of inadequacy is so juvenile. Langa progressed so far in such a short amount of time because he’s been snowboarding for 15 years, and Reki knows that. He hadn't been left in the dust because of Langa's raw talent. Langa was NOT a beginner. He already had years of experience. The skills carry over. How can someone, fictional or not, be so dense about that fact? And how can Langa catch so much air you ask? Because it’s fucking standard in snowboarding. Just replay Ayumu’s Tokyo olympics run, the commentator literally said “He’s riding this thing like a (snowboard) halfpipe.”

How many times did they forget and remember about having fun? Did all those crashes give them brain damage? There’s so much unnecessary angst that’s not conducive to character development at all.

In a sport that has hundreds of amazing tricks, this anime just had to invent ones that don’t exist or are impossible to do. And they haven’t even included one skateboarder that looks like a skateboarder. A topless bodybuilder? A businessman in a suit??? A ninja cosplayer in a kimono????

And then in the very last episode, they introduced this fictional supernatural state called the Zone, which is completely taken from Kuroko’s basketball. BUT there is a real life phenomena common in action sports called flow state that illustrates what the zone basically is, why couldn’t they just call it what it really is?

It’s supposed to be a kids' show, but why do they have to make it about illegal racing, and make it more illegal by adding combative elements to the races and have people get away with assault? Skateboarding is rebellious enough as it is. The part where they got busted for trespassing in the parking lot was one of the most relatable and realistic parts about skateboarding in this anime, and I wish they included more of that instead.

But I’m glad they didn’t downplay the kinds of injuries you get from this sport. I’m glad that action sports is getting representation in anime, the art is great, even though the story is a letdown. I don’t have high hopes for season 2.

So I just want to say that this review is coming from someone who's been in the skateboarding community for over 6 years, and therefore I will try to remain unbiased and understanding of a non-skater's point of view, as well as mine.

I am assuming when you are reading this review, you can categorize yourself into 2 categories:

A: You want to watch this anime, mainly for the storyline and don't really care about the realism and accuracy of how skateboarding is depicted, it's anime after all, so maybe it doesn't matter to you.

B: You are a skater yourself and like anime, so you wanna watch ... something that you can relate to. Otherwise, you may not skate but want to learn more about it, in the most accurate way, and by watching anime.


I'll start off by saying that this anime has a decent plot, it's decently interesting... but that's about as much as I can say. It's not a plot you can get hooked on easily, but it may be worth watching if you have nothing else to.
Now, talking about the accuracy of how skateboarding is depicted in this anime, it would probably have to be a 2/10. You can tell that the entire direction for this story, has never met a skater or tried it before; mainly due to the fact that none of the tricks are realistic and also that the sense of community is nowhere near the same as in real life.

In conclusion, I think I was expecting something relatable as a skater, and I was a bit disappointed that I didn't feel that it described the whole community of skateboarding very well, but the storyline and plot is worth watching and stays fairly interesting until the last episode.

If you want to learn more about skateboarding, you should definitely go and try it! But if you can't for any reason (or if you want to learn more about it through anime or manga), you should maybe check out: SK8R'S. It's as realistic as it gets in terms of skateboarding anime and it's worth reading.

Is this show full of generic, cliché moments? Yup. Are the characters really all that unique? Nope. Are the gay undertones extremely strong? hell yeah. But the animation and directing is awesome, and the show is enjoyable as hell. I've always had a passing interest in skateboarding and its cool to see a take on the subject in anime-form. Its by the same director who did Banana Fish (one of my fave anime) so if you enjoyed the visual style of that SK8 has the same vibes. Its got some hilarious moments too, and the pacing is steady. This show managed to distract me from ... the pain of getting my wisdom teeth out, so I'd say its worth a shot.

Wasted potential, is all I can say. If only this anime was more accurate, like the one about lifting at the gym. Instead it's so inaccurate that even people who don't know shit about skateboarding can tell that the stuff happening here is just plain retarded. It's throwing the whole appeal of a sports anime right out the window.

Don't get me wrong, it's still a good anime, but it could've been so much more. Art is nice, love the music, animations are cool (and unnecessarily over the top). Reki, despite being the coolest character in the cast, ends up getting the shortest end of ... the stick. You just hate to see it. A lot of the rest of the characters might as well be straight outa WWE, which is just so jarring. They feel so out of place in an underground skateboarding event, freakin' weirdos.

This anime will probably lose its steam by ep7 anyways.

well..
it fas fine at the beginning, decent skating anime
then adam came..
i understand that he's the villain of this story but he's pretty bad at it. every time adam came to my screen i became very uncomftarble, he's too weird and i really don't like the violent way he ''skates''
thats not all that i didnt like about this but im really tired rn and dont have motivation to rant

rest of the caracters were cool tho. Cherry is probably my favorite character and ithe renga fan service was fine too

but after i finished the last ep my only thought was just that in conclusion : skating ... is fun
and im more into liittle bit deeper meanings in anime

SK∞ is a show that flops completely in any and all concepts that it tries to execute.
Let me ask a question: what do people like about sports anime? For me, at least, it's because I get to see people I care about struggle and attempt to do well in their sport, and that journey towards improvement, the bonds that they share with their teammates is fun to watch. Either that, or the actual "sport" itself has interesting, almost supernatural elements, like kuroko no basket or Prince of Tennis.
SK∞ definitely does not fill the bill of people struggling to improve and get to their ... goals, and nor do they provide the foundation of building up a cast of characters that you care about. SK∞ barely has any characterization, with only the bare minimum allotted to Reki and Langa. As for the other characters? You're left with a surface impression of their personality and lifestyle and they're let out to dry despite potentially having decent character design and personality, with some good character dynamics and relationships. But instead, you're left with nothing much going on for the characters except for perhaps serving the role comic relief or perhaps serving as a plot device to further the plot.
Reki and Langa also have extremely poor development in their personalities and relationship. They become good friends with each other in so little time, and without much reason. There isn't a "bonding" sort of arc, but rather they become good friends because the anime wants to progress the plot. This leaves the both characters seem very simple-minded and lack any depth. The obligated "obstacle" to their relationship for character development was so telegraphed since episode one; these two characters need to have some time invested into building them up for me to ever have any semblance of caring or liking them. Instead, I'm just apathetic. Their personalities just lack any sort of real depth and characterization.
What about our characters slowly improving themselves? Well, again, the characters' abilities are completely dependent on what the show wants them to exhibit. This can be clearly seen when Langa beats a skating veteran that also beat Reki on episode one. Mind you, it was his first time ever skating. Perfect. However, afterwards, Langa is supposedly "learning the basics of skating." This victory is of course, chalked down to him having snowboarding experience and duct taping his board. Lets not forget that in two weeks, after barely learning to ollie, Langa beats a prodigy that's good enough to represent Japan's skateboarding team. Again, there are training sequences for both Langa and Reki, but they're just going through the motions rather than actually feeling like they're training. This is proven again when Langa tries out a completely new board with no experience and beats that prodigy.
Well, does it have "supernatural" maneuvers at least so everything's pretty? Eh, not really. There are some pretty good lucking shots of everyone skateboarding, and I can tell that the production value is pretty decent, but at the same time, these neat tricks show up for only a few seconds at a time, and for the most part, you're looking at static characters going down a hill with a badly generated CGI background. There are no supernatural tricks, but each character has a gimmick, but again, they're just mere gimmicks.
The showdowns themselves don't really make a lot of sense. People slow down, catch up, and break away at completely arbitrary time frames and most of the skatboarding competition isn't even shown. All you're shown about the races is that someone, this guy manages to catch up even though he's behind by so much, and that he uses this trick to overtake his opponent, and that about sums it up. There is absolutely nothing shown about how fast people are going like in Initial D, and there's no logical sequence of events that lead up to that "epic turnaround" or catchup, but rather they're placed randomly in the race, because doing that sick trick automatically makes you the winner, and the rest of the 99% of the race is not shown.
Lastly, I'd like to note that SK∞, a show all about skateboarding, does not really capture the essence of it. SK∞ just features a skating course in which people compete in. Is this really what skateboarders do, though? Aren't they usually in cities skateboarding around, doing tricks? I get that SK∞ wants to do competitive skateboarding, but in that case, why not set the skateboarding tracks not in an isolated mountain like in Initial D, but in the bustling metropolis? This way, you get to see sick parkour, unique obstacles, and different scenes, but instead, it's just this boring mountain going down, and it's always the same track. It would have been really cool to see competitive skateboard racing in a constantly changing city environment. Overall, there literally is nothing stopping this show being about competitive car racing or motorcycle racing. I mean, goddamn. The abandoned mountain theme is so eerily similar to Initial D. Then, what the hell is the point of having skateboarding be the theme? The plot itself is also a "villians of the week" scenario where skaters are put up against different opponents.
SK∞ does not feature amazing eye candy, good characters, any semblance of "improvement of abilities over time," unique setting and tracks, or good plot development.

TDLR or TLDR i forget which lol: eps 1-11 were really good! ep 12 is where the problem arises.

In the beginning, we hear Reki talking about happiness, and how his happiness comes from skating. It's a bit philosophical (by philosophical I mean it's a lot of feelings for a skating anime), and it shows us that there's gonna be a lot of sadness/happiness and emotional aspects; so much so that it's gonna be a main focus for the show. It was disappointing, to say the least when all that welled up in the most sh**ty cliche I've ever seen.

Story 6/10: Ignoring the fact that ... snowboarding and skating are completely different (since it's a fictional story, no need for it to make perfect sense), the skating was really interesting. Although the races were definitely predictable, it was still really fun to see how characters were motivated to win and what cool tricks they did along the way. It was interesting enough to keep watching. Again, the ending definitely ruined the story. How? Here's how:

Adam's ending is such a cliche, and the fact he didn't go to jail for the copious amounts of illegal things he was doing is so aggravating. What the hell happened to the red-haired lady?? WHy did she leave so suddenly with no explanation? Why did Adam not get a bad ending?

The MC's arc has to be the worst. It was stated clearly that Reki couldn't compare to skaters like Miya or Langa... why did they do absolutely nothing good for him? In one episode, it's shown on the Tv Reki is watching that a guy made shoes for ice skating (or whatever sport it was) instead of actually being an ice-skater. I thought Reki would find a genius way to make skateboards and he'd be super successful. If they couldn't make Reki more OP, then they should've made him the MC for a great reason besides just perspective (Why not give the perspective to Langa if you're just gonna have the story revolve around him?).

Art 8.5/10: The art was really good, no doubt about that.

Sound 7/10: I'm going to be honest, I didn't really pay attention the sound much. I really did like the opening, though.

Characters 5/10: Let's continue on my rant here, shall we?

In episode 8, it's basically stated Langa has a crush on Reki. They didn't do anything with that? I'm not sure if that's queerbaiting, but it definitely made me lose a lot of hope for this show.

They made Adam just another Hisoka from HxH, Mori from BSD, Shuu from Tokyo Ghoul. (What's up with making the main villain a pedo?) His character was cool, though. Just a bit mad that the power of friendship cliche stopped his whole antagonist thing. He didn't even change, he still called Takashi a dog.

Cherry, Joe, Shadow, and Miya were really great characters. Kinda pissed that Shadow and his manager were ruined during the final two minutes. He literally took a bat to the head for her. The one stable relationship ruined for actually nothing (not to mention then they made him give flowers to Reki's manager? Like EVERY single character was queercoded and they did nothing with it.)

Reki didn't apologize to Miya. Don't think I forgot about that.

Enjoyment: Overall, it was a very fun show, and watching it was interesting. It was funny, the relationships were nice and I heard the DUB was really good. I'll never shut up about episode 12, though.

All in all, I will say my biggest problem with this show is the fact Cherry didn't show up to S with a gun after what happened in episode 8. Get Adam's ass, Cherry. Get his ass.

Am I the only one who is rooting for Reki ? Spoilers ahead

Story:5/10
At the moment where I am at with the anime, I just feel frustrated that Langa is getting all the spotlight. Yes it is a generic plotline with the overseas genius like character coming to Japan and dominating the whole scene with his skills and in this case, skateboarding. But I feel like Reki deserves to be just as good? I was not the biggest fan when Reki, not being so talented is forced to be the "support" to Langa. What I would have liked or imagined (just my own version of ... the narrative) was that Reki and Langa were both on the same level but Reki actively chose to build skateboards whereas Langa prefers to skate them. In a sense, Reki is just as good and nobody really knows because he only wants to skate for "fun" and not necessarily compete. I just feel like throwing Reki off to be the support and Langa the main just seems all too predictable and meh in my opinion. But nonetheless, to say it is a bring anime would also be too far from the truth. it was alright eh

Characters: 6/10
Predictable characters with each having a specific character trait like the typical ladies man or tech geek. Hopefully the anime continues to the path where Reki can be a support to EVERYONE where he modifies each of their skateboard to make it better and enhance their skills where they thought they couldn't. NOW THAT would be an interesting character plot. At the moment, its all too cliche and meh. Loverboy needs to stop being all too creepy weirdo-iy and SNAKE needs a pin up because I do not care for his character at all (at this point)

Sound: 8/10
I do like the opening very much no lie. It's a dope track for sho

Overall, the plot is generic with skateboard being the main motif but it still is an enjoyable mediocre anime imo. More needs to be done to amp up the characters and narrative and hopefully, it gets better as the episodes continue
Give it a go I say and see what happens. But at the moment, I see not much happening to increase my rating. Not much excitement and oh so predictable
If you like this anime, cool and if you don't, same here

SK8 The Infinity: Mangling skateboarding beyond recognition.

There are a bit of spoilers in here, so read at your own risk.

Story: 6

'S' being a huge foundation for the plot already throws off this show for me. It's a huge race between skaters that takes place in an abandoned mineshaft, which honestly, doesn't sound too bad. But it's the fact that every single character is so invested in 'S' to the point of ruining themselves, (Miya and Reki are severe cases of this) when all 'S' is is a competition. SK8 states multiple times that the whole point of skating is to have fun and just do ... what you love, but the concept of 'S' being so important to the plot and the characters seems so contradictory to me. Anytime the skaters are seen skating outside of 'S', it's usually for reasons related to 'S' and only 'S'. They know the point of skateboarding, but they still drive home the competition aspect, and it gets redundant at times.

Then there's a sort of fantasy element to SK8. This isn't to say that fantasy-type sports series are inherently bad, but when you've got characters talking to their skateboards and then slinging mini bombs at other skateboarders, something just isn't really right. SK8 isn't set in a fantasy world, but you have all these fantasy-esque characters set in the real world, and it's a huge clash of the two. An example of this is when Reki explains how boards are built and all the parts that go into a board, yet nearly every other character has some sort of board that defies that. (Cherry's board specifically pissed me off) And while this might seem like a minor complaint, nearly everything else is like this. I feel like SK8 would've been in its element had it just been set in—at the very least—a realistic fantasy world instead of the real world. The inconsistencies are just too prevalent to ignore.

Art and Sound: 7

The art style is great, I'll give SK8 that, and the character designs are extremely unique and make for iconic characters. Simple character designs like Langa are just as recognizable as complex ones, such as Shadow (at least when he's in costume) and they really hit the nail on the head when it came to art. Not to mention that the settings are equally beautiful and have great detail but never too much.

The OP and ED are both good and catchy. I could hear the first few seconds of both and think, "Yeah, that's SK8 The Infinity!" So no complaints here!

Character: 6

Honestly, the characters are the only reason I kept up with this show, but it seemed that with every episode, the characterization just got weaker and weaker. They all have great personalities and have their own unique traits, but their arcs all fell kind of flat for me. The only characters with good development are Langa and Reki, of course because they're the main characters, but I also wish that other characters had more after their arcs. Miya became obsolete after his arc ended, and Joe and Cherry have a history, but not much after that. SK8 tells you who these characters are rather than shows you, and—this is just a personal preference—but the latter seems so much more appealing than the former.

Enjoyment: 4

My enjoyment is very opinionated, so take this section with a few pounds of salt.

SK8 tries creating its own skate culture within the show, but it fails hard and is honestly just irritating to watch. The best moments in SK8 are when they're not skating, believe it or not. It's that bad. Tricks that are done in the show are either impossible or just given ridiculous names that take away from the show. It's hard to take any of the skating portions seriously when you've got 'Love Hug' as a real trick in canon.

The drama was done horribly. Sorry but I hated it. Not even mentioning Adam (Embarrassing antagonist), but the whole misunderstanding between Langa and Reki was actually really annoying especially when the solution to their conflict is Reki relearning his love for skating while giving a speech to a stranger who hit him with his car in a love hotel. It's so unbelievable I can't take anything seriously.

TL;DR

SK8 seems like it's being purposely bad to see how far its fans will go to defend it, except it's being entirely serious. Not really a fan. Read SK8R's instead.

There is massive potential to build an anime around skateboarding and skate culture but this fell short. Maybe I didn't enjoy it because I've had ideas about what would make a good skate anime in my head for years, or maybe the show simply fails at bringing the best out of skateboarding. There is more to skating than racing downhill, and while some other aspect of skating are shown, the focus on "beefs" dulls the show. Moments where the learning curve of skating and learning a first trick are super relatable, but then it switched gears to crazy downhill jam type racing. Kind of like ... the writers had differing directions for the show and tried to tie them together. Characters were enjoyable at first, but the progression was odd. Again, It's like the show's writers got the individual personalities down well but didn't know how to mesh the characters together as a group. The odd sexual tension, exacerbated by Adam, seemed ill fit for this show. The visuals were good, some skateboard trick names were thrown in, there was an attempt to be "skater" but it ended up more bland. Overall it's worth a watch to cure an itch, seems a lot of people got into more than I did, and at only 12 episodes it's not a huge time sink. I hope this opens the door for more takes on skateboarding anime in the future.

This anime is good if you are looking for something to binge-watch since it only has 12 episodes and the content is really light. Also, if you are into skate competitions, this is a awesome recomentation!
- The story itself is not the most articulated, I feel like maybe it lacked content.
- The art is top tier, all the animation's details into the competitions were a masterpiece, and made the anime so much fun to watch on those parts.
- Not the most memorable soundtrack, but it was not bad.
- In the characters department they nailed it: Starting from the main characters, Langa and Reki, one sweet ... and full of chemistry duo; to the Side characters, who were super funny and made the anime more soft core.
- I enjoyed watching it, as I said, even though the storyline was not the most catchy one, but the characters, (Langa LANGA), made it worth the watch.
- Overrall pretty good show.

6/10

I wish I could give this show more than a 6 out of literal pity.

I thought this anime would be perfect; I saw its fragments all over my social media and got soo excited! The characters seemed endearing, I took a liking to anime about sports, and the animation-- the colours, the flow... I was expecting to give SK∞ a solid nine or a ten, even!
Oh boy, was I disappointed.

The first few episodes were awesome, The relationship between Reki and Langa was a little rushed, but otherwise felt authentic; the series is also short enough that this was excusable. The show was... realistic, well, ... as realistic as an anime can be (and stay interesting at the same time). Langa was quiet, but not excessively shy. Reki was enthusiastic, but not annoying. Cherry Blossom and Joe were a great comic relief while not losing their sense of individuality. Shadow was simply the best.

And then everything went downhill when Adam got introduced.

What SK∞ needed was NOT a cheap and cringy Hisoka rip-off. The anime crossed the subtle line between ridiculous and stupid; skateboarding tricks turned impossible, Langa's sudden skills became unbelievable; and all focus was on Adam. A bland, one-dimensional character. I apologize if I am getting too emotional, but I had such high hopes for this anime.

What's up with the pointless business plot and the ginger police lady? What's up with the glorification of toxic, slave-like relationships? (SPOILER: why did Adam's clearly unhappy 'friend', after planning to prove his worth, gave up on that and continued to be a slave to the rip-off Hisoka as if that was a positive thing?) And, most importantly, Adam's suggestive and flirty behaviour towards Langa, who is literally still a highschooler, was incredibly creepy. The scenes with these two, especially in the last episodes, were so fantasy-like I couldn't believe it.

At least Shadow wasn't that problematic. I do like Shadow and Reki the most. I like that Reki's conflicting emotions regarding Langa's questionable natural talent weren't brushed over.

Watch this anime. It's not that bad, I was just... disappointed. I'd be thankful for an OVA with more of a... 'slice of life' vibe.

This show is a wild ride, and while it's mostly enjoyable, it does trip up in some places. Mild spoilers in the last paragraph.

It has excellent visuals, the animation stays consistent for majority of the show, and the songs they choose for the high action parts are really catchy. The main character and his group of friends are fun, and I enjoyed when the show gave them time to interact with one another.

The beginning is incredibly strong, you have eccentric characters who skate in their own unique ways, a guy who is new to skating who is just learning how fun it can ... be, and a few life lessons to be learned about youth and having fun. It's cute and fun and hype, and it makes you wonder how far the main characters will get with they skateboarding skills. The episodes where characters are working hard and giving their all is where this show shines. I even enjoyed the main character's little personal arc. It was a realistic approach to the thoughts of a young high school boy in a largely competitive setting.

Unfortunately while the beginning was strong, it started going downhill. One of the big issues I seem to have is that it has a large cast but can't handle all of these characters. This means that some characters are irrelevant past their debut, and serve mainly to be commentary while the more important characters race.

This is made worse by the show having a "big bad" strongest skater who takes the entire season to be properly defeated. Which leads to my next issue, that the skating part of the show is incredibly repetitive. They run the same course almost every time, with the same big bad skater, and the work to make it interesting and new relies on whoever is going against him. There's only so many cool skateboard tricks and reveals that can happen when you restrict it like that.

I think the antagonist also just wasn't worthy of all the screen time he received. He wasn't particularly compelling in terms of backstory or in how he skated (a lot of the times he was just physically violent).

The show tells you from the beginning that skateboarding is a dangerous but fun sport (which is fine, since yes, there are many ways to get injured while skateboarding) but I think watching a high schooler get punched in the gut for a whole minute isn't skateboarding anymore and saying that experience is fun is.... probably only for the masochists. The messages from the characters are muddled by how unrealistic half of them act, and the way the show absolutely Has to make you believe skateboarding is fun but they already established that there's a guy who gets people hospitalized on purpose. So it's like, yeah skating is fun! Even when I get punched in the face! When does getting punched in the face have anything to do with skateboards?

This was a very typical sports anime that caters towards the female audience. Although there weren't exactly superpowers, the skaters often broke physics and do inhumane tricks that would make the show seem over-the-top. Sometimes I would find myself cringing when it became overdramatic. The characters as well weren't too interesting. The only thing that stood out to me was their vibrant hair color and their skater design. I mean iI guess the only interesting character was Leki since he had the most realistic and relatable feelings. AND he was the most normal. Neverheless, I did have fun watching all the crazy things that ... the show put out so I kept watching. And the animation was super SUPER good! So it wasn't bad at all. It was just typical though. Nevertheless, I kept watching since I wanted to see what crazy thing would the anime create.

Overall: 6.55 / 10

"SK" has been a somewhat revealing and promising anime at the beginning, for promoting a discipline like Skate that within the world of Anime these routines of sport and entertainment are not usually appreciated.
This was achieved in a correct way than with movements, competition, animation and other substances that created a good atmosphere. However, this program quietly could have been carried out with only half of the chapters, since in chapter 5/6 it reaches its climax and then it tends to unnecessarily extend the story with some "cheap dramas" and elaborate that They had no other purpose than to promote fan-service for ... the female viewer and her love for Fujoshi with these episodes on the beach or hot springs or even leading to dialogues and expressions with double intentions. And it is not that this is totally wrong, but if the program needed other contributions and that it would have benefited more, than wasting these minutes. Either as developing relationships and deepening in a consistent way or setting a true future goal for the characters.
Also within all written to the section of history / characters summary the "Final Sprint" because truly both the race and the anime took it as such, with a rather hasty ending and that does not leave too much sense of satisfaction that should have happened if they took their times and forms.

The reality is that a regular show that SK provides, if you want a discipline that is not showy in this world of anime such as Skate, mixed with a fan-service for the female viewer, the program is relatively good, although if we go to the facts true, I would recommend other programs much better carried out, such as: "Free" that comes to mind quickly.



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General: 6,55 / 10

"SK" ah sido un anime un tanto revelador y prometedor en su comienzo, por promover una disciplina como el Skate que dentro del mundo del Anime no se suele apreciar estas rutinas de deporte y entretenimiento.
Este lo fue logrando de una manera correcta que con los movimientos, la competencia, la animación y demás sustancias que crearon un buen ambiente. Sin embargo, este programa tranquilamente se pudo haber llevado acabo con tan solo la mitad de los capítulos, ya que en capitulo 5/6 llega a su clímax y luego tiende a extender de forma innecesaria la historia con unos "dramas baratos" y rebuscados que no tenían otra finalidad mas que promover el fan-service para el espectador femenino y su amor por lo Fujoshi con estos capítulos en la playa o aguas termales o conllevando inclusive a diálogos y expresiones con doble intencionalidad. Y no es que esto este totalmente mal, pero si necesitaba de otros aportes el programa y que se hubiera beneficiado mas, que desperdiciando estos minutos. Ya sea como desarrollar las relaciones y profundizar de una manera consistente o poniendo una verdadera meta a futuro para los personajes.
Además dentro de toda escrita al apartado de historia/personajes sumaria el "Sprint final" por que verdaderamente tanto la carrera como el anime se lo tomaron como tal, con un final bastante presuroso y que no deja demasiado sensación de satisfacción que debería haber sucedido si se tomaban sus tiempos y formas.

La realidad es que un espectáculo regular el que aporta SK, si quieren una disciplina no tas vistosa en este mundillo del anime como el Skate entre mezclado con un fan-service para el espectador femenino esta relativamente bien el programa, aunque si vamos a los hechos verdaderos, recomendaría otros programas mucho mejor llevados a la ejecucion como por Ejemplo: "Free" que se me viene a la cabeza rápidamente.

Maybe I'll give this show a star rating of 7 when it decides to give SOME growth to the hard-working main protagonist Reki instead of letting him be a shadow of his naturally talented friend, Langa. Also, the Hisoka-wannabe antagonist of the show, Adam, was pretty much a joke. Please write better characters.

It's a show that had great potential and premise; it hasn't been long since I've started watching anime but I think a story about skateboarding hasn't been done yet. The show had the upperhand of being the first in the game; it could've come up with great story arcs but it got lost ... in which direction it wanted to take I think.
It was lacking in plot, pacing, characterisation and execution - basically every aspect of storytelling. Maybe the gaping holes in the plot will be filled up in another season (if there will be one) but I think this first season needed a bit more episodes. Everything felt so rushed, yet at the same time, felt very empty and pointless(?). It's not boring per se but it's a story that doesn't know what it wants to be. I don't know what I was supposed to get, feel or take away from this.

If there's another season of this I'll watch since it's the ONLY way it can redeem itself. But if there isn't this show is a flop.

The art looked cool though.

TL;DR: if you wanna watch it 'cause it might contain BL in any way, !! DON'T !!
i just came in with the wrong expectations so it's kinda my fault that i didn't like it - character, prop (board) and sound designs are outstanding though

honestly..what was i expecting?
just another fine example of queerbaiting , but in the end it was me who was stupid enough to fall for it.

seriously, why did i think that THIS TIME MAYBE it could be different. another sports anime with queer-coded characters but it's not even said to be shounen -ai so formally i don't get to complain.. yet ... i still feel so betrayed.

the story itself was also something i've seen a million times already over and over..such a disappointment.

the characters at least had personality, and the art was good - so not everything about this show was negative

should have just known not to expect more from the director of Free! - still not willing to take the risk NOR DRAWING MALE NIPPLES(!!!!)
ma'am..please i'm begging you, two half ovals would do,,seriously!?

I'll be so real: All 5 of the docked points are purely because the character of Adam exists. Words cannot encompass how deep my hatred for that ugly, goofy eyebrows, lipless, yeti built monster runs. Honestly, he doesn't even have to do anything for me to hate him, I just see his face and am instantly fuelled by the rage to go adult Gon on him. I genuinely cannot count the amount of times I was hoping this show would suddenly take the dark crime show thriller route and throw in a random serial killer to just pop in and take him out :'( I ... love Tadashi but I'm still so mad at him for not taking the opportunity to get Adam thrown in jail (where hopefully another inmate would take him out) and instead continues to follow the man who calls him a dog and treats him like trash?? Like GET UP TADASHI PLEASE YOU'RE BETTER THAN THIS 😭 it's even worse because his name is literally Tadashi?? So why are you not doing the Tadashi thing?