I started watching it reluctantly assuming that it would not appease my mom as it looks childish. My mom does not like pokemon which we favor. (she is in her 50+). So my sister's son (10 year old) implored and pressured us to see this as he already watched it in Nick India TV channel. We are happy that we watched it.
Story: Sho yamato a 12 year or so boy is mad about MTB (MounTain Bike) racing. For this his loyal friends Takeru (mechanical help) and Makoto support. One day when they were playing in the racing field named X-zone constructed by his late father, these friends along with the other players present at the field get sucked into a black miasma cloud. Hence they get transported into another dimension called X-zone. In order to come back to real world one has to gain 10 golden emblems (which are at front of the cycle ) and must be won through idaten MTB race competitions. It seems that Sho's bike Flame Kaiser has a Platinum emblem, which was the savior of the world and hence many come to challenge him. This is the gist of the story but as it progresses, like other anime it gets linked to saving the world.
Characters: Two characters are very vibrant in this series. One is Makoto's brother kyouichi and Yuki the genius mechanic. Kyouichi in my opinion is more valiant and powerful than Sho. His maneuvers with his MTB and his control over dark personality are admirable. He thinks beyond others in creating opportunities to solve the problems. In one episode in order to save his sister and sho etc, from his dark self, Kyouchi writes the solution on the window panel, provides escape plan and even goes to the length of sacrificing himself during his dark self's competition with sho. Yuki's character is mysterious till the ending couple of episodes. She comes in assistance to our heroes and it is not clear how she knew sho's whereabouts and his crisis. She pops out when they were in pinch.Another character i forgot to mention is Taiga brother of Sabu (the egoist), who is given less importance in the series though he is also powerful, as equivalent to Sho. Another one is ninja okio ( i do not remember his name clearly) whose sister is hospitalized. You will respect him when he trains Ayumi, sho's brother with practical guidance. I think he is the correct brother to Ayumi than Sho in guiding him in his journey.
Art: Perfect for this genre.
Enjoyment: It will keep on entertaining you till the last 3 episodes. I might have given 10 if the ending is too rushed and no visual clarity in the story about how the evil perished at last.
