Story: 7
Art: 9
Sound: 8
Character: 7
Enjoyment: 9
Overall: 8
Summary: It's a fun anime you can sit down and finish in a good binge. The 2 main characters friendship is the most organic thing I have seen in recent times and while some characters could use more development, they do their job and the mains do so well otherwise they carry the rest of the show like it's nothing. Gorgeous art, good tunes and just some good, turn your brain off fun. Can't believe I slept on this show for a year.
I think what this show provides to its viewers with the most is simple fun. It's a show about kids having fun and skateboarding. Yes it's exaggerated and as far as I'm aware the circumstances surrounding 'S' don't occur in real life (could be wrong, I don't skate board), but at the end of the day it's take home message, as least for me was that skateboarding should be fun and enjoyed with others. It doesn't need to be some massively philosophical piece of fiction to be a work of art because for what this show is which is I think it did what it set out to which is to just give the audience a good time. Like I said I don't skate board, haven't skate boarded and don't really think I'll have a lasting intention to but I'll tell you what...this show makes me want to go to the shops, pick up a skate board and convince my mates to come out and fall off it for hours with me.
Taking a step back from my rambling about it being fun, objectively speaking it doesn't have a very in depth story. It isn't by any means a bad story and if it were massively in depth it would likely detract from the overall quality of the show. At the end of the day it's a 12 episode anime about kids skateboarding. As far as I'm aware this is a new concept to be explored and I think it's good that it's being appreciated on a realistic (for anime) scale. There were flaws in the plots and things which I don't think needed to be as present as they were, while others could've been fleshed out more but I'm not going to be to critical of it. For its overall run time it did what it could. The convenience of some plots elements did seem a bit too much to ignore but it is what it is.
I'd like to note that the characters are absolutely the driving force for this show. We don't follow a series of events that would have occurred regardless and our main characters happened to save the day. These are kids who found something fun, kept doing it because it was fun and found themselves in a very clear series of events and I appreciate that. Everything was laid out enough that it made sense but things were kept fresh enough that it was not too predictable. I believe a certain character arc for Reki was overly drawn out for the length and overall pace of the show, and that time could have been spent elsewhere. I also think that some characters had their arcs speed ran, partly as a result of this issue. I think it would have been more beneficial for characters like Shadow and Miya to be more developed and for Joe and Cherry's backstories to be fleshed out but again I can't be greedy. Shadow and Miya are the bigger violators however. Despite the hick-up however Reki and Langa's characters were decently developed and despite whatever gripe I may have their incredible chemistry is so substantial that I don't find myself bothered. I could easily just watch 12 episodes of them having fun and mucking around. Honestly they hit a home run with their friendship, as unlike so many anime we just get to see them being friends and when watching honestly it makes sense why they are. Ignoring the common interests their personalities mesh well, langa's timidness compliments Reki's...loud. The same goes for Langa's more odd approach to certain things getting balanced by Reki's understandable reactions.
The animation is crisp and full of life. They've done an excellent job at making you feel the momentum behind the skaters and while they feel their blood pumping, you feel it too.
The sound track hypes you up and makes sure your feelings match that of the scenes tone. The opening is great too. It's fun. I've used the word fun a lot in this review but I don't know what else to say, as it is just such a fun watch. First anime I've binged in months and one of the only one's I've not only watched, but finished this year. Good stuff.
