So, like, there’s this kick-ass skateboarding anime you should totally check out! Dude! SK8 the Infinity has been around since 2021, but Crunchyroll recently released the OVA. It gave latecomers like us a great reason to tick this series off our watchlists.
Reki Kyan (voiced by Tasuku Hatanaka and Matt Shipman) lives for skateboarding. He’s a skate otaku. So, when Langa Hasegawa (Chiaki Kobayashi and Howard Wang) winds up as the new kid in his class, Reki does everything he can to turn Langa into a skateboarding superstar. Because that’s what you do when you spend your nights downhill death racing KISS-wannabes on wheeled planks.
SK8 the Infinity Now, Watch Booba Later
I get it. You’re here for the booba, and SK8 the Infinity isn’t that sort of show. However, if you’ve heard names like Tony Hawk or Rodney Mullen, you’ve enjoyed skateboarding enough to have a blast watching SK8 the Infinity. The OVA drop is hype sugar on the dopamine donut.
It’s hard to take our eyes off Haite Kudasai, Takamine-san, but imagine if Takane skated. Every flip trick is an upskirt opportunity! And think of the creative camera angles we’d enjoy. If you’re a spectator in ecchi land, vert ramps are only dangerous for the heart.
Japanese animators, please make it happen!
Okay. So, SK8 the Infinity is about friendship and competition, not fan service. In any case, I’d love to see more skateboarding anime. Skateboarding is intrinsically creative, and we need heaps of creativity in our increasingly uncreative, AI-generated world.
SK8 the Infinity and Japanese Skateboarding
SK8 the Infinity balanced an authentic representation of skateboarding and Japan’s flavor of skateboarding with entertainment. Consider how tough that must have been! On one hand, skateboarders will come to SK8 the Infinity with a list of expectations about realism and authenticity. Meanwhile, most fans won’t comprehend how gravity and a rolling wooden plank create a dangerous but addictive synergy.
How do you please everyone? SK8 the Infinity made the right choices by giving every fan, whether skater or non-skater, what they want at the right time. That’s why you’ll see credible, slow-paced training scenes in the skatepark, with Langa slamming harder than a tariff increase. Improbable adrenaline-maxing downhill races counterbalance these scenes, where skateboarders ricochet off trees. Fun!
SK8 the Infinity is Pure Entertainment
Hiroko Utsumi directed SK8 the Infinity for Bones. Ichirō Ōkouchi wrote the script, and Ryō Takahashi produced the soundtrack.
I watched SK8 the Infinity on Crunchyroll with Japanese audio. English audio and multiple subtitle options are available. SK8 the Infinity hits a solid five on the Chibi Megumi Rating Bar of Awesomeness for being a solid production in most respects. Staying true to the essence of Japanese skateboarding while being entertaining can’t have been easy for Bones. But they crushed it.
Which waifu would you love on a skateboard deck? Tell us in the comments. That way, we can train the AI bots to make puns about riding them all day.
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