Ask John: What’s the Background on GetBackers and Air Master?

Question:
What’s the background on Getbackers and Air Master?

Answer:
Yuya Aoki’s GetBackers manga is published in the weekly Shukan Shonen Magazine from Kodansha, the same magazine that serializes Hajime no Ippo, Samurai Deeper Kyo, Tantei Gakuen Q, Rave, and Asobotto Senki Goku. GetBackers is the story of Ban Mido and Ginji Amano, a pair of young men who work as professional “retrievers,” getting back anything lost or stolen. To spice up the action and adventure, Ban has the strength of several men and the ability to make his opponents see terrible halucinations for one minute at a time. Ginji possess the unusual ability to create and conduct electricity through his body. The ongoing manga serial was first compiled into its first “tankouban” (collected manga) volume in August 1999 and presently has 21 volumes, as well as 6 video games for the Playstation, Playstation 2, and GameBoy Advance, and a 49 episode TV series scheduled to end on September 20, 2003. The TV animation, produced by Studio Deen with character designs by Atsuko Nakajima (Ranma 1/2, You’re Under Arrest), draws a respectable, but not exceptionally large audience of Japanese viewers. The TV series is fairly popular among American viewers for both its combination of action and mystery elements and its suggestive homoerotic atmosphere.

Yokusaru Shibata’s Air Master manga is likewise quite popular in Japan, although its reception among American fans seems to fall into strictly delineated love it and hate it camps. The manga, which premiered in 1996, presently has 18 collected volumes and counting. It’s one of the most popular titles serialized in Young Animal Magazine, the same magazine that publishes the Berserk, Mouse, Ai Yori Aoshi, Futari Ecchi, and Momoiro Sisters manga serials. Air Master tells the story of high school girl Maki Aikawa, a former championship gymnist and presently genius martial artist whose hobby is getting into street fights in the back alleys of Shibuya as a means of recapturing the pressure and excitement of performing gymnastics in front of a national live audience. Maki’s unique arial fighting style, characterized by jumping and “air combos,” and her unbroken winning streak, earn her the reputation “Air Master.” The anime TV series adaptation premiered on April 1, 2003. The anime series, directed by Daisuke Nishio (who directed the Dragonball, Dragonball Z, and 3×3 Eyes animation) with character designs by Yoshihiko Umakoshi, the character designer for Berserk, has met with a lukewarm reception among American fans, many of whom don’t like the show’s unflattering character designs and silly humor. However, the late night show has proven very successful in Japan, drawing the highest ratings of any late night anime TV series aired this season. The ratings for Air Master double or even triple those of other current late night shows including Wolf’s Rain, Stellvia, Technolyze, Dear Boys and Last Exile. Reflecting its popularity, Air Master has an attractive homepage hosted by Toei Animation, an extensive homepage from distributor VAP (complete with numerous video clips), and even an extensive Japanese fan run Air Master Search Engine.