Reasons To Watch SK8 The Infinity

Six Reasons To Watch Sk8 The Infinity

SK8 the Infinity is a Japanese original anime television series produced and animated by Bones that aired from January to on ABC and TV Asahi's ANiMAZiNG!!! programming block.

A comedy manga spin-off began serialization on the Young Ace Up manga website in January 2021. A manga adaptation of the television series began serialization on the BookLive! e-book store in March 2021.

It’s Short:

Topping out at one twelve-episode season (so far?), Sk8 the Infinity isn’t a huge commitment. You can wind down with it knowing that there is an end in sight as opposed to a three hundred episode long epic. That said, I could easily watch twelve more episodes and be just as delighted as when I started.

The Dub Is Actually Good:

I know, I know, there’s always going to be disagreement surrounding dubbed versus subbed anime. But hear me out, the Sk8 the Infinity dub is great. In translation some lines are changed just slightly to make more sense for English speaking skateboarders to say, vernacular is updated, and silly quips are given approximations that make more sense to English-fluent ears. Plus, if you subscribe to the “spring cleaning” tradition, it’s much easier to get chores done with a dubbed anime on in the background. At least, it’s always been easier for me to work on cosplays with dubs versus subs. Unfortunately, I don’t have any experience with the non-English dubs, but I legitimately hope they’re just as good because watching the dub has been just as much of a joy as the original Japanese.

We Need Something Light And Stupid:

The best reason to watch Sk8 the Infinity? It’s unapologetically stupid and enjoyable and we can all use some stupid and enjoyable sometimes. Some shows are like nutritionally complete meals with lessons and heady concepts to think on while others are the mental equivalent of a candy bar, and Sk8 the Infinity is decidedly the latter. The weather is starting to get nice, the school year is almost over, and we all deserve to mentally check out and watch a goofy show about skateboarders defying gravity and becoming best friends.

The Characters:

Like most sports animes, Sk8 the Infinity is very character driven and has an almost entirely likeable cast. Enemies from earlier episodes become close friends and there’s only one real antagonist, who isn’t unlikeable as much as weird and creepy. Friendship is a central focus of the show, almost more so than the skateboarding, and I’m pretty sure that the entire show was made as an excuse to animate fun skateboarding tricks. Watching twenty minutes of buds being buds is just pleasant, and even the most serious and outlandish characters are relatable goofballs deep down who want to get out and enjoy their hobby.

The Closer Rings True To Skateboarding:

Sk8 the Infinity has a fantastic opening song, but the closer is two minutes of animated bails and fails starring the main cast of the show. It’s a silly little thing that shows so much love for skateboarding in general and made me want to look up bail compilations online right away…. and there are a ton of them. Between the beachy song and the choppy animation, the closer is lighthearted and chill in a way that surpasses any other recent anime I can think of and puts me in that almost-summer state of mind right away.

Plot:

In Okinawa, a group of hardcore skaters participate in a secret, no-holds-barred competition after midnight known as "S", racing each other on skateboards down a winding road carved out of an abandoned mine and occasionally forming rivalries, also known as "beefs", with each other. Reki, a high school sophomore and hardcore skater, takes new transfer student Langa to S one night, and ends up pulling him into the world of skateboarding.

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