This is one that I recommend a lot, so I thought I�d write a review and tell everyone why.
Airmaster is a 27-episode anime TV series. It is currently unlicensed in the US, but it is available via fansub. It is, more or less, an action show with a lot of comedy added in.
Oh, where to start. Well, Airmaster centers around a girl, Aikawa Maki (family name given first in the Japanese tradition), who has just started high school (Japanese high school is sophomore to senior year). She is a talented street fighter, and other street fighters know her as Airmaster. At the same time, she is a kind, but very stupid person. She becomes friends with an odd group of girls, from tiny, constantly-hungry Renge-chan to shy, big-bosomed rich girl Mina (trust me, even if you aren�t looking for that they make it painfully obvious) and fashion-conscious girly-girls Yuu and Michiru. The rest of the series is a bunch of adventures centered around Maki fighting various street fighters. But with that all-too-common premise, it ends up being surprisingly good. I�ll break it down for you.
Characters:
For me, appealing and interesting characters are the foundation of good entertainment, whether it be comic books, TV shows, or whatever. The characters in Airmaster are interesting to me. They have their flaws, definitely, but that�s part of their charm. Even some of Maki�s opponents are well developed, and they are not all the same. They range from the generous Tsukio-san to the half-mad Sakiyama Kaori, who considers Maki her rival and the obstacle to her success, and the lecherous Sakamoto Julietta, who claims that Maki is �his Jenny� and won�t take no for an answer.
Some of the characters are played mostly for laughs. Take Renge-chan, for example: while she plays a valid role in the story as Maki�s friend, and helps out at key points in the story (or stories), her gluttony is the source of a lot of comedy, much like Miaka from Fushigi Yuugi or Serena/Usagi from Sailor Moon.
Perhaps the characters of Airmaster are not the most believable, but they are entertaining, which counts for more. 8/10
Action:
Since this show is centered so much around fighting, I�m including this as a category.
The fighting in Airmaster is one of the show�s chief strong points. It is very fluid and high-energy; the characters are always moving, reacting to each other�s attacks. Maki, also, is able to jump very high in a very acrobatic and graceful manner, and all of the other fighters have visibly different styles. Airmaster also never resorts to the old �pale-colored streak on a dark background,� which you see in some anime, nor to blurry, fast motions, where you can�t tell what�s going on. The fighters always seem to be fairly clever, unlike some shows, in which you wonder why the bad guy didn�t just dodge or something. The best fights in Airmaster resemble beautifully choreographed acrobatics or dancing. My only real quibble is that the characters spend too much time talking about why they�re fighting, but again, other shows, like Dragon Ball Z, for example, have been worse in this respect. 9/10
Animation: See screencaps here
Hmmm, I�ve seen better. The animation doesn�t look all that great next to all the other new shows, such as Scrapped Princess or Kimi ga Nozomu Eien. However, the character designs are all different and appropriate to the characters in question, and the animation is consistent at least. 7/10
Voice Acting:
I�ll admit right up front that I�m not a real connoisseur of voice acting, and usually can�t tell the difference between decent voice acting and good voice acting. However, Airmaster seems fine to me. The character�s voices show appropriate emotion, and they are fairly easy to tell apart. My main quibble is that Renge-chan is a bit shrill for my taste. However, nothing jumped out at me and so I think overall I�ve heard better. 7/10
Music:
The opening and closing themes are both hard rock songs. I didn�t like them at first, but I gradually came to like them more and more, especially the end theme, �Rolling�. Now, according to the translations, both themes are typically weird and confusing for Japanese music, using the occasional English word.
As for the background music, it sets the mood appropriately and doesn�t grate on the ear, but is not outstanding. 8/10
Story:
Uh, story? I don�t think that�s this anime�s strong point. Not at all. There are short stories, generally lasting several episodes, but very little in the way of an overall story. I mean, what ties it all together is that the main characters and their relationships, which remain pretty consistent throughout the anime. So this anime is pretty weak story-wise, but at least it has no pretense of being otherwise. 6/10
General:
I find this show very, very enjoyable, but it may not be for everyone. You�ll probably like it if you like action shows, or if you like comedy and don�t mind a little violence. Another little quibble I have is that so much of the comedy is centered around Mina and her big breasts, and guys chasing her just because of that. So if you�re more easily offended than me, you might hate Airmaster (on the other hand, Maki often kicks such guys� butts, which makes it better). 7.5/10 overall.
Note: based on violence, I would say this one should be at least PG-13.