YMMV / Sk8 the Infinity

• Americans Hate Tingle: Adam is widely reviled by a large number of Western fans due to his constant aggression against other skaters and his obsession with Langa, who is a high school student. His suggestive manner of dress and speech, along with how frequently it's directed towards Reki, Langa, and even Miya, is a major source of Squick for many. He doesn't garner nearly as contempt from the Japanese side of the fandom, however.
• Angel/Devil Shipping: Adam and Langa get this the most, which also lines up with based on their motifs. Adam/Reki also saw a spike in popularity as a hateship, due to Adam's almighty hatred for Reki taking Langa's affection.
• Awesome Music:
  • "Paradise" by Rude-α is a catchy, slick rap-rock tune that is sure to get your head nodding to the easy beat. Many have praised it as one of the best opening of the Winter 2021 season.
  • Yuuri's "Infinity" is an easy-listening tune that is perfect for winding down and relaxing after a long day.
  • ASH DA HERO's "Dimensions of the Wind", an intense and driving insert song that only plays in Langa's races when he's about to pull off a difficult stunt or overturn a disadvantageous situation.
  • The final song playing for Adam and Langa's beef, "Behind the Mask", has been praised by many as an amazing track that helps increase the intensity of the match.
• Base-Breaking Character:
  • Adam. Because of his interest in Langa, a teenager, and his sadistic tendencies towards other racers simply to vent about his restrictive life, some people loathe him and find him entirely unsympathetic and irredeemable. Others find his backstory, trauma, and abuse extremely relatable and a valid explanation for his behavior. There have been several fan zines who refused to accept any entries that include him for this reason.
  • Reki. Several sympathize with him during his period of depression as they constantly tease him for having no talent for skating and his anger with Langa for breaking their promise. Others find him Unintentionally Unsympathetic claiming that he tries to abandon Langa just because he feels inferior to him and ignores his S friends for no apparent reason, rudely pushing Miya away when the boy was worried about him.
  • Tadashi. While absolutely adored during most of the show, his reputation became a lot more shaky during the last stretch of episodes and only continued to do so after the season was over. He was initially seen as the The Woobie due to his mistreatment at the hands of Adam, and when Episode 8 had him enter the competition to try of stop his boss, he pretty much had the whole fandom rooting for him. Then came Episodes 10, 11, and 12, where he hit Reki with a car and tried to bribe him to keep quiet so as to not trouble Adam, pulled out of the race to let Langa, a teenage boy who Adam has shown an unhealthy attraction to, deal with his boss instead, actively endangering the kid, and in the end chooses to stay by Adam's side. While afterwards, while some see him as a brainwashed abuse victim or someone just happy to have his old friend back (which one depending on the fan's opinion of Adam himself), others see him as just as bad as his boss and an Accomplice by Inaction.
• Broken Base: Since the day the Season 1 finale premiered, the most persistent argument among fans of the anime was over whether Adam's Easily Forgiven and turning into a Karma Houdini was really justified or a mistake complete Ass Pull that doesn't make sense. Some feel his traumatic backstory explains enough of his desire to have someone to love and that not punishing him was the right decision, justifying that Adam needs the chance to learn the true meaning of being loved and make up for all the damage he's done. The other side says that Adam is Beyond Redemption considering that he crossed the Moral Event Horizon and should have been harshly punished to the point of deserving jail.
• Catharsis Factor:
  • Considering that Shadow's first appearance was gleefully breaking Reki's arm and attempting to do the same to Langa later in their beef, after episode 1 Shadow deservedly becomes the biggest Butt-Monkey in the series and the target of all every jokes.
  • Adam finally getting his comeuppance during the final minutes of episode 11 is a delight to behold. After gleefully hurting most of the main characters both physically and psychologically without suffering any punishment for his actions, Reki sweeping the floor with Adam while all of S weakens with his misery is as cathartic as it is impressive.
• Diagnosed by the Audience:
  • Many fans believe Langa is on the autism spectrum. This is due to his straight-faced expressions, somewhat monotone voice, struggle with picking up non-verbal cues and reading between the lines, inability to properly communicate his emotions, as well as his hyperfixation on skateboarding — a special interest — that keeps him from realizing how dangerous some of his stunts are. His mother even notes that he tends to get obsessed over things he takes a deep interest to.
  • It can also be implied that before he moved that Langa had depression. He also didn't show much emotion when he first moved to Okinawa and only started to open up once he met Reki. After his father's death his eyes are portrayed as Empty Eyes whenever he tried to snowboard on his own. When skating against Adam in their final beef the "zone" seems to remind him of his father's death again, sending him back into his blank depression state.
  • While not as frequent as the takeaways for Langa, as Langa's neurodivergence is more obvious, Reki can also be seen as possibly being non-neurotypical. Skating could be considered Reki's "special interest". He has a wide knowledge of skateboard tricks and skills in creating custom skateboards to suit particular people or circumstances. While he's eager to share this passion with others who ask, his friends at school don't show the same amount of enthusiasm over the sport as he does - which visibly bums him out until Langa appears.
• Die for Our Ship: Adam constantly gets heat among Langa/Reki and Joe/Cherry fans because of his interest in Langa and, to a minor extent, because Cherry once expressed interest in him.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Kiriko Kamata has gained a decent following despite showing up for brief moments in a few episodes due to her gorgeous appearance and distaste for Adam.
• Evil Is Cool: Adam may be a slimy, utterly vicious skater who absolutely loves terrorizing his opponents for the hell of it, also shows signs of being an Ephebophile, but he makes it entirely his own by being insanely cool in his appearances. Being voiced by the one-and-only Takehito Koyasu certainly helps in that regard.
• Fan Nickname: Some fans refer to Adam's assistant, Tadashi Kikuchi, as Secretary-kun.
• Idiosyncratic Ship Naming:
  • Adam/Langa is often referred to as Eden, due to Adam's skateboarding moniker and the fact that he calls Langa his Eve.
  • Joe/Cherry Blossom is most commonly called "MatchaBlossom" in Western fandom, with "Blossom" obviously referring to Cherry and "Matcha" referring to Joe's green hair.
• I Knew It!:
  • Many have guessed that the guy in the red ball-cap shown in the opening is actually Tadashi in disguise, due to the having a similar build and hair color. Come Episode 8, they were completely right, as Tadashi is revealed to be "Snake" in the S tournament that Adam set up.
  • Similarly, it was predicted in many fanfics prior to Episode 11 that Reki would be the one Adam picked to face him in place of Shadow and Tadashi would forfeit his match against Langa.
• Iron Woobie: Tadashi has emerged as this for many after episode 7. Having been with Adam since at least high school, he's an Extreme Doormat who can't express his own opinions to Adam. This leads to Adam's horrific treatment, ignoring his suggestions and calling him demeaning names, if only to get a reaction out of him. He keeps a dispassionate face, but it's clear that he's absolutely miserable under Adam. Then there's The Reveal that he taught Adam skateboarding and that he blames himself for not preventing Adam from becoming the monster that he is today, thanks to an incident back in high school where Adam's father burned his skateboard. Somebody really needs to give this guy a hug.
• Jerks Are Worse Than Villains: Guess who's more disliked amongst the community; the sadistic and almost murderous Big Bad/Jerkass (Adam) or Miya's former friends who abandoned him out of jealousy and Adam's abusive aunts? It's the last two.
• Love to Hate: Many Western fans do not hold back their disdain for Adam's character even after the reveal of his childhood that drove him to be the man he is today. Still, some admit that overall they enjoy Adam's hamminess and him being an entertaining villain.
• LGBT Fanbase: No surprise here. From the major Ship Tease between Langa and Reki, the tension of Joe and Cherry and even Adam. Another reason is likely because the director Hiroko Utsumi directed both Banana Fish and Free!, two series with their own LGBTQ fanbases, so fandom crossover was inevitable.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • The damn palm trees^ExplanationAfter Reki and Langa's tense falling out in episode 7 and the cliffhanger of the JOE vs SNOW beef in episode 8, it became a common joke to hate on the two palm trees that signaled the start of the relaxing, out-of-place ending song.
  • Skateboarding DIO^ExplanationA common way of referring to Adam to those outside the fandom: Adam and DIO are both flamboyant, dramatic villains, and they even share the same voice actor.
  • "Adam is a homophobe"^ExplanationAfter Adam spied on Reki and Langa at the skatepark with a drone, while absolutely running with Reki and Langa's subtext, a bunch of fans turned a blind eye toward Adam's Depraved Homosexual characterization (or insisted despite it), declaring that Adam was simply a homophobe.
  • "Reki, my love—" Yes! "—of skateboarding..." NO!^ExplanationIn the English Dub, Langa says the line "Reki, my love of skateboarding, is because of you..." which would be a sweet line if he hadn't paused between the words "my love" and "of skateboarding". Cue every Renga shipper in the fandom cheering in happiness for a millisecond before devolving into angry, despairing cries.
  • "Hey bitches and bros and nonbinary hoes!"^ExplanationThe English dub line for Adam appearing in episode 8
  • "Joe and his abs".^ExplanationThe English dub usually has other skaters from male to mostly female fawning over by also referring to his six pack abs
  • Now all we need is a sapphic roller-skating anime^ExplanationSk8 the Infinity and Yuri!!! on Ice are original anime with a largely male cast with heavy amounts of Ho Yay between them skating in competions (albeit very different kinds of skating). This has caused fans of both to jokingly or even seriously voice their desire for a roller-skarting anime with Les Yay so as to "complete the trifecta."
  • Given how popular the "Are you winning son?" meme is, many started to take Langa's vision of his father as he's skating against Adam and instead put in, "Are you having fun, son?"
• Moral Event Horizon: For many people, this came after every particularly abusive or Squick-y action Adam takes—whether terrifying Reki to the point he's shown to have PTSD, or placing Langa in a I Have You Now, My Pretty situation, smashing his skateboard in Cherry's face and putting him in the hospital, or stating that he'd stay away from Miya...until he was Reki and Langa's age, apparently.
  • On the opposite side, the fandom is far less likely to take issue with Shadow, who has also been shown to revel in violence and even expressed interest in breaking Reki's other arm. The main difference is that Shadow mostly keeps his S stunts out of his public life and does care for others underneath his tough guy act. Though on another hand, he does get some form of Laser-Guided Karma, to the point it's shocking how harshly it occurred.
• Narm:
  • In episode 5, Langa manages to outsmart Adam by avoiding his Love Hug. What should have been an awe-inspiring, serious moment is immediately ruined by a sudden shot of Langa in angel wings akin to a Renaissance painting, followed by a close-up of Adam's butt as he furiously tap dances the flamenco expressing how excited Langa has made him.
  • That's to say nothing of Episode 9's big scene, where Adam takes the time to get off his board, run full speed towards Cherry, and strike him in the head with the board with a triple shot to emphasize it, all to make Cherry realize there are things he can't predict. It certainly made waves when it originally aired, but many also pointed to the ridiculousness of the scene. The fact that the crew later refers to it as a "technique" rather than the murder attempt it was makes it come off as even more ridiculous.
  • Episode 12 has Langa's father appear to him in a vision where he asks his son in English "Are you having fun, my son?" While heartwarming, many were taken out of the moment because of it, especially with the Asian Speekee Engrish that came along with it.
• One True Pairing: Much of fandom ships Reki and Langa due to the strong Ho Yay vibes they give off.
• Portmanteau Couple Name: "Renga" for Reki/Langa in Western fandom. Japanese fans instead use "LanReki" if Langa is leading the relationship or "RekiLan" if Reki is leading the relationship.
• Rainbow Lens:
  • It's all but confirmed that Adam is the one who founded S. So, we have a man who likely had a strict, traditional upbringing if the brief scenes of his family we've seen are anything to go by, creating a secret club where dressing and acting flamboyantly is encouraged. At the same time, referring to people by their aliases outside of the club is discouraged, and Adam makes use of this club in order to behave flamboyantly and rather suggestively. The parallels to underground gay clubs did not fly over many fans' heads.
  • Tadashi's tirade against skateboarding symbolizing internalized homophobia has been noted by more than a few.
  • Near the last episodes, Reki tells a worried Oka that he felt good after being beaten up. Oka tells him, "That's because you hate yourself right now, and think you deserve it." Looking into Adam's behavior, this can count as a way they Foil in that moment. Taken to a further conclusion, based on other LGBT-related symbolism such as Tadashi's tirade, the meme of Adam being an "[internalized] homophobe" may not be totally off-base. Reki "having fun" skateboarding may genuinely make Adam furious in part because he sees a reflection of himself, and doesn't think someone like Reki should be genuinely succeeding, having fun, and being surrounded by people who support him. He, in a way, wants that support, but goes about it in a vicious way, and doesn't let anyone who wants to genuinely be close to him, in, whether or not he wants it, too.
• Ship Mates: Reki/Langa and Joe/Cherry are the two most popular ships in the fandom by far, and if you find someone in the fandom who ships one, there is a 99% chance they ship the other.
• Ship-to-Ship Combat: Adam/Langa and Adam/Reki are seen as No Yay by Langa/Reki fans in the Western fandom. Many fans chalk it up to how Langa and Reki are at the most still high school students while Adam is well into his mid-to-late 20s, not to mention his behavior can be construed as sexual harassment and physical abuse at times.
• Squick: Adam's behavior is a source of contention for many, as his detractors are uncomfortable with the fact that he, an adult, developed some form of a 'crush' towards Langa, who's established to be a high-schooler. Then there's the reasoning that his manhandling of Reki and Langa during their respective races comes dangerously close to (or counts as) sexual harassment for quite a few. While Adam stays away from Miya, who's in middle school, it still comes off as creepy when he says he'll wait a few years before he treats him like he does Reki and Langa.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character:
  • Reki, who gets this reaction and They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot. His two biggest character arcs were his insecurities regarding his lack of technical talent compared to his depth of knowledge concerning skating, and how that fits into his philosophy of skating for fun; and his frustration with Adam stemming from his past with an old friend who got badly injured. The latter isn't looked into or resolved in the same way that Langa's past is, and Reki ends up spending most of his screentime centered around Langa and his growing prowess in skating, rather than on himself until late game. Even his showing in episode 11 tethers him to Langa, as the reason he even skates against Adam in the first place is because Adam wants to eliminate a perceived threat to his advances on Langa, and after Reki decides he wants to be equals with him he is very quickly sidelined for the final episode. And for those who were hoping for a particularly focal culmination for his and Langa's series-wide relationship with a race or any other extended last-episode catharsis for the two, they're left sorely disappointed (outside the end of Langa's race and a brief scene after the credits), as the series cuts off right before they race.
  • Beyond much of the Western fanbase expecting Kiriko to go after Adam so that he would not end the series as a Karma Houdini, Kiriko as the only female character who could have action within the plot, yet doing nothing much by the finale, is seen as a waste.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: A minor controversy in the Latin American dub is about Adam greeting the non-binary individuals as "bienvenides", which is a new term created for non-binary individuals and to erase the gendered pronouns in Spanish (bienvenidos and bienvenidas). However, while some folks have appreciated this, multiple other individuals who hate the inclusive language dislike the term, and felt the English version (on which the dub in question was based; the Japanese version didn't have such line) of the scene did the scene much better and gave Adam more personality.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • The tournament, at least where Shadow and Miya are concerned. They both showed a lot of promise as skaters, with Shadow pretty much sweeping the competition and Miya having a legitimate showing of his own. In the latter half of the series, both of their races are skipped; Miya's because his beef with Tadashi was cut down to the end and immediate aftermath (where he loses), and Shadow because the racer who he humiliated in episode 1 got dumped and he attacked Shadow as revenge.
  • Plenty of other characters have their beef with Adam too. While Cherry did get to race against him, Joe was one of the few friends he had before his downfall; not to mention Tadashi, who has the longest history with Adam and eventually took up the reins to stop him from self destructing. Neither of these two characters get a chance to skate against Adam, nor does Adam express interest in revisiting the strained relationship of the former.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: The animation by Studio BONES is highly dynamic as well as incredibly fluid, perfectly complimenting the bright, colorful visuals, especially when the skating gets into high gear.
• Wangst: Reki's falling out with Langa from episodes 7-10 had many viewers finding fault with the former than the latter. While it is understandable that Reki wouldn't be happy with Langa going off to skate with the guy that got his former friend and he himself injured (with even Langa nearly meeting that fate as well in episode 5), on top of people constantly ribbing him about his lack of skateboarding talent compared to his friends, the show portrays Reki's discontentment being mostly about the latter point and of their broken promise, with his friend not factored into it at all. Reki brushing off his S friends during his depression period, including Miya, who's dealt with that situation before, didn't earn him any sympathizers either. The character arc was also criticized for backtracking his mindset in the early series, where he was genuinely content with skating for fun and was proud of Langa when he made progress or won races.
• The Woobie: Poor, poor Reki. Despite his endless optimism, the series gradually reveals that he has some deep-seated self-esteem issues. While he manages to hide them well enough early on, his compounding failures, Langa's impressive improvement, Adam's natural talent and his S friends' standout capabilities leave him feeling like he's without skill, and in particular, that he'll get left behind/forgotten by Langa. Kicked into high gear with the realization that many of the people in S can't remember his name and already treat him as an accessory to Langa, this eventually comes to a head when Langa enters Adam's tournament, breaking their promise. This leads Reki to break off their friendship, fueled by his sense of inferiority and fear that Langa no longer values him or his thoughts (as Adam heavily injured him), as well as fear that they'll no longer be equals. He's also just straight-up beaten up or purposefully horribly injured several times in the series, and hit by a car once and on a completely separate occasion, nearly murdered.
• Values Dissonance:
  • Adam suffers from Americans Hate Tingle in the Western fandom; however, he doesn't get as much hate in the Asian fandoms. Part of it is because it's easier for people from Asian cultures to sympathize with him because they relate to the pressure of having to keep up an image of perfection, which is strongly enforced in their cultures. In addition, in many parts of Asian fandoms there's more separation barrier in fictional media they consume, so they are not as likely to take Adam's antics very seriously.
  • Kiriko's role in the story seems to be perceived wildly differently in the western fandom. In the western fandom Kiriko is liked and perceived as someone who would bring Adam to justice. Kiriko's actual role in the story was to be an obstacle for Adam to overcome to complete his arc, which he did since she was never really a threat to him. She was also likely there to add some tension to Adam and Tadashi's relationship, since Adam said he would sell Tadashi out. In the end, the matter was resolved, since he had no real intention to send Tadashi to jail.
  • After episode 12, there were accusations of Queerbaiting due to the rampant amount of Ho Yay and Ship Tease among the characters not being resolved by the end. However, the concept of queerbaiting can't really be applied to Japanese series like Sk8, largely because Japan doesn't consider LGBT viewers as a separate market in the vein that western media would. It's widely accepted among Japanese fans that any relationships may not be canon or even acknowledged. Furthermore, relationships are intentionally kept ambiguous for Japanese fans to fill in the blanks with their own imagination and any Ship Tease is generally accepted as Fanservice (the general term) meant to keep all shipping factions happy, including the yumejoshi (female self-shippers).

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