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SK8 the Infinity
| Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name: | SK8 the Infinity |
| Abbreviation(s): | SK8 |
| Creator: | Hiroko Utsumi, Bones |
| Date(s): | January 9, 2021 - present |
| Medium: | Anime |
| Country of Origin: | Japan |
| External Links: | Official Website (E) |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
SK8 the Infinity is a 12-episode sports anime created by Hiroko Utsumi and distributed by the production studio Bones. It follows Kyan Reki, Hasegawa Langa, and their friends who join illegal skating battles in hopes of winning and becoming the best.
History
After sports anime sensations such as Free, Haikyuu, and Yuri On Ice, anime fans were getting ready for a new project that could take the anime world by storm.
Following the release of the first episode on January 9, 2021, more than 20 fanfictions were released on Archive of Our Own alone, and as the rest of the episodes were released, that number grew dramatically. As of January 7, 2025, there were nearly 17,000 fics in the tag on Ao3 and that number continues to grow as the fandom anticipates the show's second season. It also sparked the creation of a SK8 kink meme on Dreamwidth.
As the show progressed, it accumulated a grand number of fans who were very active about it on social media, especially Tiktok, Tumblr, and Twitter, and a lot of theories, meta posts, criticism, and other fan-created projects started circulating online and many reached tens of thousands of likes and comments.
SK8 The Infinity is also considered a Fandom That Ate Fandom since a lot of Haikyuu!!, Free!, Banana Fish, and Yuri On Ice fans joined the fandom during the hiatus or after the ending of their respective shows. The shipping aspect of the anime also attracted a lot of new fans to anime as a form of media, and the fandom is still more than alive almost a year after the Big Boom of Content.
Shipping
As soon as the first episode was released (and possibly even prior), the fandom's most popular ship was Kyan Reki/Hasegawa Langa, known as Reki/Langa or Renga. Many fans thought they had a lot of chemistry and speculated that the relationship could become canon, as Hiroko Utsumi, the show's creator, was heavily involved in the creation of Banana Fish, where the leading two characters end up in a canon gay relationship. Although the show has not canonized the relationship thus far, many presume that it will become canon, while others are worried that this is an instance of Queerbaiting.
Many fans ship supporting characters as well. The second most popular ship is Nanjo Kojiro | Joe/Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom, known as Joe/Cherry or Matchablossom. The two are childhood best friends in canon and have a lot of interactions which fans read as romantic or friendly, resulting in a very large following. Some fans are also uncomfortable with shipping Kyan Reki and Hasegawa Langa (or producing fan content) because of their canon age and instead stick to shipping Matchablossom because Joe and Cherry are adults. The pairing also often appears as a side-pairing in Renga works.
Two other pairings have a large following in the fandom, Kikuchi Tadashi/Shindo Ainosuke | Adam and Hasegawa Langa/Shindo Ainosuke | Adam, both of which have caused quite a lot of controversy in the fandom because Shindo Ainosuke is the main antagonist, resorts to violent measures against the protagonists on multiple occasions, and is disliked by a large portion of the fandom. Adam/Lenga also involves shipping between an adult and a teenager, which a loud minority of the fandom views as immoral, and its shippers have been under a lot of pressure during fan wars and other controversies.
The fandom also has some Gen or non-shippy fanworks, most of which include tropes such as Found Family.
Fanworks
Popular Tropes
Popular tropes in the fandom include Pre-Slash, Friends to Lovers, and anything involving a First Time, whether it be a kiss, skating, sexual intercourse, or otherwise. Many fans also created Crackfic and fanfiction where Hasegawa Langa and Kyan Reki practiced kissing together before realizing their feelings for each other.
When creating Joe/Cherry content, many fans decide to inspect their childhood together as they are childhood friends and also make Canon Divergence and Alternate Universe fanart, fanfiction, and fanvids.
Fanfiction
- (the first time) he kissed a boy by buzzcut__season
- he was a skater boy, he said—no, you know what, no, we're not calling it that by arahir
- Only Practice Makes Perfect by SKayLanphear
- The Gambler by MooeyDooey
Fanart
- Prince from the Land of Snow by @steffanarts on Tumblr
- The end of ep 11 except Joe doesn’t stop Adam and Langa is.. less polite comic by @fury176 on Tumblr
- it's now or never by @meru90 on Tumblr
- some matchablossom and their lil cat son :^) by @ikimaru on Tumblr
- barbie the infinity~ by @fioleespring on Tumblr
Meta
- Gay subtext and romantic parallels between SK8 the Infinity and other anime by somebody-909, April 2021
- Analyzing the religious themes in sk8 by papillon-de-porcelaine, March 2021
Archives
Zines
- DiRT: A Day in the Life of Ainosuke Shindo (adamdirtzine)
- Paint the Streets (sk8graffitizine)
- SK8 In Style (sk8instylezine)
- SK8 Rainy Days Zine (sk8_rainydayzine; forthcoming)
- Sk8 Through The Seasons (sk8tts)
- To Infinity (sk8auzine)
Other
- he was a skater boy i said see you later boy slideshow by @scattered-winter
- Sk8 the Infinity: the Stage (GIFs from the play)
- matchablossom kinda giving Italian flag