SK8 the Infinity
SK8 the Infinity is a Japanese original anime television series produced and animated by Bones. It premiered on January 11, 2021, on ANN's Animazing!!! programming block. A comedy manga spin-off was serialized on the Young Ace Up manga website from January to September 2021. A manga adaptation of the television series began serialization on the BookLive! e-book store in March 2021. Few years after the first season, original video animation was released in Japan in March 2025, with a second season being produced.
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.Characters
;Reki Kyan;Langa Hasegawa Snow
;Miya Chinen
;Hiromi Higa Shadow
;Kaoru Sakurayashiki Cherry Blossom
;Kojiro Nanjo Joe
;Ainosuke Shindo Adam
;Tadashi Kikuchi Snake
;Shokichi Oka
;Sketchy
;Carla
;Nanako Hasegawa
Production
In an interview with Wakanim, Studio No Border founder Thomas Romain said that after meeting with Bones about Carole and Tuesday, him and the other crew at his studio ran into Suzuki, a producer on the show. She asked the studio if they were interested in designing skateboards for an original show, of which they ended up agreeing to do. The skateboards were specifically designed so that they could work if built in real life. Juliette Mercier, who had previous experience designing skateboards, ended up doing most of the designs. After some small changes, they were approved. When it came to the decals, they were purposely stylized to be unique to each character in order to symbolize their personalities. Ayumi Kakei did the designs for Reki and Langa's skateboards, with a "pop" style. French comic book artist Loic Locatelli did the decals for Shadow and Joe, while Thomas Romain did Adam's himself. In total, five different artists from the studio worked on the series, which was a first for them.The skaterboarders' moves were also inspired by real people, with one example being Miya's style, which has striking similarities to Rodney Mullen's style.
Bones also ran a weekly blog for the series, where they shared various concepts sketches by Hiroko Utsumi alongside each episode's release.
Media
Anime
On September 13, 2020, it was reported that Hiroko Utsumi and Bones were working on an anime television series project. Further details were not revealed until the following week. On September 20, 2020, the series was officially announced. Utsumi directed the series, while Ichirō Ōkouchi oversaw the series' scripts, Michinori Chiba designed the characters and served as chief animation director, and Ryō Takahashi composed the series' music. The series aired from January 10 to April 4, 2021, on ABC and TV Asahi's Animazing!!! programming block. The opening theme song is "Paradise" performed by Rude-α, while the ending theme song is "Infinity" performed by Yuuri. The series ran for 12 episodes.On July 4, 2021, a new anime project for the series was announced. On August 14, 2022, the project was revealed to be a second season and an original video animation. The main staff from the previous season are reprising their roles. The OVA, titled SK8 the Infinity Extra Part, consists of four episodes and was released in Japan on March 19, 2025, following an early theatrical screening on January 24 of the same year for a limited time.
Aniplex of America licensed the series outside of Asia and streamed it on Funimation, AnimeLab, and Wakanim in their territories. In Southeast Asia, the series is licensed by Muse Communication, who streamed it on Bilibili. Muse later licensed the anime to Animax Asia for TV airings. Funimation produced a SimulDub for the series.