Ho Yay / Sk8 the Infinity

Reki is enjoying this fake scenario thing a bit too much.

As with any Sports Anime, there are bound to be many moments of Ho Yay between the cast, especially since the main cast is made up of completely men. And considering the anime was directed by Hiroko Utsumi, the same woman who directed the Banana Fish anime as well as Free!, is it really all that surprising?

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Langa/Reki

• The amount of times Langa and Reki call the other's name out in the entire series deserves a shout out of its own.
  • Some have jokingly pointed out in the ending that the outline of the palm trees have Reki and Langa's colors.
• In episode 1, Langa and Reki's meeting comes off as a Meet Cute. After Reki ollies right over him, Langa looks starstruck and at loss for words, and when Reki tries asking if Langa wants to try skateboarding, he's subtly blushing, with an awkward scratching movement by his cheek, which reflects his awkward body language in front of a girl he thinks is cute in episode 5. Reki also looks put off when the conversation suddenly jumps towards job-hunting. On Langa's side, aside from landing a momentary job, with his blush as he insistently accepts, you could say he's pretty eager to hang out with Reki for the day.
  • When Reki first sees Langa pull off a snowboarding-style jump on a skateboard, Langa is reflected in Reki's eyes in a similar manner to the way that Eiji is reflected in Ash's eyes in the scene many point to as the moment Ash starts falling for him in Banana Fish.
• In episode 2, when Reki teaches Langa how to skateboard, he offers to hold his hand (to make sure he doesn't fall). Langa's eyes also glow in awe when he watches Reki pull off an ollie to encourage him.
  • Two girls watch as Reki demonstrates some skating moves on his tech deck while Langa watches closely and seriously, the two clearly lost in their own world.
  • For the Latin American dub, when Langa talks about being turned down before a job interview, Reki calls him "baby".
• In episode 3, Reki casually names a part of Langa's board "Prince-Maru" because "[Prince is] what the girls call you." This gets a call-back in Cindereki. Funnily enough, the viewers never get confirmation if what Reki said was true, as he just assumes the girls call Langa that.
  • Langa praising Reki for his ingenuity for the additional parts he put onto his board which Reki proudly puffs out his chest to.
  • In episode 1 where Reki discussed the rules of S to Langa, he said how some skaters would bet on things like money, an apology or even women. Given how Reki later becomes Langa's Implied Love Interest, when Miya bets on Reki to become his dog if he wins, the meaning takes on an entirely different subtext especially when Langa agrees to have Reki as the bet.
  • Near the end of the race, Langa gets the inspiration to pull off a new move after seeing Reki shouting at him, and he immediately brightens up before attempting the move. Afterwards, Reki looks like he's glowing when he sees Langa pull it off. He congratulates Langa winning against Miya by running to hug him, gushing "That was amazing!"...before switching that praise to the effort he put into his board. Langa points out he was the one skating, and Reki turns the praise back to him, stating "You were even more amazing," which Langa still pouts over.
• For the dub of the episode 3 preview, Reki is asking Langa questions about himself and then allows Langa to ask him questions. Langa asks how Reki says he'll tell him anything but then doesn't answer when he asks him questions. Reki sounds flustered as he explains Langa always asks about feelings a lot and "it's weird".
• In episode 4, Langa and Reki get a cute moment where Langa saves Reki's skateboard again, and it's implied Langa wanted to check up on how Reki was doing. Langa loses his cool when Adam does a Wall Pin of Love against Reki and immediately steals a motorbike to rush towards Reki midway through the race. After Reki falls injured, Langa quickly rushes to his aid.
  • As Reki realizes how outclassed he is, he briefly wonders if he should just give up altogether. It's only when he remember Langa telling Miya they're skating because it's fun that Reki decides to get his head back in the game. A similar scene to this occurs later on.
• In episode 5, Reki becomes worried about Langa challenging Adam and tries to persuade him not to go. The night before the race, Reki and Langa have a very heartfelt conversation where Reki pleads him to stay safe. The way they gaze into each other's eyes◊ is not how normal friends would. The violins that play in the background, do not help as it makes the scene come off as even more romantic than it already is.
  • During this same conversation, the camera pans over the red hibiscus flowers growing in front of Reki's house. In hanakotoba, the hibiscus flower means "gentle," and a red hibiscus symbolizes romantic love...
  • Earlier in the episode when he has a nightmare of his race with Adam, Reki wakes up screaming Langa's name. The camera then cuts to Langa who looks both confused and startled as there's a small blush across his face.
  • As they eat on the roof together, Langa helps Reki uncap his water and seems incredibly pouty throughout most of their conversation, likely because of the injuries Reki sustained because of Adam. When Reki takes notice and asks why Langa was upset, Langa claims he's not upset as he somewhat grumpily munches into his food and stubbornly says he's going to race against Adam. During their conversation, Langa even admits that he was initially furious at what Adam did to Reki and that he had gone to far.
  • Reki even attempts to have Oka talk to Langa because Langa would refuse to listen to Reki, already knowing his words are going to be to not go against Adam.
  • As the police suddenly arrive, Reki immediately grabs a bike and rides off to get Langa, and it's implied he even took his cast off early just so he could drive. Once they manage to avoid the cops, Langa rewraps Reki's arm.
• In episode 6, Langa stops Reki from trying to pull off a trick to best Joe because he's worried about his broken arm. Later, when Reki mimes to Shadow on what would happen if he gets between Joe and the girls, he pretends to be the girl and holds onto Langa, and Langa picks up on the cue after a while, holding him and making a Declaration of Protection. Later, when the boys go on a race to the hot spring, Langa goes back for Reki when he notices he hasn't followed them, even catching him in a dipping dance step a la Adam. After he catches Reki, the two even stare and smile at each while smiling, only snapping out of it when they notice more "ghosts" ahead of them.
  • In the English dub, Langa acting as Joe tells Reki, "Don't worry bae, I'll protect you."
  • As Langa realizes Reki wasn't with the group he stares at the ground to see a red lion figure and is immediately thinking of Reki. In the next episode, Langa has two red lion figurines in his room that Reki had apparently made for him as a housewarming gift.
  • Langa noticing Reki staring at the girl on the ship and even directing his "flirting lines" to Reki. Many have even noted that Langa's expression when he notices Reki eyeing the girl looks suspiciously jealous.
    • Made slightly funnier since if Langa considers "Are you hungry?" a pick up line, Reki is usually the one to ask if Langa wants to go eat somewhere. At the end of episode 5 after they manage to evade the cops, Reki asks if Langa was hungry and starts wondering if there was a ramen shop nearby.
• Episode 7 has their Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure in the rain look like a dramatic breakup. Reki becomes sore when Langa expresses interest in continuing S despite their promise, and especially continuing to talk about ADAM after the episode 5 incident. A lot of fans also pointed to his trailing off when he exclaims "Don't you know how much I...", filling the blanks with something romantic.
  • When Adam announces a tournament, Langa tells himself he can face Adam but then suddenly remembers Reki making him promise not to go up against Adam. He then drops his head guiltily.
  • Throughout episode 7 and 8, Langa continuously texts and calls Reki, at first worried where the other was but then talking more about how the tournament was starting. Despite them breaking off, Langa still reaches out to Reki and wants him to be there, but then most of his texts end with a hopeful but hurt, "Reki?"
  • When Langa is playing soccer and is affectionately tackled by another student, he smiles for a moment but then his smile immediately falls, implying he thought it was Reki and was disappointed when it wasn't.
• Episode 8 is just filled with catnip for Renga shippers:
  • While it only makes him even more depressed, Reki still watches all of the videos he took when he was still teaching Langa how to skate. All of Langa's smiles are directed at the camera since Reki was recording.
  • When Langa tries to make conversation with Reki who's staring out the window, he soon gives up as class is starting. However, the camera then pans to Reki who's looking at Langa's reflection in the window itself.
  • Throughout the episode, Langa can't feel his heart beat as fast as it usually does when he skates, likely attributed to Reki not being there for him. Even when Adam is talking to him, he can't help but feel disinterested and drifts back to Reki.
    • In fact, when he feels a hand on his shoulder his first thought was "Reki", as his face lit up with a bright smile. Once he realizes it was Adam, his smile immediately drops.
  • When Snake appears for the first time, Langa hopefully wonders if it was secretly Reki, only to be quickly disappointed when he realizes it wasn't him.
  • Joe who had a conversation with Cherry about Adam being alone seeks out Reki at the ramen shop and encourages him to go and watch the tournament, even if he's not actually racing and then tells Reki not to be alone. It's clear who Joe wants Reki to see. As Langa looks for Reki at S he asks Joe if he saw him, and when he confirms that Reki was here, Joe seems amused but glad.
  • Langa and his mom have a conversation about his argument with Reki. His mom tells him to just go tell this person how he feels, as he shouldn't have to hide his feelings for them. She even outright asks Langa if he likes this person which is full of romantic connotations. Langa replies with a startled 'Eh?!' then agrees with a 'yeah,' even when his mom realizes that he wasn't talking about a girl.
    • It does not help that Funimation titled this clip for the dub: "Langa and his mother have The Talk".
  • Before going to the tournament, Langa makes a pitstop at Reki's in hopes he'll be at home. Instead, he sees the ramp Reki uses whenever he leaves and immediately brightens up and rushes over to S to find him. Once Reki hears Langa coming he immediately blends into the crowd as Langa continues to look for him.
  • Even as he's about to skate against Joe, Langa still searches the crowd for Reki, his face getting more crestfallen.
• In episode 9, Langa loses interest in his race, but it's only when Reki calls out his name that he regains momentum. Langa is also noticeably glum when his board breaks and when Joe tells him to just buy a new one, he insists, "It has to be this one", to which the latter concludes it's because Reki made it. Joe even comes off as a Shipper on Deck when he tells Langa to go and look for Reki as he adds, "It'll be alright if it's you two."
  • Earlier in the race when some bystanders are mouthing off about Langa, Reki immediately tries to defend his friend and talking about how the way he flies is so beautiful it looked like it was snowing. He continues on with his praises until one of the bystanders almost teasingly asks if he was rooting for SNOW.
  • The slow motion in that scene as Langa realizes Reki came and his face lighting up moment later. It almost parallels to when Reki stared at Langa as he flew into the air during his first race with Langa's eyes reflecting Reki in his iris.
  • After his race, he ignores everyone and everything, only focused on searching for Reki, even going back to the spot where he was during the race in hopes of him still being there.
• In episode 10, Langa continues to chase after Reki to find him, and when he arrives at his house, he goes through his desk to find an old video of Reki learning how to perform an ollie, which he watches fondly.
  • At the hospital when Langa catches a glimpse of Reki he immediately drops everything and runs after him.
  • When Reki and Langa formally apologize, they skate back and forth until they crash each other, to which Reki claims that he "felt really good." The two promise to skate with each other forever, and Langa continues to praise Reki even after the latter blushes from embarrassment. Throughout the entire scene they're constantly blushing softly while looking at each other, too.
  • Also as Langa continues to praise Reki and let him know how he feels, this flusters Reki who tells him to stop as he shyly hides his face in the crook of his arm.
• In episode 11, Langa at one point stares at Reki on-screen with an extremely enamored expression, just as Reki boasts, "I'm not 'some redhead', it's Reki! Remember that!"
  • When Adam sends Reki a card for their next beef, he refers to Reki as "The Third Wheel". As Reki recognizes Tadashi he blurts out how he was the "guy from the love hotel". Langa and Oka shout in shock, and the first person Reki turns to as he quickly tries to explain the situation was to Langa.
  • While the others get worried for Reki during his rematch with Adam, Langa tells them he trusts that Reki knows what he's doing.
  • Near the end, as Adam is about to stagger towards Reki to do him harm, Langa steps forward, protectively putting his body in front of Reki.
• In the final episode, as they drive to the course of Adam and Langa's beef, Reki and Langa reminisce over their time when they were skating and Langa even teases Reki about when he accidentally switched up the boards. The two then smile and the camera lingers on each of their faces for a stretched amount of time.
  • As Langa is lost in the zone and can't feel anything, he ends up plunging off the side of the course and possibly falling to his death. The thing that snaps him out of his stupor? The board Reki made for him, with the addition of him writing the word "FUN" on it. He then quickly regains the smile on his face as he joyfully yells out how fun skating was.
  • After crossing the finish line where Reki ran to meet him, Langa's face immediately brightens up as he continues to make a beeline to Reki. Then he jumps off his board and tackles Reki in a hug. The two are then laying on the floor with Langa asking Reki if he won and Reki happily telling him he did. In the moment Langa didn't care whether he won or lost, just that Reki was waiting for him at the finish line and that was enough for him.
  • In the middle of Langa's celebration party at the roof of the skate store, Adam drops from the sky with a bouquet of roses in hand. Everyone immediately gets out of the way, while Langa didn't move. Reki who could just get away from Adam crashing decided to hold Langa anyway.
  • Langa and his mother briefly going back to Canada to visit his father's grave and he brings his skateboard with him, clearly telling his father about Reki and his mother happily watches over.
  • Earlier in the car ride Reki asks Langa for a favor after his race with Adam that the audience doesn't get to hear. It's revealed by the end of the episode the two returning to the S course to have a skating competition with each other as the sun rises, with Reki excitedly telling Langa not to hold back.
  • During Langa's closing monologue, he mentions he knows what his happiness is, as Langa is delivering this line, the camera pans to Reki waiting for Langa at their race, implying that Langa's happiness is Reki.
  • Langa giving Reki a sideways glance before starting their race almost seems flirtatious.
• "Cindereki". How do we even begin?
  • To begin with the obvious, Reki is in Cinderella's role and Langa is his Prince Charming. The limited edition of the first Blu-ray also comes with a drama CD that actually uses this concept.
  • They have another Meet Cute where Cindereki is skating too fast and can't stop so she ends up crashing into Langa.
  • When Cindereki spends time with the prince, the latter calls the former's skateboarding "beautiful", but Cindereki thinks he's talking about her and blushes furiously.
  • Prince Langa, much like in the original series, is enamored by Cindereki because she's the only person who could understand him and make him emote. They plan on getting married at the end and skating happily ever after.
  • The big reveal at the end, where the whole thing was Reki's dream to begin with. A lot of the dream also has dialog parallel to that of episode 10, too. So in essence, Reki had a dream about marrying Langa.
• In one of the Sk8 Chill Out comics, when Reki is asking the girl on the boat for a date and adding in that he skates, Langa thinks back to when he first met Reki and he was essentially asked the same thing.
  Langa: (thinking) Was he hitting on me...?
• One official illustration shows Reki spending Langa's birthday at the latter's house. Reki and Langa's mother pose for a picture, both miming a kiss on both of Langa's cheeks to his embarrassment.

Adam/Langa

• It's wholly, obsessively one-sided on Adam's part, though Langa's incredible talent to misread social cues and deep hunger for excitement makes Adam believe it's not.
• Adam's first appearance has him shirtless and watching the multiple screens showing him the race at S, with Langa's image soon encompassing all the screens. When he performs his Backside Rodeo above Shadow's bombs, Adam is actually standing right in front of the screens, putting his hand on one of them and clearly in awe.
• In the English dub, Adam gives Langa all sorts of cute pet names like "snowball", "snowbunny", "little Langa", "icy spicy", "love", and "my little penguin."
• In episode 3, Adam insists on making it to S later that night, claiming there was an event he had to attend, which was to watch Langa's beef. After Langa wins, Adam tries to feel his leg.
• Episode 4 Adam lifts up Langa's chin with the tip of his finger and declaring that his "prize" would be to race against Langa if Reki were to lose. Langa's immediately all for it, to Reki's shock.
  • Langa seems deeply fascinated by Adam, and is only one of a few times where something seems to "spark joy" for him. Even when Reki tells Langa about how Adam is supposedly wicked skilled and undefeated, this only seems to interest Langa more, with sparkles coming out of his eyes.
  • After Adam pulls a Love Hug on Reki, he grins at Langa and calls him his "main dish".
• In the preview for episode 5, Adam tries to get acquainted with Langa by declaring he prefers loving him, and that he may tie him up if necessary. When Langa gives responses that make it seem like he's accepting of it ^note he's actually talking to Reki and completely ignoring Adam, Adam is overjoyed.
  • In the actual episode itself, Adam playfully refers to their race as a "date." The Eyecatch shows him with Wing Ding Eyes (hearts) as he skates towards Langa, attempting to hug him. Before their race begins, he rolls out a red carpet, presents Langa with a bouquet of red roses and embraces him as they skate.
  • When Langa "dances" with him, he screams out "Love, love, love, love, lovely!!" The English dub makes this more obvious: when Adam locks into Langa's board, he sounds like he's lustfully grunting his words as he thrusts his hips forward. He also screams in orgasmic bliss when he realizes Langa is a Thrill Seeker.
  • After Langa manages to avoid his Love Hug, his interest deepens and he refers to him as his "Eve." Adam even seems to caress his backside, where Langa had touched in order to spring off of Adam to avoid the Love Hug. When Adam has to be whisked away by Tadashi, he tells Langa "Love again", and in the dub he sings "We shall love again".
• Episode 7 has Adam announcing the tournament to the S skaters. When he says he knows the others will participate, he looks up towards the hill specifically at Langa who's staring back.
  • Of course, the dub delivers with Adam staring at Langa while saying, "Don't be scared, darlings. Daddy knows you can handle it."
  • When racing against Miya for the qualifiers, Adam tells the young teen in the dub that he always "falls hopelessly in love" with his skating partners. Which aptly describes his current interest in Langa.
• Episode 8 has Adam sneaking up behind Langa and examining his wrist lovingly.
  • The skater portraits for the finals shows Langa's portrait is placed right next to Adam's.
  • When Adam draws out the names for the one on one races, Langa's card with his skate name SNOW has a heart connected to it, likely because Adam wrote it. He even put Langa on the ace of diamonds card, while Adam himself, of course gets the ace of hearts.
  • After pulling out Langa's card, Adam exclaims that his heart is pounding excitedly as he hopes the next card he picks is his. In the dub he says his heart is "pounding with envy" as he wonders which of the other skaters "gets to skate behind that act".
  • On the screen for the tournament it's called "WHITE EDEN: Wedding Beef".
• Episode 10 has Adam wondering why Langa looks down and muses that it may be due to "wedding blues". When he sees Reki and Langa laughing together, he then takes Reki as his "love rival".
• Episode 11 Adam's card directly addressing Reki as the Third Wheel.
• Langa ultimately is the one who heals Adam's heart in episode 12, and he is the only one of the main cast besides Tadashi to realize that Adam is very lonely. When Adam is skateboarding alone in the zone, Langa goes back for him and grabs him out of his funk, reminding him of the fun he had when he first started skating.
• For the episode 12 preview, for the DVD's it's revealed that Langa ran into Adam in their civilian persona's and Adam took Langa to a flamenco class.
• The epilogue still has Adam gunning for him, as he leaps from a helicopter just to deliver a bouquet of roses to him during his celebratory party.
• The "Cindereki" Drama CD makes Adam the narrator of the tale. While he's covering Prince Langa and Cindereki's romance, he takes umbrage with their coupling and asks why Langa loves Cindereki so much. the Narrator then proceeds to jump into the story, specifically to steal Prince Langa away from Cindereki.
• Most of Adam's interactions with Langa in the Sk8 Chill Out manga has his mask eye change into a heart.

Joe/Cherry Blossom

• All of Joe and Cherry's interactions could be read as Belligerent Sexual Tension, especially when they have a history with each other. In the dub their English voice actors try to make the Ship Tease more overt and even ship the pair themselves.
• Despite the two always fighting one another, they always seem to appear at S at the same time.
• Their introductory comic mentions that they fight nearly all the time, and can't seem to want to avoid fighting anyway.
  • They even parallel Langa and Reki's friendship when they were teens, from the fist-bumping and never really being seen apart from one another.
• During Miya's race with Langa, Joe gets excited and asks Cherry to join him in on betting who would win. This causes Cherry to lash out because Joe referred to him as "Kaoru" and not Cherry, which seems to happen a bit more often than it appears.
  • Joe even has a small blush on his face when he asks Kaoru whether or not they should actually place bets.
• As Cherry and Joe fight over who should get the "right" to skate against Adam, the dub has Joe call Cherry "cute" as they continue bickering.
• In episode 5 to demonstrate Adam's "Love Hug" technique, Cherry has Joe be the one he's giving the "hug" to which he even lampshades. Cherry also only comes to a stop once the two are literally nose to nose with one another, something Joe doesn't appreciate.
  • For the dub as Adam and Langa begin their race, Joe realizes Cherry is basically using Langa to get more data on Adam. The way he says, "You're so bad" almost sounds flirtatious on Joe's part.
• In episode 6, Miya tries to get Joe to stop hitting on girls by pretending to be his son. Miya points to Cherry being his "mom", and Joe becomes attracted to the sight of Cherry until he realizes who he's really looking at and snaps out of it. It doesn't help that during the scene, Joe basically has a Crush Filter going on with sparkles and harps playing in the background, with it only dying down once he realizes he's looking at Cherry's legs.
  • On the ship when Cherry angrily asks Joe why he's on the ship, he playfully winks at Cherry and replies, "Vacation".
  • One of the rare times Cherry calls Joe by his actual name is when he invites himself and the other skate gang over to eat at the inn Cherry is staying in. For the dub when Joe brings the others over so Cherry could "treat" them all to a meal, Cherry responds with an annoyed, "And you brought the kids..."
  • As the others break off to race to the hot springs, Joe follows Cherry close behind once he has Carla calculate a route.
  • At the hot-springs the two discuss Joe's fondness for haunted houses with the other happily admitting he likes "hot scared chicks grabbing on me" to which Cherry sighs in disgust. Then Reki and Langa appear covered in mud, causing the two adults to scream for their lives.
• Joe and Cherry discussing how Adam has changed and when Cherry asks how Joe knows this, he replies it was his instincts. This soon devolves into an argument where Joe recalls when he helped Cherry find his lost wallet during a school trip because of his "instinct", with Cherry correcting him by saying Joe actually just led them to a random restaurant in LA. The argument continues on as Joe asks if at least the restaurant in Paris was good, with Cherry saying he was the one who looked up that restaurant. The two of them always argue, but it's still implied that they basically traveled the world together.
  • Cherry seems to have been making a habit out of going to Joe's restaurant after closing hours. Also as shown in episode 5, Cherry tends to come and go as he pleases without Joe seeming too annoyed by his presence. It's also likely Joe treats Cherry to mostly free meals, or at least lowers the bill as he often calls Cherry a "cheapskate".
• Episode 8 for the dub when Joe comments on Shadow winning Cherry sarcastically says, "We're both watching the same race, sweetie."
  • Earlier as Cherry is at their old hangout thinking about how Adam's become who he is today, Joe rolls up and cheerfully says he knew Cherry would be here. Even more? The music that plays between the two is called "Fateful Partner".
• In episode 9 for the dub Cherry notes this about Joe's body:
  Cherry: Turns out his flesh-rock mountain of a body serves a purpose, sometimes.
  • During each of their respective races, they refer to each other by their real names. There's also The Stinger, where Cherry personally sneaks out of the hospital to go to Joe's restaurant. Even though Cherry falls asleep, Joe pours them both wine and then looks at Cherry with a smile as he clinks their glasses together. His little speech to Cherry while he's asleep is even more heartwarming.
  • It's likely the reason Cherry snuck out in the first place was because he apparently can't really sleep without Carla playing him a lullaby, but he felt safe enough at Joe's restaurant. Joe likely knew this would happen as he has an empty space between his seats that Cherry likely chose as his "usual spot".
  Joe: Adam is currently skating all by himself. He's an amazing skater, but I'm sure he's not happy right now. That's why his skating ends up that way. But you know, we're not alone. Right... Kaoru?
  • Joe also did whatever he could to get back up the hill of S faster just so he could see Cherry and attempt to persuade him to not race against Adam. As the two fall back into their usual bickering, it actually feels more lighthearted than their usual banters that lead to them hitting each other. Even Adam seems slightly annoyed at the two as he basically cuts into their banter to ask if his race could start now.
• When Cherry goes to Joe's restaurant it seems to be under the guise of wanting to charge Carla (and probably a free meal and drink). However, the one time he doesn't go to the restaurant to charge Carla is after he escapes from the hospital and likely has Carla operating his wheelchair.
• In Episode 10, it was confirmed that Joe was the first to rush to Cherry's side after he was severely injured by Adam, yelling "Kaoru!" while Cherry laid unconscious on the ground. When Adam explains how boring it was to skate with Cherry, Joe becomes aggressive and is about to insult him. Thankfully, Shadow suddenly pulls up behind them in his car and quickly calls for Joe to get Cherry inside. Joe quickly picks up Cherry in a Bridal Carry and brings him to the car so they can get to a hospital.
  • The dub for that scene has Joe yelling out a distressed "Kaoru!" As he leans over Cherry's body he even pleads, "Come on, get up!"
• The preview for episode 11 has Joe reveal he knows a lot about Cherry. Such as the fact he actually enjoys Italian food more than Japanese food. Remember that Joe's restaurant happens to be Italian. Cherry quickly seems to be trying to change the subject as he asks for a carbonara.
• Episode 11, while Joe asks where Carla was, he doesn't make much of a fuss as Cherry asks to have his wheelchair pushed. The dub has him sarcastically refer to Kaoru as "princess".
  • Joe looking over to Cherry with a bewildered "Kaoru?" as he hears him laughing over Adam being bested by Reki. It's likely the first time he's heard him laugh that sincerely in a while and Joe soon joins in as his own face brightens up.
• In the final episode, Joe and his dates see a line for some kind of signing and decide to go in. The next shot has Joe looking at an autograph by none other than Cherry himself who wrote, "To Little Kojiro: Dimwit" all while wearing a polite smile but obviously pissed off to see him in public.
• The "Cindereki" Drama CD has Joe as the Fairy Godmother and Cherry as the oldest stepsister. While Cherry at first tries to flirt with Prince Langa, he ends up spending most of the CD flirting and bickering with Joe instead. Joe turns out to have been a neighbor and friend to Cindereki's family, and his attention at the time was, again, turned mostly to bickering with Cherry. Additionally, when Joe interrupts Cherry's attempt to seduce Prince Langa, Cherry complains about how Joe always gets in his way, implying that it was a common occurrence for Joe to sabotage Cherry's chances at marriage to other men.

Adam/Tadashi

• One of the official art pieces has Adam post-bath, making bedroom eyes in the mirror while Tadashi watches him anxiously.
• When Adam's aunts discuss marriage arrangements with another wealthy family's daughter, emphasis again goes to Tadashi wistfully watching them, which comes off as less him being upset that they're controlling even his love life, but more him being upset with the engagement at all.
• In episode 7's preview for the English Dub, Adam asks Tadashi a list of things from work being done to where his skateboard was to which the other promptly replies to. Then he asks Tadashi to praise him which he does and then starts passionately asking for more praises as Tadashi goes on in a monotone voice.
• While shipping Adam and Tadashi had been around since the beginning of the series, episode 8 provided a lot of Unresolved Sexual Tension between the two, as Adam acts like his real self around him rather than his Camp Gay demeanor. When Tadashi registered for the tournament without Adam's prior knowledge or permission, Adam forcefully grabs him, saying that he'll force his body to remember he's his "dog."
  • For the dub Adam seems to affectionately call Tadashi "puppy" when he's looking through the entries for the tournament.
• Adam's flashback as a teen has him look towards the moon and asks who or where his "Eve" is. As Tadashi is alone at night practicing in the empty pool, he jumps up into the sky and covers the moon.
  • The 2 hearts in the pool Tadashi touches [1]◊. As a child, Adam's first skateboard had this symbol under his board.
• Several scenes showing Tadashi and Adam in their childhood portray their time skating together as something akin to a Childhood Friend Romance. Tadashi's awe watching Adam skate is deliberately parallel to Langa's awe watching Reki, and Tadashi's speech about giving up skateboarding is equal parts him connecting the practice with Adam's corrupted love and (as pointed out in YMMV) sound incredibly similar to a gay guy rationalizing his feelings as unnatural and abhorrent.
  • In a flashback of Adam when he was in high school his father burns his skateboard while Tadashi quietly stands off to the side. Adam's father even said that he would have indulged Adam in his hobbies if he at least made friends with someone of "proper social standing". As if implying Adam and Tadashi's relationship is a forbidden romance.
• Originally, the ending song showed Tadashi blocking the camera when Adam bails. However, in episode 11, the ending was changed to show Tadashi rescuing Adam with a Bridal Carry, with the bail renamed "Catch Me."
• As Adam is racing against Langa Tadashi actually gets worried and mirrors Reki who yells out for Langa with him yelling out in worry for Adam.
• It's also implied that the idea of "Eve" that Adam was chasing all connected back to Tadashi. He wants someone that can match him in level, can provide him what he believes is a challenge and be his "own". Most of these boxes Tadashi checks off. Langa also has similar traits with Tadashi.
• In Adam and Tadashi's final part of the episode, after Adam has swept some of his political dirt under the rug, Tadashi assumes he'll be fired or will be the one to take the rest of the blame. However, Adam proposes to him, stating he's still his "dog" for "the rest of our lives", to which Tadashi smiles for the first time in the series, blushes and happily replies with an enthusiastic "Yes!". Just the way Adam says that line, especially in the dub almost sounds like a proposal.
  Adam: Did you think I'd release you from your collar? Silly pup. You're mine for the rest of our lives.
  • There's also the content smile Tadashi is wearing on his face as he watches Adam crash Langa's celebration party. This is only one of two times Tadashi is ever seen smiling in the series.
• For Sk8 Chill Out Tadashi follows all of Adam's commands for praise and even barks when Adam gets bored and asks him to. Tadashi also asks to be strangled.

Other Pairings

Adam/Cherry Blossom

• In episode 9, during a flashback when they were in high school, Cherry is dazzled the first time he sees Adam jump. He also makes awestruck expressions at Adam at other times, such as when Adam removes his hood to let his friends see his face, complete with Bishie Sparkle. Adam also catches Cherry by the hand when he slips while they are running from the cops, pulling him in close with a loose Rescue Hug while Cherry freezes as he stares up at his savior.
  • While Joe also wants to get through to Adam, he doesn't seem as hung up about it compared to Cherry who's the one who practically jumps on every opportunity to race Adam again. He also refuses to back down even when Joe attempts to intervene and Cherry has apparently been holding the memory of their past for over seven years.
  • As they race, Cherry tells Adam that he "knows him" as he's trying to get him to take him seriously.

Tadashi/Reki

• After Tadashi runs Reki over in episode 10, he takes him to a love hotel to recuperate. And not only a love hotel, the flashiest room money could buy. Then he offers up hush money to keep quiet about the incident, but with the environmental context it looked more like he was paying him off for a scandal-worthy affair.
  • It's followed up on in the next episode, where Reki blurts out where he remembers Tadashi from, before he blushes and flails saying that it's not like that when Langa and Oka look to Reki in concern.

Oka/Shadow

• In the final episode Shadow is gifting Oka a bouquet of flowers during Langa's victory feast.

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