Reki Kyan

Reki Kyan is the heart of SK8 the Infinity — a passionate, self-taught skater from Okinawa who pulls a Canadian newcomer into an underground street skating circuit and then must reckon with what happens when the student surpasses the teacher.

Background

Born and raised in Okinawa, Reki learned everything about skating and board construction by doing — no formal instruction, no school, just accumulated hours and genuine obsession. He works part-time at a skate shop where he also handcrafts his boards, studying materials and mechanics with a devotion that borders on scholarly. His introduction of Langa Hasegawa to the illegal underground circuit known as "S" sets the series in motion, but Reki's own arc takes its sharpest turn when Langa's raw talent begins to outstrip his hard-won abilities at a pace he wasn't prepared for. The gap between them triggers a crisis of identity the series treats as its emotional spine: if he isn't the one who loves skating most, who is he?

Skills

Ability	What it does
Board Crafting	Designs, builds, and repairs his own skateboards with real technical knowledge — presented not as a supporting trait but as central to who he is
Technical Skating	Built on accumulated technique and creativity rather than raw natural gifts; performs solidly in conventional circuits
Trick Innovation	Consistently develops and experiments with new moves; his creativity is most visible here
Race Analysis	His mechanical understanding lets him read races and adapt strategies in ways pure-athletic skaters cannot

Personality

Energetic, impulsive, deeply enthusiastic, and quietly prone to internalising failure. Reki's public face is warm and encouraging, but his private reaction to Langa's trajectory is more complicated than simple pride — he genuinely doesn't know who he is if he isn't the one who loves skating the most. That crisis is handled with more care than the show's colourful aesthetic might suggest.

Relationships

• Langa Hasegawa — the Canadian friend he introduces to S; their relationship shifts from mentor-student to something harder to define as Langa's talent creates distance between them, and the show ultimately argues their connection is the actual point
• Kaoru Sakurayashiki — the Cherry Blossom skater Reki respects and occasionally antagonises; Cherry represents a technical mastery Reki aspires toward

Role in the Story

Reki is the human core of SK8's energy and its emotional grounding. The series would be a flashier, emptier version of itself without his arc of doubt, rediscovery, and honest relationship with what skating means outside of winning.