Max the Random Asian Guy

Asics claims that it is more suitable to call Jetray as an “upgrade from X-Fly Pro.” Getting clear on what the “upgrade” means is important in order to understand the relationship between the two products. One, the upgrade can mean that the same ideas and philosophy but rebuilt with new interpretation or design, so same form different content; or two, some of the ideas are taken out as the prominent ones and rebuild the product in an extreme way to carry out these ideas more significantly (and at the same time the other ideas in previous design are sacrificed and gone.) In the context of Jetray Elite, I think it's quite obvious that Asics is doing the latter one. And sorry I forgot to take more pictures for the details.      Asics remakes the Jetray Elite as the brandnew speed silo in replacement of X-Fly Pro 3. Of course, the X-Fly Pro always has speed element in it but does not take away other ideas coming from the whole DS Light series, which means X-Fly Pro is more ...

*This article was originally written in February 2025 on other social media. Modified and uploaded to the blog in August 2026. Added update on sizing issue. Intro: In 2018, Andrés Iniesta moved to Japan to join the J1 League club Vissel Kobe, and Asics followed up the next year with the launch of the Ultrezza series, developed specifically for Iniesta. However, after his contract ended, Iniesta established his own brand, Capitten, leading to the removal of the AI branding from the third generation of the Ultrezza series. Given that the Ultrezza line already struggled to match the popularity of the DS Light series, this change posed yet another challenge in gaining market traction. No doubt this is one of the most slept on boots even in Japan but it actually feels better on feet than some of more popular options in my opinion. Soleplate: Asics has not changed the product’s positioning with this iteration; it remains targeted at midfielders who require extensive running and quick turns. ...

*This article was originally written in September 2025 on other social media. Modified and uploaded to the blog in July 2026. Intro: The X-Fly 5 is a 2.5 years old model that was first released on April 13th, 2023, priced at 23,100 yen. It has been worn by professional players such as Yuta Nakayama, Miki Yamane, and Ryotaro Ito. Time flies. I still remember World Cup 2022 clearly. Hard to believe World Cup 2026 is already around the corner. At the time of this review, the X-Fly 6 has already been launched, featuring the new “Silky Wrap” upper—previously used on the X-Fly Pro 3—though with a slightly different tuning. This new generation marks the end (at least for now) of the kangaroo leather era in the X-Fly series. However, today we’re not talking about the new X-Fly 6, but rather the older, popular X-Fly 5, which is still worn by many pro players today. Let’s begin by going over the specs of the X-Fly 5 and my personal experience with it. Soleplate: The X-Fly 5 features a soleplate ...

*This article was originally written in August 2025 on other social media. Modified and uploaded to the blog in July 2026. Slightly adjusted in August 2026. Intro: The Asics X-Fly Pro 3 was launched at the end of 2024, about nine months ago. No more kangaroo leather is what Asics says but what they have done is far from disappointing, they even made it better. At this point, I can confidently say it has changed my tier list of football boots. For the first time, in my opinion, Asics has finally surpassed Mizuno in terms of performance and tech, making the X-Fly Pro 3 the only model that earns over 95 out of 100 points on my 2024–2025 list. Generally speaking, the X-Fly Pro 3 manages to maintain all the strengths of previous Asics products while improving on most of their weaknesses. Let’s dive into the details. Soleplate: The soleplate has always been the highlight of the Pro line. In contrast to the “stability” focus of the X-Fly 5 and 6, the Pro’s soleplate emphasizes “sprint”—or the...