Ape Escape -On Air- (サルゲッチュ 〜オンエアー〜) is a CGI anime television series produced by Xebec based on Sony's Ape Escape video game franchise. The series and its sequel (Ape Escape -On Air- 2nd) aired on TV Tokyo between April 8, 2006 and September 29, 2007, and loosely adapt storylines from Million Monkeys, Ape Escape 3, and SaruSaru Big Mission.[1][2]
Storyline
When Specter gets ahold of a Pipo Helmet, he becomes intelligent and starts using monkeys to spread chaos around the world. Using their teleporter and gadgets, Kakeru, Hiroki, Natsumi, and the Professor work to capture the monkeys and stop Specter's plans. Spike and friends are later joined by virtual girl, Charu, and mech genius, Haruka. It is eventually revealed that Specter's true identity is Natsumi's pet monkey, Kuuta, who was transformed into Specter by a group called the Pipotrons. The Pipotrons host a game in virtual space, challenging Kakeru and his friends for Specter's freedom, but Specter escapes before they get there. The Pipotrons then challenge Kakeru and co. to a tournament.