Wangan Midnight
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Wangan Midnight | |
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| 湾岸ミッドナイト (Wangan Middonaito) |
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| Genre | Action, Racing, Drama |
| Manga | |
| Authored by | Michiharu Kusunoki |
| Publisher | Kodansha |
| Serialized in | Young Magazine |
| Original run | 1992 – present |
| No. of volumes | 35 |
| TV anime | |
| Directed by | |
| Studio | OB Planning |
| Network |  Animax |
| Original run | June 8, 2007 – |
| No. of episodes | |
Wangan Midnight (湾岸ミッドナイト Wangan Middonaito?) is a manga series created by Michiharu Kusunoki, which has been serialized in Kodansha's Young Magazine since 1992. The series has been adapted into a series of films, video games and soon into an anime series, set to air from June 8, 2007 in Japan on the anime satellite television network Animax, to be produced by OB Planning.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Story
The story gets its roots from the actual street racing that occurs on Tokyo's Shuto Expressway, one stretch of which is known as the "Wangan", literally meaning "bay side" (although it is generally used to refer to the freeway), the longest, straightest road in the entire country. Of course, there's also lots of traffic to contend with, including a fair number of heavy trucks. Because of this, the action is inherently hazardous, and wrecks are common. Blown engines are also a frequent hazard, especially with the extreme-high power engines.
One day, Akio Asakura, a third year high school student, is driving his Fairlady Z (Z31) and is challenged by Tatsuya Shima, a doctor, in his black Porsche 964 Turbo (nicknamed the "BlackBird"). With a friend in the passenger seat and two girls in the back, Akio pitifully tries to win, but is defeated. Determined to become faster, he goes to the junkyard to buy parts for his car, when he sees a pristine, unscratched midnight blue Fairlady Z (S30) in the junkyard. Intrigued as to why such a machine is about to be junked, he buys it. He soon finds that the car is unnaturally fast due to a tuned L28 engine, bored and stroked to 3.1 liters combined with twin turbos, which produces 620bhp. He also finds that all of the car's previous owners had unfortunate accidents in it, starting with the first owner's death. All but one of the Z's subsequent owners have died as a result of trying to control its power. The manga follows Akio's various encounters, though the central plot revolves around his constant battle with the BlackBird for superiority.
[edit] Characters
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Akio Asakura (朝倉アキオ Asakura Akio?) is the main protagonist of Wangan Midnight.
An ambitious racer who started when he was very young, Akio is in his final year of high school as the story begins. Drove a red Nissan 300ZX (Z31) until, after a humiliating loss to Tatsuya Shima, he discovered the "Midnight Blue Devil Z", a Nissan Fairlady Z (known as the Datsun 240Z in certain markets) which is supernaturally fast and extremely hard to drive. Regarded as a legend on the Wangan, though he is actually a humble young man. Still, despite his gentle demeanor, he's dead serious about racing. Like virtually everyone else in the manga, he has trouble forming intimate relationships, although he has made some slight inroads with Reina Akikawa. His day job is a waiter for a fancy restaurant, but then got fired for showing up late too often due to late night racing. He's regularly exposed to the active social scene at the heart of Tokyo. He was already a pretty accomplished racer with his old car, but behind the Devil Z, he's nearly invincible. He also has tremendous adaptive ability and can learn to drive virtually anything.
Voice actor: Shun Oguri
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Reina Akikawa (秋川レイナ Akikawa Reina?) is the primary love interest of Akio Asakura.
A fashion model by day and a street racer by night. She finds Akio on the Wangan and becomes obsessed with him and the Devil Z, driving her to tune her car and even steal the Devil Z. After getting her own Nissan Skyline GT-R R32, she discovers a previously unknown aptitude for street battling. She's very sociable, and has lots of acquaintances, but has no real boyfriend. While she is an idol, she is quite modestly dressed. Like most of the women, she's very sensitive and bursts into tears easily, although she calms down considerably in later volumes.
Voice actor: Reiko Suhou
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Tatsuya Shima (島達也 Shima Tatsuya?)
He is the main rival of Akio Asakura, as Akio is the only one who regularly gives him a challenge. He drives a heavily tuned Porsche 911(964) Turbo that is known as the "BlackBird" (depicted as a Nissan 350Z in the English version of the arcade racing games). He's an extraordinarily skilled driver and has only been in one wreck during the course of the manga. He knows the limits of his vehicle and will never risk disaster by pushing it beyond its safe limits. This actually cost him a couple of battles, but he always learns from his failures and comes back even tougher. He's a doctor by day, but his exact practice is never revealed.
Voice actor: Shinichiro Miki
For others, see List of recurring Wangan Midnight characters.
[edit] Movies
The series was adapted into a series of movies following in 1994, 1997 and again in 2000. They accurately depict the manga, with the exception of Akio being in his 30's. Many Japanese viewers hold the films in high regard for their realistic portrayal of the racing with the cars having the speed they have in the manga.
[edit] Video games
The series has been adapted into a series of video games, developed by Namco, first released in 2001. A PS2 version of Wangan Midnight was released later in 2002. Its sequel, Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune, was released in 2004, followed by another sequel, Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 2, in 2005. The third game in the series will be released in 2007 on the arcade, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable platforms.
[edit] Anime
The series is set to be adapted into an anime series, which will premiere from June 8, 2007 in Japan on the anime satellite television network Animax. The series will be produced by OB Planning, the same studio behind the production of the Initial D anime series.[1] Keiichi Tsuchiya (土屋圭市) will be help with editorial supervision on this series as well.
[edit] References
- ^ a b AF 2007: Wangan Midnight Anime Announced - Anime News Network. Retrieved on March 24, 2007.
http://www.obkikaku.com/wangan/wangan_1.html
