Wangan Midnight

Wangan Midnight
Manga vol. 1
湾岸ミッドナイト (Wangan Middonaito)
Genre	Action, Racing, Drama
Manga
Written by	Michiharu Kusunoki
Published by	Shogakukan Kodansha
Demographic	Seinen
Magazine	Big Comic Spirits Young Magazine
Original run	1990 – 2008
Volumes	42
Manga
Wangan Midnight: C1 runner
Written by	Michiharu Kusunoki
Published by	Kodansha
Demographic	Seinen
Magazine	Young Magazine
Original run	2009 – ongoing
Volumes	4
TV anime
Directed by	Tsuneo Tominaga
Produced by	Keiichi Tsuchiya
Studio	A.C.G.T
Network	Animax
Original run	June 8, 2007 – September 13, 2008
Episodes	26 (List of episodes)
Anime and Manga Portal

Wangan Midnight (湾岸ミッドナイト, Wangan Middonaito^?) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Michiharu Kusunoki and serialized in Shogakukan's Big Comic Spirits since 1990, later in Kodansha's Young Magazine. In 1999, it won the Kodansha Manga Award for general manga.^[1]

The series has been adapted into several live action feature films, video games, and an anime television series. The anime began airing in Japan on June 8, 2007 on the anime satellite television network Animax, produced by OB Planning.^[2]

The Wangan Midnight comic book series ended with issue #42 but it has been followed with a new arc called Wangan Midnight C1 Runner (湾岸ミッドナイト C1ランナー). Years before Wangan Midnight, Michiharu Kusunoki worked on a similar series known as Shakotan Boogie.

Story

The story gets its roots from the street racing that occurs on Tokyo's Shuto Expressway Bayshore Route. 'Wangan' (literally bayshore in Japanese) is the endonym of this longest, straightest road in the entire country.^[3] There is also road 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 extremely high power engines.

One day, Akio Asakura, a high school student in his last year of study, is driving his Fairlady Z (Z31) when he challenges Tatsuya Shima, a doctor, in his black Porsche 911 Turbo (964), dubbed as the "BlackBird". With his friend in the passenger seat and two girls in the back, Akio attempts to win, but is defeated. Determined to drive a faster car, he goes to the junkyard because his mechanic friend tells him he saw the scrapped body of a midnight blue Nissan Fairlady Z just like Akio wanted. When he sees the scrapped body of a midnight blue Fairlady Z (S30) in the junkyard, he remembers seeing this car a few years ago with a nice girl in the passenger seat. Intrigued as to why such a classic Japanese performance vehicle is about to be junked, he convinces the junkyard owner to sell it to him. The junkyard owner was told by the previous owner to scrap the car because it is cursed. He soon finds that the car is unnaturally fast due to a tuned L28 engine, bored and stroked to 3.1 L and fitted with twin turbos. He also finds that one of the car's previous owners shares his first and last name, and had been killed in a horrible crash on the Wangan. Every person who takes possession of the Z ends up spinning out of control and crashing, as if the car is rebelling against its driver. This gives the blue Z the nickname "The Devil Z". The manga follows Akio's various encounters with people on the Wangan, though the central plot revolves around his constant battle with the BlackBird for Wangan superiority.

Characters

See also: List of Wangan Midnight characters

• Akio Asakura (朝倉アキオ, Asakura Akio^?)

An ambitious racer who started when he was very young, Akio was in his final year of high school as the story began. He was driving his red Nissan 300ZX (Z31) until, after a humiliating loss to Tatsuya Shima, he discovered the "Devil Z", a Nissan Fairlady S30 Z (known as the Datsun 240Z/260Z/280Z in certain markets) which is supernaturally fast and extremely hard to drive. Akio is regarded as a legend on the Wangan, although he is a humble young man. Still, despite his gentle demeanor, he is so serious about racing that he skips school to the point of repeating a grade to drive the Devil Z. Akio has trouble forming intimate relationships, although he has made some slight inroads with Reina Akikawa. His day job is a waiter for a night club, but was later fired for showing up late too often due to late night racing. He is regularly exposed to the active social scene at the heart of Tokyo. He was already an accomplished racer with his old car, but behind the wheel of the Devil Z, Akio is nearly invincible. He is very adaptable and can learn to drive virtually anything.

Voiced by: Shun Oguri

• Reina Akikawa (秋川零奈, Akikawa Reina^?)

Reina is a very attractive model who also co-hosts a driving television show named "Drive Go Go!" where the latest automotive trends are discussed. 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 one night. After getting her Nissan Skyline GT-R (R32) tuned and modified, she discovers a previously unknown aptitude for street racing, something that does not sit very well with her manager. She is 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 in the series, Reina is very sensitive and bursts into tears easily, although she calms down considerably in later volumes.

Voiced by: Reiko Suhou

• 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 black Porsche 911 Turbo (964) in the anime and manga, and a Nissan 350Z in the English version of the arcade racing games. The car has 470 hp (350 kW) stock. Tatsuya becomes annoyed with Akio becoming faster all the time so he hires Kitami Jun, the man who built the Devil Z, to tune the Porsche. Kitami tunes the suspension and adds a second turbo and boosts the car to 700 hp (520 kW) and beyond to try and keep up with the Devil Z. He is an extraordinarily skilled driver and has only been in one wreck during the course of the manga, when he swerved to avoid two drunk men on the road, only to swerve again to avoid a taxi and end up hitting a pole. He knows the limits of his vehicle and will never risk disaster by pushing it beyond its safe limits. This cost him a couple of battles, but he always learns from his failures and comes back even tougher. He is a very skilled surgeon and uses his large salary to fund his Porsche.

Voiced by: Shinichiro Miki

Media

Manga

V-Cinema

The series was adapted into a series of direct-to-video movies in 1994, 1997 and again in 2000. They accurately depict the manga, with the exception of Akio being in his thirties. 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.

• Wangan Midnight (湾岸MidNight), 1991
• Wangan Midnight II (湾岸ミッドナイトII), 1993
• Wangan Midnight III (湾岸ミッドナイトIII), 1993
• Wangan Midnight 4 (湾岸ミッドナイト4), 1993
• Wangan Midnight Special Director's Cut Complete Edition (湾岸ミッドナイトスペシャル ディレクターズカット完全版), 1994
• Wangan Midnight Final: GT-R Legend - Act 1 (湾岸ミッドナイト FINAL ~GT-R伝説 ACT1~), 1994
• Wangan Midnight Final: GT-R Legend - Act 2 (湾岸ミッドナイト FINAL ~GT-R伝説 ACT2~), 1994
• Devil GT-R Full Tuning (魔王GT-R チューニングのすべて), 1994
• Showdown! Devil GT-R (対決!魔王GT-R), 1994
• Wangan Midnight S30 vs. Gold GT-R - Part I (新湾岸ミッドナイト S30vsゴールドGT-R Part I), 1998
• Wangan Midnight S30 vs. Gold GT-R - Part II (新湾岸ミッドナイト S30vsゴールドGT-R Part II), 1998
• Wangan Midnight Return (湾岸ミッドナイト リターン), 2001
• Wangan Midnight The Movie (湾岸MidNight Movie), 2009

Video games

The series has been adapted into a series of video games, developed by Sega for Maximum Tune 1 and 2 and Namco for Maximum Tune 3, first released on February 2, 2001. A PS2 version of Wangan Midnight was released later on March 21, 2002. A complete re-imagining of the game series, Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune, was released in 2004 to arcades only, followed by another sequel, Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 2, on April 21, 2005. Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 3 was released on July 5, 2007 in the arcade, with a sequel to the original game following on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable platforms. The next sequel, Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 3 DX, was released on July 16, 2008. The PS3 and PSP games were re-released in 2008 under the "Genki The Best" label. An RPG which was a sequel to the PS3 and PSP games, titled Wangan Midnight: C1 Runner (based on the manga of the same name), was also released by Genki. The latest sequel, Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 3 DX PLUS, was released in December, 2008. Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 4 is soon to be released in late 2011. The majority of Wangan Midnight racing games featured music soundtracks composed by Yuzo Koshiro.

• February 2, 2001: Wangan Midnight (Arcade (System 246))
• December 20, 2001: Wangan Midnight R (Arcade (System 246))
• March 21, 2002: Wangan Midnight (PlayStation 2)
• July 3, 2004: Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune (Arcade (Chihiro))
• April 21, 2005: Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 2 (Arcade (Chihiro))
• July 5, 2007: Wangan Midnight (PlayStation 3)
• July 18, 2007: Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 3 (Arcade (System N2))
• September 2, 2007: Wangan Midnight Portable (PlayStation Portable)
• December 16, 2008: Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 3 DX (Arcade (System N2))
• March 4, 2010: Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 3 DX PLUS (Arcade (System N2))
• 2011: Wangan Midnight: C1 Runner (Mobile phone)
• 2011: Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 4 (Arcade)

Anime

Main article: List of Wangan Midnight episodes

At the 2007 Tokyo Anime Fair, OB Planning (Initial D) announced the production of an animated series based on the manga.^[4] Aired on a pay-per-view channel of Animax in June 2007,^[4] the series was co-produced by OB Planning, A.C.G.T., and Pastel under the direction of Tsuneo Tominaga and consists of twenty-six episodes. The series was released on DVD with the thirteenth volume reaching 29th on the Oricon sales chart for Japanese animation DVDs in November 2008.^[5]

Wangan Midnight: The Movie (2009)

Theatrical release poster.

On September 12, 2009, Jolly Roger and Geneon Universal Entertainment released a live-action adaptation of the manga. Wangan Midnight: The Movie is directed by the Atsushi Muroga, with the screenplay written by Yasutoshi Murakawa. The film stars Yuichi Nakamura as Akio Asakura, Ryoko Kobayashi as Eriko Asakura, Kazuki Katou as Tatsuya Shima, Rio Matsumoto as Reina Akikawa, and Yoshihiko Hakamada as Ko-chan.^[6] The film was shot in San Mateo, Rizal, Philippines as a stand-in for the expressway racing scenes. Like the previous television anime and video features, Wangan Midnight: The Movie will center on Akio Asakura his "Devil Z" and the rivalry with "Black Bird".

It appears that a sequel may be planned, as after the ending credits in a bonus scene, Shima is seen to be leaving work when he hears the sound of a Z, followed by a fade out message saying 'Z will be back'. This is also rumored sequel, Wangan Midnight: C1 Runner, which will center on the new character, Shinji Ogishima.

See also

Related manga

(published by Kodansha)

• Shakotan Boogie
• Initial D

Others

• Freeway Speedway
• Wangan

References

1. ^ Kodansha Manga Award. Retrieved on November 17, 2007.
2. ^ "AF 2007: Wangan Midnight Anime Announced - Anime News Network". http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-03-22/taf-2007-wangan-midnight. Retrieved 2007-03-24. 
3. ^ Anime News Service - October 18 - November 9 Anime News. Retrieved on November 17, 2007.
4. ^ ^{a b} "TAF 2007: Wangan Midnight Anime Announced". Anime News Network. 2007-03-22. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-03-22/taf-2007-wangan-midnight. Retrieved 2009-03-10. 
5. ^ "Japanese Animation DVD Ranking, November 19–25". Anime News Network. 2008-11-25. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-11-25/japanese-animation-dvd-ranking-november-19-25. Retrieved 2009-03-10. 
6. ^ Wangan Midnight the Movie to Open in Japan This Summer. Anime News Network. 2009-04-26. Retrieved on 2009-04-26.

External links

• Anime News Service
• Wangan Midnight (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• News on the Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune series.