Wangan Midnight
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Wangan Midnight (Japanese: 湾岸ミッドナイト) is a manga series created by Michiharu Kusunoki, of Shakotan Boogie and Sayonara December fame. It depicts expressway racing and was first sold in 1993. Although the manga has not been translated into English, the series is well known in America from the arcade racing game, Wangan Midnight, which was released by Namco in 2002, and was later released in America. A PS2 version of Wangan Midnight was released later in the same year but was not translated into English. Its sequel, Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune, was released in 2004, followed by another sequel, Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 2, in 2005. There is also a little-known series of street racing movies loosely based on the manga.
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 to begin with, 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 a Twin Turbo 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. The manga follows Akio's various encounters, though the central plot revolves around his constant battle with the BlackBird for superiority.
Characters
For others, see List of recurring Wangan Midnight characters.Video Series
The manga first came out in 1993, with the 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.These videos are extremely hard to find, but many Japantowns have been known to carry them.
It has also been confirmed that the Mikido Japantown store in the Japan Center of the California Bay Area can special order the videos.
See also
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