Wangan Midnight

湾岸ミッドナイト

Manga7.6566 votes42 volumesFinished

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About this title

Synopsis

When high school student Akio Asakura loses a high speed race to a Porsche 911 Turbo known as "Blackbird," he goes to a junkyard to find parts for his car—only to discover a blue first-generation Datsun Fairlady Z (S30), which he buys. Akio later discovers that not only is the Z tuned to 620 bhp, it's had a dark history of unfortunate accidents with its previous owners. Making matters more complicated is the fact that the last owner shared the same name with Akio. With the "Devil Z," Akio forms a new rivalry with the Blackbird and its driver Tatsuya Shima. (Source: ANN)

Publication notes

Wangan Midnight won the 23rd Kodansha Manga Award in the General category. The series was adapted into various Japanese live-action films and video games.

Published

1990 to Jul 28, 2008

Authors

Kusunoki, Michiharu

External links

MyAnimeList page Wikipedia

MAL rank: #2892
Members (MAL): 3,548
Favorites (MAL): 98

Related titles

Sequel

Wangan Midnight: C1 Runner

Adaptation

Wangan Midnight (anime)

Main characters

Akio Asakura100 fan favorites
External profile
An ambitious racer who started when he was very young, Akio is in his final year of high school as the story begins. Drove his friend's red Nissan 300ZX (Z31) until, after a humiliating loss to Tatsuya Shima, he discovered "the Devil Z" a Nissan Fairlady Z S30Z (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. In fact, he is so serious that he skips school (to the point of repeating a grade) to drive the Devil's Z. 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. (Source: Wikipedia)
Tatsuya Shima34 fan favorites
External profile
He is the main rival of Akio Asakura, as Akio is the only one who regularly gives him a challenge. He drives an almost stock 1987 Porsche 911 Yellowbird (painted black, thus the name Blackbird). The car has 470 hp (350 kW) stock. Tatsuya becomes annoyed with Akio beating him all the time so he hires Kitami Jun to tune the Porsche. Kitami tunes the suspension and adds a second turbo to make it a Twin Turbo Porsche (depicted as a Nissan 350Z in the English version of the arcade racing games) and boosts the car to 500 hp (370 kW) and beyond to try and keep up with the Devil Z. 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 very skilled surgeon and uses his large salary to fund his Blackbird racing efforts. (Source: Wikipedia)
Reina Akikawa25 fan favorites
External profile
Reina is a very attractive model who also co-hosts a driving television show named "Drive Go Go!" where the latests automotive trends are discussed. She finds Akio on the Wangan and becomes obsessed with him and the Devil's Z, driving her to tune her car and even steal the Devil's Z one night. After getting her Nissan Skyline GT-R R32 modified, she discovers a previously unknown aptitude for street battling, something that does not sit very well with her manager. 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 in the series, she's very sensitive and bursts into tears easily, although she calms down considerably in later volumes. (Source: Wikipedia)