Wangan Midnight
The series revolves around street racing on Tokyo's , as well as other roads on the Shuto Expressway network. The story begins with high school student Akio Asakura encountering a black Porsche 911 Turbo nicknamed "Blackbird" on the Wangan. Akio attempts to give chase, but is unable to keep up with the Blackbird, which is driven by a medical doctor named Tatsuya Shima. Determined to drive a faster car, Akio visits a junkyard and is drawn to an old blue Nissan Fairlady Z (S30) with a highly tuned L28 engine. He learns that the car is supposedly "cursed," being extremely difficult to drive and having a history of multiple accidents, earning it the name . However, this does not dissuade him, and he restores the car back to its former glory. As he develops his career as the infamous owner of the Devil Z, Akio meets many other racers and tuners along the way, though the central plot revolves around the rivalry between the Devil Z and Blackbird for Wangan superiority. The new story arc, "Wangan Midnight: C1 Runner", features the new adventures of a new main character, Shinji Ogishima (who debuted in the last chapters of the original manga), and his friend, Nobu Setoguchi. 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 Fairlady Z (Z31) until, after being defeated by Tatsuya Shima's Blackbird, he discovered the "Devil Z," a Nissan Fairlady Z (S30) which is supernaturally fast and extremely difficult to drive. Akio is regarded as a legend on the Wangan, though he is a humble character. Akio's main rival, as Akio is the only one who regularly gives him a challenge. He drives a black Porsche 911 Turbo (930) in the anime and manga, nicknamed "Blackbird." Later, Shima had Jun Kitami (the man who built the Devil Z) tune his Porsche, upgrading the engine to , to try to keep up with the Devil Z. He is a very skilled surgeon and uses his large salary to fund his Porsche. Reina is a model and television host, co-hosting an automotive news show named "Drive Go Go!". She finds Akio on the Wangan and becomes obsessed with him and the Devil Z, even trying to take the Devil Z for a joyride one night (she distracted Akio, asking him to buy her a drink). After getting her Nissan Skyline GT-R (R32) tuned and modified from YM Speed's Kazuhiko Yamamoto, she discovers a love for street racing (something that does not sit very well with her manager). "Wangan Midnight" is written and illustrated by Michiharu Kusunoki. The series was first briefly published in Shogakukan's "Big Comic Spirits" in 1990 and transferred to Kodansha's "Weekly Young Magazine", where it ran from 1992 to 2008. Kodansha collected its chapters in forty-two "tankōbon" volumes, published from January 8, 1993, to December 26, 2008. A second series, titled "Wangan Midnight: C1 Runner", was serialized in "Weekly Young Magazine" from August 4, 2008, to July 9, 2012. Kodansha collected its chapters in twelve "tankōbon" volumes, published between November 6, 2009, and October 5, 2012. A third series, titled "Ginkai no Speed Star", was serialized in "Big Comic Spirits" from August 11, 2014, to April 13, 2015. Shogakukan collected its chapters in two "tankōbon" volumes, published on November 28, 2014, and May 29, 2015. A fourth series, titled " Shutoko SPL - Ginkai no Speedster", started in Kodansha's "Monthly Young Magazine" on September 20, 2016. Kodansha has collected its chapters into individual "tankōbon" volumes. The first volume was published on January 5, 2018. As of September 17, 2021, seven volumes have been released. The series was adapted into a series of direct-to-video movies in 1991, 1993, 1994, 1998, 2001, and 2009: At the 2007 Tokyo Anime Fair, OB Planning announced the production of an animated series based on the manga, and aired on a pay-per-view channel of Animax in June 2007. The series was co-produced by OB Planning, A.C.G.T., and Pastel, under the direction of Tsuneo Tominaga. The anime consists of twenty-six episodes. The opening theme for the series is "Lights and Anymore" by TRF and the ending theme is "Talkin' Bout Good Days" by Mother Ninja. In 1999, "Wangan Midnight" won the Kodansha Manga Award for the General category.
Reception
In 1999, "Wangan Midnight" won the Kodansha Manga Award for the General category.