Zero
June 10th, 2007, 04:10 pm
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/3976/midnightvol1ne5.jpg
Based on a seinen manga by Kusunoki Michiharu serialised in Young Magazine.
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. The manga follows Akio`s various encounters, though the central plot revolves around his constant battle with the BlackBird for superiority. - AniDB/Wikipedia
This is great! I thought Wangan was never going to be adapted into a TV series due to issues with Porsche, but it appears they have circumvented the problem.
It will be produced by the same studio behind the production of Initial D so we can expect to see alot of similarities. However, Wangan is more technical, and seems to take on a denser, more mature tone. I hope they will be able to accomodate to these differences.
The manga series has been around longer than Initial D and has several video game adaptations and live-action movies. If they are able to retain the original storyline and mood (and hopefully, the style of music) that we went though already, they will be making alot of fans happy.
Edit: Watched the first episode. I like where this is going except the way Akio was drawn - he should look older, more mature, and less like Fujiwara Takumi. =( Anyway, everything else is good, I'll be looking forward to the rest.
Based on a seinen manga by Kusunoki Michiharu serialised in Young Magazine.
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. The manga follows Akio`s various encounters, though the central plot revolves around his constant battle with the BlackBird for superiority. - AniDB/Wikipedia
This is great! I thought Wangan was never going to be adapted into a TV series due to issues with Porsche, but it appears they have circumvented the problem.
It will be produced by the same studio behind the production of Initial D so we can expect to see alot of similarities. However, Wangan is more technical, and seems to take on a denser, more mature tone. I hope they will be able to accomodate to these differences.
The manga series has been around longer than Initial D and has several video game adaptations and live-action movies. If they are able to retain the original storyline and mood (and hopefully, the style of music) that we went though already, they will be making alot of fans happy.
Edit: Watched the first episode. I like where this is going except the way Akio was drawn - he should look older, more mature, and less like Fujiwara Takumi. =( Anyway, everything else is good, I'll be looking forward to the rest.