Wangan Midnight

[areaseven]

From the Anime News Network:

Wangan Midnight Anime Announced

OB Planning, the company that worked on the anime for the sports anime Initial D, announced that they are creating a TV anime based on the Michiharu Kusunoki driving/sports manga Wangan Midnight (Gulf Coast Midnight).

The series will be shown this June on the Pay-Per-View channel for the cable animation network Animax. After the premiere on Animax PPV, the series will be released to DVD. Some video game projects on the series are also being planned.

Source: Anime!Anime!

[j_wong00]

From the Anime News Network:

Time to quie up the torrents

[areaseven]

Episode 1

[Wicked Ace]

This is (illegal) freeway racing, correct?

[areaseven]

This is (illegal) freeway racing, correct?

Yup.

[Wicked Ace]

Yup.

I'll definitely be checking this out. I've been a big fan of the Japanese highway battle games for the Dreamcast, PS2, and XBox 360. I never got to play the Initial D and Wangan Midnight arcade games though.

[areaseven]

I'll definitely be checking this out. I've been a big fan of the Japanese highway battle games for the Dreamcast, PS2, and XBox 360. I never got to play the Initial D and Wangan Midnight arcade games though.

Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 2 is a fun game, despite its flaws (namely its horrendous amount of Engrish). The highway races are a rush, but the Hakone course is a weak attempt at competing with Initial D.

Another problem with the game (at least in the international version) is the Blackbird. Instead of a Porsche 911 Turbo, the Blackbird is a Nissan 350Z. Stupid copyright restrictions...

Edited December 18, 2007 by areaseven

[areaseven]

I just finished watching the first two episodes. The storyline has a much darker tone than Initial D, and the characters are more mature. Character designs are somewhat on the ugly side, but less annoying than those of Initial D. As far as the animation goes, it's exactly like Initial D: 4th Stage (and it's not just because they're animated by the same company), with its extensive use of cel-shaded CG for the cars. The S30 Devil Z looks stunning.

On the downside, Wangan Midnight's music is hard to define. Initial D stuck with Eurobeat, and it's worked over the years. Those who played the Wangan Midnight: Maximum Tune arcade game series will be disappointed by the fact that the anime does not use rave music. Instead, it uses generic-sounding J-Pop and J-Rock BGM with some Eurobeat leftovers. Other than that, the opening theme by TRF is very catchy.

Is Wangan Midnight better than Initial D? You can't really compare both, as they both have completely different styles of street racing. They're both worth watching, but if you're tired of seeing that white AE86 Trueno a billion times, try a blue S30 for a change.

Edited December 9, 2007 by areaseven

[areaseven]

Not an exact replica of the Devil Z, but damn, it looks sweet.

TunerZine - Twisted Sixx

[Wicked Ace]

That car would look great with a skull and pentagram on the hood. Of course, only the Tokyo Highway Battle/Tokyo Extreme Racer/Shutokou Battle fans will know what I'm talking about.

[Seven]

I can't imagine an anime centered on Wangan freeway top speed runs being very exciting, given that a majority of the action is in a straight line or long curves. I would equivocate it to watching someone else golf - probably fun to the player, but boring as hell to onlookers. Initial D's direction was atrocious enough with the constant cutting from the action at hand to two characters blabbing about Takumi's chances at winning.

[areaseven]

I can't imagine an anime centered on Wangan freeway top speed runs being very exciting, given that a majority of the action is in a straight line or long curves. I would equivocate it to watching someone else golf - probably fun to the player, but boring as hell to onlookers. Initial D's direction was atrocious enough with the constant cutting from the action at hand to two characters blabbing about Takumi's chances at winning.

Actually, the races are not really the main focus of the anime at the moment. The first six or so episodes focus heavily on Akio Asakura and who he is, why the Devil Z is integral in his everyday living, and how the supporting cast are connected to all this. And unlike Initial D's Takumi, Akio is not a perfect driver. He crashes the Devil Z in his first two races with Blackbird. And he claims both as his fault and not the Devil Z's curse.

Damn, I can't wait for episode 7 to be translated. I want to see

whether or not Eriko drives the Devil Z down to the bottom of Tokyo Bay in hopes of burying the curse that started with her brother's death.