For all you Initial D fans out there

[Koenig]

This may interest those Initial D fans out there, although the style of racing is a bit different.

Wangan Midnight has been released as an anime series. Made by the same company that did Initial D, and based on the Wangan Midnight mangas (which was serialized in 1992, so it's the so-called "daddy" of Initial D).

The story goes something like this: "Wangan" means "bayside", which refers to the super straight stretch of freeway situated by the bay, and where lots of street races are held.
The manga follows a young high-school student who comes across a beast of a car in a junkyard......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wangan_Midnight

Looks pretty good so far, although the animation style may turn some ppl off. That being said though, it's meant to reflect the animation style of animation of the time period (early '90s).

I've been really interested in this series ever since I saw someone play the game based of this in an arcade. Never managed to track down the manga, but now that it's an anime, hell yeah!

Torrents can be found here:
http://animesuki.com/series.php/1044.html

If you too lazy to download, go to www.crunchyroll.com and sign up for a free account to watch it (streamed).

[Ottobon]

sounds like a good time filler

i don't know exactly how much can be learned from racing around in strait lines, but Initial D was always interesting to watch, and atleast got me pumped up :p

[Ottobon]

Any idea when the second pair of episodes come out? the 2nd show left me with a weird taste in my mouth (best way i can think of it) that i feel can only be solved by seeing the 3rd episode

hope theirs some sort of emotional development as swerving around cars in traffic doesn't really do much for me,

i like the complexity of Initial D had when it came to discribing driving techniques, it wasn't always exactly dead on with reality, but it was still hella entertaining

[The_Finn]

Originally Posted by Ottobon

i don't know exactly how much can be learned from racing around in strait lines, but Initial D was always interesting to watch, and atleast got me pumped up :p

Originally Posted by Ottobon

i like the complexity of Initial D had when it came to discribing driving techniques, it wasn't always exactly dead on with reality, but it was still hella entertaining

what wangan midnight lacks in "driving technique" description it makes up for with car tuning information atleast in the manga anyway. so far they have been pretty faithful but who knows alot of technical jargon could slow down the show or turn off viewers so they may skip over alot of it

Originally Posted by Ottobon

Any idea when the second pair of episodes come out? the 2nd show left me with a weird taste in my mouth (best way i can think of it) that i feel can only be solved by seeing the 3rd episode

2 episodes per month on japanese pay per view not sure the exact date of the next ep is i assume 1st week of july though. So far there has been no offical word on series length though a full season is pretty much assured because of popularity

i was really hoping they would use music more similar to that found in the videogames more trancey than eurobeat but still pretty quality

[Koenig]

This will be a weekly anime. The first episode aired on June 8th.

[The_Finn]

it's on pay-per-view in japan. the setup is very similar to how Initial D 4th stage was released

i direct you to the Pay Per View Japan website

[Koenig]

Ah, I'm mistaken then.

[Ottobon]

Originally Posted by The_Finn

what wangan midnight lacks in "driving technique" description it makes up for with car tuning information atleast in the manga anyway. so far they have been pretty faithful but who knows alot of technical jargon could slow down the show or turn off viewers so they may skip over alot of it



2 episodes per month on japanese pay per view not sure the exact date of the next ep is i assume 1st week of july though. So far there has been no offical word on series length though a full season is pretty much assured because of popularity

i was really hoping they would use music more similar to that found in the videogames more trancey than eurobeat but still pretty quality

any idea where english translated manga may be found?

as well, any idea if the Movie made some time ago is good? Based off the first two episodes this seems more like it would make a great movie then a hugely long TV series



Technical Info would be great, the japanese have a way at talking about toe angles and making it interesting, or im a dork


Does handling or driving technique ever come into play in the manga?

[BlitzR]

Manga is here clicky, but theres only one person who does all the work and progress is slow.

I'm not sure about the Live-Action movies, but they are hard to find on the internet.

There a mountain road in the Arcade game, so far the tranlated manga hasn't really got on to that.

[Vltros]

NICE!!! Thanks Koenig!!!

[awdrifter]

2 eps has been subbed by OMFG fansub. I like it so far, the music is different than Initial D, but it fits the wangan battles well.

[The_Finn]

just finished watching ep 2 so far i like it. Maybe not as much as ID but i still like it alot

the manga (and it appears the anime) start off very slow hopefully it will pick up once he starts racing more people. from the later issues most of the technical info is in regard to the motor i have not seen much on the suspension but then my command of japanese spoken or written is minimal so i may have missed it.

Not a link to the torrents for the live action movies

[YF19pilot]

I've been watching this, too, amongst other shows. Interesting, though it appeals to me on a Tokyo Xtreme Racer level (flying down the Wangan is so much fun).

Anyways, any idea where to pick up the video games? Would be fun to check out.

[Koenig]

Originally Posted by YF19pilot

I've been watching this, too, amongst other shows. Interesting, though it appeals to me on a Tokyo Xtreme Racer level (flying down the Wangan is so much fun).

Anyways, any idea where to pick up the video games? Would be fun to check out.

I did a search on Gamefaqs.com and the only games I saw that are available are the arcade games. The ones released for PS2 and PSP are JP release only. There seems to be one coming for PS3 though.

[The_Finn]

and for the PSP... but yeah for now the only way to geat a "real" wangan game is via the arcade. in american anyway

[Ottobon]

the subtle changes in the translation of the manga are enough to make me like this series again!, the Anime translation somehow made it seem "2 fast 2 furious", the main character seemed to have blatent disregard for himself and others, in the manga it seems more like a guy who just loves his car to death,

for example the part where in the Anime he says "i feel the car will betray me if i loose concentration" was translated to "i feel the car will betray me if i am reckless"

it seems more like the main character actually cares about his well being in the Manga, probably just do to the translation. and knowing this i like the anime more as i can just blame the poor translation on the stateside peoples.

[BlitzR]

The translator of the manga felt like he did a bad job on the first few chapters

[zenkidori]

Originally Posted by Ottobon

sounds like a good time filler

i don't know exactly how much can be learned from racing around in strait lines, but Initial D was always interesting to watch, and atleast got me pumped up :p

if you're learning from initial D, you're fucking retarded.

It's OK so far, I assume it'll get better, but for now it's kinda, meh.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Watched the first ep, it sucked pretty hard. No sense of speed, even.

[edkwon]

The thing that sucks about Wangan Midnight is it tries to sound cool and technical like the drifting in Initial D, but when you cut past all the fancy talk, its really just assholes street racing in a straight line on the freeway, putting other drivers in danger. At least the mountain touge drifters in initial D try to close off the roads to avoid civilian trafficwhen they stage their races.

plus the main character is not even cool, he's just an arrogant prick who's skills aren't that good, just like every dumb street racer i see revving me at the lights in their stupid tarted up cars.