From dusk until dawn, street racers gather on a Tokyo highway—the Wangan Route—in search of only one thing: speed. Among them, a newcomer attracts the attention of the route's veterans after he purchases a Nissan Fairlady Z, a car infamously nicknamed The Devil Z. The newcomer ignores the warnings of Eriko Asakura, who lost her brother, Akio, in an accident involving the same vehicle. The Devil Z's new owner, who coincidentally shares the exact same name as Eriko's brother, becomes bewitched by the car's mysterious power—even after crashing twice.
Now a high school dropout who works to pay for his car repairs, Akio befriends regular street racers of the area: the legendary owner of the Porsche 911 Turbo, a car known on the streets as "Blackbird;" the genius surgeon Tatsuya Shima; and Reina Akikawa, who works as a model by day and displays unparalleled skill in her Nissan Skyline GT-R by night. Thanks to these connections, Akio manages to find the retired designer of The Devil Z's engine, a solitary man named Jun Kitami. Following his meeting with Akio, Jun resumes building overpowered yet dangerous engines. Meanwhile, the racers of the Wangan Route are caught in a desperate race against The Devil Z with no clear end in sight.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Comentários
jmoriarty84
Obviously, your 1st reaction so far will be you’re thinking Initial D. I don’t blame anybody for doing so, but if you’re going to watch this with expectations based on Initial D, then you’re going to watch it for all the wrong reasons. The 1st portion of this series will be repetitive and slow, but it’s done for the purpose to build suspense, motivate development, and establish the story. I felt that things got exciting way too much at the end and it leaves you wanting for more, but I guess there’s the manga to make you satisfied which I’m now getting into. Depending onhow you get into it, it will be either hard or easy to accept, but I feel this presentation was done for the right reasons even though it will take awhile to get into this anime. Yes, consequences of that kind of story telling makes the pace slow, but it gives chances to focus and introduce other characters and their relationships which the anime is truly about.
The anime has great character exploration. I really like how the racing lifestyle and car obsession results in consequences to the normal lives of the characters and in relation to those around them. In the case of Akio, he has to repeat a year of high school because he ditches to make money for his car.
However, I felt there were some characters that had no use or contribution to the progression or establishment of the story, though they had an interesting origin and develop individually. But in the end, they seemed more like filler or side story characters, and felt the anime could have focused on other things instead. But regardless, these characters were likeable and engaging. As for the main characters, I felt their personalities were too strong and established to make any significant development throughout the course of this anime, but I think it was mostly about the relationships and interactions that were more of the central focus.
There is heavy duty tech speak, but I felt it was really easy to understand because it demonstrates the explanations hand in hand very effectively. But because the series is seriously technical, chances are you may be turned off by it because it gets really deep and I know a lot of people were turned off by this in Initial D because it was used as a riddle for foreshadowing thus made it very confusing to those not familiar with cars, but with Wangan Midnight, I felt it’s presentation made it like an auto class. But the drama thanks to the back-story of the Devil Z, is odd but engagingly driven in its own right. It does create a sense of curiosity of whether or not there is something possessing the Z, but its history and its tuning has a certain aura to it that attracts the characters, thus moves the story.
Well, the character designs share an obvious resemblance of Initial D’s, but simpler looking. The art design will of course look more dated since the original manga came out in 1992 and is sticking true to the original designs. Yeah, it’s really nothing cutting edge, nor is it really over the top. So the awkward designs will probably turn off people, but I don’t think it should really overall negate the anime as a whole. I like how Akio tends to be a white shirt and jeans kind of guy, and the way he’s drawn, it’s like he’s an anime version of James Dean himself. Hell, he’ll even wear the red jacket like he does on the cover of Rebel Without a Cause.
The races are also in CG, though it doesn’t really look as cel shaded as 4th Stage, but the style accurately portrays the features of the cars, and the corresponding engine sounds. The buildings and the Wangan are also rendered in CG as if it were the PS3 or arcade game. The cars presented are also a nice flavor (I get the notion that the original manga-ka is a Nissan fan and loves the GT-R), and the racing brings a different kind of suspense such as a danger risk and the portrayal of the consequences of reckless driving. Such consequences are wrecks and even engine blowouts, which gives it a sense of limitation to the cars. Initial D has that risk factor, but I don’t feel it, but I do feel it with Wangan Midnight, which makes the races more edge at your seat. Plus, I felt Initial D’s world despite praising it for it’s realism, in comparison to Wangan Midnight, it way too idealistic. But the races are more one-dimensional because it mostly takes place on the Wangan, and the style of racing itself to some people doesn’t feel as exciting as drifts or as innovating as gutter gripping on hairpins. But outside of the risk factor of driving at 300km/h on a public highway, the only other contributing factor to excitement is that races can be at 4 cars at once while it’s not exclusive to two cars. But the fact they push it to the limit should be exciting enough for some people. Now that I think about it, why aren’t their cops out there after them? I wonder if it’s true according to Tokyo Drift that cops in Japan can’t catch you if you’re exceeding 180 km/h.
The voice cast is excellent though there is one big name that stands out to me that took some adjusting, and that was Miki Shin’ichiro the voice of Takumi in Initial D, as the voice of Shima. I’m so used to hearing him as Takumi to a point that I really couldn’t imagine him in this role. By the time I got to the end, I finally accepted him as Shima and started to appreciate his performance And I felt it was unique that they casted J-Drama actor, Oguri Shun, who was in the live action versions of GTO, Gokusen, and Hana Yori Dango as Akio. I thought he captured Akio’s characteristics in a typical fashion where you’re convinced he’s a unique kind of teenager and shows great variety to Oguri’s acting abilities in this approach. I also liked Suhou Reiko as Reina. I thought she did great as a seiyuu by being a down to earth idol. And I was most impressed with Miyake Kenta’s performance as Kitami Jun, the tuner from hell. You probably know him as Tsume from Wolf’s Rain, Vetor in Sonic, and is also casted as Zangief in SFIV. Anyway, I think he brings a unique charisma and intimidation to the character where he can freak you out to a point that yeah, he tunes crazy cars, but hey it’s probably worth the risk. So he swept me off my feet.
Unfortunately, there is no Eurobeat. Music isn’t really that emphasized in this anime. The track you’ll tend to hear is a more techno driven Eastern Indian song that sounds similar to what you hear in Ghost in the Shell. It suits that risk factor that this anime has, but gets overused and we also have extreme techno rock every now and then. The opening and the ending themes do sound like MOVE’s songs, but they are more upbeat and up lifting, and not as emphatically hip hop driven, nor do they comes across as extreme as MOVE, but likable.
Like Initial D and some other anime I review, Wangan Midnight is for people who want to try something different, but it’s still an anime that isn’t for everyone whether you’re new to anime or hardcore. Granted you can say that about DBZ, Lucky Star, and EVA, but Wangan Midnight is just a different tune to truly apply that because its racing, people will jump to conclusions that it’s stupid just because of what it’s about. In some aspects, I think Wangan Midnight has distinguishing qualities that keeps me interested, such as the character exploration and the realism, and I love the arcade game. But hey, growing up with a father who loves cars and going to school with people who love to drag race, I could get into this anime and I had familiarity with the arcade game, Maximum Tune which should be at your local arcade. Give it a try, it’s a lot of fun.
I doubt this anime is getting licensed, so you can go to your usual torrent sources to get it. And remember: this review is a review of a work of fiction and I encourage you to please drive safely and obey traffic laws at all times, and stick to racing at your local arcade, gaming console or public circuit track.
lisnoire
In the beginning I wondered if the star car was going to be possessed ala Stephen King's Christine, and although that question was never exactly answered, that is not the direction the story took. Wangan is a heartfelt look at street, rather freeway, racing, the people caught in the lifestyle and the cars that obsess them. At times it is almost a tutorial on how to rebuild an engine. For one reason and another, I've not finished Initial D so I'm not going to make any kind of cross comparison other than saying Initial D didn't capture me the way Wangan Midnight did.I dated car guys, handed them tools and torqued down timing chain covers . . . .until I broke a bolt or two . . . I drove fast cars and owned them myself. Occasionally, I pretend my sedate Subaru Forester is really a WRX. Consequently, Wangan Midnight spoke to me in a way that may not reach the typical anime fan.
Some folk feel the series is a little slow to reach take off. I didn't notice. I found plenty character development and white knuckle racing action. I also liked the characters who came into the story for an episode or two and, as with the actual racing community, for one reason or another, went a different direction. Some satisfied a need, others chose not to let the obsession rule their life, others devoted their life to the obsession, some with a positive out come, some not so much.
Interestingly, the primary protagonist, is given a James Dean style look, complete with a Rebel Without a Cause white t-shirt and red jacket. The bad luck 240Z is also a reference to the Porsche 1950's actor Dean died in. It is said that his Porsche is cursed. Anyone trying to rebuild it our use its parts got into accidents of their own. And so it is with the Devil Z in Wangan Midnight.
I loved everything about the art except the facial designs of the characters, the females in particular. Apparently, the choice was in deference to the manga it is based on, a manga that goes back to '92, hence the dated look. Soundtrack wise, the music is o.k. but the car sounds are great.
Ultimately, Wangan is about relationships; relationships between people and specific cars, between people who love cars, and between people who love the people who love the cars. If you are even just a little bit of a car geek, make time for Wangan Midnight.
kseries2497
The "other" racing anime, following the enormously popular Initial D. There is a MASSIVE contingent of the anime-watching car community that has seen this anime up to episode eight. At that point, it pretty much seems to be a cycle of Akio crashing the Z and spending long hours fixing it up again, and it's very easy to quit. I did it myself once, but going back I found that the series comes into its own after that point, producing a truly excellent series about the lives of car enthusiasts. It doesn't hurt that the racing and tuning picks up substantially then, too. Half the point ofWangan Midnight seems to be the way the characters are willing to sacrifice their lives, families, and careers for the sake of an ultimately pointless hobby; the series opens with Akio about to drop out of school because of his weak Z31. The emphasis on characters in this series also means that you care quite a bit more about them throwing everything away than you do when, say, a minor character in Initial D begs his girlfriend for money.
But if that's half the point, the other half is what they're willing to sacrifice all that for. This show portrays a whole string of passionate tuners with elaborate backstories about turning wrenches on classic Japanese iron, and even more drivers with an all-consuming thirst for speed. The question of whether the Devil Z has a soul or will of its own hangs in the air clean through the series, but watching Akio develop a relationship with it may be one of the finest depictions of what a sports car means to its driver. Every shot of every racing sequence is pure car porn, which just drives the point home even more.
The racing action is more subtle than Initial D, and is much more concerned with the mechanical aspects of the cars rather than purely with the driving. The soundtrack follows suit, switching from Initial D's manic eurobeat to some kind of orchestral thing, which I think has its own charms.
The art didn't generate any complaints out of me, since I spent my formative years watching Speed Racer dubs and Initial D's horrifyingly-animated First Stage. Someone with a more discerning eye- and more familiar with current animation- may take slight issue. I don't really know.
Sound was excellent. Period. The cars sound great, the soundtrack is moody and awesome, and you don't watch a car show for the voices, but these were pretty good.
Overall, this is a truly great anime for the serious-minded car enthusiast, and I regard it as being on par with such classic car films as "Le Mans" or "Vanishing Point". It takes its technical background seriously and then puts a bunch of great people around a bunch of really fast cars.
PS- No, no one's making 600rwhp on 3,100cc without fuel injection or cross-flow heads. I don't care how many scars your tuner has on his face.
-Ikki
Ok then. I am gonna start saying that "Wangan midnight" isint just a dumb car anime, like people think. Wangan for who dont know is basicaly highways in japan, who are famous beacause its the stage of A LOT of ilegal races. Most of the people want to compare wangan to Initial D ... and belive me, its a huge mistake. Initial is about drifting, but wangan abord races in high speed ... like 300km ( curiosity ... 300km its the dream of all wangan racers ) But ok ... lets talk about the anime. ------------------------ Like i said before, wangan its ahighway, and the anime explores it ... in the best way possible.
The races are to good, and with de OST in the back give such emotion that i can describe in words.
The characters .... hmm, they are pretty ok.
the protagonist ( Asakura Akio ) its the best in there so far, beacause his love for the Z ( car that he drives in the series ) its so big, that he can easily die driving.
The Z has a problem tho ... but, u has see the anime to understand that.
So its over ... the hating in overall is : 9
i had pretty much fun watching ( and reading a little bit of the manga ), and for a huge car fan ... its more than valid give it a try.
_Lazaroth_
A 3/10 anime that occasionally reaches 6/10 with it's amazing soundtrack and CGI. But is a boring slog outwith that. Wangan Midnight offers a different and unique spin on Racing anime. Set primarily on the Wangan route of highways but dabbles in others. As such, straight lines are the name of the game, and the need for speed is more necessary than the drifting techniques of Initial D, the anime this is most compared to. I will also be making this comparison. The CGI is amazing, and holds up well today. The cars are very well detailed and the backgrounds provide a beautiful backdrop asthe speed intensifies. Great lighting and weighty physics make the cars feel satisfying.
Characters:
Characters are extremely boring. Practically everyone has the same personality, that being none at all. THEY ARE ALL SO MIND-NUMBINGLY BORING OMG. There are no varied personalities to clash with other's individual ideals and experiences. There are only: Racers, Tuners, and spectators. There exists no other roles for characters to fill. Everyone is a brick wall, and they only ever talk about racing. Leading to absolutely zero engagement from the watcher. You do not care about these characters, and you shouldn't. Not much character development at all, which is a shame compared to Initial D's exceptional handling of characters where defeat would shape them and their worlds. In the grand narrative of WN, there is not a clear goal unlike Initial D's prefecture touring. People just sort of float around until they hit the next plot point. Literally, characters will drive hours on the highways just to bump into another character randomly rather than asking them to be at the place at a specific time. The "opponents" of the main Character also lack foreshadowing, so new ones just show up out of nowhere jarringly. Character designs are trash, a lot of people look the exact same facial wise, leading to confusing sometimes. With forgettable outfits. There are some infuriating characters, but Racing is likened to drugs in this anime, so some of the decisions make sense. Nonetheless, the characters are their cars, and nothing else. EVERYONE seems bored, despite risking their (and others') lives to feed their addiction. But literally not a single person jumps for joy, even after winning despite this being so important to them. Vice versa is also true, Characters don't shake in rage, yell in frustration or fall into a depression after losing. It's insanely asanine and it's as if it's actively attempting to be boring to watch. Villains, or rather Opponents, are terrible. It's more of a friendly rivalry between friends in the craft of street racing than anything like retaining honour of your prefecture by racing other people from different prefectures or famous individuals within said Prefecture, or making a name for yourself as the Main character doesn't wish to be famous, he just wants to drive. There's nothing at stake and everyone is so friendly they literally drive each others' cars, pointing out weaknesses and tuning each other's vehicles like it's nothing.
Animation:
Overall 2D animation is insanely bad, no character acting and stiff facial animation can leave people looking like talking ken dolls. I don't even think a single character blinked once. Lip flap animations are usually awful and not synced most of the time. Which can be very distracting. This is all made worse by the 480p release that didn't get a HD remaster. Halfway through, I switched over to a fan remaster with 1080p. Some episodes looked off at certain points but it was a MUCH better experience overall, especially the driving scenes. I recommend watching the series with this remaster by JDM restoration. Even the AI's touch makes the anime look less plastic, but does blur things somewhat in some places.
Voice acting is decent across the board, but nothing special. Sometimes you can hear echo from the voice acting studio. There is also an issue of weird direction here and there, with some laughably directed moments that take you out of the experience. There are some cast members who would later go on to do big roles, Like All Might from MHA.
Driving/Action:
Driving wise. It's not very interesting, there's only so much you can do on a straight road. There's barely any interesting techniques, yet just watching these beautiful machines glide across the asphalt is enamouring and satisfying. The CGI feels weighty and crunchy. Alas, there is not much hype moments in this anime. It is more of a smooth drive than a racetrack rumble, especially with all the mechanic tuning and whatnot slowing the pace down dramatically. Some car nuts may get value from these scenes though. There isn't much drama, in all honesty the drama just seems to be there just to further the plot than as an actual consequence to anything the characters have done, but it's still effective with the underlying messages of Racing addiction. Still, the utter lack of distinctive Racer Driving styles or racer specific techniques like the "Zero theory" or "Fujiwara zone" from Initial D, practically every single character is, to borrow a quote from sonic the hedgehog, "Gotta go fast". This all ties into the Addiction theme, but it gets old fast. The characters themselves are not memorable in the slightest due to these compounding issues, the lack of unique songs for each racer like in Initial D further reduces differentiation, and the Highways of Wangan Midnight, despite being beautiful, get stale the longer you watch compared to the varied environments of Initial D's multiple mountain passes and prefectures. Especially because each individual area in Initial D offered not just new racers and ideas, but environmental hazards or opportunities for the characters to experience. Overall, Wangan midnight might best be experienced by just watching a compilation of the races (similar to Initial D's Battle stages). You will miss out on the theme of addiction, however your not missing anything really. Rather than the main character attempting to beat others, it's the opposite with WN. Others are attempting to beat *him* because he has the OP car. Which is a fairly unique prospect. The main character is practically overpowered and has no growth from defeat, but rather it's his opponents that grow from defeat. As such, most of the anime is spent on all of the opponents point of views, leading to quite an admittedly novel watching experience. It's similar to watching a player die over and over to the final boss before accepting defeat and moving on, defeating their addiction by realising that this can't go on, no matter how badly they want to win. It isn't worth it. The thing about the races is that they are all absolutely inconsequential. It doesn't matter if characters win or lose. There's nothing at stake, because the characters have already thrown their life away (Quit school, left their family, etc.) *before* the races even begin, so there's no drama or tension. The races also have no structure, I think only a SINGLE race had a "starting" and "finishing" line. So those white knuckle, heart pounding last second overtakes at the finish line don't happen. Races seem more like a "who can lose motivation the fastest" thing more than anything. The Great CGI and music is the only thing keeping the races somewhat engaging. It's unfortunate, as the sense of speed at 200MPH could have made for some insane high stakes action and picture finishes. Traffic, weather and track hazards are also non-existent which further adds to the staleness of it all. They are fun to watch individually, but they cannot support this anime, so everything crumbles underneath the poor 2D animation and horrible trope-filled story. Ending isn't satisfying and leaves much unresolved, but since it only adapted a fraction of a huge manga, this is expected. Still, this is one of the most boring stories I've ever seen.
Soundtrack is amazing, not quite On initial D level but still very great! If anything the soundtrack itself is worth checking out if your not interested in the anime!!
Overall:
Wangan midnight is a 3/10 show, bumped up 3 points to a 6/10 for its great soundtrack and CGI, and it's interesting unconventional story telling. But keep in mind that this is a BASE 3/10 show that's SOMETIMES a 6/10 show. So in the end, if you don't wish to experience the themes of racing addiction told in an unorthodox structure, at least watch the Racing scenes and listen to the soundtrack. It's always telling when I have no zero desire to read the manga after an anime that doesn't fully adapt the manga. If you want more Initial D, watch MF Ghost, ID's sequel.
Stay away from this anime, unless you *just* can't get enough of cars.
konogeo
Ok so I am not going to write a whole essay about this anime because I wouldn't read it and I assume neither do you. I want to start this "review" talking about a misconception about this series. I saw a lot of people on the internet comparing this anime to Initial D, I mean, they're not wrong, both are about cars and take place in Japan...and there is where the similarities stop. Both anime show a different part of the car community in the 80-90's Japan. Initial D is very good at portraing the beginning of the drifting community while Wangan Midnight is very goodat portraing another piece of the japanese history.
The whole plot of this anime is based on a bigger story, that of the Mid Night Club, an outlaw group of racers that used to race on the Bayshore Route in Japan, known as "Wangan", hence the name of the anime, and they did a pretty good job. Knowing both stories and rewatching the series I could understand more what meant to live in that time and do what they were doing.
During those 26 episodes you are presented with the thrill of the race, the consequence of being reckless and with the mentaining, repairing and improving your vehicle in order to be able to achieve those speeds (>300km/h). I enjoyed every fact about the cars, their engines and the methods they used to push their limits to the max.
The Z that could think on its own, trying to kill his owner is a bit unrealist but they did a very good job at creating their own hero car and giving some kind of aura. I still have goosebumps listening to the "Voice of the Z".
The whole story is a bit wacky but the whole conflict between the main character, Akio and his rival Blackbird (a refference to the Yoshida Specials 930) really spices things up. What was a form of relaxation for both of them turns into a race to see who is the best and this drives most of the story, going into the history of them and their cars.
Finally, I want to adress some things pointed out by other users:
-Characters have no backstory/are dull. > Since the story is based on the races rather than the character development some characters aren't that interesting over time. Regarding the backstory problem. What did Dominic Toretto ask Brian O'Conner before they raced? Not even his name.
-Why there aren't any cops during the races? >The whole story is based on Mid Night Club's story which happened between 1985 and 1999 police cars and stock cars had their top speed limited to 180km/h. Maybe there were cops, but way too slow for us to see them.
It ain't much, but it's honest work.
_GX_
TLDR Review - one point is removed for each negative aspect. Story (-1) : even though street racing genre is self-explainatory, the same formula of tune/fix and race again becomes boring when it occurs for the 3rd time (and more to come) Side characters (-1) : every 5 or so episodes, 2-3 supporting characters get replaced with new ones, with almost nothing but personal background being different. Races (-1) : police is nowhere to be seen, other traffic drivers act like props, neither road nor weather conditions don't change. Races end within seconds with one driver letting go of the throttle when facing personal contradiction for a moment- or if something breaks. Winning the race seems neither rewarding nor interesting.
Plot holes (-1) : Devil Z (the cover cars) "curse" on the main protagonist (with which the whole story is based upon) is negated by supporting characters, descriptions of crashes don't make sense when the show is trying to be realistic and relationship between main protagonist and his love interest (actually its the other way around) remain unresolved.
Ending (-1) : show ends with no conclusion after the final race, with it being nearly identical with other ones on the show.
JDMOverlord
An amazing anime for those who are into Tokyo's car culture! Wangan Midnight takes inspiration from a real street-racing club: the Midnight Club, that races on the Wangan highway on Tokyo. The main character is Akio Asakura, driver of the legendary Nissan 280Z (Akuma no Z - Devil's Z) a twin-turbocharged L28 beast from the late 70s, he is a very cool guy who always skips school to drive his beloved car. His rival, Shima Tatsuya, drives a Porsche 911 - 930 (the BlackBird), which took inspiration from the Yoshida Special 930. He is a doctor who has the hobby of street racing. The story itself containsa few plot twists and unexpected scenes and it is overall very entertaining. The races are breathtaking and unpredictable!
The soundtrack might sound a little bit unusual at first, but it actually suits the racing scenes!
Recommended 10/10
DonQuigeek
Wangan Midnight chronicles the lives of people whose passion for speed, street racing, and tuning is reignited by the return of a legendary car on the wangan, which is the part of the highway that runs alongside the coastline outside of Tokyo. And nothing else, really. The passion for race cars is palpable throughout the anime and as far as the protagonists are concerned, every scene is related to that passion and to the impact that legendary car had on them, as well as the life-altering choices they make or not after that. I insist on the fact that it is more a chronicle than astory: the protagonists tuning their cars to beat that legendary car on the wangan, examining their motivations for doing so, and struggling to reconcile their youth passion and the shackles of getting older and further in their adult life is the entire plot, with the legendary car and its young, new driver at the center of it.
Like some of you perhaps, I came to Wangan Midnight after having watched Initial D. And though there are similarities, the two happen to be quite different from each other. Initial D is more thrilling and shounen and it offers some sort of a storyline nonetheless, whereas Wangan Midnight has an initimate vibe, a slower pace, and leans definitely more on the seinen side without any real plot. That being said, Wangan Midgnight does not fall into melodrama or pathos and remains mature and appropriate to its characters, which is great. No eurobeat either, but a sparsely-used score that fit the atmosphere and action very well, including a few mystical touches of Enigma-like music.
All in all, it is an excellent anime but one that can ben quite difficult to binge-watch because this is roughly 26 episodes of more of the same. But if you fancy its theme and its cocooned atmosphere, if you get hooked on those adult characters that get together as a friendly community of people united by the same passion, then it becomes an odd delight to watch.
Venom_waz
Meh, this show a mixed bag. Probably wouldn't want to watch it again. If you're watching it now and are hoping that it gets better, it doesn't. You can stop watching around episode 11 since it's the same thing on repeat since that point. It had some really good moments here and there, which was the main reason why I ended up watching it until the end. Hoping it was actually going to amount to something. But it just ended up dissapointing me. Of course, if you're planning to watch this show it's 99% likely that you're coming here from Initial D. Just so you know the"races" in this show are just guys riding in a straight line to see who has the faster car. So don't be suprised. It's more of a car tuning show anyway.
Every 4-5 episodes the same exact arc repeats itself. A new racer with a JDM car shows up. They race against the MC and lose. They decide to forsake their personal life in order to upgrade their car. That takes about 3 episodes. They race the MC again and fucking lose AGAIN (lmao). Then they decide that racing is for losers, quit the racing scene so that they can focus on their actual life instead of wasting all their money on cars like a fucking dumbass. The new racer never appear in the show afterwards.
Now repeat that 6-7 times and that's the whole show.
Now, the first time this kind of arc happened it was actually well done, and pretty touching.
But then it just happens again and again. I thought it was doing that to subvert expectations and finally do something meaningful one of these times, but nope.
The characters... Well they sure are some of the characters of all time.
Everybody besides the mechanic with a scar is the same boring nice-guy racer, or nice-guy tuner, that acts exactly in the same way in every situation. The only thing that differentiates them is that some of them treat their cars like machines and some have this weird
sort of partner relationship(?!?!). I know it sounds weird but that's like the main dilemma for the characters in this show.
The whole fucking plot point of the MC's car being haunted or some shit goes absolutely nowhere, the same with his teacher and many other things that just end up unresolved. Leaving the feeling that the show runners just forgot what they were making.
The fact that the ending is just some random race that abruptly cuts doesn't help either. In fact it might be the main reason why I got frustrated after finishing the show, I'd be hard pressed to find a worse ending in anything ever. But it was probably due to budget or whatever so I guess you can use that excuse.
The 3d animation is pretty nice, pretty boring camera angles but whatever. The 2d animation is... Really uneexpressive and unimpressive, to be curt.
One of the few redeeming qualites is that you can actually learn a thing or two about tuning cars from this show (I think? They do throw around a lot of buzzwords).
Anyways, as always people are probably going to tell me that I just didn't get it or some shit like that. Just keep in mind that for many people this show is going to be really boring for like 80% of the time.
GunterLOL
As a car guy who both love cars and watch anime, this is probably the most realistic a car anime could get. I'm probably gonna get a lot of hate towards this, but I would definitely watch this over Initial D any day, and I love Initial D. The determining factor? Realism. Without giving too many spoilers, the story is about a young boy named Akio Asakura. One night, him and his friend were out on the Wangan Highway with two girls when suddenly, a black Porsche pulls up from behind and completely leaves him in the dust. Baffled by how fast the car was going,he tried to keep up the pace and tried to race the Porsche. Little did he know, he found out that the black Porsche was titled the "King of Wangan".
We follow through Akio's life as he finds an S30 (240z) in the junkyard and immediately falling in love with it. though there was one downside about the car. Disregarding everyone's warnings of not rebuilding the car, Akio realizes what a devil of the car was, thus rebirthing "Devil Z".
The characters in this anime were overall very amusing and fun to watch, as everyone seems to be fascinated by this demon of a car. Since everyone's so interested by the car, we also get to see the reasoning behind their fascination of the car, and all the characters just end up being very tight-knit to Akio.
In the beginning of this review, I said that I would get a lot of hate for writing this due to the fact that I preferred this over Initial D, but let me explain. Though some people would argue and say that the two anime are very different, with one being revolved around drifting and this anime revolving around speed and tuning cars. That's why I like it so much. It not only shows racing culture at a premature-mature level, it also showcases tuning culture and having/wanting the need to go fast to outrun the opponent on what seems to be a never ending highway. Initial D just seemed too unrealistic for me as it felt like Takumi had some bullshit wins along the way. Takumi being undefeated, or almost undefeated, just makes it seem that there was no realism involved behind the show. It was always get into a downhill/uphill battle, and win. Simple as that. But in Wangan Midnight, their strong point was that when somebody knew they couldn't keep up, they would tune their cars and try to reach their dream goal of roaring through the highways at 300km/h, and thats where it got me.
Sidenote: If you ever have a chance, go through your local arcade or mini golf place and try to look for this game. This game is absolutely fantastic, and such a fun game to play, as racing with your friends at 300km/h in Japan seems like a never-ending time of joy. I've spent at least damn over $100 for a car card in this game, and I hold 3 maxed out cars (R32, AE86, and RX7 for anybody wondering. Probably not).
Hope this review helped! If you have any doubts, just give it a shot. If you enjoy the tuner/racing culture, you'll definitely enjoy this anime.
PedroDante199
Wangan Midnight is a must watch and play (for the videogames and Tokyo Xtreme Racer series games) for anyone who's into car culture or into the old Shutokou battles that still happen to this day. The story lacks a lot in comparison to both the manga and games, as it jumps a lot of arc, the pacing is quite bumpy as characters or even races just happens out of nowhere, being so noticeable as (SPOILER) one of the main racers at the final race just appearing 2 episodes before and be inclueded because Yes. The ending was super lack lusting as it gave no conclusion tono points and being as rushed as to give us short lined realisations and a Haikai about the car.
The art is very good for someone who enjoys car culture, as many cars are built with real world parts and are aesthetically pleasing. The characters have a good design as well being truthfull to real life dressing, especially when it comes to driving clothings and tuner suits.
The sounds are nice but kind of bland sometimes as an R32 or R33 dont sound like the RB26 engines, meanwhile the Evo 6 from Eiji does sound like an 4G63. The OST is godly as it has a mix of breakbeat, jazz and pop for the races, while also having orchestral for more thoughtfull moments. Not only that but the Intro is peak eurobeat perfection!
The characters are pretty well acted, having as remarkables Akio, Eiji and Jun. Some can feel kind of bland but it's because most of them are pretty serious about anything.
Overall it's a good show, but i recommend playing the games or reading the manga for further details and enjoyement. The reason why as to Wangan Midnight having so little episodes is because Genki didn't have much money at the time to fund the rest of the anime, so they had to go for a one shot. But again, it's a must watch for anyone into car culture!
SaijoSan
Story 5/10 Characters 4/10 Sound 8/10 Animation 7/10 Enjoyment 6/10 Score 6/10 Unlike Initial D (https://myanimelist.net/anime/185/Initial_D_First_Stage), if you are not a car person, or interested in automobiles. You will not enjoy this show, because that's what this anime is all about. The surrounding story is utter crap, they keep introducing new characters that show little to none emotion and they just look really stale, and then they get little to no screen time after their part. The purpose of this anime is very unclear, the concept has no true ending or legacy, and that's what led it to this embarrassing performance of a show. Sure it's a cool anime, unique andall, but as in story-wise... Even I could write a better one.
But if you like car stuff, I would give this a try purely because this anime is unique, not because it's good. This anime has + and - points that makes this anime just decent or below decent. It had good potential and unique concept, but was presented very poorly.
That's my take on this show. Thx for reading and have a good one.
VaasMontenegro
It's not your typical Initial D anime, if you think about it. However, when it comes to popularity, it was heavily overshadowed by it, but Wangan Midnight is still one of the rarest gems you should try to watch out for. Wangan Midnight is the Street Racing equivalent of Initial D without Eurobeat. And unlike Initial D, it was not set on a canyons and mountains across Japan, but only from the real-life Bayshore Route of Shouto Expressway (also known as the "Wangan-sen") and on the latter episodes, in Osaka. Also, the cars that represented here are not just Japan-made, but also some came from Europe aswell. From a Ferrari Testarossa (which is very rare given that Ferrari is very strict to use rights of their cars for entertainment purposes) to the Porsche 930, better known as the "Blackbird" and as the rival of the Protagonist's Nissan Fairlady Z, also known as the "Devil Z" in both the manga and the anime.
So, as much as how positive the manga is, the adaptation, however, is not excellent or great as how Initial D executed. Even without the Initial D mentioning in this review.
(SPOILERS on the Story)
The story starts up to the protagonist, Akio Akiyama, who is a Senior High School as he is about to graduate only to repeat a grade due to his outstanding absences, even though his grade is good enough to move on to college. But as humble and gentle as he can be, he still shows his delinquent side of him by not going to school, even though he was been told by a teacher that he should go back or else, he's going to take another year again in High School. But he does not concern it as he do some part time in a local bar and he tends to do street racing more often after he bought the "possessed" Nissan Fairlady Z, best known for its' moniker "Devil Z" known for its' wicked power and handling,that few of its' owners died because of it, one of which is the original owner of the Z, also named Akio Akayama, who is the rival of Tatsuya Shima, driver of the Porsche 911 Turbo/ when he was crashed during their race. But the present and non-related to the original owner, Akio did not stop there and continues to drive it until he get the hang of the car to control it. He also faced tons of characters, ranging from Nissan Skylines, to Mitsubishi Lancers, to even its' rial, Tatsuya, and his Blackbird, to know who owns the "King" in Wangan Highway.
(SPOILER END)
The story is just focusing on one goal, to know who is the fastest on the Wangan Highway for both the rival (not to be confused, by the way, to the antagonist as there is actually no bad blood between them) and the protagonist, it's very plain and kind of anti-climactic. But if you are looking for some heart-wrenching backstories before the set of the race with a good yet expecting ending, then the other minor characters from the other episodes will try to tell their stories with some progress for the major characters in the story. With some major stories also from minor characters will reveal their intentions and relations to the Devil Z.
The Art for the anime is what you expect to the 2007 - 2008 anime, except they make the characters look a little realistic from their hairstyles to their clothes as well. The cars and the races on the hand, is surprisingly, they tend not to use too much 3D CGI animation unlike... you guessed it, BERSER--, I mean, Initial D, which are well known on their PS1 to PS2-graphics Artstyle.
If you don't like the OP and ED on this anime, then maybe you might like the Songs from their Car Engines whenever they installed their new turbos and modifications from the following episodes of this series. Because that's how I do feel about the OP and the ED as well. ED especially, but despite that I do have some love-hate relationship with the OP song, Lights and Any More, I felt kinda likable to the point that it felt too catchy to be likeable. It's like you hate the song, but later on, you start to like it a little until you just sing it out because who cares if you hate it though. The voice actors, one of which is Takumi VA, Shinichiro Miki, performed here in this anime is well-performed as well.
The characters in this anime, is actually very immersive and realistic that tends to compliments to the watchers as well. There are some of the characters stopped racing before until they later start to race again and promised that this will be their last time in exchange of the trust and promise related to the other characters after encountering the Devil Z, A character left to his respective racing group in order to chase his dream and defeat the Z on his own, the group would follow suit and also try to defeat the Z, a retired racer who later then encounter and heard the Devil Z and try to defeat him and others. I've already mentioned on the Story part of this review that they have different storylines but they are all connected and wanted to defeat the Devil Z. And for those who did not watched the anime yet, who do you think are the individuals that finally defeated the Z? Who are the victims that was loss against the Z? And yes, Z was defeated in this anime and there is no "Takumi Complex" from Initial D where the opponent wins until some miracle s*** happens to the opponent causing Takumi to get the win by default. Annoying isn't it? Maybe it was one of the protagonist's notorious cliche in animes. So... yeah. So don't expect Akio will suddenly win because SOMEONE THEN PUKE N THE MIDDLE OF THE RACE AND DECIDED TO TAKE HIS W BECAUSE THE AUTHOR OF THAT "MANGA" SAYS SO. I'M TALKING TO YOU "GOD HAND" AND SHUICHI SHIGENO. Weak b*astards. But I still love you, Initial D.
The fact is, this anime has some deep poetry that talks about the personality and the philosophy of cars like on Initial D. But unlike the latter, it has more dedication and understanding more in their cars than what they have in their lives. Yeah, it's deep. It's not just they talk on how fast their car was and talks about the specific specification used. But also on how the cars feel and the relationship between the driver and the car as well. Also, the battle climax is great as well with the help of the character's dialogue that tells about how they are doing and the cars they've using might have a lot of effects on it similar to how Initial D depicted. But unlike Initial D, the music used are the OST made for this anime. But it's not that bad, ranging from latin orchestra with some heavy-rock composition and it's piano composition which sounds like it was came from a horror film.
Overall, this anime is really recommendable to watch. It might sound boring at the first few episodes, but expect something very interesting at the following episodes to come. My cousin even liked this anime after for about few weeks after I recommended this anime to him since he is playing also the Wangan Midnight games in the arcade near us. So when he watched, he liked it... until the final episode shows up and it's ending. Whcih is skeptical.
BRANDOSIS
If your the type of person that enjoys driving cars fast or watching other people do it then this is your best bet. Where initial D is all about going fast and setting times in the mountains, Wangan Midnight is all about racing on the highways of japan with cars that can drive at speeds of 300kmh+ for long periods of time in some cases the battles between drivers would exceed times of 10+ minutes which is not ideal for cars that aren't designed or built for it. But with this said I highly recommend this anime to anyone that is looking for a good watch thatinvolves cars
