History Manga / WanganMidnight

* FiveManBand: After initially being rivals to each other, the main characters eventually seem to evolve into this when racing with later characters:
** TheHero: Akio Asakura
** TheLancer: Tatsuya Shima
** TheChick: Reina Akikawa
** TheObiWan: Jun Kitami
** TheSmartGuy: Kou Tominaga
** TheSixthRanger: Shinji Ogishima / Nobu Setoguchi in the ''C1 Runner'' arc.
* FiveBadBand: The R200 Club would like to think of themselves that way if only they weren't such a OpposingSportsTeam:
** BigBad: Yasuo Motoki
** TheDragon: Ryoichi Teizuka
** TheEvilGenius: Jun Sonoda
** The SixthRangerTraitor: Takayuki Kuroki / Yasuhiko Miki

''Wangan Midnight'' is a manga series by Michiharu Kusunoki revolving around Tokyo's highway racing scene. The story primarily revolves around Akio Asakura, a high school student with a knack for [[ChickMagnet attracting many women]] and taking them for rides in his car. One day, he is passed by a black Porsche 964, dubbed the "Blackbird" and driven by ace driver Tatsuya Shima, and attempts to race it, but [[CurbStompBattle quickly eats its dust]]. One day, Akio heads for the junkyard and finds an old blue Nissan Fairlady Z (known as the Datsun 2''xx''Z series in North America), discovering that it has been tuned from an old and outdated piece of junk into a souped-up racing monster known as the Devil Z ([[NamesTheSame no]], not that BigBad from ''Anime/TransformersSuperGodMasterforce''). Despite warnings about how the car is supposedly cursed, that all of its previous owners happen to share his full name, and that every one of those owners has ''died driving the car'', he takes the dealer up on the offer and gives the Devil Z a spin, and discovered that the Z not only has unparalleled power, but seems to have a mind of its own, as he soon wipes out spectacularly trying to control it.

* AnachronismStew: The animé exhibits this somewhat. Early on we see alot of indications that the series is set in the mid to late '90s (certain cars used by the racers being treated as current or even brand new during the time, also [[spoiler: Takagi's flashbacks to "15 years ago" shows a 4 year old Keiichiro Aizawa with 1980's cars, notably his dad's Mk. II Supra]] ), however the random cars seen in the ''Wangan'' (e.g. Honda Fits, etc.) are from the mid 2000s when the animé was made.

* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Face it, hardcore tuners are usually too obsessed with their cars they tend to have little to no time for romance (though some get better afterwards):

** And now, ''Ginkai's Speed Star'' has nothing to do with either the main ''Wangan Midnight'' or the ''[=C1=] Runner'' storyline, though WordOfGod said it was set in the same universe.

** TheBigBad: Yasuo Motoki

* AscendedExtra: Shinji Ogishima, a primary side character in the last arc of the main story, becomes this in ''C1 Runner''.

** Also applies to [[spoiler: Kouichi Kijima, Reina's co-host on ''Drive Go-Go''. Turns out he was a former racer who's legendary [=FC3S=] RX-7 had a reputation similar to the Z and BlackBird.]]

''Wangan Midnight'' is a manga series by Michiharu Kusunoki revolving around Tokyo's highway racing scene. The story primarily revolves around Akio Asakura, a high school student with a knack for [[ChickMagnet attracting many women]] and taking them for rides in his car. One day, he is passed by a black Porsche 964, dubbed the "Blackbird" and driven by ace driver Tatsuya Shima, and attempts to race it, but [[CurbStompBattle quickly eats its dust]]. One day, Akio heads for the junkyard and finds an old blue Nissan Fairlady Z (known as the Datsun 2''xx''Z series in North America), discovering that it has been tuned from an old and outdated piece of junk into a souped-up racing monster known as the Devil Z ([[NamesTheSame no, not that BigBad from ''Anime/TransformersSuperGodMasterforce''). Despite warnings about how the car is supposedly cursed, that all of its previous owners happen to share his full name, and that every one of those owners has ''died driving the car'', he takes the dealer up on the offer and gives the Devil Z a spin, and discovered that the Z not only has unparalleled power, but seems to have a mind of its own, as he soon wipes out spectacularly trying to control it.

''Wangan Midnight'' is a manga series by Michiharu Kusunoki revolving around Tokyo's highway racing scene. The story primarily revolves around Akio Asakura, a high school student with a knack for [[ChickMagnet attracting many women]] and taking them for rides in his car. One day, he is passed by a black Porsche 964, dubbed the "Blackbird" and driven by ace driver Tatsuya Shima, and attempts to race it, but [[CurbStompBattle quickly eats its dust]]. One day, Akio heads for the junkyard and finds an old blue Nissan Fairlady Z (known as the Datsun 2''xx''Z series in North America), discovering that it has been tuned from an old and outdated piece of junk into a souped-up racing monster known as the Devil Z (no, not that BigBad from ''Anime/TransformersSuperGodMasterforce''). Despite warnings about how the car is supposedly cursed, that all of its previous owners happen to share his full name, and that every one of those owners has ''died driving the car'', he takes the dealer up on the offer and gives the Devil Z a spin, and discovered that the Z not only has unparalleled power, but seems to have a mind of its own, as he soon wipes out spectacularly trying to control it.

''Wangan Midnight'' is a manga series by Michiharu Kusunoki revolving around Tokyo's highway racing scene. The story primarily revolves around Akio Asakura, a high school student with a knack for [[ChickMagnet attracting many women]] and taking them for rides in his car. One day, he is passed by a black Porsche 964, dubbed the "Blackbird" and driven by ace driver Tatsuya Shima, and attempts to race it, but [[CurbStompBattle quickly eats its dust]]. One day, Akio heads for the junkyard and finds an old blue Nissan Fairlady Z (known as the Datsun 2''xx''Z series in North America), discovering that it has been tuned from an old and outdated piece of junk into a souped-up racing monster known as the Devil Z. Despite warnings about how the car is supposedly cursed, that all of its previous owners happen to share his full name, and that every one of those owners has ''died driving the car'', he takes the dealer up on the offer and gives the Devil Z a spin, and discovered that the Z not only has unparalleled power, but seems to have a mind of its own, as he soon wipes out spectacularly trying to control it.

* NamesTheSame - Akio's full name happens to be almost identical to the Devil Z's original owner, with the only difference that Akio the protaganist has his given name rendered in katakana rather than kanji.

* NoExportForYou: Not a single company in North America has expressed interest in picking up either the anime or the manga. However, an official Chinese translation of the manga is available in Taiwan.

* FiveBadBand: The R200 Club would like to think of themselves that way if only they weren't such a QuirkyMinibossSquad:

* QuirkyMinibossSquad: The R200 Club.

* GratuitousEnglish: "Drive Go Go!"

* CoolOldGuy: Yoshiyaki Ishida, who drove a Ferrari in the manga, anime and film (and either a Gemballa Avalanche, a Subaru Alcyone SVX, or lately a Chevrolet Corvette [=ZR1=] in the games), could street race pretty good. Also cool about him was being able to [[MacGyvering replace a broken fanbelt with one made from a pantyhose]] (and he did it on his Ferrari).

* HeyItsThatVoice: Hire [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Gendo Ikari]] to do some BO-dy work, and Tatsuya is [[InitialD unbeatable downhill]].

** Averted in the live-action film. There are many newer cars around, assuming the date of record was made in 2008 or 2009.

The series ran for 42 volumes, from 1990 to 2008, with a 26-episode anime adaptation that ran from 2007 to 2008. In addition, there is a 12-volume spinoff, ''Wangan Midnight: C1 Runner'', that ran from 2009 to 2012. %% Elaboration on this spinoff would be useful as well.

Compare and contrast ''Manga/InitialD''.

** SpiritualAnth

Furthermore, there is [[VideoGame/WanganMidnight a collection of video game adaptations]], including the popular ''Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune'' arcade game series.

* CoolOldGuy: Yoshiyaki Ishida, who drove a Ferrari in the manga and anime (and either a Gemballa Avalanche, a Subaru Alcyone SVX, or lately a Chevrolet Corvette [=ZR1=] in the games), could street race pretty good. Also cool about him was being able to [[MacGyvering replace a broken fanbelt with one made from a pantyhose]] (and he did it on his Ferrari).

* NoExportForYou: Not a single company in North America has expressed interest in picking up either the anime or the manga. However, an official English translation of the manga is available in Singapore.

Compare ''Manga/InitialD''.