As a father of a Teen and pre teen I have been watching Anime again. I am not complaining I watched it with a bunch of other nerds back in my Jr high/ high school days. Watching stuff like Akira, Area 88, Ninja Scroll and Dominion Tank Police. My mind was completely blown. Watching "cartoons" with realistic bikes, cars and airplanes, telling wild stories unlike anything Id seen or read before. From pervy to over the top action to seriously dark thrillers animated with an attention to detail and care we just didnt get in the west. Who knew animation could tell a serious non Warner Brothers or Disney style story. As a guy that loved to read in general then discovered drawing and Marvel /DC style Comics. Anime was an easy jump for me in the 90s.. Any way Anime has become mainstream. There are several differant streaming services and apps. Youtube hass a ton of the older stuff if your so inclined. You dont have to hit up record stores, comic book spots or travel to your local China/Japan town to score VHS or DVDs any more. What was underground is now main stream. I have been rediscovering stuff I used to watch and best of all finding stuff I somehow missed.
Why are we talkin Anime again James?
Well as you undoubtedly know, Car culture is a huge thing in Japan. And as I mentioned. Anime in Japan is considered on par with any other story telling medium. As far as Automotive specific titles? Initial D is the low hanging fruit here, even in the states. Pretty Much everyone has heard of that one and for a reason. Not only was it a long running story as a comic. It had enough of a fan base to be made into an Anime and I believealeast two differant live action movies. Like I said, It's pretty damn popular. There is even a new Live action Movie being filmed currently. I have posted about it before, directed by Sung Kang. The guy from Fast and Furious that drove the Veil Side Rx7 in Tokyo drift. You know? the guy that died and then rose from the dead in later movies? Yeah that guy. Initial D is great but theres so much more out there.
I have mentioned titles like Gun Smith Cats and Redline before. Gun Smith Cats was a great Comic and an interesting Anime. Both have great Car chase and action scenes. Where Gun Smith Cats shows legit American cars classics and Guns. All rendered extremely realisticly. Redline is wacky future racing with awesome visuals and exaggerated action scenes. Both are a good time for very different reasons. But to give you a little inside as to how serious these series can be. The creator of Gun Smith Cats brought his whole team to Detroit. Where the story takes place to shoot film of the city meet with people that did his characters jobs. He even spent several days with an original 68 GT 500 KR. Filming its movements, recording the audio of its engine running, driving and gear changes. All to build in realism. Pretty cool huh ?
But I digress, let me get to the point of this post.
Recently I came across one I somehow missed. Wangan Midnight. If your into Japanese car culture your probably guessed why the title is relevant but in case you haven't. "Wangan" refers to a famous Coastal highway in Japan. Also mown as Bayshore thats famous for high speed runs and street racing. Part of the Shuto Expressway in the greater Tokyo area. "Midnight" is a reference to one of the more Famous car, racing clubs. Named Club Midnight. A name they allegedly got for making late night, early morning runs. Done specifically to allow for the least amount of traffic, therefore the fastest times.
This series should be way more popular than it is. Starting with a kid wrecking his Silvia on the Wangan Course. While on the hunt for his next car or parts to fix his Sylvia, he finds a wrecked early Z in a junk yard. He falls in love buys and starts restoring it. Through its restoration he meets mechanics and guys selling parts that know the car. Discovering it's known as the Devil Z. A car locally famous for being un beatable on the Wangan Circuit. To add a little drama we also find out the car is rumored to be cursed. As owning/racing it has resulted in the death or injury of all its past owners. Un bothered by the stories or maybe because of them. He completes the cars restoration. Returning it to its home Racing around the city. Meeting other racers. Building relationships and improving the car and his skills along the way. The main charecter gets a break throughtthe series as we fiollow some ofg the other current racers and their ballance or not of work/street race life and buuild their own cars and skills.
Its a great story, the cars are drawn/rendered exceptionally well. A mix of hand drawn and computer graphics the cars are pretty realistic. This isnt a story of ninja or robot fights. No special powers or paranormal. Not even a single alien or spirit animal to be found. Just a great car story told over a series of episodes. This does appear to have been popular enough in Japan to have gotten its own video game and I think I saw there was a live action movie of this one as well. if there is ill be watching that next!
I gotta be honest, Stories like this keep me interested in Anime. It's nice to see a story centered around cars and car culture. That its possible to write and make an automotive centric story without having it devolve into bank heists, terrorist attacks or Fieros in space.
If your open to an animated story search up Wangan Midnight. Its on YouTube, English dubbed and absolutely worth your time.
James
The Lowered HMFIC
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