Wangan Midnight

[Munsu]

First episode released by OMFG (One Man Fansub Group):
http://a.scarywater.net/omfg/%5BOMFG%5D_Wangan_Midnight_-_01_%5B7DC7CD86%5D.avi.torrent

Looks like an Initial D series, might be worth checking out. It's based on a seinen manga, so that already makes it promising for me.


Based on a seinen manga by Kusunoki Michiharu serialised in Young Magazine.

The story gets its roots from the actual street racing that occurs on Tokyo`s Shuto Expressway, one stretch of which is known as the "Wangan", literally meaning "bay side" (although it is generally used to refer to the freeway), the longest, straightest road in the entire country. Of course, there`s also lots of traffic to contend with, including a fair number of heavy trucks. Because of this, the action is inherently hazardous, and wrecks are common. Blown engines are also a frequent hazard, especially with the extreme-high power engines.

One day, Akio Asakura, a third year high school student, is driving his Fairlady Z (Z31) and is challenged by Tatsuya Shima, a doctor, in his black Porsche 964 Turbo (nicknamed the "BlackBird"). With a friend in the passenger seat and two girls in the back, Akio pitifully tries to win, but is defeated. Determined to become faster, he goes to the junkyard to buy parts for his car, when he sees a pristine, unscratched midnight blue Fairlady Z (S30) in the junkyard. Intrigued as to why such a machine is about to be junked, he buys it. He soon finds that the car is unnaturally fast due to a tuned L28 engine, bored and stroked to 3.1 liters combined with twin turbos, which produces 620bhp. He also finds that all of the car`s previous owners had unfortunate accidents in it, starting with the first owner`s death. The manga follows Akio`s various encounters, though the central plot revolves around his constant battle with the BlackBird for superiority.

http://www.ppvj.co.jp/anime/0706wanganmidnight/
http://anidb.info/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=anime&aid=5088
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=7646

[animus]

This sounds weak compared to Initial D's premise in my opinion. Drag racing is way to boring to watch. Reminds me of watching something Fast and the Furious. I'll download this and give it a try however.

[?igma]

Downloading to see where it goes. As long as the storyline is catchy, alot of other factors are not too important.

[Kraco]

He soon finds that the car is unnaturally fast due to a tuned L28 engine, bored and stroked to 3.1 liters combined with twin turbos, which produces 620bhp. He also finds that all of the car`s previous owners had unfortunate accidents in it, starting with the first owner`s death.

Almost as much hp as in the current Formula One cars. No wonder a few accidents might have happened...

?igma, report back here if it's any good.

[?igma]

Well, first of all, I'm not a fan of cars, I like driving in them, I like it when they pull up fast, but that's about it.

The quality is eh..shocking. It's pretty bad. I'm assuming thats just the source.

There's no fixed music style. I've heard Rap, R&B, Rock and bits of classic here and there. It doesn't really add to a specific athmosphere. Not to me.

On to the story. There is no story. Or rather, yes there is a link to a possible future storyline. The car he finds is linked to a history, this history is everything but shiney and many demonic attributes/treats are added to the car to make it look dangerous and add a sense of exitement to the story.

The races are poorely directed, there is hardly any opposing traffic, leaving little but two cars battling eachother as a prove of speed. Apparently the faces and drops of sweat have to give away the tension between them.

Could be that there's an actual demon in that car, but it's not my animé :P

oh yeah, character design also, not my damn thing.

[animus]

Awfully big (300 or so megs) for something that's so low quality.

This first episode was boring, uninventive and using a premise like Drag Racing and doing nothing to it. Initial D took mountain pass street racing, made it exciting and interesting for those that were new to cars and were new to the whole racing scene in general. The characters are terrible, and I don't see how there's any room for character development in terms of skill. The whole point of going max speed on a straightaway is only due to car spec's and zero to little skill. I'm probably going to check out the next episode, and decide but seeing at this rate, this series isn't worth watching.

[animus]

Episode 2 - OMFG (http://a.scarywater.net/omfg/%5BOMFG%5D_Wangan_Midnight_-_02%5B833632B9%5D.avi.torrent)



Was released a couple days ago and I watched it. My opinion hasn't changed, this anime is so boring and undynamic. When I heard him go "Which lane? Should I go left or right?!" I put my palm on my forehead and sighed. This series has nothing on Initial D.

[Phoebus]

any info on the 2 latest?

[Phoebus]

I'we seen episode 3 and 4 on the net, but only in french sub....is there a English version around?

[masamuneehs]

not yet. Flomp is still doing it (i don't know anything about OMFG)

but, like animus said, this isn't a series that holds my interest. I'll give the third episode a shot, whenever it's released in english, but I really just spent 40 minutes almost bored to tears... something is not very gripping, and I think it's the pacing and music that are to blame

[Phoebus]

Strange no one is subbing this...seems like it's dead...

[animus]

It's not strange, the series is pretty damn awful.

[Phoebus]

So the subbers "killed" it....


oh well....I miss Initial D...