Sunday, January 25, 2009

Wangan Midnight

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Asakura Akio is a young student and street racer who has a beloved car – a first generation S30 Nissan Fairlady 240 Z. Immediately upon discovering it in a scrap yard he's attracted to it, an attraction that later grows into an obsession. After restoring the car to its former glory, he takes it down a stretch of highway known as Wangan where most street racers challenge one another to be the Wangan Champ. Source: Anime-planet.com

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Instead of an anime about cars and it’s technical side. Wangan Midnight actually focuses more on the psychological point of view from the racers and tuners.

Wangan Midnight seemed to have used a double edged strategy. On one side it probably attracted more mature viewers as the content and script does actually feels mature; on another side it probably lost viewers who are into it hoping to feel some excitement.
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The cars are actually well designed. The CG looks good. Not super but there’s no denying that the cars look sweet! (I do have a passion for cars in case you were wondering, and no, my rating is not biased by it) Unfortunately, the races are actually rather dull, even with all the nice looking cars.
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Initially, I could only bring myself to give Wangan Midnight a doubted 3-Star. Being an anime of a specific genre, it already limits its fans. And not having much exciting scenes will limit its fans even more. But that doesn’t mean that it isn’t a good watch.
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However, as it nears the end of the series, things really pick up and you realize that Wangan Midnight really does have something to show for after all. Especially from episode 21 onwards. Successful in bringing depth to certain characters and introducing more than just cars. This title makes a comeback to a 4-Stars title.

Wangan Midnight
Rating: 4-Stars
Torrents: Animesuki

If it fails to inspire you viewers, might I try to suggest saving several episodes to watch in one go. Rather than watching one episode and having to wait a week or two for another, which to me kills the suspense dreadfully. This advise actually applies to all animes. :p

1 comment:

  1. I love cars too! And I might check out this anime' during my free time. It sparked my interest for the kind of excitement you get when you meet the "car of your dreams" in a scrapyard. Classic!

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