List of recurring Wangan Midnight characters

"Wangan Midnight" characters.

Characters

*Akio Asakura:Car: Nissan Fairlady Z (S30Z) "The Devil Z":The main protagonists in the series, a 19-year old live alone student, he was running in the Wangan with Ma and his friends when he was easily defeated by the Blackbird. He then found the scrapped body of the blue S30Z known as the Devil Z in which he bought and restored to a good condition. His racing life began since then. Surprised to learn that the former (and deceased) owner of the Devil Z bore exactly the same name he has.

*Tatsuya Shima:Car: Porsche 911 Turbo 3.6/RUF CTR (964) "Blackbird" (Wangan Midnight only),
Nissan 350Z "BlackBird" (Maximum Tune only):A surgeon by day and a racer by night, this man is the driver of the Porsche 911 dubbed as "Blackbird", he was the one racing with the original owner of the Devil Z when it crashed. A close friend of Eriko, he assumes the role of taking care of her in place of her dead brother. When he met Kitami, he asked him to tune the Blackbird to match the Devil Z.

*Reina Akikawa:Car: Nissan Skyline GT-R (R32):A TV personality and magazine model, she does this hectic job and decides to run her GT-R on the Wangan nightly. One night, she encountered the Devil Z and the Blackbird having a race and decides to join in but her car spun out and crashed. She then changed her black GT-R to a white one. Her GT-R is tuned by Kazuhiko Yamamoto. The primary love interest of Akio, she also seems to harbor feelings toward Akio.

* Jun Kitami :Also known as the "Tuner from Hell", he is the one that tuned both the Devil Z and the BlackBird. He laughs in the face of danger and will gladly take anything past the "safe" 600BHP mark. Unfortuantely, the cars he tunes are so powerful that they are extremely difficult to control, hence his reputation as the "Devil's Tuner." Has a scar on his face, presumably from a past racing incident. Compared to other tuners, he has a few strict requirements: for one, he absolutely hates fuel injection engines, favoring carburetor; even when he accepted the offer to tune the BlackBird just to make a car that can challenge Devil Z, he still complained a lot about it. Incidentally, he owns a Bike Shop, and was once a pro racer, racing in GT back in his younger days.

*Kou Tominaga:A longtime associate of Jun and nearly as fervent in the pursuit of speed. He got the nickname "The Jet" from his racing days. Tuned the Monstrous Supra along with Akio Asakura, mainly providing the lightening carbon parts.

*Masaki:Car: Originally drives a Porsche 928 (Manga only); Mazda Eunos Cosmo (Maximum Tune Only), later switched to a Mazda RX-7 FDA car dealer recovering from a horrendous accident 10 years ago, and was inspired to go back to street racing when he countered the Devil Z, going as far as to get and tune a new car (a Mazda RX-7 FD) to do so.
* Koichi Hiramoto:Car: Nissan Skyline GT-R (R32):A hardworking man in the Green Auto Shop who often races on the Wangan with his friend Harada until one day, the two encountered Reina's white GT-R which makes Hiramoto decide to get his own car. He then becomes obsessed with tuning his silver R32 GT-R that his pregnant wife, Megumi left him for that very reason. He then challaneged both the Devil Z and the Blackbird, and then backed off at the last minute, giving up racing and returning to his wife who by then gave birth to their child.

* Harada:Car: Nissan Fairlady Z (Z31):Hiramoto's friend and also works in the Green Auto Shop who helped him tune his R32 to race with the Devil Z and the Blackbird on the Wangan. He drives a Nissan Fairlady Z31 in which it's engine overheated when he encountered the Blackbird and tried to chase after it.

* Takayuki Kuroki :Car: Nissan Skyline GT-R (R33):A devoted student of street racing, he spends hours just analyzing his vast storehouse of data and coming up with strategies. He staunchly believes in the superiority of the Nissan Skyline GT-R R33 and refuses to drive anything else. His intellect is formidable, and he puts his plans into motion with absolute precision and confidence. He's one of the very few drivers who managed to get a clean one-on-one victory over Tatsuya Shima but, when facing Akio, the engine overheated and blew. Also, he is fiercely independent, and not associated with ANY tuners like some of his rivals. He shows up relatively late in the manga and quickly becomes a ubiquitous figure. Formerly a member of the R200 club before they disbanded.

* Koichi Kijima :Car: Mazda RX-7 ∞ III (FC3S) "Legendary FC":A car enthusiast and writer for numerous famous car publications, also a TV personality, as such, he knows many prominent people, such as Reina. He's experienced a tremendous variety of vehicles in his career and knows how to get the most out of each one. He is highly sociable and frequently seen at parties, get-togethers, and similar functions. Even though he drove a lot of cars, he prefers a Rotary engine-equipped car, and always drove a red Mazda RX-8. However, as the RX-8 proved inefficient on the highway, he ended up driving the legendary FC.

*Keiichiro Aizawa:Car: Toyota Supra RZ (JZA80) "Monster Machine"/"Monstrous Supra":The character who drives the Supra RZ, dubbed as the "Monster Machine" tuned by Kou Tominaga and Akio Asakura. After meeting Devil Z, he decided to chase after him. Inspired by his father who drove a MkII Toyota Supra (MA60) and was killed by a drunk driver. Works in a host club to finance his racing activities.

* Gen Sasaki :Car: Toyota Celsior (UCF10):A much-maligned character in the manga, fondly known as "Gachan". Drives a Toyota Celsior, which is regarded as a joke in both the arcade game and the manga. His own vehicle, the Toyota Celsior (Lexus LS400) has everything from underbody lighting, to fancy emblems, to dark window tinting. Staunchly refuses to remove the air conditioner, radio, or anything that's normally removed during the lightening process. Actually a pretty good driver, although he gets clobbered every time he goes up against something built to race. Also, he is quite obnoxious, and frequently brags about the incredible upgrades he's made to psych people out. Embarrassed Reina Akikawa when he first met her one night while accompanying Kazuhiko Yamamoto, mistaking her for a call girl.

*Tomoya:Car: Honda Integra Type-R (DC2), but later switches to Nissan Skyline GT-R (R32):A young friend of Akio's who lives with a woman named Kyoko Kitahara. He works for a tuning shop known as ACE, and he tries (unsuccessfully) to "fix up" Kyoko and his fellow mechanic, Gen Goto. He drives a Honda Integra Type-R but eventually switches to his tuning shop's project car, the "ACE32R", a modified Nissan Skyline GT-R R32. He is a timid, insecure character and after trying unsuccessfully to overtake the Devil Z and BlackBird for Wangan superiority, he feels "out of place" and moves away from Tokyo. Known for the quote "I'm a person who disappears..."

* Makoto Morishita :Car: Originally drives a Subaru Impreza WRX STi (GC8), later switched to a tuned Nissan 300ZX (Z32): Another model who was friendly with Reina, she got drawn into street racing after hearing of Reina's exploits. Received a Subaru Impreza WRX from her boyfriend as a gift, but after encountering the Devil Z and failing to keep up with it, she got rid of the car and broke up with her boyfriend, then searched for a better car.

*Oki :Car: Mazda RX-7 R-1 (FD3S):A touge ace in the manga. Hailing from Hakone, Oki has long been unchallenged on the mountain road... until the Devil-Z came along. As such, he's decided to give it a try on racing on the Tokyo's highways.

*Eiji Kamiya and Maki Kamiya: :Car: 2 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI (Wangan Midnight only) Lancer V and VI (WMMT3 only):Two brothers from Kansai region. Eiji's the serious racer, and he's tremendously gifted. Maki has potential but for the moment mainly just tags along. They met Tatsuya Shima and his Blackbird when the latter visited Osaka while looking for a new exhaust pipe. Eiji, inspired by Tatsuya's driving, then decided to visit Tokyo, meeting Rikako Ota in the process.

*Ishida-San: :Car: Ferrari Testarossa:A photographer of Japanese idols. He meets and gets to know Reina, who he happens to share the same passion for racing and aspiration to defeat the Devil Z with.

*Ko-chan:Car: Mazda RX-7 ∞ III (FC3S):Akio's friend who helps him tune the Devil Z before he met Kitami, he owns a local tune shop with the help of his brother Ma. He is also the one watching over Akio when he tunes the Z.

Tuning Shops

* RGO: : Owned by Kazuo Ota. Infamous in the manga for tuning Masaki's monstrous FD3S Mazda RX7, and a light blue R33 Nissan Skyline GT-R driven by Kazuo and Yamanaka themselves. Kazuo is familiar with Jun Kitami and scoffs at anyone trying to chase down the Devil Z. His teenage daughter, Rikako, studies under his wing. She's inexperienced but learning, and she's even developing a taste for actual battling, driving a Nissan Silvia She was also the one responsible for enhancing Eiji Kamiya's Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI along with her father. Yamanaka, who challenged the Blackbird also works here, he also races with a Nissan Skyline GT-R. This shop is the one that tuned Kijima's FC.

* R200 club: : Consists of Jun "JPP" Sonoda, Ryoichi "JAPAN" Teizuka, and Yasuo "CCR" Motoki; a ragtag alliance of speed shop owners who banded together due to their inability to beat anyone alone. Named themselves R200 from the fact that they claimed to be among the first drivers to break the 200mph speed limit. Yasuo Motoki acts as the leader, Ryoichi Teizuka acts as his crony, and Jun Sonoda, the wisest and best driver, is the "go-to guy". They all drive the Nissan Skyline GT-R R33 V-spec... and quickly got wiped out by the Blackbird. Since then, they gave up street racing and relegated themselves to mere mechanics.: The group also had minor members and friends, though only Yasuhiko Miki and Takayuki Kuroki (see above) were named. Yasuhiko Miki rode as a passenger with Yasuo Motoki during the chase against the Blackbird; in Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune's Outrun mode, he also drives a Nissan Skyline GT-R R33 like the other R200 Club members.

* ACE:: Owned by Gen Goto. Tomoya, Kouichi Hiramoto and Harada works here, and they tune the Nissan Skyline GT-R exclusively, later driven by Tomoya.

*Tominaga Speed:Owned by Kou Tominaga. Speciality in ECU Setting and tuned Akio's Z, Tatsuya's Blackbird and Kei's Supra. More of a companion to Kitami's shop than a rival due to the owners' aquaintances with one another.

*Yamamoto Speed:Owned by Kazuhiko Yamamoto; the shop that specializes in Nissan Skylines. Tuned Reina's White GT-R (BNR 32).Kazuhiko Yamamoto drives a Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II (BNR 34).

*Kitami Cycle:A regular bicycle/motorcycle shop owned by Jun Kitami. The shop that built Akio's Z and tuned Tatsuya's Blackbird.

*Works-R:The shop that tuned the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution of the Kamiya brothers. Based in Kansai region.

*SpeedShop MACH:A rag-tag tuning shop specializing in cars that combine luxury with performance (e.g. the Toyota Celsior). Not a serious shop by any means, it's "owned" by Gen Sasaki.

*Body Shop Sunday:The shop specializing in bodywork, it was there that the bodies of the Devil Z and BlackBird were worked on. It is owned by Yuichi Takagi, an expert in welding, who actually was among those who helped first build the Devil Z years ago. He worked on the Devil Z again after it was destroyed in a collision. He also worked on the body of the Supra RZ/Monster Machine of Keiichiro Aizawa, as he was a close friend of Keiichiro's late father.

Non-racing characters

*Eriko: The sister of the Devil Z's original owner (who shares the same name as the Akio Asakura that is currently driving it) and Tatsuya's love interest. She steals the Devil Z one time and is stopped by the Blackbird and Akio. She then moved to London, England to study college there.

*Ma: A friend of Akio Asakura and the brother of Ko-chan, he enjoys riding with him and picking up girls. However, when Akio gets the Devil Z, Ma, like other people, grows concerned of him, as Akio puts his life and chances of graduating with Ma in danger to drive the Z.

*Rumi Shimada: Akio's homeroom teacher. Knowing Akio's poor attendance record (caused by his obsession with the Devil Z), which forced him to repeat his last year of high school, Rumi is sent to learn why Akio has yet to attend her class.

*Megumi: Wife of Koichi Hiramoto. Engaged in Enjo kōsai while her husband worked at a tuning shop so they could save enough money to buy a house in the countryside. Was distraught when Koichi took their savings to by a Nissan Skyline GT-R R32 to go street racing, and in response moved away, but was reunited with him after she gave birth to their child.

*Mami: Wife of Masaki.

*Kyoko Kitahara: Friend and roommate of Tomoya. Tomoya tried to set her up with Gen Goto, however it fell through.