List of Wangan Midnight characters

This is a brief list of all the characters that features in the Wangan Midnight series.

Akio Asakura
The main protagonist in the series, Akio is a 19-year old live-alone student who was running in the Wangan with Ma and his friends in his Nissan 300ZX (Z31) when he was easily defeated by the Blackbird. He then found the scrapped body of the blue S30 Z known as the Devil Z in which he bought and restored to good condition. His racing life began since then. He was surprised to learn that the former (and deceased) owner of the Devil Z bore exactly the same name he has.

Tatsuya Shima
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
A TV personality and magazine model, she does this hectic job and decides to run her gray 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. After this incident, she is content to just follow the other racers without trying to pull into the lead. Her GT-R is tuned by Kazuhiko Yamamoto. As a safety precaution it is fitted with a rollcage and later repainted white to be more visible to other cars. Akio is her primary love interest, and he may also harbor feelings towards Reina.

Jun Kitami
Also known as the "Tuner from Hell" (地獄のチューナー), he is the one that originally tuned the Devil Z and later Black Bird as well. He laughs in the face of danger and will gladly take anything past the "safe" 600BHP mark. Unfortunately, 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
Kou Tominaga (富永 コウ)

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. Before he established his "Tominaga Speed" tuning shop, he was once a tuner working for ZERO with Kijima and Machida.



Masaki
Known widely as the King of High Speed before a bad accident 10 years ago while trying to break 300kph in an RX-7 FC, he was inspired to go back to street racing when he countered the Devil Z, going as far as to get a new car, a highly tuned RX-7, from his oldest friend Kazuo Ota, a genius tuner who founded the Speed Factory RGO with Masaki long ago. He has a special fondness for rotary engines, and makes up for a lack of raw power with handling ability.

Koichi Hiramoto
A hardworking man in the Green Auto Shop for 15 years who often races on the Wangan with his friend Harada until one day, the two encountered Reina's gray GT-R (white in the anime) which makes Hiramoto decide to get his own car, despite his promise to his pregnant wife Megumi that he had put his racing days behind him. When she learns of his decision, she leaves him to go live with her parents because it is better than wondering every night if he'll even come home. After extensive tuning of his GT-R, he challenges both the Devil Z and Blackbird. They run a long race, neck and neck the whole time. Koichi encounters one chance to pull ahead at the risk of his own life, but instead pulls back and drops out, realizing that there are more important things to live for. He then sells his car, giving up racing and returning to his wife who by then gave birth to their child.

Harada
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 its engine overheated when he encountered the Blackbird and tried to chase after it.

Takayuki Kuroki
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.

Kouichi Kijima

 * 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
Keiichiro Aizawa (相沢 圭一郎)


 * Car: Toyota Supra RZ/Toyota Supra Twin Turbo (JZA80) "Monster Supra"


 * The character who drives the Supra RZ/Supra Twin Turbo, dubbed as the "Monster Machine" (モンスターマシン) tuned by Kou Tominaga and Akio Asakura. After meeting Devil Z, he decided to chase after him. His desire for racing and his car choice was inspired by his father, who drove a MkII Supra and was killed by a drunk driver. He works in a host club to finance his racing activities.



Gatchan (Gen Sasaki)
Gen Sasaki (佐々木 元)

Car: Toyota Celsior (UCF11)

A much-maligned character in the manga, fondly known as Gatchan (ガッちゃん), 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. He staunchly refuses to remove the air conditioner, radio, or anything that's normally removed during the lightening process. Although he is a pretty good driver, 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. He embarrassed Reina Akikawa when he first met her one night while accompanying Kazuhiko Yamamoto, mistaking her for a call girl.



Tomoya
Tomoya (友也)

Car: Honda Integra Type-R (DC2) "R Killer"; Toyota Corolla (ZZE124) (Maximum Tune) "R Killer", Nissan 180SX Type X (Maximum Tune) "R Killer", but later switches to Nissan Skyline GT-R V Spec II (R32)

A young friend of Akio who lives with a woman named Kyoko Kitahara known for the quote "I'm a person who disappears...". 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.

Makoto Morishita
Makoto Morishita (森下 マコト)

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. She 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
Oki (オキ)

Car: Mazda RX-7 Spirit R Type A (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 & Maki Kamiya
Eiji Kamiya (エイジ) and Maki Kamiya (マキ)

Car: Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI (Eiji) and V (Maki)

Two brothers from the 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.

Yoshiyaki Ishida
Yoshiaki Ishida (イシダ ヨシアキ)

Car: Ferrari Testarossa; Gemballa Avalanche/Subaru Alcyone SVX (WMMT3 DX only)

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. He has had his car tuned by Kitami to around 600 hp.

Ko-chan
Ko-chan (コウちゃん)

Car: Mazda RX-7 GT Limited (FC3S)

Akio's friend who helps him tune the Devil Z before he met Kitami. He owns a local tuner shop with the help of his brother Ma. He is also the one watching over Akio when he tunes the Z.

Tuning Shops

 * RGO

A shop owned by Kazuo Ota. Infamous in the manga for tuning Masaki's monstrous Mazda RX-7 and a light blue R33 Skyline 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, a university student, studies under his wing. She's inexperienced but learning, and she's even developing a taste for actual battling, driving a Nissan Silvia. She actually started tinkering with engines since she was in middle school by dismantling scrapped engines (and being scolded by her father for it), and eventually she was the one who assembled the engine of the tuning shop's demo car, a pink R33 Skyline. She was also the one responsible for enhancing Eiji Kamiya's Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI along with her father (Eiji then tried to get her to go with him back to Osaka, but she staunchly refused). She even got to tinker with the engine of the Devil Z, going as far as to take it completely apart in the process of tuning it. It is revealed that in ten years, she is slated to inherit RGO from her father. Yamanaka, who challenged the Blackbird also works here and also drives Skyline.


 * 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 200 mph 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. Miki rode as a passenger with Yasuo Motoki during the chase against the Blackbird. After the R200 club disbanded, tension arose between Yasuhiko and the other members (but he remained friendly with Takayuki), and he subsequently disappeared. In Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune's Outrun mode, and later in the new Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 3 DX Story Mode, he also drives a Nissan Skyline GT-R R33 like the other R200 Club members.

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

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' acquaintances with one another.
 * Tominaga Speed

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

A regular bicycle/motorcycle shop owned by Jun Kitami with a large warehouse to tune cars. It is the very shop in which he built Akio's Z and Tatsuya's Blackbird.
 * Kitami Cycle

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

The shop that tuned the Legendary FC that Kijima used to create a course record in Tsukuba. ZERO is famous for tuning boosted up cars and was featured in numerous car magazines for the boosted cars' course record. Some known workers of this shop are Kouichi Kijima, who races the tuned cars, Machida, who tunes the demo cars and Kou Tominaga, who sets up the boost and ECU settings along with Machida.
 * ZERO

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

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, and repaired the body of the Blackbird when it was later involved in an accident. 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.
 * Body Shop Sunday

The independent shop owned by Takayuki Kuroki. Originally it had a large staff, but Takayuki eventually dismissed all of them and became the sole worker. The shop exclusively tunes the Nissan Skyline GT-R. Takayuki suspended the shop when he decided to challenge the Devil Z, putting all his effort to tuning his personal R33.
 * FLAT Racing

Eriko Asakura
Eriko Asakura (朝倉 えりこ)

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 tries to dump it in the harbor, but is stopped by Tatsuya when he crashes into it. She then moved to London, England to study college there.

Ma
Ma (マー)

Car:Nissan Fairlady Z Z31

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
Rumi Shimada (嶋田 るみ)

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. It is slightly hinted that she has a slight love interest in Akio.

Megumi Hiramoto
Megumi Hiramoto

The wife of Koichi Hiramoto who 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. She 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 later reunited with him after she gave birth to their child.

Machida
Machida

A friend and former racing partner of Kijima during his time in ZERO. He was the one who built the first non-boosted car of the shop, the Legendary FC. After ZERO closed down and he and Kijima went their separate ways, he worked as a renovation expert for mansions and townhouses. When Kijima decided to once again drive the FC, he refused to tune it but he told Kijima of its whereabouts, saying he had given up the racing life.

Mami
Mami (マーミ)

Masaki's wife.

Kyoko Kitahara
Kyoko Kitahara (片平 恭子)

A friend and roommate of Tomoya. Tomoya tried to set her up with Gen Goto, however it fell through.

Mika Murakami
Mika Murakami

A college friend and the former girlfriend of Takayuki Kuroki, and also an associate of Reina Akikawa as a result being a freelance photographer (though often contracted by car magazines to work on various articles). When Takayuki delved into street racing years prior to the current storyline, Mika's relationship with him became strained due to the time he spent on tuning his car, and they broke up and went their separate ways. They met again while Takayuki was planning on challenging the Devil Z. After Takayuki's failed race against the Devil Z where he blew his car's engine and later worked on fixing it with his own hands, Mikko realized that his persistence in wanting to be the best was his greatest trait and came to appreciate that part of him. Mika was engaged to an editor of a magazine, but after the incidents with the Devil Z, decided to break it off and get back together with Takayuki.

Yumeko Sasaki
Yumeko Sasaki

Gatchan's wife and an acquaintance of Reina Akikawa, though only seen once in the anime conversing with Reina at the Host Club where Keiichiro Aizawa works, where she is apparently a frequent patron. She also appears in Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune in specific circumstances during 10-Outrun mode as a "critic" to the player's performance.