is a Japanese motorcycle racing manga written and illustrated by

Kaoru Shintani is a Japanese manga artist. Shintani is best known for his series '' Area 88''. In addition to his pilot comics, Shintani has ventured into science fiction, fantasy, comedy, and hentai comics as well. In 1985, he was awarded the Shogakukan Manga A ...

. It received the 1984

Shogakukan Manga Award The is one of Japan's major manga awards, and is sponsored by Shogakukan Publishing. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga and features candidates from a number of publishers. It is the oldest manga award in Japan, being given since ...

for

shōnen manga is an editorial category of Japanese comics targeting an audience of adolescent boys. It is, along with manga (targeting adolescent girls and young women), manga (targeting young adult and adult men), and manga (targeting adult women), ...

. The series focuses on Sawatari Taka and Toujou Taka as they compete with each other and other competitors in motorcycle racing. Their names means "hawk" and "falcon", respectively. The manga was adapted as a 36 episode

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

series broadcast on

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network S ...

between September 20, 1984, and June 21, 1985. The anime premiered in France on March 11, 1990, and was released on

La Cinq La Cinq () was France's first privately owned free-to-air television network. Created by politician Jérôme Seydoux and Italian media mogul Silvio Berlusconi, the network broadcast from 1985 to 1992. The contract for France's fifth terrest ...

and

Mangas Manges (; Greek language, Greek: μάγκες ; Grammatical number, sing.: mangas , μάγκας ) is the name of a social group in the Belle Époque era's counterculture of Greece (especially of the great urban centers: History of Athens#Modern At ...

. Only 32 were aired in France. This was one of the last series to be animated by

Kokusai Eiga-sha , also known as Movie International Company Ltd. (MIC), was a former Japanese animation production company known for the '' J9 Series''. It was originally established in 1974 by Tsubota as Shigezu Ukuda founded as a video distribution company. It ...

Plot

When Taka Sawatari and his mother were heading home after having dinner, they were attacked by a motorcycle gang. They got saved by a mysterious young man. The next day, Sawatari learned that that young man was a professional racer who has the same first name, Taka Toujou. In a race, Sawatari loses control when entering a curve, nearly killing Toujou. After the event, the two become rivals as they compete against each other with their racing skills.

Characters

Main characters

* * *

Guest appearances

Pops Yoshimura Hideo "Pops" Yoshimura (October 7, 1922 – March 29, 1995) was a Japanese motorcycle tuner, race team owner, and manufacturer of speciality motorcycle accessories. He is remembered for his ties to the beginnings of Superbike racing and the Yoshim ...

and

David Aldana David Aldana (born November 26, 1949) is an American former professional motorcycle racer who specialized in dirt track oval racing and road racing. In the 1970s, he was one of the more colorful racers in the A.M.A. Grand National Championship ...

made some celebrity appearances throughout the series.

Anime

The opening theme for the series was and the ending theme was , both performed by Takanori Jinnai. Music for the series was composed by

Joe Hisaishi , known professionally as , is a Japanese composer, musical director, conductor and pianist, known for over 100 film scores and solo albums dating back to 1981. He is also known for his piano scores. Hisaishi's music has been known to explore ...

References

External links

* 1981 manga 1984 anime television series debuts Fuji TV original programming Kaoru Shintani Motorsports in anime and manga Shogakukan franchises Shogakukan manga Shōnen manga Animated television series about auto racing Winners of the Shogakukan Manga Award for shōnen manga {{manga-stub