is a

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

by Shohei Harumoto which has been serialized in

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics ( manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the ...

's ''

Big Comic Superior is a semimonthly seinen manga magazine published since July 1, 1987 by Shogakukan in Japan. Its target audience is somewhere between the audience for ''Big Comic Original'' and ''Big Comic Spirits''. The magazine has published works by a numb ...

'' between 2000 and 2003 over nine volumes. The manga has since been adapted into a

live action Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ...

movie A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

an publisher, Chuang Yi, also translated the manga into both English and Chinese languages under the name "SS: Special Stage" and "SS：赛车手特别篇" (literally "SS: Racer's Special"), respectively.

Plot

The story revolves around Daibutsu, a middle aged former

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event Sports ...

driver who used to participate in the All Japan Rally Championship and now lives with his wife Kumiko and their son. Daibutsu goes to his garage to rebuild his Mitsubishi Starion 4WD, named '' Jackie,'' a

Group B Group B was a set of regulations for grand touring (GT) vehicles used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World Sportscar ...

rally car which was banned at the end of the 1986 season. He returns to racing by challenging people on the street with his car.

Location

The street races are set on the

Hakone is a List of towns in Japan, town in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the town had a population of 11,293 and a population density of 122 persons per km². The total area of the town is . The town is a popular tourist destination due to its many o ...

Turnpike Turnpike often refers to: * A type of gate, another word for a turnstile * In the United States, a toll road Turnpike may also refer to: Roads United Kingdom * A turnpike road, a principal road maintained by a turnpike trust, a body with powe ...

road and the

Shuto Expressway is a network of toll expressways in the Greater Tokyo Area of Japan. It is operated and maintained by the . Most routes are grade-separated (elevated roads or tunnels) and central routes have many sharp curves and multi-lane merges that requi ...

Cast

Show Aikawa is a Japanese actor. Career Show Aikawa was born in Tokushima and raised in Kagoshima. Aikawa has appeared in a number of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's films, including ''Eyes of the Spider'', ''Serpent's Path'', ''License to Live'', ''Seance'', and '' ...

as Daibutsu *

Kenichi Endō is a Japanese actor and writer. He also worked as a narrator for many documentaries, both on television and film. He is best known for his roles in '' Visitor Q'' (2001), ''Crows Zero'' (2007), ''Crows Zero 2'' (2009), and '' The Raid 2: Beran ...

as Kurihara *

Noriko Sakai is a Japanese given name for females. Possible writings * 徳子, "benevolence child" * 法子, "method, law child" * 則子, "rule child" * 紀子, "chronicle child" * 教子, "teach child" * 範子, "pattern child" * 典子, "rule, precedent, ...

as Kumiko * Teah as Kabuki *

Megumi is a Japanese feminine given name. In Japanese, the word megumi means "blessing; grace." Possible writings While the word megumi means blessing and can be written using that kanji, it may also be spelled using other kanji, such as the kanji f ...

as Girako *

Mickey Curtis is a Japanese actor, singer and Media Personality. He was born to English-Japanese parents. A pivotal figure in Japanese popular music, Mickey is considered one of the three big Japanese names in rock music, helping to popularize the genre in ...

as Nishiyama President *

Hideo Sakaki (born June 4, 1970) is a Japanese actor and director. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the Japanese cult films '' Versus'', '' Battlefield Baseball'', and ''Alive''. He is a close friend of director Ryuhei Kitamura and appears in several ...

as Bunbuku * Kentaro Nakakura as Yamazaki * China Fukunaga as Naomi * Nobuyoshi Kuwano as Takashi * Aiko Koyatsu as Ana girl * Mei Satsuki as Ranko *

Mariko Okubo is a Japanese model and actress based in Taiwan. Early life Okubo was born in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, on September 7, 1984. Career Okubo debuted as a gravure idol in 2003. She later started a career in acting, moving to Taiwan in 2011. In ...

as Natsumi * Yasuka Saitoh as Akira * Masashi Miyuki * Ryohei Yamada *

Ayano Tachibana Ayano (written: , , , or ) is both a feminine Japanese given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese singer-songwriter *, Japanese synchronized swimmer *, Japanese ''tarento'' and impressionist *, Japanese long-dista ...

Yuria Kajiki YURIA (born October 10, 1967) is a musician and voice actress from Osaka Prefecture, Japan. She was the lead vocalist and guitarist for Honey Bee, currently she is the lead vocalist and bassist for the Japanese punk rock band Pinky Doodle P ...

* Noriyaki Hayashi

Sources

Rally JAPAN: Rally cars for movie stars

External links

Official site

Movie trailer

* Japanese auto racing films Live-action films based on manga Manga adapted into films Motorsports in anime and manga Seinen manga 2000s Japanese films {{Manga-stub

Plot

Location

Cast

See also

Sources

External links