Interest
Initial D Creator Brings Back Hachiroku in New Manga
posted on by Lynzee Loveridge
Manga creator Shuuichi Shigeno isn't willing to give up the ghost of his former hit racing manga Initial D, at least when it comes to his vehicular star, the Toyota AE86 Sprinter Trueno, or "Hachiroku." His new racing series MF Ghost featured the car in its seventh chapter in this year's 47th issue of Kodansha's Weekly Young Magazine. Readers are wondering if the appearance of the red Hachiroku driven by manga character Kanata Livington will spawn a new racing legend.
MF Ghost take place in the 2020s, when self-driving cars are ubiquitous in Japan. Kanata is a 19-year-old genius driver who goes back to Japan after graduating top of his class at a racing school in England.
The series marks Shigeno's return to racing manga after he ended Initial D in 2013. He serialized Sailor Ace, a manga about the star pitcher in a female baseball club. He ended that series earlier this year.
The Hachiroku's fame has extended beyond Initial D and the drifting boom it helped influence in Japan and abroad. Toyota UK has designed a concept car based on Takumi's vehicle just last year. The car is a modified GT-86 (Scion FR-S in America), which is considered a throwback to the AE86.
Source: Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web
