Kaoru Shintani’s seminal motorcycle racing manga Futari Daka (Twin Hawks) is being re-released in Japan. Like how Initial D author Shuichi Shigeno’s masterpiece Bari Bari Densetsu depicted street bike racing, Futari Daka brought professional motorcycle endurance racing to the world of manga and anime. Now, to celebrate its 20th anniversary, the entire series will be re-released in eight compilation volumes.
Originally published from 1981-85 in Weekly Shonen Sunday in 188 installments, Futari Daka followed two rivals with the same name. The story follows Taka Sawatari and Taka Tojo, who meet during a nighttime street race on identical Kawasaki Z400FX motorcycles. Neither is willing to concede the race, and as the push each other to the limits both end up wrecking their bikes.
At the local repair shop, the mechanic fixing their bikes realizes from analyzing the damage that each rider has a preternatural skill that is being completely wasted on street races. The two Takas are encouraged to go into professional racing where they become lifelong rivals with opposing methods. Taka Sawatari relies on natural instinct and emotion, while Taka Tojo takes a scientific and calculated approach to outsmart his competitors.
As with any Japanese racing manga, Shintani’s illustrations are second to none. Highly realistic depictions of motorcycles, from Honda Monkeys to Yamaha TZ250s to Suzuki GSX750 jump off the page with explosive movement. Action unfolds at actual circuits such as Hockenheim or Suzuka, and at races like the Bol d’Or 24-Hour World Endurance or the Daytona 200. Even real-life legends from the motorcycle world make cameos, like Kenny Roberts, Freddie Spencer, and Pop Yoshimura.
Fans of four-wheeled machines will be pleased to see that cars are peppered into the series as well. A bosozoku RX-3, highway racer Nissan Skyline, and rally-spec Mazda RX-7 are just some of the cars that appear throughout.
Futari Daka was developed into an anime for Fuji Television. The 36-episode run aired from July 1984 to September 1985. However, the series ended abruptly due to the production company, Kokusai Eiga-sha, going bankrupt. The anime’s episodes never reached the manga’s true conclusion.
For Futari Daka‘s 40th anniversary, the 188 original manga installments have been compiled into eight volumes, each with over 400 pages. The first was released in 2025 to mark 40 years since the conclusion of the original series in June 1985. Since then, a new volume has been released every two months.
These volumes are printed in B5 magazine-format, significantly larger than the original series. Some include special features that weren’t in the original series, like coverage of a special Futari Daka exhibit at the Honda Collection Hall that showcased bikes depicted in the manga, such as the Honda RS1000, or a tour of the Kawasaki museum. Futari Daka Volume 06 is scheduled to come out tomorrow, May 22, and the remaining volumes will be released every two months until Volume 08 goes on sale September 25, 2026.
