Bari Bari Densetsu

Bari Bari Densetsu (バリバリ伝説) is a Japanese motorbike racing-themed manga series written and illustrated by Shuichi Shigeno. It was serialized in Kodansha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Magazine from 1983 to 1991, with its chapters collected in 38 tankōbon volumes.

Earlier parts of the story focus both on high school life as well as street racing. At first the characters are illegal street racers (Japanese: hashiriya) that race on public roads, particularly on the winding mountain roads known as tōge. Those kind of racers were called "rolling-zoku", a type of bōsōzoku, and were seen as a social problem in Japan. Later parts of the story revolve around professional motorcycle racing events held on road circuits like the All Japan Road Race Championship.

Plot

Gun Koma, a high school student with a passion for motorcycles, begins as a street racer riding on mountain roads with his friends and rivals. As he competes in illegal street races, Gun develops his riding skills and becomes determined to become a professional racer. During this time, he also begins a relationship with Ai Itou, and their relationship develops alongside his racing career.

Gun's career progresses when he enters official competitions, including endurance races such as the Suzuka 4-Hour Endurance Race, where he must work together with his rival Hideyoshi Hijiri as teammates. As he continues racing, the story shifts to professional circuit racing, following Gun as he competes in the All Japan Road Race Championship and later advances to international competition in the Road Racing World Championship.

Over time, Gun competes against stronger rivals, culminating in his participation in the GP500 class world championship as he strives to become world champion.

Characters

• Gun Koma (巨摩 郡)
• A motorcycle racer, he rides a Honda CB750 as well as a Suzuki GSX-R.
• Ai Itou (伊藤 歩惟)
• Gun's girlfriend.
• Hideyoshi Hijiri (聖 秀吉)
• Gun's friendly rival, he rides a Suzuki Katana.
• Hiro Okita (沖田 比呂)
• Gun's best friend, he rides a Kawasaki Z400GP.
• Miyuki Ichinose (一ノ瀬 美由紀)
• The daughter of the Ichinose Racing Team president, she is in love with Hiro and rides a Honda VT250F.
• Tomoyo Hijiri (聖 知代)
• Hideyoshi's sister, she lost her parents in car accident.

Media

Reception

In 1985, it won the ninth Kodansha Manga Award for the shōnen category.[49] As of April 2018, collected tankōbon volumes of the Bari Bari Densetsu manga series had over 26 million copies in circulation.[50]

Japanese motorcycle racer Shinya Nakano credited his use of the number 56 throughout his career to Gun Koma also using the same number in the road racing portions of the manga.[51]

External links