Shingo Shoji

Shingo Shoji (庄司 慎吾 Shōji Shingo) is a member of the Myogi NightKids who drives a red Honda Civic SiR-II (EG6). Shingo races dangerously, he will nudge his rival's car in order to make the other driver lose control if he's unsure about his own chances of winning. He doesn't find plain downhill races any fun, preferring to race against a handicap. In this handicap match, Shingo tapes his right hand to the steering wheel for the duration of the race. By doing this, Shingo limits his own steering capabilities. In terms of racing ability, Shingo is the best driver on the Night Kids team. He is also a childhood friend of Impact Blue's navigator, Sayuki.

Shingo actually shares many beliefs with Takeshi Nakazato, but whenever they watch other battles, they try to stay away from one another so that people won't mistake them as friends even though in Extra Stage, they acted like buddies. There were also times that he supported his teammate for the Night Kids' sake, like the battle against Seiji Iwaki and his Evo IV.

Biography
Wanting to prove himself to fellow Night Kids member Takeshi Nakazato, who had recently been defeated by Takumi Fujiwara, Shingo Shoji first appears bumping Koichiro Iketani's Nissan Silvia K's causing it to spin out in order to challenge Takumi to a race. Later, (in an anime exclusive battle), Shingo later crashes Itsuki Takeuchi's Toyota AE85, who was just transporting Saori home, which resulted in Itsuki getting sent to the hospital.

Takumi Fujiwara decided to accept Shingo's challenge to avenge Itsuki's injury. Prior to the race, Iketani demanded Shingo an apology for the incident, which agreed on if he lost to Takumi. During the race, Shingo had an initial advantage over Takumi, but the latter took the lead when he decided to steer less and drift without getting out of line. Annoyed by Takumi's proficiency, Shingo bumped him, retaking the lead. However, Takumi regains full control despite his panicked state and drives in reckless fury, aware that Shingo did it on purpose. Shingo, realizing that Takumi was catching up on him, believed that he was trying to bump him as revenge. Takumi then was able to take the lead once more, but as the race comes to a close, Shingo decides to end the race in a tie by crashing on the AE86. However, Takumi dodges Shingo's attack, forcing him to crash on the guardrail.

After crashing, Shingo gets out of the crippled Civic and inspects the damage that occurred when he crashed. Witnessing two vehicles coming at him (four vehicles in the Legends Trilogy), Shingo then admits defeat as Iketani and Kenji helped him. They then offer Shingo a ride to the hospital, but he refused but still insisted on taking him after learning his lesson.

Profile

 * Likes: His EG6, FF Cars, Sayuki, Nakazato(?), Gumtape Deathmatches, foul play, and winning
 * Dislikes: FR Cars, Nakazato(?), simple races and losing

Trivia

 * In Initial D: Fifth Stage, Shingo appears to have a tan.
 * He may be a fan of Mugen Motorsports (a Honda car tuning specialist) as hinted by the shirt he is seen wearing in Arcade Stage and the manga, as it dons the Mugen Motorsports logo.
 * When he made his first appearance intimidating Iketani's S13, it appears that the Mugen RNR wheels are painted in Metallic Silver. But later in the anime, especially when racing with Takumi in the Gum Tape Deathmatch in Episode 15 of First Stage, his Mugen RNR wheels suddenly became Black with a Red Trim. In the Initial D Arcade Stage video games, his Mugen RNR wheels are again only shown in Metallic Silver.
 * His voice actor in the New Initial D movie, Shuhei Sakaguchi, also voiced Hiroya Okuyama in Fifth Stage.
 * In Battle Stage, his EG6's license plate is 32-145. However, the plate was changed to 46-037 (as seen in Extra Stage, Final Stage, and the Arcade Stage series). This also applies to Mako's Sileighty.
 * Shingo Shoji had a black hairstyle in First, Second, Fourth, and Fifth Stage flashback in Initial D, but then his hair changed to brown in Extra, Fifth, Final Stage and the new Initial D movies.
 * His leitmotif is Dancing by Vicky Vale and Don't Stand So Close by Dr. Love, to symbolize his dangerous driving against other racers.
 * Shingo is well-known for one of his lines, "Daburu kurashu ikoze" (lit. double crash, English TV: two-car collision) when he attempts to ram Takumi off the road, but fails to do so and crashes his Civic instead.
 * Another meme involving and referencing Shingo is that dangerous and/or aggressive driving in general are often referred to as "Shingo tactics" by fans.