Initial D: First Stage

What an amazing Anime, Great characters, great story, great voice talents and completely unique animation blending 2D and 3D elements; it's really neat. "Initial D : First stage" is everything that a first season should be, it introduces all the main characters, you watch the main character Takumi develop as the season progresses. the racing is obviously a highlight, using the aforementioned 3D animation, the fast paced movement, the heavy hum of the engines, the pulsing euro-beats in the back ground, IT'S TO DIE FOR! This is one great Anime, whether or not you like cars or even Anime in general, it's worth it just for the story and the memes. but nothing is perfect, so It's still getting 9 out of 10 stars.

It's a bit strange being a car freak and NOT having seen much of Initial D until recently. Still, I already knew quite a lot of it, thanks to the manga issues I scrounged up. Really amazing what one can achieve with my old car. That's right, I've been a lucky sod who drove a "Hachi-Roku". The car was a Red and Black Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86, badged as Corolla GT-S. I acquired it in Belgium. Actually, I was looking fer the Sedan version, which was quite common there. But I just HAD to try out that little souped up hatchback and I was won over immediately. As I live in a region with a lot of twisty backroads and hills, (alas, no mountain pass here :( ) I had a lot of fun with it for a few years. Then a friend came over with a tape he bought (yes we're talking nineties here folks) "Isn't that your car?" he said, while showing me a vicious race between a Honda Civic (beg ya pardon, an EG6) and Takumi's AE86. The CGI action, the races, the music by M.o.v.e. All excellent! "Then how could you be so stupid and FORGET ALL ABOUT IT!?" Itsuki would ask in his overacting voice. I really don't know that. But after I coïncidentially saw the reasonable Chinese live-adaptation, I decided ter go look for it again. As with Zipang, one of my other favorite Manga/Anime's, I got lucky: I found First, Second and Extra Stage in Japanese language with English subs and that fantastic Eurobeat soundtrack. I'm still looking for the rest, which is a bit harder, because I'm trying to avoid all the dub overs with those slipshod hip-hop-songs DJ Milkyway (or something' like it ) cooked up. It might be a bit older now, but First Stage is still a lot better then all the F&F movies together.

Oh, and what did I do with my "Hachi-Roku?" After 5 years of service it was traded for a black front-wheel driven Corolla AE92 GTS, which also was a lot of fun, but I'll always have fond memories of that little red and black hatchback. Even now, while I drive a MINI Cooper.

I like the series ever since I was a freshman at college. Students involved in anime stuff brought different series every week to my college's student center, and one evening I was studying for some exam until I heard some J-pop music; then I peeked at the big screen there and saw some anime figures and then a super-realistic image of a 1983 Toyota Corolla GTS liftback. I thought to myself: What is this thing about? Then I saw further into the series and saw drifting cars. But the most outstanding thing was that the cars appeared photo-realistic, when I then realizes they were relying on 3D graphics to simulate the cars. That's what got me into Initial D. I attempted to rent it at my nearest Blockbuster but found it always missing (or rented out), so I never got a chance to rent it on my own until I went to Dallas TX on some coop practice and subscribed to Netflix. Then I really got my chance to rent Initial D.

But then I discovered an awful thing: The English dub by Tokyopop got rid of the series' Eurobeat-style music by m.o.v.e and instead inserted its own local crappy hip-hop by some unknown DJ Milky with no known album on the market. Solution: Whenever you start playing any episode, set it to Japanese audio to listen to m.o.v.e's awesome opening; then when the opening's over, switch back to English if you want to listen to the dialogs without having to read subtitles. Then when the episode's over and the credits are about to start rolling, switch again to Japanese to listen to m.o.v.e (eps 1-13) or Galla (14-26), then back to English to listen the next ep's preview, then repeat the same cycle for the next episode(s).

I think the author is trying to convey a message that give up on everything and just care about your car , nothing is important than your bond with your car and I'm at a point in my life where i can totally relate to that . I have always been a car enthusiast since i was 10 but recently i have started driving cars and now i understand everything . Its like post nut clarity , every time i drive any car it seems like i can understand it much more and this anime radiates that same feeling. Other than that anything that should be important to a 19 year old is of no importance to me now ( especially woman ). After watching this i can understand much more about cars in a single episode then i can understand woman in my whole life.

Yes it is an anime with a lot of cars in it BUT don't get fooled by that (especially if you are a person who doesn't care much about cars, drives Vauxhall or likes) and give this anime a try. If you watched Death Note, Shingeki no Kyojin, Psycho Pass, Silver Spoon and other anime like them you will probably like Initial D. Only connection with before mentioned anime is originality, and that should be enough to give it a try.

Initial D has funny, interesting and original storyline with specific soundtrack that will change your perspective on cars, and make you wanna own some of the cars that are shown in the series. Also series are full of interesting trivia. Most valuable thing about Initial D is that petrol-heads will love it, but it is not exclusive for them, so they can share and watch it with non petrol-heads friends :D

Negative side, part of the animation that is in "3D"

p.s. Just in case you are in dilemma: don't watch English dubbed version, watch original in Japanese language