Initial D is basically the story of a young man and his father's Toyota Trueno
AE86 (known in the US as a Toyota Corolla).
18-year old Takumi Fujiwara has been delivering tofu every single day down Mt.
Akina with his dad's car ever since he was in middle school. It's not exactly something he likes to do, but in the whole process he
unwittingly masters a lot of advanced driving techniques which makes him the
fastest driver down Mt. Akina.
Soon Takumi catches the attention of street racers, and he gets challenged to
races down Mt. Akina time and time again -- which he always manages to win. But Takumi's ultimate challenge comes in the person of Ryosuke Takahashi,
Japan's number one street racer.
Ryosuke has devoted a lot of time and effort in coming up with a foolproof
strategy to beat Takumi, and he's got everything riding on their final
showdown.
Review: Initial D First Stage
Being the car buff that he is, my hubby just couldn't resist picking up
Initial D First Stage. The timing couldn't be more perfect -- we had just gotten Gran Turismo 3 for
the Playstation 2 and the first car we bought in the game was a Toyota Trueno
AE86, just like Takumi's!
Racing aside, Initial D focuses on Takumi's development as a character. He
eventually realizes that he really does love driving, and that racing thrills
him. Needless to say, the cars and the races are portrayed with great detail and
accuracy.
A lot of technical driving terms are used, and the characters refer to the
cars in terms that only car enthusiasts would readily understand. You'll come across sentences such as "My FC can outrun his 86," or
"His drifting technique is an artform,".
The whole experience can be likened to putting a story behind a car game such
as Gran Turismo. I'm not into cars by any measure but Initial D kept me on the edge of my seat
episode after episode.
The characters' excitement and anticipation are contagious, and I actually
looked forward to watching every race. Of course, it helped that my hubby explained certain car-related things as we
went along.
The art and animation are okay. The series utilizes a combination of cel and computer-generated animation.
The characters are hand-drawn, but the cars and the racing sequences are
predominantly rendered via computer.
Related Articles: Initial D Second Stage Anime Review
The character designs aren't exactly all that attractive at first glance, but
they grow on you after a few eps.
The CGs are not unlike those you'd see in older console racing games such as
Gran Turismo or Ridge Racer Revolution.
They look a bit awkward, but they effectively serve their purpose. Although Initial D anime is a series that's clearly for car and racing buffs, its
appeal is not limited to that niche.
As I've mentioned earlier, I'm not really into cars or racing but I had an
awesome experience all the same.
There is a loose end in the person of Mogi, Takumi's girlfriend of sorts. It is not fully revealed what kind of person she really is, or why a certain
older man in a Mercedes Benz gives her money whenever they see each other. We
can only speculate at this point.
Miscellanies: Initial D First Stage
There's also an Initial D OVA series, special episode, and movie.
Initial D First Stage | |
| Genre | Action, Drama |
|---|---|
| Episodes | 26 |
| Status | Finished Airing |
| Aired | Apr 19, 1998 to Dec 6, 1998 |
| Producers | OB Planning, Fuji TV |
| Studio | Gallop, Studio Comet |
| Rating | PG-13 - Teens 13 or older |
| Themes | Racing |
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