“Looks like your ordinary piece of crap from the outside, but whoever's behind the wheel is a demon.” - Keisuke Takashi
Initial D is an action, cars, drama, seinen, and sports anime. It was originally released in April 1998 by Gallop and Studio Comet with 26 episodes. It has six stages (seasons) as well as some OVAs.
General Rating: 8.3/10
My Rating: 10/10
Before this anime, I thought cars were the most boring thing next to Algebra, and I probably would have laughed in your face if you told me a cars anime would make it into my top 10 animes. But yet here we are.
After hearing friends of mine saying how great this anime was, I have to say it sparked my interest, and that was all the push I needed. A few minutes into the anime, eurobeats kicking in, I was already hooked whether I wanted to admit it or not. Although its only in my top 20 now, I still absolutely love this anime.
The protagonist, Takumi Fujiwara is not interested in cars like his friends are and has very little knowledge about the world of car enthusiasts and street racers. He has been tasked to deliver tofu every morning for his fathers' shop, driving along the mountain of Akina. Driving would only remind Takumi of the tiring daily routine forced upon him, and thus he kept himself at a distance. Soon the elite infamous street racer team, the Akagi Red Suns, visit Akina to challenge the local mountain pass. However, as they are running the course, one of their aces is overtaken by a mysterious old AE86 Trueno - Takumi during a drive back home from his tofu runs. After the incident, the Red Suns become set on finding the mysterious driver geared with remarkable technique and are set on recruiting him for their dream racing team.
Story: Initial D at first glance is just about a guy driving, sure, but it is full of remarkable racing technique that will keep you at the edge of your seat. This anime has great developments and great races. I am saying this as a person who finds cars boring overall, Initial D is far from it. The races are nothing but exciting, and the racing techniques the drivers manage to pull off are out of this world. I find myself rewatching a few of these races quite often.
Characters: Initial D has some pretty interesting characters. They are all racers, but it is interesting to see how many different forms of racers there are, and Initial D has every racer personality imaginable.
Soundtrack: The soundtrack is hands down the greatest part of the Initial D franchise. It is like the glue that holds the anime together. The anime is filled with consuming eurobeats pounding in the background as the cars race to victory. If you have doubts about watching this anime, I suggest looking some tracks up on youtube. They are constantly drawing you into the anime, the flow and current situation of the race, and giving you the most satisfactory race you could ever ask for.
Art: The art style has a very 90s feel, for better or for worse. The style fits the anime well, however there are some strong differences in the art and character design between seasons. I preferred the art and character design in the first season the most. The others I felt were trying too hard to modernize an art style that was meant to be 90s style, which I didn't enjoy too much. Just be aware that the characters will look slightly different each season. I understand the change in art, but the change in character design still confused me with this anime.
The thing about Initial D is that you don't have to be a fan of cars or racing to enjoy it. It's an enjoyable anime even without knowledge or interest about cars. Fans of animes like Redline, Air Gear, Over Drive, Ex-Driver, Capeta or One Outs will definitely love this anime and should give it a watch!
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