Image created by Digital Fusion. Please do not copy.
| Program used: Paint Shop Pro7| Time spent: approx. 3 Hours|

Series Information
Creator: Shuichi Shigeno Director(s): Noboru Mitsusawa, Masami Hata Staff(s): Noboru Furuse, Production Company: Pastel Publish date: 04.18.1998 (SI), 10.14.1999 (SII), 01.13.2001 (SIII) Number Episodes: Series I (1-26), Series II (1-13), Series Extra (1-2), Series III (The Movie)	Rating Story 4 Graphic 5 Music & SFX 5 Character 3 Humor 3

MiniReview

I'm pretty sure most of you are probably not familiar with this animation. Every single time i mention Initial D to my friends, the replies would be... "Huh?" "What is that?" "Never heard of it." Well, the name of this anime is indeed kind a strange. Even when i first heard it, it doesn't give me any clue of what it is about at all! Until i see the VCD cover... and it has a car on it. Ahh... D probably stands for Drive. However, i soon discover it's second meaning... and i think it should be Drift instead!

That's right people, Initial D the most popular anime in Japan, which is about streetcars drift racing. Not too surprising, since there are countless drifters and racers in Japan and constantly doing competitions. Since they are the pros, i can assure you that the racing related materials in Initial D are very realistic (i even did some research on the net, and OMG... it is unbelievable!)

If you like sport cars, you must grab this animation. With the help of today's technologies, the cars in Initial D look just like the real thing (although they were kind a choppy in the First Stage.) You will see some improvement in the Second Stage, and feel the speed towards the end of Second Stage. I can't way to see the latest Third Stage, i am sure it will become one of the best anime ever!

Image created by Digital Fusion. Please do not copy.
| Program used: Paint Shop Pro7| Time spent: approx. 5 hours |

The only thing i don't like was the 2D drawings, especially the characters. To be honest... GOSH! They look so ugly! Thank god they have some hot 3DCG car models, intensive racing, and additive speed music give it a boost... otherwise i am sure this animation would be down to the toilet. Even the 3DCG in the early 1st Stage weren't that good, it was until towards the end of the 1st Stage that i see some improvements on the 3DCG. Needless to say, 2nd Stage was way better in the 3D and racing scenes, although the characters still remain unchanged... (i mean the UGLY PART!) hehe... However, Initial D Third Stage: The Movie just came out few months ago, and it looks damn good just by looking at the trailer and the preview! This time the characters look way better (i would say something like 50% improvement...) As for the 3DCG, they added even more details into it too.

Conclusion? Well, if you like cars, if you like racing, and if you like music? Then you cannot miss this animation man. You will regret it for the rest of your life if you miss it. =) It's cool, you can even improve your driving skills by studying this anime hehe... One technique i learn from Initial D, is... try to stay above 100km/h when making a turn! LOL! Actually, drifting in the snow using hand-break and drifting in the rain. Pretty cool. ;)

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Story

Takeuchi Itsuki had always been a simple-minded guy with no real goal in life. He works at a gas station with his best friend since middle school, Fujiwara Takume. Like many other teenagers, Itsuki had been wanting to get a car and be able to join one of the local racing groups, the "Akina Speed Stars," whose leader, Iketani, works part-time at the gas station along with Itsuke and Takume. After attending one of the weekly meetings of the Speed Stars one Saturday night, Itsuki got even more anxious about joining the group, because the leaders of the "Red Suns," another street racing group from across town, had challenged Iketani to a race down the Akina hill.

However, because of an accident during a practice run a few days before the race, Iketani's car was heavily damaged. As a result, the members of the Speed Stars were all in a panic about who should be the one to replace Iketani in the race against the famous Takahashi brothers (who were even featured in a popular car magazine). But to everybody's surprise, at the night of the race, there appeared a Toyota Trueno AE86 -- the same mysterious car that was rumoured to have defeated one of the Takahashi brothers in a practice run -- with none other than Fujiwara Takumi at the wheel.

As it turns out, Takumi had been secretly driving every day early in the morning, for the past five years, to deliver tofu to hotel miles away for his dad's tofu shop. Iketani and Itsuki also learned that Takumi had been practicing his driving and drifting skills every day, not just because he liked driving, but also because he was bored for having to wake up early every day and delivering tofu for his dad. He just wanted to make the trip as short and as quick as possible, so he could go back to bed... And as a result, Takumi developed a driving skill that even the Takahashi brothers couldn't match, and he went on to beat them in the race!