Alternative TitlesSynonyms: ID Japanese: 頭文字〈イニシャル〉D
Information
Type: TV
Episodes: 26
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Apr 19, 1998 to Dec 6, 1998
Duration:
25 min. per episode Rating:
PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
L represents licensing company
StatisticsScore: 8.161 (scored by 15798 users)
Ranked: #3152
Popularity: #702
Members: 25,423
Favorites: 594 1 indicates a weighted score
My Info
Popular Tags
cars drama racing sports |
SynopsisHigh school student Takumi Fujiwara works as a gas station attendant during the day and a delivery boy for his father's tofu shop during late nights. Little does he know that his precise driving skills and his father's modified Toyota Sprinter AE86 Trueno make him the best amateur road racer on Mt. Akina's highway. Because of this, racing groups from all over the Gunma prefecture issue challenges to Takumi to see if he really has what it takes to be a road legend.
(Source: ANN) |
Related AnimeAdaptation: Initial D
Sequel: Initial D Second Stage
Summary: Initial D Battle Stage, Initial D: Project D to the Next Stage - Project D e Mukete
Characters & Voice Actors
Staff
Reviews
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ArtemisX
5 of 6 people found this review helpful
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26 of 26 episodes seen
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| Overall |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Character |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
Takumi Fujiwara is an average 18-year old high school student with an average job as a gas station attendant, and a not-so-average hand in the family business. To help his father's tofu shop, Takumi has been delivering tofu in his father's 'Eight-Six' Trueno to a hotel at the peak of Mt. Akina. Every night at 4 a.m. He's is brought into a world full of street racing and eventually over time feels compelled to become the best drift racer in all of tokyo. He is soon plunged into a world of competition and contests against some of the greatest racers in the japan prefecture.
The story may not be its strongest aspect and just by reading it, may turn some viewers off if they are not the type of car junkie otaku fans but the focus and attention in this series is to the Characters. Takumi which has the personality of a very layed back fellow who just enjoys his work and doesn't think much of his driving skills. Using his fathers car to deliver tofu on the downhill at Mt. Akina. That is until fate decides to change his determination and course of action when lots of rivals wonder who is the driver in the AE86, thus many challengers want to challenge this ghost of the streets. The journey towards takumi becoming a legendary racer begins.
Takumi has a very charismatic and charming personality and will do anything to protect his friends. Itske his closest and best friend, at first glance is like the otaku nerd of all things cars but even though he may be in over his head some times and some times gets him self into trouble or overthinking things at times. Takumi is always their to have his back. Both of these characters have great contrast between each other, other characters you will meet soon join up with takumi at first our rivals, but soon their after become great friends.
Created in 2-D animation, contrasting noticeably with the technically detailed look of the cars and races, which are recreated with 3-D CGI for the anime. While the integration of 2-D and 3-D is somewhat awkward in the early episodes, it improves greatly as the series progresses to the point to where both the CGI and animation blend pretty seamlessly together. The character designs get better also, with more detailed facial expressions becoming quite evident later in the series.
The races are edited and designed with great skill and thought. These sequences are genuinely exciting even to those of us who never followed any kind of racing action sequences before and action movie car chases. Most fans will feel that they need to be a greese monkey or an automobile expert to enjoy this show. That is not true. The technical aspects of this form of racing, particularly the all-important practice of "drifting," are adequately spelled out for novices to the point to where the series might even be called educational.
The music track deserves singling out for its lively collection of pulsating, catchy songs in the "Eurobeat" style popular in Japan a mix of rock, hip hop, and techno. The songs come into play in the opening and closing credit sequences and during the racing sequences where they work perfectly. The instrumental tracks during the quieter scenes are expertly done as well when trying to convey emotion through the characters.
Though the series does primarily focus on racing as a core concept for the driving of the plot and characters, their is a blend of romance and relations and i like how the series balances both of these elements together creating something that is not just about racing, but also what happens to these characters in their every day lives and their romantic encounters they come across, this obviously being the first season i expect more development in this area in subsequent seasons.
I have seen quite my share of anime in a variety of different genre's, but ive never seen an authentic car racing anime before, that being one of the smallest target audiences. At first glance it was hard for me to get into the show because im not entirely what you would call a "metal head" but i was really blown away when i finally watched this series. The characters are all very inspiring and entertaining to watch, the MC is one of the most outstanding characters in any anime iv'e seen, watching him grow throughout the season and probably alot more in other season's. The races are just awesome, lots of dynamics and it really makes you feel as though your tuning to your favorite racing station and watching the real race cars attack the corners at every turn. The CGI i have to admit is a perfect contrast to really help portray the realistic vision of real street racing.
I was actually turned onto to this anime by a friend of mine and i won't regret it, even though this is a very niche genre in the anime industry, initial D is a must watch for any advid fans who enjoy car racing or any fans for that matter who just like an enjoyable cast of characters, great musical sound tracks, and a well structured series from beginning to end.
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lowell
63 of 83 people found this review helpful
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26 of 26 episodes seen
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| Overall |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Animation |
6 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Character |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
I never thought a story about street car racing would be this entertaining. And if I had known what I would be watching when my friend made me watch the first few episodes, I would have said thanks, but no thanks. ...Boy, am I glad I didn't know.
Story: On the surface, it's about a pretty bland high school guy who's got a bunch of car-crazy friends... and turns out to be the 2nd fastest driver in Akina. (Who's first? Ooooh, don't you wanna know?) Below the surface...? Okay, pretty much the same thing. ;) Most of the "story" is just a bunch of kids in cars racing through dark mountain passes ...or talking about racing through dark mountain passes. I know it doesn't sound interesting if you're not into car races, but it was. There's something about the speed and the pressure and the tension that sucks you into the show. And of course, there's also your normal sports anime type general plot of competition and desire, rising to the challenge, overcoming obstacles, etc.
Art: I have to say, this is the biggest downside of the show. Especially in the first season. Thankfully, by the fourth season, there's a remarkable improvement overall in animation quality. One of the most jarring things is the awkward usage of computer graphics for the racing scenes in the first season. There's kind of an old-school feel to the way the people look and the brightness of the show... and then all of sudden out of no where, there's a cgi car that looks like it's from a different decade than the guy driving it. I don't think I ever got used to that.
Sound: Personally, I always prefer subs to dubs. Here, I would really suggest the subs... the voices for English dub didn't feel anywhere near as "right" as the Japanese actors. Whenever I heard the dub, I felt like the voices made me like the characters less. The downside of watching the sub, however, is the Japanese soundtrack. Maybe it's my close-minded American taste, but I would have preferred hearing the hip-hop on the dub to whatever that was used originally.
Character: The main character, Takumi, was somewhat atypical for this genre, I think, and I liked it. Unlike the normal archetypes like the loser who tries really hard or the cocky natural-born genius, Takumi is sort of actually unique: he doesn't know anything about cars and doesn't even really like driving. It was a nice way for the series to start because I didn't care about street racing when I started the show either. So, even though they toss around a little bit of racing lingo, I was never more behind than the main character was... and, as a viewer, I got a chance to become interested in street racing while Takumi got interested in it. I really liked that his development on the show kind of went down the same road that mine did as a viewer. So I thought they did a great job on his character design and development because his attitude and experience is what hooks you and reels you in to what I assume would be an otherwise complicated and technical world of street racing.
Enjoyment: I think you can tell I enjoyed it, right? I had to make mental notes to slow down while driving for a bit after watching the show. Thankfully, I'm too cowardly to try drifting for real! ...And let me tell you, my Corolla never drove like the 86. ;) I think it was also really appealling because Takumi starts off the show as what seems like a normal, typical driver -- it made me feel like there was an inner Takumi just waiting to be woken up buried somewhere in me. (There's not, unfortunately, but I like to delude myself sometimes.) read more
Recommendations
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Both series feature seemingly ordinary protagonists, that is until you put them behind the wheel of a car. Both series are about racing tuner cars during the nighttime. Both feature a very similar art style, although Wangan is more refined in this aspect. Pacing is the same with both series starting out slowly, but gaining momentum in the later episodes. Both series spend a lot of time focused on the cars themselves, treating them as a part of the main cast.
Bottom line is if you liked one, then you'll like the other. And if you hated one then you'll most likely hate the other. I recommend both series only to those into cars.
Both are Based on Street-Racing, But Initial D is based on Mountain Drifting and Wangan Midnight is Based on Motorway Street-Racing.
Both are racing anime and have plenty of recognizable cars.
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Capeta has a younger feel to it than Initial D, but both are your competitive/sports animes about racing. Capeta drives a go cart and Takumi is a street racer, but they have similar themes about skill vs equipment and the meld of man and machine. The main difference is probably attitude: Capeta has a blue collar, constant struggle feel to it (like Hajime no Ippo) and Initial D is much more of a diamond waiting to be polished (like Major).
Although Initial D ist more about Drifting with Street Cars, both have an main protagonist who want to be the best on what they do. Difference is: Capeta build up as your typical Sports Anime, Initial D ist more mature. But it doesn't mean one is better than the other...
Both of these series have to do with racing.
Initial D is more of a street racing series.
Racing through a mountain course that consists of both a drifting style and grip style, though this series leans more of a drifting theme.
Capeta is more of an official racing series.
Racing on a track that starts with go-karts to gp2 racing vehicles. This series leans more on a grip style racing that shows the path of starting from go-karting to F1(formula one) racing league.
all in all, both of these series have to do with racing technique and contain racing theory here and there.
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Opening Theme#1: "Around the World" by Move (eps 1-19)
#2: "Break in 2 the Nite" by Move (eps 20-26)
Ending Theme#1: "Rage Your Dream" by Move (eps 1-14)
#2: "Kiseki no Hana (Flower of Miracles)" by Galla (eps 15-26)
Fansubbing Groups
Which fansubbers do you like the best? Click + to approve of their subs for this show. Click - if you don't think they did such a great job.
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