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
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Alternative Titles
Synonyms: ID
Japanese: 頭文字〈イニシャル〉D
More titlesInformation
Type:
TV
Episodes:
26
Status:
Finished Airing
Aired:
Apr 19, 1998 to Dec 6, 1998
Premiered:
Spring 1998
Broadcast:
Tuesdays at 00:00 (JST)
Source:
Manga
Theme:
Racing
Demographic:
Seinen
Duration:
25 min. per ep.
Rating:
PG-13 - Teens 13 or older
Statistics
Ranked:
#2272
2
based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.
Popularity:
#607
Members:
382,782
Favorites:
12,291
ResourcesStreaming Platforms | Reviews
Filtered Results: 98 / 100
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Your Feelings Categories Dec 27, 2016
Vroom vroom vroom it’s anime’s most popular racing series, Initial D. Initial D stars Takumi Fujiwara, a constantly spaced-out and quiet gas station worker with no hobbies or interests in life. The normally reserved Takumi is forced into the spotlight when his incredible talent for street racing is discovered, honed by years of doing tofu deliveries for his father’s business. Takumi is forcibly encouraged by his coworkers and friends into putting his racing abilities to the test in order to defend Akina’s hometown pride. Takumi, who first considers racing completely uninteresting and cars a bore, gradually discovers the sense of accomplishment and pride his new
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May 8, 2013
I like watching sports anime. People who know me and have accepted the fact that I am a hardcore couch-potato find this hilarious. But the irony doesn't end there. I am a member of minority who does not possess a driving license nor has the faintest clue about driving.
After my Yawara "Brain-Imploding-Annoyance-Rage" I was rather desperate. There were very few sports animes left I hadn't watched yet. And I was - still am actually, I can't take bludgeoned faces!- digging my heels in not to watch Hajime no Ippo. Barring any alternatives I gave in to desperation and started watching Initial D though in ... Apr 19, 2013
I was really hard-pressed to decide what to rate this anime. I've known about this anime for more than 10 years but never came around to watching it. The thing I find amazing about this anime is how much it pulls you in to the story. Everything is executed perfectly. I admit, especially from watching it now when CG is so much better than it was almost 20 years ago, that the CG kind of turned me off but overlooking this anime because of that reason would be a big mistake. This anime manages to create excitement, intensity, great comedy, compelling romance and wonderful character
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Oct 11, 2008
At first, I’ll admit that I did not think I would like the concept at first, but other factors which I will further elaborate on would keep on pulling me into this franchise and would like it more and more. I know it’s not the most exciting or appealing anime, and that I’m not the biggest gear head, but I felt something special about this one. Even though Takumi is not exactly the most appealing anime character of all time, it’s kind of weird that his lack of charisma in some ways makes him charismatic at the same time because he does all his talking
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Jan 21, 2018
Vroom Vroom, if you're into street racing then you'll love initial D. Tak is so gosh darn thicc and irresistible, and my homeboy Shingo can hit a drift faster than anybody can smack that nae nae. Whevever my homeboy Tak does a drift everyone goes zoo wee mama, including me. Bunta is smarter than any Rick and Morty and he smokes really cool. Because of him i've become a heavy smoker and my life expectancy has gone down to 30 years. My boy itsuki sucks at drifting, but he is such a qt π and he does the most epic fails xD. Overall, I'd give
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Jun 6, 2014
Yeah, this is one of those shows that have a niche audience that I'm not gonna have interest in continuing further with. I've heard quite a bit about Initial D since college where it was popular with street racing fans and even served as a gateway drug to anime for some. It even gets poked fun of for its subpar animation in some comedy anime like Lucky Star and School Rumble, which I'll cover a little later in this review.
Pretty much, Initial D's selling point is the various street racing competitions that male lead Takumi and his friends are involved with. Plenty of in-depth terminology ... Jun 9, 2023
Round of applause for Initial D Season one. I have absolutely no idea why I waited so long to watch this but I am so so glad I did after watching some average to only just good anime series'. Like another reviewer has said before me, who knew a story about street racing would be so entertaining, and to add to this statement, so exciting. I've not been this excited for a long time while watching anime.
Firstly I'm going to begin with the biggest and frankly only hurdle I had to overcome. You are treated to lovely hand drawn animation. The characters look great, ... Sep 6, 2021
Welcome, to my first ever review on this website!
Introduction: Initial D is one of the first anime I've ever watched, back when I was young and did not know much about anime and cars. Every single race that immediately got me hooked on, the mesmerizing euro beat soundtracks on standing out on a league of their own and of course, the characters, changed me. We'll get onto those in detail in a bit. To me, cars and anime were never really my thing, but after watching this show I wanted to get a license, I could not wait until I was legally allowed to get one. ... Jul 2, 2010
A friend told me about this Series, the other day. I was skeptical when he explained what it was about. He said it was about street racing and mainly about the cars. To be honest, I am not all that interested in cars. I am like the next person and have a mediocre interest, but not enough where I would be overly excited to watch a series about cars.
I was hanging out with my friends at his house when he insisted that we watch Initial D. Still skeptical, i try to convince him to put in something else.. but he was dead set on ... Sep 18, 2021
*** This is a review of all the stages of Initial D (contains spoilers) ***
Initial D is one of my favorite animes of all time. Whilst it arguably doesn’t have the best story and certainty not the best animation/art it has influenced me so much. I happened to find the song “Déjà vu” on YouTube and thought it was kinda good, so I looked into it and found that it was from Initial D. I started watching it not expecting too much but wow, it is just great. This later got me into getting into cars which has now become a huge part of my ... Nov 24, 2012
This show is based exactly 1995 years after the birth of Jesus Christ, which I find a little odd since this number is very uncommon, but oh well.
This is a sci-fi anime about racing in which we follow a bunch of street racers competing on the roads of futuristic tokyo. These racers use super advanced versions of old japanese cars but don't let looks deceive you, these are heavily modified. The story is set particularly on the life of a boring teenager who's dad had his eyes removed in the first war against the incoming alien invasion. For this reason he decides to let his ... Dec 29, 2014
This is my first review and I just finished Initial D so I thought that writing a review could be a good idea. This review is only about the first stage and not the whole franchise.
Story: 8/10: The story is pretty classic and is all you might want from an anime about street-racing. It's about recklessness, the will to aim always higher, etc...It's most of the time over the top, but in a good way: after each episode of Initial D you'll get seriously fired up, and even eating a sandwhich afterward will be fucking epic, it will have the taste of sweat and victory ... Dec 31, 2019
Being someone who despised anime and everything about it growing up, I'm very picky about my anime. If it's all boobs bouncing up and down with no story, I'm not going to enjoy it. If it's boring and repetitive, I am not going to watch it beyond the first season. If there is no story, I am not going to put it on my favorites list. This anime is none of those.
First of all, let me say, I find it weird how many people comment on how choppy the animation is. Yes, it's absolutely choppy and cheesy. We're talking about high speed racing and drifting ... Mar 10, 2021
THIS THING IS A MASTERPIECE! When I first started watching Initial D, I dodn't like the old CGI and art style, but that's only the first season. And OH MAN is the story good. Also the music is outstanding. The show builds up drama in a very good and entertaining way. From a person that likes cars, I want to say that this is the best show I have ever watched.
if you don't like cars/japanese car culture, this could be a great incroduction, but that's not what you watch a show for, so I'll just leave it here. Peace! Nov 10, 2015
First Stage review
Who would have thought that the fastest driver in town is just your everyday tofu delivery boy. High schooler Takumi Fujiwara’s perception of driving changes after being encouraged to enter his first street race. Remember it’s illegal! Story – You would think that an anime revolving around street racing would get pretty dull after a couple of races or so but that is not the case with Initial D. The story begins with the laid-back Takumi being forced to enter a street race by his father which was meant to be Ikitani’s problem who is his co-worker at his part-time job. Takumi accepts the proposal ... Mar 7, 2015
To start off this review, I have to say; the saying "it's not for everybody" has never been more accurate for anime. As a huge car enthusiast, I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this anime and finished it in only two days (first stage). Because most cars are automatic nowadays, most people won't have any idea about how manuals work or even about the lost art of double clutching or toe/heel techniques. Seeing little things like this was totally nostalgic and made the show just that much better for me.
Story: 8 I thought it had a pretty interesting story-line, and while some ... May 6, 2013
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 ... Dec 31, 2017
Honestly this is by far the best racing/car anime I've ever seen. Filled with lots of drifting and lot of different cars such as the AE86, the Mazda RX-7, and many more! I mainly enjoyed Initial D for the variety of cars and the depth that the creators went into when made the anime. Another thing I would like to mention is the music, the music helps add suspense and excitement plus it's just genuinely good music. The art is very good showing different scenes of the cars turning around corners as well as doing pretty well animating it. I encourage you to check it
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Sep 29, 2015
Being one of those person who dont like to watch sports anime, a soundtrack on youtube brought my attention to this series and after looking into it i got addicted instantly, mainly cos of the catchy soundtrack and the overall nostalgic flair.
Story and Plot: 7/10 High school student and main character Tatsumi knows nothing about cars and racing but has hiddent skills and technique thanks to his fathers training, which opens his path to the world of street racing. This simple pemise unfolds into tatsumis skills being tested by all kinds of foes, while also developing his skills and learning about his faults and weaknesses. ... |