New Initial D Movie: Legend 3 - Mugen

When it comes to culturally significant, iconic media, purists are often concerned that any origin story or adaptations run the risk of trying too hard to reinvent the wheel. Initial D is no exception to this rule. The Legend Trilogy has faced a considerable amount of criticism. Much of this was focused on the removal of Eurobeat from the score and soundtrack, and it was argued that it took away the essence that was Initial D. I will argue tooth-and-nail against that because the final installment of the Legend Trilogy proved that the essence of Initial D is the character development of relatable hometown heroes. As far as origins stories are concerned, the Legend Trilogy is a phenomenal example of a modern adaptation that is in keeping with the origin story while appropriately improving the visuals and highlighting nuance of character that wasn’t shared with viewers before.

The story follows Takumi Fujiwara on his ascension to street racing greatness. Instead of glossing over his complex personality, or the nuanced relationships he has with others around him, Mugen dives head first into the intricacies of a young man’s life and how he deals with the ever-changing landscape of his world. Fujiwara finds himself embracing who he’s becoming as a street racer and forces him to confront the reality of the future beyond driving without a care in the world on his home course. Through this, he bonds with his father; a relationship that has shown little depth in both the original manga and anime adaptation. We, as viewers, get a front-row seat and better understanding of the romance he has with his then-love interest. While his friendship with his Akina Speed Star brethren remains as consistent as it always was, Fujiwara’s budding friendship and appreciation for his street racing constituency is explored in a way it has never been before. As Fujiwara grows, we get a true glimpse of how observant he is of his surroundings and his knowledge of self.

Artistically, Initial D has always grown with the times. As technology improves, as does the artwork of Initial D-related media. Gone are the days of poorly constructed 3D models of classic Japanese automobiles. Vehicles look real in the Legend Trilogy because they are. Advanced cell-shading techniques have given way to an immersive experience that truly shows off the direction of anime for the future. The characters’ facial expressions are individual to their personalities and add a layer of depth and understanding to who they are as individuals. Picking up where Final Stage left off, the roads and the surrounding landscapes look absolutely stunning, even during the street races in the twilight hours. The original storyline was done justice with this modernization.

The voice acting is solid, but foreign. Viewers have grown accustomed to 16 years of consistent, recognizable talent. Having new actors, though talented, makes a few of the characters feel foreign. With the lack of Eurobeat, the Legend Trilogy feels like a separate story entirely, at times. I have no personal qualms with replacing Eurobeat for Japanese alternative rock, however, the score feels flat and uninspired. In fact, many Initial D inspired audio that can be found in far corners of Soundcloud tend to favor instrumental, jazzy hiphop, often inspired by the vibes of the late, great Nujabes. However, the quality isn’t bad, but the choice in music simply feels out of place. Thankfully, the car sounds are as genuine as it can possibly get. You can easily distinguish the sounds from 13BT, 4AGE, and RB26DETT engines. The tire sounds are also accurate with how the characters are driving. In its production, there was an exceptional amount of attention to detail that went into the racing experience.

As mentioned before, the Legend Trilogy has taken character development in Initial D to an entirely new level. Instead of sullen melancholia, near-comical seriousness, and uncomfortable comic relief; we get a range of human emotion that allows us to fall in love with personalities, as opposed to simply the common underdog story. We see Fujiwara falling in love. We see him praise the opponents he’s beaten on Akina. We see him struggle with his own identity in finding his place in this world he was suddenly thrust upon. Even better, we get much-needed backstory on the RedSuns and Takahashi Ryosuke. Previously, these things were mentioned in passing and it was left up to readers of the manga to interpret these nuances in context. For anime watchers, such details may have been missed. Additionally, Takumi’s father, Bunta, shows a considerable amount of compassion and respect for his son during this period of growth. They even share a moment or two of shared stubbornness that only happens between father and son.

The enjoyment factor of Initial D has changed. The story itself has long ended so longtime fans may lack the excitement of finding out what happens next. One could argue that the enjoyment factor has now become the satisfaction of knowing. For individual viewers, some may feel relief in knowing details that went unmentioned previously. Others may develop a new respect for certain characters. Or, like me, you could fall in love with the underdog story all over again as the Legend Trilogy offers new perspectives. What’s most pleasing is that it can be equally enjoyable for both longtime fans and new viewers alike. Overall, Initial D is Initial D. It’s a cultural staple. A legend in itself. It’s responsible for many pilgrimages to Gunma Prefecture, Japan. It’s the reason why an cheap, fuel-efficient, economy car from the 1980s gained unthinkable popularity since production ceased nearly 30 years ago. It’s the ridiculously esoteric, and still personally relatable story of a teenage boy from a single-parent household finding himself and growing into a man with goals and ambition. It’s the dream we see become a reality.

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Sometime ago, I reviewed the Golden Age Berserk Trilogy. While my Review isn’t one I’m proud of, my thoughts have not changed. While not terrible movies, they are massively underwhelming. Similarly, sometime ago, I reviewed initial D, a pretty good racing Anime whose Animation had sadly not aged well. Apparently someone decided to throw those two in a blender, and thus we got the “New Initial D Movie: Legend” Trilogy. Overly gimmicky name aside, how are they? Let’s find out.

For starters, I’m applying my usual format for Compilation movies here, so all movies are being reviewed at once. They’re technically not this but rather a re-adaptation of the Manga, but the point still stands.

As I stated in my Review of both shows, neither Initial D’s First Stage or Berserk 1997 have aged that well visually. That’s part of the reason the Berserk movies failed, as when you get right down to it, they were little better than the OG anime, with its Animation still being inconsistent, just in a different way. The Initial D movies on the other hand look… good! Actually, scratch that, they look great! Like, seriously, this is some great stuff! Not only are the character animations improved, but the CGI looks better than ever, and overall, this is a beautiful looking set of movies! I’m… actually surprised!

Though to counteract that, the sound is a downgrade. Contrast to the rest of the series, which uses Eurobeat Songs, the movies use standard rock. It’s pretty good rock, sure, but it just doesn’t hold a candle to the original OST. The same goes for the performance. Don’t get me wrong, these are all fine performances, but compared to the original VAs, something feels… missing. Like, to give an example, take for instance Miyano Mamoru; who takes over the role of Takumi from his Gundam 00 Co-Star Miki Shinichiro. He sounds a lot like Miki, but it feels as if he’s not taking the stoicness far enough. Perhaps more notable is Shiraishi Minoru as Itsuki, who sounds borderline identical to Iwata Mitsuo, but he isn’t taking the character’s goofiness far enough for my taste. Again, these are all solid performances; they’re just not as good as the original Seiyuus. Either way, it’s not as if they half-assed it with the cast, what with it having Uchida Maya, Suwabe Junichi, Nakamura Yuuichi, Hirata Hiroaki, Tsuchida Hiroshi and of course, the Casting Gag to end all Casting Gags, Ono Daisuke as Ryousuke! Nice!

Yet of course, it is in the plot that will decide whether this movie series is worth your time. And the answer is… yeah, it is. I mean, yeah, a bunch of issues with the show’s plot are still here (Read my review of that for more information) but if there’s one thing this movie does right, it’s retelling the story. The Berserk movies tried to cram way too much in in too little time. Here, they just go through the main plot beats and not much else because, well, there isn’t much left to tell without making the movies an unfocused mess.

Perhaps most surprisingly it doesn’t fall into the Second Compilation Movie curse! Yeah, they just decide to skip over a bunch of stuff in the middle part of the show so as to not drag things out, with the whole subplot with Mako and Satsuki being removed (Which does make their cameo in the final movie kinda odd). It’s actually kinda refreshing!

In general, I know this Review was short, but that’s because there isn’t much else left to tell. If the Berserk Movies were a soulless cash-grab, this is a work by a man who clearly cared about the franchise and wanted to leave his own mark of it while respecting what came before. Do I prefer it over the series? Eh, not really, as the removal of most of the SOL subplots and humor do make it a less enjoyable experience for me, but when it comes to the main plot, it arguably handles it better than the show proper. I had low expectations for these movies, I really expected them to suck… yet they didn’t. These movies are totally worth it to fans and newcomers alike, and I have no issues recommending them.

Final Score: 7/10

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To be honest I'm just happy to see more of Initial D. I can't say that it's better than just sit down and watch the first season sadly but it can't be helped since the movie need to cut down some details for limited run time.

Well first things first, the art style and animation is in my opinion definitely improved. The characters got modern touch as well (especially the girls, they got more moe factor) which is subtle but noticeable.
They really followed the manga for the visual instead of going the realistic route that season 5 and 6 went for. The smokes are drawn instead of using CG FX, the cars have jagged lines which gives off the "this is a manga" feel.

Other thing that is miles better than the TV series are the sounds of the cars, specifically the engines and tires. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the soundtracks and BGM, it's not bad per se but definitely not great either because somehow they decided not to use Eurobeats or even having M.O.V.E. to sing the theme at all (which at this point, has shaped Initial D as an anime).

The story is basically a recap of the first season highlighting the races taking place in Akina, following our underdog Tofu delivery boy Fujiwara Takumi. In this movie however, the characters have slight difference from their anime counterpart (probably due to the changes of voice actors). Personally I find these change to be quite interesting, although it does breaks the characters I already knew from the anime, it's not exactly as bad as it sounds.

TL;DR: If you have the time, just watch the tv series. This movie is a nice alternative if you don't have the time to watch the first season or if you didn't like the dated visuals.

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