1. The story isn't as superb as Stage 1. I'm purposely using the word superb here for a reason. It's not at AS superb but it's still great.
2. The animation of the 'non driving' scenes is more polished but lost a little bit of the charm as stage 1. However, it just did what every anime did and got more polished with its animation. Again, this isn't really a negative.
And that is it. That's the only real things I can say are negatives. Let's face it though, they arnt really negatives.
Now, onto everything great. First of all, the racing animation is excellent. Better than that in stage 1. The corners are smoother and the movement in general is more realistic. The specific piece of animation that impressed me the most is the dramatic cuts from within the car. The movement between the drivers eyes, the pedals and the engine, oh the engine, was perfectly done. Especially with the engine taking center stage in this season it was a beautiful touch. As far as the non driving parts, it still great, despite my comments in the first paragraph. By the end of this season I had got used to it and really liked it in fact.
Setting aside the fact the story wasn't as superb as Stage 1, it was still excellent. It was also nice that it widened the focus to more than just the races of Takumi. It has lovely character development. The Redsuns along with the Speed Stars take great strides of progression due to this seasons antagonist for what seems to be the perfect set up for Stage 3, though sadly seems to be the worst reviewed season of the anime in general to I guess I'll have to set lower expectations. To me this seemed like a gateway season. One that's main purpose is to set up for the next and by the end of it Stage 2, you really want to continue with this anime.
The music again still hits the mark. Still everything you have come to expect of Initial D from Stage 1. Fits the action perfectly and really drives along with the races to ensure you are on the edge of your seat throughout.
Stage 2 is not as good as Stage 1. This statement really doesn't do the season justice though. It's still excellent, it's still fun, it's still exciting and most certainly is still Initial D.
