The Anime Series

Initial D is a manga by Shuichi Shigeno which has been serialized in Kodansha's Young since 1995. It has been adapted into an anime series by Avex.

The anime and manga focus on the world of illegal Japanese street racing, where all the action is concentrated in the mountain passes and never in cities nor urban areas, and the drift racing style is emphasized in particular. Keiichi Tsuchiya helps with editorial supervision.

* Initial D Manga Japanese Release - 31 Volumes (1995 - new volume released every 5 months)

* Initial D Manga Tokyopop Release - 20 Volumes (2002 - new volume released every 2 months)

The meaning of the initial "D" has not been revealed, although Ryosuke hints that the "D" has a special meaning in volume 18 of the manga.

Avex has released the anime in several parts called Stages. One noticeable feature is that it uses Eurobeat music as background music in race scenes.

* Initial D First Stage - 26 episodes (1998)

* Initial D Second Stage - 13 episodes (1999)

* Initial D Extra Stage OVA - 2 episodes side-story (2000)

* Initial D Third Stage - a 2 hour movie (2001)

* Initial D Battle Stage - a 50 minute movie of every major battle from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd stages. The graphics have been redone and polished in this stage. (2002)

* Initial D Fourth Stage - 20 episodes aired as of October 15th 2005[1]

* Initial D The Movie - a Hong Kong film that features Taiwanese star Jay Chou as Takumi and Edison Chen as Ryosuke. This film is the first Initial D that contains real actors and cars instead of anime. The film's official website is at http://www.initialdthemovie.com/ (2005)

The manga and anime have also been licensed by TOKYOPOP for an English release. The company drew complaints from anime fans when it changed some characters' names and gave others Americanized nicknames while not changing other names. For instance, main character Takumi became Tak (This is a nickname many American Japanese change their names to.) and his best friend Itsuki became Iggy, while Takumi's father Bunta retained his name and so did an opponent by the name of Shingo. Viewers are able to view the film with the original Japanese 5.1 track should they wish. In addition, TOKYOPOP cut out a character's relationship with another character and edited sex scenes in manga. The company also changed the music to originally developed tracks of rap and hip-hop from the series' staple eurobeat tracks.

* "Code of Touge:" (aka "Initial D style") As been explained in Best Motoring International. Power isn't everything, One mistake could be lethal!, Follow the best driving line, Dangerous hazards, All weather conditions, All Terrain Tires, Tail-to-Bumper start, Front car wins if lead is spread, Rear car wins if gap is decreased, The streets have their own rules, Tune it the best for the streets, All Throttle isn't necessarily fun to Drive, Interior must be intact for comfort.

* This motto means that the car must be an enjoyable ride in all conditions at all times. A heavily modified car which is not fun to drive or has no comfort for it's driver and it's passengers is not part of the Touge Code. It may be made for street race, but the importance of fun and comfort are not present. NOS is also not used because there is no room or open road recommended to use them in a mountain pass, being too narrow and too many sharp turns.

Initial D The Movie

Shooting the Movie

Background

Set in the late 1990s, it follows the adventures of Takumi Fujiwara, an eighteen year old who helps his father run a tofu shop by delivering every morning to a hotel over Mount Akina in Gunma Prefecture with his father's Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX. Having driven the mountain pass every morning to deliver tofu (for five years before his first race), Takumi's driving skill is highly developed.

In mountain pass racing, power is not the only key to winning. Balance, skill, and courage are what is needed to win. Mountain pass racing (also known as "touge") is divided into two areas, either Downhill or Hillclimb (Uphill). The Hillclimb requires more power, and the Downhill requires more courage and is considered to be more dangerous.

The story begins when racers of the Red Suns (a team from Mt. Akagi *NB: The town found at the foot of here is Maebashi so it is safe to assume the team take residence here*) come to challenge the local Speed Stars into a "friendly" race. Not wanting to be humiliated, the Speed Stars take this as a challenge and decide it to be a race for pride; however, when the Speed Stars' team leader Iketani has an accident during a practice run, they are immediately in a bind for a new racer on the downhill.

After appealing to the man known as Bunta Fujiwara (Takumi's father) to take his place, Iketani is confident that the old man (who is reputedly known as the "ghost of Akina") will come to save the day. But when the race day comes, Takumi appears with the eight-six (the Trueno) instead. And so begins the new legend of Akina's legendary eight-six.