Initial D is an animated series from Japan about an 18 year old boy named Takumi Fujiwara who lives with his father,
Bunta Fujiwara in their family owned
tofu shop.
Bunta used to be a famous racer in his younger days and since Takumi was 13 he had him delivering Tofu to the top of Mt
Akina at 4am every day in his
Hachi Roku (A 1986 toyota corolla GT-S)Over the years and under his fathers instruction, takumi mastered the art of drift in secret.
The Story Begins when a Famous hot shot street racing team the "
Akagi Red Suns" Led by
Ryosuke takahashi and his brother
Keisuke Takahashi come to challenge the local racers of Mt Akina to a battle.
Iketani, who is one of
takumi's co workers and leader of The "Akina Speed Stars" accepts their challenge. Soon the speed stars realize they stand no chance against such skilled opponants and seek aid from Bunta Fujiwara. Bunta sends his son instead to everyones surprise, confident his years of training will allow him to succeed. Takumi in his Hachi Roku Faces off against Keisuke Takahashi in his Mazda RX7-FD and defeats him to everyones shock. Soon a legend is born that will forever echo the streets of Japan.
The series spanned 6 "stages" or "seasons". 1st stage, 2nd stage, a Full length movie 3rd Stage, 4th stage, Extra Stage and Battle Stage which were also animated movies. There is also a live action movie in japanese that has endured much criticism but still remains highly entertaining.
Initial D is a Main Stream depiction of "Touge" or "Canyon" racing which is a real life style of street racing far superior in form to popular "drag" styles of street racing. In this type of racing usually 2 drivers go Toe to toe on winding mountain roads, it is a race between drivers and a race of Skill and technique, not a race of who runs the fastest quarter mile.
The series combined Revolutionary CGI animation at the time for its Car sequences and it improves signifigantly from stage to stage as the series progresses with much better blending between the 2d and 3d styles.
