"Inisharu D" (1998) TV series

Creator:

Shuichi Shigeno

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

18 April 1998 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Comedy | Sport

Tagline:

Drift across Second Stage's finish line!

Plot:

The story of a young delivery boy who becomes a drift-racing legend.

Plot Keywords:

Drift Racing | Manga | Motor | Anime | Street Racing

Cast

Steve Blum

...

Keisuke 'K.T.' Takahashi (26 episodes, 1998)

Also Known As:

Initial D (International: English title)
Initial D: First Stage (Japan) (working title)

Runtime:

650 min (26 episodes)

Country:

Japan

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Australia:PG (DVD rating) | Singapore:PG | Australia:M (some episodes)

Company:

Prime Direction

Trivia:

Impact Blue's SilEighty was originally just a simple body kit fix for the 180SX to have the fixed headlights of a Silvia S13. Nissan, noticing how popular the body fix was becoming among tuners, ran a limited edition "official" SilEighty. These are numbered and highly collectible.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the duct tape death match against Shingo, Takumi binds his right hand to the steering wheel, however, as he takes a corner, about halfway through the race, a shot of the steering wheel shows both hands free.

Quotes:

[Before getting out of the car, Natsuki Mogi calls the Eight-Six Trueno 'cute']
Takumi Fujiwara: [to his car] 'Cute', she said... What do you think?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)

Soundtrack:

Space Boy

Now THIS is how yer 'sposed ter drive ;)

It's a bit strange being a car freak and NOT having seen much of Initial D until recently. Still, I already knew quite a lot of it, thanks to the manga issues I scrounged up. Really amazing what one can achieve with my old car. That's right, I've been a lucky sod who drove a "Hachi-Roku". The car was a Red and Black Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86, badged as Corolla GT-S. I acquired it in Belgium. Actually, I was looking fer the Sedan version, which was quite common there. But I just HAD to try out that little souped up hatchback and I was won over immediately. As I live in a region with a lot of twisty backroads and hills, (alas, no mountain pass here :( ) I had a lot of fun with it for a few years. Then a friend came over with a tape he bought (yes we're talking nineties here folks) "Isn't that your car?" he said, while showing me a vicious race between a Honda Civic (beg ya pardon, an EG6) and Takumi's AE86. The CGI action, the races, the music by M.o.v.e. All excellent! "Then how could you be so stupid and FORGET ALL ABOUT IT!?" Itsuki would ask in his overacting voice. I really don't know that. But after I coïncidentially saw the reasonable Chinese live-adaptation, I decided ter go look for it again. As with Zipang, one of my other favorite Manga/Anime's, I got lucky: I found First, Second and Extra Stage in Japanese language with English subs and that fantastic Eurobeat soundtrack. I'm still looking for the rest, which is a bit harder, because I'm trying to avoid all the dub overs with those slipshod hip-hop-songs DJ Milkyway (or something' like it ) cooked up. It might be a bit older now, but First Stage is still a lot better then all the F&F movies together.

Oh, and what did I do with my "Hachi-Roku?" After 5 years of service it was traded for a black front-wheel driven Corolla AE92 GTS, which also was a lot of fun, but I'll always have fond memories of that little red and black hatchback. Even now, while I drive a MINI Cooper.