Initial D Blog Article

Presenting Initial D

Initial D (頭文字イニシャルD, Inisharu Dī) is a seinen manga written and drawn by Shūichi Shigeno. It was pre-published between June 1995 and July 2013 in Young Magazine, and was compiled in a total of forty-eight volumes.

It has been adapted into an animated television series composed of several seasons, in FVO or animated films. A live film adaptation has also been made, as well as numerous video games. If you made it trough this page not having seen any episode of this great show, we recommend you to have a look at it.

This anime is to the JDM Motorsport world what Dragon Ball is to the martial arts.

Initial D Synopsis

At Mount Akina, races between experienced drivers take place every weekend. But the local team of Speedstars seems overwhelmed by the massive arrival of driving stars. Faced with the impossibility of taking up a challenge that is proposed to them, only one solution appears: trust the urban legend who runs on a mysterious local driver who is hurtling down the mountain at full speed. No one suspects that Takumi Fujiwara, an eighteen-year-old high school student who knows nothing about cars, is this driving genius. The young man only delivers the family Tofu to the area, so he knows the local roads by heart and drives his Toyota Sprinter Trueno (AE86) at a breathtaking speed.

Initial D characters

Initial D Main Characters :

• Takumi Fujiwara
• Bunta Fujiwara
• Takahashi Ryōsuke
• Keisuke Takahashi

Initial D Secondary Characters :

• Natsuki Mogi : 18 years old.
• Saori : 19 years old.
• Yūichi Tachibana : +40 years old.
• Itsuki Takeuchi : years old.
• Masashi Suzuki : +40 years old.
• Kazumi Akiyama : 19 years old.
• Ken Kogashiwa : ~40 years old.
• Kai Kogashiwa : 19 years old.
• Miki :22 years old.

Initial D Racing Teams

Composed of Kōichirō Iketani (21 years old - Nissan Silvia K's (S13)), Itsuki Takeuchi (18 years old -Toyota Corolla Levin SR-5 (AE85), and finally Kenji (21 years old - Nissan 180SX (RPS13)).

Akagi RedSuns Racing Team 

Trained by Ryosuke Takahashi (23 years old - Mazda RX-7 FC3S)), Keisuke Takahashi (21 years old - Mazda Efini RX-7 Type R FD3S) and Kenta Nakamura (Nissan Silvia Q's (S14)).

Myogi Night Kids Racing Team 

Including Takeshi Nakazato (22 years old - Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II (BNR32)) and Shingo Shoji (20 years old -Honda Civic SiR II (EG6)).

Impact Blue Racing Team

Formed by Mako Sato and Sayuki (20 years old - Nissan SilEighty (Sil80)).

Emperor Racing Team 

Including Seiji Iwaki (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV RS (CN9A)) and Kyōichi Sudō (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III GSR (CE9A)).

Project D Racing Team

This team includes, Takumi Fujiwara (Toyota Sprinter GT-APEX Trueno (AE86)), Keisuke Takahashi (23 - Mazda RX-7 efini (FD3S)) Ryôsuke Takahashi (23 - Mazda RX-7 (FC3S)) and Shūichi Matsumoto and Kenta Nakamura.

Seven Star Leaf Racing Team

Formed from Tôhru Suetsugu (Mazda MX-5 Eunos Roadster (NA6C)) and Atsurô Kawai (Nissan Skyline 2.5GT-Turbo (ER34)).

Todo Juku Racing Team 

Including Daiki Ninomiya (Honda Civic Type R (EK9)), Smiley Sakai (Honda Integra Type R Turbo (DC2)) and Tomoyuki Tachi (Honda Civic Type R (EK9)). This is the Demo version of the Todo school.

Northern Saitama Alliance Racing Team

In which is Wataru Akiyama (21 years old - Toyota Levin (AE86 TURBO)). He will use a Toyota Levin (AE86 Supercharged) against Keisuke. But also Nobuhiko Akiyama (Toyota Altezza RS200 (SXE10)), Kyōko Iwase (20 years old - Mazda enfini RX-7 (FD3S) and Sakamoto (26 years old - Suzuki Cappuccino (EA11R)).

Purple Shadow Racing Team

Formed from Kōzō Hoshino (+40 years - Nissan Skyline GT-R V-spec II Nür (BNR34)) and Toshiya Jōshima (+40 years - Honda S2000 type-v).

Racing Team 246 

With Satoshi Omiyama (Mazda Roadster 1.8 RS (NB8C)) and Kobayakawa:(Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII GSR (CT9A)).

Katagiri Racing Team Street Version 

Composed of Kai Kogashiwa (Toyota MR-S (ZZW30)) and Hideo Minagawa (Toyota Supra RZ (JZA80)).

Spiral Racing Team

Sidewinder Racing Team

The members are Go Hojo (Honda NSX-R (NA1)), Shinji Inui (Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX (2 door)), Rin Hojo: Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II (BNR32) and Eiji Kubo. 

 When you see the cars used by Initial D racing teams it is easy to understand why JDM enthusiast love this anime cartoon, every single car used in this show is a true JDM car from Japan's car industry golden era.

WHERE TO WATCH INITIAL D? 

You can watch this great JDM anime on many streaming platforms such as animelab.com.
You can also have a look at "NEW INITIAL D MOVIES" at the bottom of this page too !

It is not the entire series but if you don't know about it, well it will give you an hint about how good it is.

IS INITIAL D ON NETFLIX?

 Yes no problems, if you have already subscribed to Netflix you can enjoy it on this platform.

Initial D Manga

Created in June 1995 by Shūichi Shigeno, the manga is pre-published in the Young Magazine edited by Kōdansha. The first bound volume was released on November 6, 19951. Serialization ended on July 29, 20132, and the forty-eighth and final bound volume was published on November 6, 20133.

Initial D is one of the world's best-selling manga titles, with nearly 50 million copies sold.

Initial D Goods

Initial D is a manga and a anime cartoon but it a movie and video games have been inspired by these masterpieces.

Initial D inspiration from the JDM Touge culture

Keiichi Tsuchiya (土屋圭市, Tsuchiya Keiichi) is a Japanese racing driver born on January 30, 1956 in Tōmi, Nagano Prefecture. He is mainly known as the "Drift King "1 for his mastery of controlled skidding (drift) in motor racing events.

Inspired by Kunimitsu Takahashi's particular driving technique, which he observed during the Japanese Touring Car Championship (JTCC) in the 1970s, Tsuchiya will practice the drifting technique in wild mountain races (called "Touge" or "Tôge") and then on the circuit. In 1988, Tsuchiya was responsible for the launch of drifting as a racetrack discipline1,2.

He is also a consultant for the manga Initial D.

In 2006, he appeared as a cameo fisherman in the movie Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift. He was also a stunt coordinator and also a stuntman for this film.

Simply said : This man is a legend. He has been one of the most influential Japanese drivers ever, he simply INVENTED DRIFT CHAMPIONSHIPS! 
Being so influential led him to be what i call a JDM ambassador, a man that promotes drift and racing (on touge or on the track) JDM style.