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is a Japanese street racing
manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
series written and illustrated by
Shuichi Shigeno is a Japanese manga artist famous for creating '' Initial D''. Shigeno has also created '' Bari Bari Densetsu'', ''Dopkan'', and ''Tunnel Nuketara Sky Blue'' ("First Love in Summer") all prior to the manga that would make him famous in 1995. ...
. It was serialized in
Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...
's ''
seinen is an editorial category of Japanese comics marketed toward young adult men. In Japanese, the word ''seinen'' literally means "youth", but the term "''seinen'' manga" is also used to describe the target audience of magazines like ''Weekly Ma ...
'' manga magazine ''
Weekly Young Magazine is a Japanese weekly anthology magazine published in Tokyo each Monday by Kodansha. The magazine was started on June 23, 1980 and is targeted at the adult male ( ''seinen'') demographic. It was published bimonthly (under the title ), on the seco ...
'' from 1995 to 2013, with the chapters collected into 48 ''
tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...
'' volumes. The story focuses on the world of illegal Japanese
street racing Street racing is typically an unsanctioned and illegal form of auto racing that occurs on a public road. Racing in the streets is considered an ancient hazard, as horse racing occurred on streets for centuries, and street racing in automobiles is ...
, where all the action is concentrated in the
mountain passes A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both human and animal migrati ...
and rarely in cities or urban areas, and with the drifting racing style emphasized in particular. Professional race car driver and pioneer of drifting
Keiichi Tsuchiya is a Japanese professional race car driver. He is known as the for his nontraditional use of drifting in non-drifting racing events and his role in popularizing drifting as a motorsport. In professional racing, he is a two-time 24 Hours of Le ...
helped with editorial supervision. The story is centered on the prefecture of
Gunma is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Gunma Prefecture has a population of 1,937,626 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 6,362 km2 (2,456 sq mi). Gunma Prefecture borders Niigata Prefecture and Fukushima P ...
, more specifically on several mountains in the
Kantō region The is a geographical area of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. In a common definition, the region includes the Greater Tokyo Area and encompasses seven prefectures: Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Tokyo, Chiba and Kanagawa. Slight ...
and in their surrounding cities and towns. Although some of the names of the locations the characters race in have been fictionalized, all of the locations in the series are based on actual locations in Japan. ''Initial D'' has been adapted into several
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
television and
original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...
s series by OB
Studio Comet is an animation studio with its headquarters in Toyotamanaka, Nerima, Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Fo ...
, Studio Gallop, Pastel,
A.C.G.T is a Japanese animation studio established on December 19, 2000, by former Triangle Staff members in Suginami, Tokyo. It has been involved in the development of many series, predominantly contributing to other studios and adapting works based o ...
and
SynergySP is a Japanese animation studio founded on September 24, 1998, as ''Synergy Japan'' which originally split off from Studio Junio (which itself was founded by Toei Animation staff). In 2005, the company became associated with Shogakukan-Shueisha Pr ...
. A live action film by
Avex is a Japanese entertainment conglomerate led by founder Max Matsuura and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1988, the company manages J-pop talents like Ayumi Hamasaki and internet sensation PikoTaro. It has also shifted into other busi ...
and Media Asia was released in 2005. Both the manga and anime series were initially licensed for English-language distribution in North America by
Tokyopop Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licensed J ...
(2002–2009). However, the anime license has since been picked up by
Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...
(now
Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Sony through a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex. The service primarily distributes films and tel ...
), while the manga was relicensed by
Kodansha USA Kodansha USA Publishing, LLC is a publishing company based in New York, USA, and a subsidiary of Japan's largest publishing company Kodansha. Established in July 2008, Kodansha USA publishes books relating to Japan, Japanese culture, and mang ...
in 2019. As of April 2021, ''Initial D'' had over 55 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series in history.


Plot

Takumi Fujiwara is a student working as a gas station attendant with his best friend Itsuki. Itsuki is enthusiastically interested in being a street racer. The team he feels closest to and hopes to join is the Akina Speed Stars, whose team leader Koichiro Iketani is also working at the same pump station. Unbeknownst to his colleagues, Takumi helps out his father Bunta as a
tofu Tofu (), also known as bean curd in English, is a food prepared by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into solid white blocks of varying softness; it can be ''silken'', ''soft'', ''firm'', ''extra firm'' or ''super firm ...
delivery driver for his father's store before sunrise each morning, passively building an impressive amount of skill of over 5 years behind the wheel of the family car, an aging
Toyota Sprinter Trueno The is a series of compact sports coupés and hot hatches which were produced by Toyota from 1972 to 2000. The name Trueno in Spanish means thunder. In Japan, the Sprinter Trueno was exclusive to ''Toyota Auto Store'' locations, later renamed '' ...
(AE86). Shortly after the story begins, the Red Suns, a highly experienced racing team from
Mount Akagi is a mountain in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. The broad, low dominantly andesitic stratovolcano rises above the northern end of the Kanto Plain. It contains an elliptical, 3 x 4 km summit caldera with post-caldera lava domes arranged along ...
led by Ryosuke Takahashi, challenge the local Speed Stars team to a set of races on Mount Akina. Dispirited after watching the Red Suns' superior performance during a practice run, the Speed Stars expect to lose. Later that night, the Red Suns' #2 driver, Keisuke Takahashi, heading home after the last practice run, is defeated soundly by a mysterious Sprinter Trueno, despite driving a much more powerful
Mazda RX-7 The Mazda RX-7 is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, rotary engine-powered sports car that was manufactured and marketed by Mazda from 1978 until 2002 across three generations, all of which made use of a compact, lightweight Wankel rotary engine. ...
(FD3S). An investigation into the identity of the driver leads to Bunta Fujiwara, Takumi's father. While trying to do his best for the team on
Mount Akina is a dormant stratovolcano in Gunma, eastern Honshū, Japan. Outline Mount Haruna started to form more than 300,000 years ago and the last known eruption was 550 AD. The volcano has a summit caldera containing the symmetrical cinder con ...
, Iketani suffers a crash and damages his car and injures himself. He is unable to take part in the race to represent his team. Iketani begs Bunta to help the Speed Stars defeat the Red Suns, and he initially refuses, later relenting to "maybe" show up at the race. At the same time, Takumi asks Bunta if he can borrow the car for a day to take a trip to the beach with a potential girlfriend (Natsuki Mogi), and Bunta seizes the moment by granting permission (plus a full tank of fuel) on the condition that Takumi defeats Keisuke. On the night of the race, the Trueno does not show up, and the Speed Stars enlist a backup driver (Kenji) for the first run. At the last moment before the race starts, the AE86 arrives. Takumi steps out of the car to the bewilderment of the Speed Stars, who were expecting Bunta. He easily defeats Keisuke by utilizing a dangerous "gutter run" technique (putting both the left/right tires into the gutters to prevent
centrifugal force In Newtonian mechanics, the centrifugal force is an inertial force (also called a "fictitious" or "pseudo" force) that appears to act on all objects when viewed in a rotating frame of reference. It is directed away from an axis which is paralle ...
pushing the car outward) on the mountain road's hairpin corners. The Red Suns' embarrassing defeat sets up the plot for the rest of the series: drivers from neighboring prefectures come to challenge Takumi and the "Legendary Eight-Six of Akina" and thus prove themselves as racers. Meanwhile, Takumi, who was considered spacey and disinterested in the world around him, becomes more passionate about racing with every opponent he faces. However, soon Takumi faces a threat in the form of Emperors, a team that uses
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, popularly referred to as the 'Evo', is a sports sedan and rally car based on the Lancer that was manufactured by Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi Motors from 1992 until 2016. There have been ten official versio ...
s. Takumi's old AE86 is no match and he loses to the team's leader, Sudo Kyoichi (Evo III), blowing his engine. The Akagi RedSuns come to the rescue and defeat both Seiji and Kyoichi, thus securing the pride of Gunma's racers. Meanwhile, Bunta replaces the AE86's blown engine with a new one. Wataru Akiyama and Koichiro Iketani help Takumi to figure out why he is unable to control his car. Takumi soon faces graduation, but continues racing. He defeats Kyoichi in a rematch at his home course, the Nikko Irohazaka. He also defeats the son of Bunta's old rival. Eventually, the plot moves away from
Mount Akina is a dormant stratovolcano in Gunma, eastern Honshū, Japan. Outline Mount Haruna started to form more than 300,000 years ago and the last known eruption was 550 AD. The volcano has a summit caldera containing the symmetrical cinder con ...
as Takumi becomes bored with racing and winning solely on that road. He joins an expedition racing team, Project.D, formed by Ryosuke Takahashi, (also including Keisuke Takahashi) former leader of the disbanded Red Suns and challenges more difficult opponents on their home courses in the pursuit of his dream to be "the fastest driver out there". At one point, impostors in the form of Takumi and Keisuke try to defame Project D, Wataru comes to help and they dispatch the impostors, revealing them in front of the public. Project D races many teams like Team Seven Star Leaf, Team 246, Team Spiral, and Team Sidewinder. It ends spectacularly with a race of two evenly matched drivers, where Takumi blows his engine again, but steps on the clutch and wins the race by rolling backwards over the finish line. He decides to get rid of his car, but in the anime version, he decides to keep it. Ryosuke disbands Project D and Takumi continues delivering tofu with his father's Impreza. The story of ''Initial D'' would be continued in another manga by Shuichi Shigeno, ''
MF Ghost is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Shuichi Shigeno. It has been serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Young Magazine'' since September 2017, with its chapters collected into fifteen ''tankōbon'' volumes as of September 2022. ...
''.


Media


Manga

Written and illustrated by
Shuichi Shigeno is a Japanese manga artist famous for creating '' Initial D''. Shigeno has also created '' Bari Bari Densetsu'', ''Dopkan'', and ''Tunnel Nuketara Sky Blue'' ("First Love in Summer") all prior to the manga that would make him famous in 1995. ...
, ''Initial D'' was serialized by
Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...
in the ''seinen'' manga magazine ''
Weekly Young Magazine is a Japanese weekly anthology magazine published in Tokyo each Monday by Kodansha. The magazine was started on June 23, 1980 and is targeted at the adult male ( ''seinen'') demographic. It was published bimonthly (under the title ), on the seco ...
'' from July 17, 1995, to July 29, 2013. Kodansha collected its 719 individual chapters in forty-eight ''
tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...
'' volumes, released from November 6, 1995, to November 6, 2013. In North America, the manga was licensed for English release by
Tokyopop Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licensed J ...
(along with the anime series) in 2001. The company changed the names of the characters in the anime edition, and subsequently changed them in the manga to match. These name changes were to reflect the name changes that
Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...
implemented into the Western releases of the ''
Initial D Arcade Stage ''Initial D Arcade Stage'' (D アーケード ステージ) (commonly referred to as ''IDAS'', followed by the game's version number) is an arcade racing game series developed by Sega, based on the anime and manga series '' Initial D''. In the ...
'' video games due to name length limits. Tokyopop also censored the brief scenes of nudity from the original manga. In addition, "street slang" was interlaced in translations. The company released thirty-three volumes from May 21, 2002, to January 13, 2009, before they announced in August 2009 that their manga licensing contracts with Kodansha had expired. In April 2019,
ComiXology Iconology Inc., d/b/a ComiXology (styled comiXology), is a cloud-based digital distribution platform for comics owned by Amazon, with over 200 million comic downloads . It offers a selection of more than 100,000 comic books, graphic novels, and ...
and
Kodansha Comics Kodansha USA Publishing, LLC is a publishing company based in New York, USA, and a subsidiary of Japan's largest publishing company Kodansha. Established in July 2008, Kodansha USA publishes books relating to Japan, Japanese culture, and manga, ...
announced that they had released volumes 1 to 38 digitally, while volumes 39 to 48 were released in July of the same year.


Anime

Avex has released the anime in several parts called Stages. One noticeable feature is that it uses
Eurobeat Eurobeat refers to two styles of dance music that originated in Europe: one is a British variant of Italian Eurodisco-influencedAng, Ien & Morley, David (2005). "Cultural Studies: Volume 3, Issue 2". ''Routledge''. pgs. 171, 173, 170. . "Eurorec ...
music as background music in race scenes, especially by Italian singers. * ''Initial D'' (referred to retroactively as "First Stage") — 26 episodes (1998) * ''Initial D Second Stage'' — 13 episodes (1999) * ''Initial D Extra Stage'' — 2-episode OVA side-story focusing on Impact Blue (2000) * ''Initial D Third Stage'' — a 104-minute movie (2001) * ''Initial D Fourth Stage'' — 24 episodes (2004–2006) * ''Initial D Extra Stage 2'' — a 50-minute OVA side-story focusing on Mako and Iketani (2008) * ''Initial D Fifth Stage'' — 14 episodes (2012–2013) * ''Initial D Final Stage'' — 4 episodes (TV), compilation movie (DVD/Blu-ray) (2014) * '' New Initial D the Movie - Legend 1: Awakening'' — feature movie (2014) * '' New Initial D the Movie - Legend 2: Racer'' — feature movie (2015) * '' New Initial D the Movie - Legend 3: Dream'' — feature movie (2016) The Battle Stages are
Musical Film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...
s serving as a compilation of the racing action scenes in the preceding series, stripped of all but minimal character dialog and featuring new music. * ''Initial D Battle Stage'' — a 50-minute movie (2002) **Battle Stage is a compilation of races from the first three series, except for Extra Stage. The battles from First Stage have been reanimated and remastered with the more advanced CGI used in Third Stage, however the character art remains the same. A battle not featured in either the manga or the anime is featured, using the new CGI and old character art. * ''Initial D Battle Stage 2'' — a 1-hour movie (2007) **Battle Stage 2 is a compilation of races from Fourth Stage with unchanged CGI, even for the hidden battles. It features Keisuke's first two races as part of Project D, as they were not featured in Fourth Stage. *''Initial D Battle Stage 3'' — (2021) **Battle Stage 3 features every race from Fifth Stage and Final Stage. Unlike the previous two battle stages, it does not feature any new battles, and doesn't feature any character dialogue. *''New Initial D the Movie Battle Digest'' — (2022) ** A recap of the movie trilogy with additional scenes of the characters test driving their cars. In 1998, ''Initial D'' was adapted into an animated television series produced by OB Planning and Prime Direction. The first episode premièred on
Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network Sys ...
on April 8, 1998. The initial series ran for 26 weekly episodes with the finale airing on December 5, 1998. The second series, named "Second Stage", aired from October 14, 1999, to January 20, 2000, with a one-week break over the New Year period. This was followed by animated feature film in 2001 and an OVA documenting all battles from the previous three stages, with the battles from First Stage being re-animated. ''Initial D Third Stage'' was a feature film covering the story arcs between the second and fourth stage, released in Japan on January 13, 2001. It earned a distribution income of () at the Japanese box office. In 2004, ''Initial D Fourth Stage'' aired on SkyPerfecTV's pay-per-view service, airing two episodes back-to-back every two months. 24 episodes were made until the final episodes were aired in February 2006. Following ''Second Stage'' in 2000, ''Initial D Extra Stage'' was aired as a spinoff to the original series. This story focused on the all-female Impact Blue team of Usui Pass and their point of view of the recent events of ''Second Stage'' and the upcoming ''Third Stage'' movie. This was followed by ''Extra Stage 2'' in 2008, which look at the relationship between Impact Blue's Mako Sato and Iketani of the SpeedStars (following on from the original side-story in the manga). Eight years after the release of "Fourth Stage" in 2004, Animax aired "Initial D Fifth Stage". Animax has aired the series on a
pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...
basis on
SKY PerfecTV! is a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service that provides satellite television, audio programming and interactive television services to households in Japan, owned by parent company SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation The SKY Perfect JSAT Group is ...
's Perfect Choice Premier 1 channel. The first two episodes aired on November 9, 2012. The rest of the episodes were broadcast two per month till May 10, 2013. In 2014, "Initial D Final Stage" became the latest installment in the anime series. Animax has aired its first two episodes on a
pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...
basis on its own brand new ANIMAX PLUS channel, on May 16, 2014, on its new subscription VOD (Video On Demand) service, which allows subscribers to watch all the latest anime series. Initial D Final Stage will start right after where Fifth Stage left off. There are a total of four episodes that makes up this mini stage. The final two episodes were broadcast on June 22, 2014. Since the anime's original run, Japanese musical group m.o.v.e has performed all of the opening and some ending themes of the series. This followed on from the success of one of their first hits, "Around the World", which was used as the first opening of ''First Stage''. Their latest single to be used in the series is called "Outsoar The Rainbow" and it is used as ''Final Stages opening.
. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
They had another recent unreleased song, "Days". It was played in the finale of "Final Stage". Like in the manga, Tokyopop change elements of the anime to suit Western audiences. As well as changing the names and used western slang, the company also changed the anime's music from the series' staple
eurobeat Eurobeat refers to two styles of dance music that originated in Europe: one is a British variant of Italian Eurodisco-influencedAng, Ien & Morley, David (2005). "Cultural Studies: Volume 3, Issue 2". ''Routledge''. pgs. 171, 173, 170. . "Eurorec ...
tracks to originally developed tracks of rap and hip-hop via
Stu Levy Stuart J. Levy is a producer of manga and films and writer of manga. Levy founded the media company Tokyopop and established the manga market in North America. He was an executive producer on the major motion picture ''Priest'' in 2011 distrib ...
(DJ Milky), the Tokyopop CEO and an in-house musician. In 2006,
Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...
announced that it would be distributing the DVDs of the anime (since Tokyopop's original distributor went bankrupt). This new distribution was marked by slightly revised packaging and two box sets corresponding to the licensed seasons Tokyopop had dubbed, although the DVDs themselves were exactly the same as the original Tokyopop release. Tokyopop had completed an English subtitled version of Third Stage, and screened it at the Big Apple Anime Fest on August 29, 2003. This version of Third Stage reportedly retained the original Japanese soundtrack, in contrast to their treatment of the rest of the anime series. This version of the film was never released on DVD, nor was it ever mentioned by Tokyopop past the original announcement. At the
New York Anime Festival The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006. History The New York Comic Con is a f ...
2009,
Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...
announced that it would be re-releasing and re-dubbing ''Initial D: First Stage'', Second Stage, Extra Stage, Third Stage, and Fourth Stage. Their release included a brand new English dub and retained the original music from the Japanese in an uncut format. Funimation released the series out of order, with the Third and Fourth Stages releasing before the First and Second Stages.2009 press release
. Retrieved 25 September 2009.
The first Extra Stage was included in the Second Stage box set.


Animated feature film series

In July 2013 it was announced that another feature film titled ''
New Initial D the Movie is a 2014–2016 Japanese anime film series based on the manga series ''Initial D'' by Shuichi Shigeno. The movie is a retelling of the early stages of the manga and is split into three parts with the first part, ''Legend 1: Awakening'' releas ...
'' and a last anime series, ''Initial D Final Stage'', will be produced.Initial D Car-Racing Manga Gets New Anime Film & Final Stage Anime
. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
The movie is a retelling of the early Stages with a wholly new voice cast and is split into three parts, with the first part released on August 23, 2014, titled '' Legend 1: Awakening'', the second part was released May 23, 2015, titled '' Legend 2: Racer'', the third part released on February 6, 2016, titled '' Legend 3: Dream''.New Initial D Car-Racing Anime Teaser Reveals Film Trilogy
. Retrieved 9 February 2014.


Games

* ''Initial D Gaiden'' — 1998 —
Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same ...
* ''Initial D'' — 1999 —
Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it was the successor to the succ ...
* ''Initial D'' — 1999 — PS1 * ''Initial D: Ryosuke Takahashi's Fastest Typing-theory'' — 2001 —
PS2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia o ...
* '' Initial D Arcade Stage / Initial D'' — 2002 —
Arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...
( NAOMI 2) * ''Initial D Another Stage'' — 2002 —
GBA The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...
* '' Initial D Arcade Stage Ver.2 / Initial D Ver.2'' — 2003 —
Arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...
( NAOMI 2) * ''Initial D Collectible Card Game'' — 2003 —
Collectible Card Game A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategy game, strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards, introduced with ''Magic: The Gathering'' in ...
* ''Initial D: Special Stage'' — 2003 —
PS2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia o ...
* ''Initial D Mountain Vengeance'' — 2004 — PC * '' Initial D Arcade Stage 3 / Initial D Version 3'' — 2004 —
Arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...
( NAOMI 2) * '' Initial D Arcade Stage 4 / Initial D 4'' — 2006 —
Arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...
( Lindbergh) * ''Initial D: Street Stage'' — 2006 — PSP * '' Initial D Arcade Stage 4 Limited'' — 2007 —
Arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...
( Lindbergh) * '' Initial D Arcade Stage 4 Kai'' — 2008 —
Arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...
( Lindbergh) * ''
Initial D Extreme Stage is a racing game developed by Sega for the PlayStation 3. It is based on the Japanese manga '' Initial D'' created by Shuichi Shigeno in 1995. ''Initial D Extreme Stage'' was released in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea on Ju ...
'' — 2008 — PS3 * '' Initial D Arcade Stage 5'' — 2009 —
Arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...
( Lindbergh) * '' Initial D Arcade Stage 6 AA'' — 2011 —
Arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...
( RingEdge) * '' Initial D Arcade Stage 7 AAX'' — 2012 —
Arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...
( RingEdge) * '' Initial D Arcade Stage 8 ∞ (Infinity)'' — 2014 —
Arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...
( RingEdge / RingEdge 2) * ''Initial D: Perfect Shift Online'' — 2014 —
Nintendo 3DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generatio ...
eShop The Nintendo eShop is a digital distribution service powered by the Nintendo Network for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, and by a dedicated online infrastructure for the Nintendo Switch. Launched in June 2011 on the Nintendo 3DS, the eShop was ena ...
(free-to-play) * '' Initial D Arcade Stage Zero'' — 2017 —
Arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...
(Sega Nu2) * ''Initial D RPG'' —
Sony Ericsson Sony Mobile Communications Inc. ( ja, ソニーモバイルコミュニケーションズ株式会社) was a multinational telecommunications company founded on October 1, 2001, as a joint venture between Sony Group Corporation and Ericsson. I ...
mobile phone *''Initial D Pachislot'' - 2021 - Arcade * ''Initial D The Arcade'' — 2021 —
Arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...
( ALLS) The ''
Initial D Arcade Stage ''Initial D Arcade Stage'' (D アーケード ステージ) (commonly referred to as ''IDAS'', followed by the game's version number) is an arcade racing game series developed by Sega, based on the anime and manga series '' Initial D''. In the ...
''
arcade video game An arcade video game takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. Most arcade video games are coin-operated, housed in an arca ...
series has sold approximately 7,111 hardware units in Japan up until 2007, grossing approximately in hardware sales.


Live-action film

A live-action film based on ''Initial D'' was released on June 23, 2005, in Asia. The movie was jointly produced by Japan's
Avex Inc. is a Japanese entertainment conglomerate led by founder Max Matsuura and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1988, the company manages J-pop talents like Ayumi Hamasaki and internet sensation PikoTaro. It has also shifted into other busi ...
and Hong Kong's
Media Asia Group Media Asia Entertainment Group (), Media Asia Group (, ), is a Hong Kong production company and film distributor for films made in Hong Kong and throughout China. It is a subsidiary of Lai Sun Development Company Ltd. History Headquartered ...
. It was directed by
Andrew Lau Andrew Lau Wai-keung ( zh, t=劉偉強, born 4 April 1960) is a Hong Kong film director, producer, and cinematographer. Lau began his career in the 1980s and 1990s, serving as a cinematographer to filmmakers such as Ringo Lam, Wong Jing and Wong ...
and Alan Mak, whose credits include the 2002
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
blockbuster ''
Infernal Affairs ''Infernal Affairs'' is a 2002 Hong Kong action thriller film co-directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak. Jointly written by Mak and Felix Chong, it stars Andy Lau, Tony Leung, Anthony Wong, Eric Tsang, Sammi Cheng and Kelly Chen. The film fo ...
''. The adaptation featured Taiwanese singer
Jay Chou Jay Chou ( zh, t=周杰倫, s=周杰伦, poj=Chiu Kia̍t-lûn, p=Zhōu Jiélún, first=t, w=Chou Chieh-lun; born January 18, 1979) is a Taiwanese singer, songwriter, record producer, rapper, actor, and television personality. Dubbed the " King ...
as Takumi Fujiwara and Hong Kong stars
Edison Chen Edison Chen Koon-hei (, born Chen Hing-wah on 7 October 1980) is a Canadian-born Hong Kong actor, singer, rapper, fashion designer and entrepreneur. Chen is the co-founder of CLOT, a Hong Kong-based streetwear and fashion label. Debuting in 19 ...
as Ryosuke Takahashi and
Shawn Yue Shawn Yue Man-lok (born 13 November 1981) is a Hong Kong actor and singer. A former model, he has starred in many films, such as '' Jiang Hu'', '' Infernal Affairs II'', the ''Love in the Buff'' film series, '' Mad World'' and '' The Brink'', and ...
as Takeshi Nakazato. Despite many changes to the original story, the movie was met with critical acclaim and was nominated for multiple awards, including Best Picture, at the
Hong Kong Film Awards The Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA; ), founded in 1982, is an annual film awards ceremony in Hong Kong. The ceremonies are typically in April. The awards recognise achievement in various aspects of filmmaking, such as directing, screenwriting, ac ...
and
Golden Horse Awards The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards () is a film festival and awards ceremony held annually in Taiwan. It was founded in 1962 by the Government Information Office of the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan. The awards ceremony is us ...
, winning many of them. A sequel has been in discussion since the following year after the movie has debuted. However, a concrete conclusion could not be reached due to several obstacles which includes the storyline, filming locations, casts, and safety reasons. As of March 2015, director and producer, Andrew Lau, has once again reconfirmed in an exclusive interview that a sequel will surely follow but is tight-lipped on the release date. Jay Chou and Edison Chen will reprise their roles in the sequel.


Soundtracks

The anime series sold 700,000
soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' ...
units up until 2000. At a price of , soundtrack album sales grossed approximately . The live-action film's theme songs sold million units, grossing approximately . In total, the franchise sold approximately million
soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...
units, grossing approximately () in soundtrack sales. Some of their most famous soundtracks include "
Deja Vu Deja or Dejah may refer to: * Deja News, an archive of messages posted to Usenet discussion groups and its successor ''deja.com'' * Andreas Deja (born 1957), German animator * Dejah Mulipola (born 1998), American softball player * Dejah Thoris, a ...
", "Gas Gas Gas", and " Running in the 90's", all of which are
Eurobeat Eurobeat refers to two styles of dance music that originated in Europe: one is a British variant of Italian Eurodisco-influencedAng, Ien & Morley, David (2005). "Cultural Studies: Volume 3, Issue 2". ''Routledge''. pgs. 171, 173, 170. . "Eurorec ...
songs by Italian musicians.


Reception


Commercial reception

As of July 2013, collected ''
tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...
'' volumes of the ''Initial D'' manga series sold 48million copies. As of April 2021, ''Initial D'' had over 55 million copies in circulation. At an average price of , the manga has grossed approximately () in tankōbon volume sales. In addition, the total circulation of its manga chapters in ''
Weekly Young Magazine is a Japanese weekly anthology magazine published in Tokyo each Monday by Kodansha. The magazine was started on June 23, 1980 and is targeted at the adult male ( ''seinen'') demographic. It was published bimonthly (under the title ), on the seco ...
'' issues between 6 November 1995 and 29 July 2013 amounted to approximately copies, with those issues grossing approximately () in sales revenue. The ''Initial D'' anime series sold over 1million
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
units in Japan up until 2008. At an average price of , video sales grossed approximately up until 2008. '' Initial D Fifth Stage'' (2012) sold
home video Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD, Blu-ray and streaming me ...
units, grossing . In Japan, the live-action Hong Kong film sold 250,000 DVD units, grossing approximately (). In total, the franchise has sold approximately million video units in Japan, grossing approximately () in video sales revenue. The ''Initial D Third Stage'' anime film grossed () at the Japanese box office. The anime ''
New Initial D the Movie is a 2014–2016 Japanese anime film series based on the manga series ''Initial D'' by Shuichi Shigeno. The movie is a retelling of the early stages of the manga and is split into three parts with the first part, ''Legend 1: Awakening'' releas ...
'' trilogy grossed $2,660,288 at the
East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...
n box office. The live-action ''Initial D'' Hong Kong film grossed at the worldwide box office. Combined, the ''Initial D'' films have grossed approximately at the worldwide box office.


Critical response

''Initial D'' received praise. The Anime Review rated it A−, with the reviewer calling it "simply the best show I've seen in a long time." Bamboo Dong of ''
Anime News Network Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and oth ...
'' rated it B−, stating it "is the first time in a long while since I've been so fired up about a series, so I recommend to everyone to at least check this out." Some fans of ''Initial D'' reacted negatively to the Tokyopop's extensive editing and changes made in the English-language version of the manga. Similar reactions were made towards their English dub's script and voice acting, and the removal of the original music from the anime series. Tokyopop said that it was trying to Americanize the series so it could be aired on television, while at the same time keeping the Japanese spirit of the series. According to Funimation officials, the re-release of the anime has "done well". Reviews of the series note a marked improvement from the Tokyopop iteration, with most complaints leveled against the lack of anamorphic widescreen on the DVDs. ''Initial D'' has drawn comparisons to the later ''
Fast & Furious ''Fast & Furious'' (also known as ''The Fast and the Furious'') is a media franchise centered on a series of action films that are largely concerned with street racing, heists, spies, and family. The franchise also includes short films, a t ...
'' film franchise (debuted 2001), particularly '' The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift'' (2006), for which ''Initial D''s consultant
Keiichi Tsuchiya is a Japanese professional race car driver. He is known as the for his nontraditional use of drifting in non-drifting racing events and his role in popularizing drifting as a motorsport. In professional racing, he is a two-time 24 Hours of Le ...
served as a stunt coordinator and stuntman and also made a cameo appearance in the film as a fisherman.


See also

*''
MF Ghost is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Shuichi Shigeno. It has been serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Young Magazine'' since September 2017, with its chapters collected into fifteen ''tankōbon'' volumes as of September 2022. ...
'', another car racing-themed manga series by the same author, connected to ''Initial D'' and a follow-up to the series *''
Wangan Midnight is a Japanese racing manga series written and illustrated by Michiharu Kusunoki. It was first serialized in Shogakukan's '' Big Comic Spirits'' in 1990, but was later serialized in Kodansha's '' Weekly Young Magazine'' from 1992 to 2008. T ...
'', another car racing-themed manga produced by Michiharu Kusonoki, focusing on highway racing in Tokyo's
Bayshore Route The signed as Route B, is one of the routes of the tolled Shuto Expressway system in the Greater Tokyo Area. The Bayshore Route is a stretch of toll highway that runs from the Kanazawa ward of Yokohama in the west, northeast to the city of ...
.


Notes


References


External links


''Initial D'' at Kodansha's official site



Initial D Fifth Stage Official Website
- ''
Animax , stylized as ANIMAX, is a Japanese animation satellite television network, dedicated to broadcasting anime programming. The channel also dubbed other cartoons in Japanese language. A subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan, it is headq ...
''
Initial D Arcade Stage Version 3.0

Initial D Games Official Website
- ''
Sega is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its international branches, Sega of America and Sega Europe, are headquartered in Irvine, California and London, r ...
''
Initial D Games Official Website
- ''Sega''
North America Premier of the Live-action ''Initial D'' film
* {{Authority control Initial D 1995 manga 1998 anime television series debuts 1999 anime television series debuts 2000 anime OVAs 2001 anime films 2002 anime OVAs 2004 anime television series debuts 2007 anime OVAs 2008 anime OVAs 2012 anime television series debuts Action anime and manga Animated television series about auto racing Animated television series about teenagers Anime series based on manga Avex Group Coming-of-age anime and manga Fuji TV original programming Funimation Gallop (studio) Kodansha manga Madman Entertainment anime Madman Entertainment manga Manga adapted into films Motorsports in anime and manga Seinen manga Studio Deen Tokyopop titles