High School student Takumi earns a living making
deliveries for his fathers Tofu’s shop.
This has also made him into one of the best under the radar drift races
in the region. Although he doesn’t think
much of his talents, Takumis skills are getting attention. Some of the best drifters around from the
best gangs are coming to town to challenge Takumi and defeat him. On the slopes of the steepest mountains, the
best of the best come to claim the title of best Drifter…and soon Takumi finds
he wants that title too and will put any challenges to the test.
So…little confession to make: I like The Fast and the
Furious: Tokyo Drift. Yeah I know it’s
the least popular in that series but dammit, I cant help but enjoy myself
everytime I watch it. The races are some
of the best, I love the Tokyo setting, and I don’t mind most of the characters
either. Why start this First Impression
with that little nugget of trivia? It’s
because I think the art of drifting is both cool and fascinating. It’s probably why I like Tokyo Drift so much
cause it focuses on that unique style of driving. It’s also why an Anime about drifting would
interest me a little, like Initial D.
After the first episode though…I don’t feel so sure.
The premiere of Initial D: First Stage shows off
everything the Initial D franchise is known for: CG Cars and races and a killer
soundtrack and both must be seen and heard to be believed. I went back and forth with the CG in the
episode. On the one hand, it looks like
it came from the same US studio that did Beast Wars: Transformers or a demo for
a Playstation 1 tie in video game (of which im sure there were a few). But I can also see how charming that visual
aspect is and why it is the most memorable part of the franchise. They definitely look better compared to the
character designs which are…to me kind of hideous. There wasn’t even a character who really
grabbed me as a fav in the first episode.
Least of the favs is main character Takumi, who doesn’t truly grasp how
awesome of a gift he has for drifting and he just acts like a direction less
slacker. It irritates me that’s all.
The other reason the CG Car Races appealed to me (and im
sure to others as well) is this legendary soundtrack they’re all paired
with. This techno/dance…hell lets just
call it Dance Dance Revolution hybrid of sounds and beats just gets you in the
mood to race or kick some ass…while racing.
The opening theme “Around the World” is one of the best ive heard in an
Anime series in a really long time.
Honestly, even if the show itself isn’t able to grab me, the small demo
disc of music could definitely incentivize me to track down the OST to jam out
to while driving…or playing a video game (if it has a sub par soundtrack).
I know Initial D is hugely popular in Japan, with several
TV and Movie sequels and, naturally, an Arcade racing game. And while the cars look cool and the
soundtrack is amazing, im not quite sold on the lead hero or the character
designs of his supporting cast. Maybe
I’m being too hard on that aspect, maybe I could give the show a couple more
episodes to grab me. It’s also going to
depend on if I have time to dedicated to several seasons and a couple movies
worth of material to get the complete experience. If you’re a bigger sports car fanatic than I am
(and chances are you might be) then Initial D might just be the thrill ride
you’re looking for. Feel the need for
speed and get ready to drive fast and furious (ok I can go into exile now for
that terrible joke).
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