Initial D

Initial D. Cars at their limits, drifting, dangerous mountain passes.
This manga starts off as a comedy/sports car manga, with jokes and being focused on characters and the story. My favorite parts are mostly in volumes 1-5. After that the manga focuses more on the sport in itself rather than the story, the cast becomes a stable roster with only oponents being exchanged every battle. That being said the art is like no other car manga and the battles are executed very well, but the story hops in the backseat and is along for the ride for the most part after the first fourth of the series. Still even with the story being a little janky, this series has no competition and stands as the undefeated king of car manga :).

I don't recommend for newcomers to this series to start with the manga, because of the format you sacrifice the best thing about Initial D; high adrenaline eurobeat fueled battles with masterful sound design present in the anime. Read the manga after if you really like Initial D and care about the characters and want to know more (there isn't really that much) about them. If you still really want to read a manga about cars i'd recommend series like Over Rev!, Kanojo no Carrera or Wangan Midnight, with first of the two being more story driven than Initial D.

Let me first start off by stating this. If you want to read a manga(or watch an anime) that has awesome real life racing elements, look no further than Initial D. This so far is a fantastic piece of work and gradually gets better the more you get into it. I remember reading 3 volumes a day because I could not get enough of the adrenaline pumpin' races. The suspense, racing strategies, and gorgeous artwork make this manga extremely hard to put down.

HOWEVER. This manga does have flaws that set it back from being a true racing masterpiece. Which I will divulge in this database ranking system review.

Story: 7

The story is very predictable. And really there is not too much excitement in it either. Beat one opponent in a race then battle another harder opponent on another mountain. Beat every team in this region, enter a new one. Which is not bad at all, it's just very predictable. I gotta say, though the story is linear, the tournament battle system theme fits so perfectly in Initial D. I have been reading this manga for quite awhile now and the story is the last thing you are going to be thinking about when reading this manga.

Art: 9

WOW...freakin' WOW is what I have to say about the art in Initial D. From the beautiful background designs, to the precise and sharp design of the cars. You can guess why it's taking awhile for this manga to finish. BECAUSE THE ART IS EYE CANDY!!! If anything kept me going to reading more and more of Initial D, it's the fact that the art is one of the best out their in the manga industry. The only thing keeping the art from being a perfect 10 out 10 is the repetitiveness of some scenes during the races. You will notice that some scenes look practically no different from a few pages ago. It's rare, but you will notice it from time to time.

Character: 7

Not much to say here. New characters pop up here and there. Which kinda prevents character development from becoming great. I say this because when they do pop up it's only to battle. The main characters may not appeal to everyone because this series has more racing than character development. In other words, I am left with a blank to think what goes on through the minds of some characters. Many don't seem very memorable either and put on a not so memorable performance on their part. That being said,it still does not mean that the characters are not fit for the series, because they fit perfectly. They all have their own unique personality that shows off their racing skills.

Enjoyment: 8

You can probably already guess from what I said in the beginning of this review that the enjoyment from this manga is gonna get you sucked in the moment you start witnessing how AWESOME the style of racing is. This manga has many incredible races and they just keep getting better as the manga progresses. You will see many race elements put into Initial D that build suspense greatly, not to mention how weather plays a huge part in some of the races.

Overall: 8

For those who are not that interested in racing, or for those who love racing. Initial D appeals to any fan of action or racing. I strongly suggest you give this series a read. whether it's the anime or manga, you are going to grow an attachment to this stunning racing series.

NOTE:This review will be edited it the future when this manga ends

9/10

Takumi Fujiwara is a son of Tofu shop owner/a talanted street racer and without realizing gets to learn driving in depth because of careful regimen set by his father during his daily tofu delivery runs.
Soon Takumi ends up racing local street racers and the series is essentially the journey of him realizing his life goals and becoming a better racer.

The series isn't perfect because at times it doesn't go deep into characters or sometimes forcing the plot. (You know, bit of luck on main character's side)
But overall it never lacks in pleasing the reader and in it's own way I really like it.

I didn't knew much about JDM cars but the manga really got me interested in cars overall. Races are done really well and often the 'out-of-the-box solution' really blows you away.
Build up for some races is done really really well. Side characters and the humour would be another strength of the series.
Also, reading this while listening to eurobeats is just whole another experience.

I just like this whole journey of Tak being highschool chatting with (or rather just listening to) Iggy/Itsuku to the ending with having figured out life so much.
Just a good growing up manga!
Going to miss these guys!

Man Oh Man, this Manga, probably the best Iv'e read, if you're not a TRUE JDM, or Japanese car lover, turn away, because this anime is set in the 90s, when Touge racing was BIG.


Story; 10/10 It's generic, some teen who likes cars races to become the best in Japan, who started driving at a young age, and is a blood born racer.

Art; 10/10 Spot on! Cars have lots of detail and the characters look really nice and well drawn!

Character 6/10, it doesn't really progress throughout the anime, but I did give it the 6 points because the main character goes from a bloke who doesn't even know what his own car is to a expert driver

Now, personally if you were to read a part where people are racing, I'd recommend turning on Eurobeat, for that 90s feel!

I really recommend this Anime/Manga to any car geek.

I'm a massive fan of the series and ended up starting a collection of the manga. With constant reading, one volume takes about 2 hours to finish which is pretty great. The manga goes through some plots in the story line that the anime doesn't show! That's why I'd say it's pretty important to read it if you really want to into the nitty-gritty of it all. It ends up making a whole lot more sense in the end. The TokyoPop translation isn't a bother to me and it shouldn't be to you. Just a few name changes here and there shouldn't make you hate it. The story is what matters here.

That being said.. The characters are lovable and well thought out. There is genuinely no one who you will hate in this series and they're all easily memorable as well as the battles between them

Genuinely over all, its nothing but perfection.

Quick take: If you like drifting or cars, this is a great Manga to read. Well drawn and easy to follow, the story tells of the infamous panda Trueno.

At the time I picked up this manga, the anime was only partially licensed in the states. I had finished watching the anime, but didn't know where the story would end. So I restarted the story with the manga.

If you always wondered why the panda Trueno was famous in pop culture, you'll find it here. There's a legend about the Trueno and InitialD tells that legend.

The story line is fantastic, you see the rise of a legend and where it ends. The writing gives you insight into what the characters are thinking and feeling, which really engrosses you and makes the story that much more enjoyable.

The art is next level. The cars are drawn with incredible precision and accuracy, making the images one of the best parts of the entire manga.

Character development is great throughout the book.

Highly recommended for automotive fans and those curious about the pop culture references to this story.