Initial D
A manga and anime series about illegal street racing on Japanese mountain passes.
Initial D is a Japanese street racing manga series written and illustrated by Shuichi Shigeno, serialized from 1995 to 2013. It focuses on illegal mountain-pass racing in Gunma Prefecture, with an emphasis on drifting, and was supervised by professional drifter Keiichi Tsuchiya. The series has been adapted into multiple anime stages, films, and video games, and by 2021 had over 55 million copies in circulation.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Action
- Coming-of-age
- Sports
Facts from the source article.
Plot
Takumi Fujiwara, a high school student working at a gas station in Gunma Prefecture, has secretly honed his driving skills through years of early morning tofu deliveries for his father Bunta in their aging Toyota Sprinter Trueno (AE86). The local Akina Speed Stars racing team, led by Takumi's supervisor Koichiro Iketani, is challenged by the Red Suns from Mount Akagi. After the Red Suns' Keisuke Takahashi is defeated by a mysterious Sprinter Trueno, Bunta arranges for Takumi to race in Iketani's place. Using a gutter run technique, Takumi wins, becoming known as the Legendary Eight-Six of Akina. He later loses to Kyoichi Sudo of the Emperors and blows his engine, but Bunta replaces it. With guidance from friends, Takumi refines his technique, defeats rivals including Wataru Akiyama and the son of Bunta's old rival, and avenges his loss to Kyoichi. A personal crisis arises when his girlfriend Natsuki Mogi is kidnapped, leading to a rescue at Lake Akina, though their relationship ends amicably.
Media
The Initial D manga was serialized in Weekly Young Magazine from July 17, 1995, to July 29, 2013, with 719 chapters collected into 48 volumes. In North America, Tokyopop licensed the manga and anime in 2001, changing character names to match Sega's arcade game localizations and censoring nudity. In 2019, ComiXology and Kodansha USA released volumes 1–38 digitally, with volumes 39–48 following in July 2019. Kodansha USA announced an omnibus re-release with new translation in 2023, with the first volume released March 19, 2024; eight volumes had been released by December 2, 2025. The first anime series, Initial D First Stage, aired 26 episodes on Fuji TV from April 19 to December 6, 1998. Second Stage aired 13 episodes from October 15, 1999, to January 21, 2000. An OVA, Initial D Extra Stage, was released November 10, 2000. The film Initial D Third Stage premiered January 13, 2001. Initial D Battle Stage, a compilation of 17 races, was released May 15, 2002.
Reception
By July 2013, Initial D manga volumes had sold 48 million copies, rising to over 55 million copies in circulation by April 2021. The Anime Review gave it an A−, calling it the best show seen in a long time. Bamboo Dong of Anime News Network rated it B−, recommending it. Some fans reacted negatively to Tokyopop's editing, name changes, and removal of original music; Tokyopop stated it was Americanizing the series for television while keeping its Japanese spirit. Reviews of Funimation's re-release noted improvement, with complaints about the lack of anamorphic widescreen on DVDs. Initial D has been compared to the Fast & Furious franchise, particularly The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, for which Keiichi Tsuchiya served as stunt coordinator and made a cameo.
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