Initial D
1998–99. TV series. (39 X 30 min.) Drama. org Shuichi Shigeno (manga). dir Noboru Mitsusawa, Masami Hata, Shin’ichi Masaki, others. scr Hiroshi Toda, others. des Noboru Furuse. -bc
Initial D is based closely on Shuichi Shigeno’s popular manga about downhill mountain-road car racing in Japan’s Gunma Prefecture and the young men and women who are part of this subculture. The series boasts exciting, well-crafted racing scenes but also tells an honest, deeply moving coming-of-age story about the difficult process of finding oneself.
On Mount Akina, high school senior Takumi “Tak” Fujiwara has honed his driving skills over the previous five years by speeding down the mountain in the early morning hours making deliveries for his father’s tofu shop. Takumi also works at a gas station where the other employees include members of a local racing team called the Akina Speed Stars, whose rivals include the Akagi Red Suns and the Myogi Night Kids from neighboring mountain towns. When Tak beats one of the region’s racing stars in an impromptu downhill race, he finds himself thrust, somewhat reluctantly, into the world of touge (mountain) road racing. His close buddies, Iketani and Itsuki, of the Akina Speed Stars, are soon fielding challenges from an increasingly sophisticated group of rivals, including Mt. Akagi’s top driver, Ryosuke Takahashi. Takumi’s nonchalant attitude puzzles everyone except his single father, Bunta, once a downhill champ himself, who has made a point of guiding his son, not by example or instruction, but by subtle manipulation designed to let him find his own way. As Tak’s star rises on the roads, he finds himself drawing closer to Natsuki, an attractive girl at school, but soon learns that relationships have far more pitfalls and hairpin turns than a mountain road.
In the manga, the simple, cartoonish character design contrasts sharply with the detailed automotive drawings. The series duplicates this strategy, using 2D for the character animation and 3D CGI animation for cars and backgrounds in the racing scenes. This approach takes some getting used to, but the story is so good that one does get used to it. In Second Stage, the second TV season, the character design becomes more detailed and realistic, dropping the cartoonish aspects, although this takes getting used to as well. While the CGI is a little awkward in the early episodes, it does improve as the series progresses, until the integration of 2D characters with 3D cars and backgrounds is actually quite smooth.
In the racing scenes, the animators seem intent on coming up with a unique strategy of camera moves and edits that convey the action on the road to maximum effect. There are close-ups of hands on steering wheels, feet on brakes and accelerators, sweating faces and screeching tires intercut with long shots and aerial views showing the winding roads down which the cars are maneuvering. There are many different elements at work in these scenes which the animators chart and reveal to us in a way that opens up a fascinating new world to viewers unfamiliar with the fine points of “drifting” (a technique for negotiating sharp downhill turns). It isn’t just the actual components of the race action that draw us in, but also the attention to the details of the setting—the night sky, the street lights, the foliage, the spectators crammed behind the guard rails—so that we feel what it’s like to be standing on the side of a mountain road in Japan on a Saturday night cheering a car race.
Initial D: Third Stage (2001, movie)
Initial D: Battle Stage (2001, OAV, 2 eps.)
Initial D: Fourth Stage (2004, TV, 24 eps.)
The series’ first two seasons were known in Japan as First Stage and Second Stage and were released on DVD in the West as one series. As of publication, those seasons are the only Initial D episodes so far available in the U.S.
While the racing sequences are consistently exciting, it is the series’ attention to its young characters that keeps viewers emotionally involved throughout. We follow their development over the course of the series and their sometimes turbulent exchanges. We care for these kids because they’re believable human beings. They behave, talk, and interact like real young people. Anyone who has experienced botched relationships will immediately recognize the awkwardness of the characters here as they cope with first love. One heartbreaking image perfectly sums up the series’ sensitive treatment of this aspect of growing up as we see a sleepless Natsuki, after being spurned by an angry Takumi, crouching in anguish on the floor of her bedroom clutching a pillow.
One character who provides consistent comic relief is the diminutive Itsuki, Tak’s closest friend. Itsuki is extremely excitable and lives vicariously through Tak, hoping some of his friend’s skill and glow will rub off on him. When Tak grows closer to Natsuki, Itsuki is agitated at the thought of her interfering with Tak’s racing, but also quite pleased that his friend may finally score with a pretty girl.
The races, which tend to take up more than an entire episode each, are edited and designed with great skill and thought. It helps that there is significant build-up and appropriate dramatic weight given to each race. We understand each character’s stake in it and genuinely care what happens. As a result, these sequences are quite stimulating even to those of us who never felt an interest in this sport. The technical aspects of this form of racing, particularly the all-important practice of “drifting,” are spelled out to the point where the series might even be called educational.
The music track deserves singling out for its lively collection of catchy, pulsating songs in the Eurobeat style of J-pop music (a mix of rock, hip-hop, and techno). There are great songs in the opening and closing credit sequences (which change every few episodes) and also during the racing sequences (where they work perfectly). The instrumental tracks during the quieter scenes are expertly done as well. (Warning: the English-dubbed tracks on the U.S. DVD releases have completely new music soundtracks. Stick with the “Classic” option—Japanese original—on the DVD menu.)
Keiichi Tsuchiya, a professional Japanese auto racer and expert on the technique of “drifting” featured so prominently in the series, served as a technical adviser, going so far as to drive the exact cars featured in the show so the sound recordists could capture the right interior sounds of the cars. He also appeared in the unrelated Hollywood feature, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006).
Female racer Mako, the “Queen of Usui Pass,” is one of Tak’s most interesting opponents from a character standpoint. Her story arc is found in episodes 15–19.
In 2005, Andrew Lau and Alan Mak directed a live-action movie-version, Initial D, that was one of the biggest hits in Hong Kong that year. Its cast was headed by Taiwan singer Jay Chou, Hong Kong stars Edison Chen, Anthony Wong, and Shawn Yue, and Japanese actress Anne Suzuki.
profanity Some mild cursing.