Initial D

Picking up where the Initial D: Stage 3 Movie left off Takumi has decided to race with Project D, a race team headed by Ryosuke, entering in as their downhill specialist in his newly revamped AE86. With a faster car and a crash course education in driving Takumi’s legend grows.

Since my initial reaction from the Stage 3 Movie I found the Fourth Stage Part 1 collection so much more enveloping. With a more expansive area of growth for story everything starts to make more sense and even if you haven’t seen the first few stages of Initial D you get caught up perfectly here. Animation is still incredibly well done, especially the cars during races, and story branches out in all different directions as the team battles opponents, some street racers and some more experienced. It impressed me enough to want to go back to the beginning and watch it from there.

If your not a car enthusiast or even an anime fan your still going to get sucked into this one. The races are edge of your seat, character build up perfectly executed giving you reason to root for your favorite racer. Serious nail biting will ensue. The music is fantastic only adding to the adrenaline pumping action. I really can’t find anything that really put me off this show. The DVD presentation itself is decent. Two thin cases holding one disc each and a cardboard outer cover. There are no real bonus features other then trailers for other FUNimation releases. Unlike the previous Initial D DVD I reviewed this one has a quite a bit more cussing which is a shame because this can really be a show for the whole family. Still, for serious anime collectors this is going to be a must have. Highly suggest.