For my weekly manga read this week, here's one that's probably long overdue on my end. BACKGROUND:
Between the prominence of the anime (and its use of Eurobeat tracks, which eventually became a meme online) and the presence of the racing games in the arcades I used to frequent as a kid, it's hard for me not to be at least familiar with Initial D. That said, I actually don't know anything about the story and its characters beyond the fact that it's about people racing and drifting on mountain roads. SUMMARY: Initial D's story is set primarily in a town close to Mount Akina in the Gunma Prefecture of Japan, where the mountain roads are a popular spot for street racing. A young man named Iggy (probably a localization name) is particularly enthusiastic about this, and he shares his love for cars and racing with his close friend Takumi Fujiwara (or Tak for short). Tak, however, doesn't seem to care too much, which leads Iggy to think he's a complete car noob. Early on in the story, Iggy and Tak discuss getting a car, which is more or less an impossibility with how little they're making as gas station attendants who are still in high school. The conversations of the two friends are eventually overheard by Cole Iketani, who also works at the gas station. He shares that he's actually the leader of the Akina Speed Stars, a local racing group who regularly race the treacherous roads of Mount Akina. Cole invites Iggy and Tak to watch the Speed Stars race, so they head up the mountain on Cole's car. Before that, however, Cole's boss tells him the tale of a legendary racer who is the fastest to ever race its roads, but using only a humble Toyota Trueno (referred to throughout the book as the Eight-Six). Said story sounds like a farfetched tale, but the book makes it clear when the old man Cole was speaking to makes a call to Bunta Fujiwara, the owner of a tofu shop. In this conversation, it's established that the legend is true and refers to Bunta himself, but there's another twist: he's no longer driving the Eight-Six mentioned in the story. Bunta reveals that while the Eight-Six is still zooming around Mount Akina on a regular basis, it is actually his son driving in order to make early morning tofu deliveries. And in case you haven't put it together yet, Bunta's son is none other than Tak himself. Meanwhile, Iggy and Tak are out watching the Speed Stars do their thing when the Red Suns (a racing team from another area) roll up their turf looking for a challenge. The Red Suns are led by the Takahashi brothers, two impressive racers with enough notoriety that Cole even mentions that they've had magazine features about them. Cole is eager to prove that his team is the top dog on their home turf, but it's clear that the Red Suns are a force to be reckoned with. As for the Takahashi brothers, Ry and K.T. have a clear goal: go across the Kanto region beating racing records until they're known as the best racers in the entire region. Things take a turn for the interesting when K.T. heads home for the night. As he's driving down the mountain, he runs into none other than the Eight-Six of legend (driven by Tak, unbeknownst to everyone except his dad). The Eight-Six completely smokes K.T.'s more advanced Mazda in the impromptu encounter, and the experience left K.T. determined to run into this phantom racer again and beat him in a race. Back home, Cole does some investigating on his own and eventually finds Bunta's tofu shop (and even spots the Eight-Six parked outside). On his first trip to the shop, he's shocked to find that Tak lives there, and is quick to question if Tak is actually as clueless about cars as he lets on. Cole goes back in a later chapter to confront Bunta when he finds out that K.T. ran into the mythical Eight-Six. Desperate to assert their dominance over the Red Suns, Cole implores Bunta to mentor him, but the latter advises him to more or less learn by doing. Cole's obsession with getting better ends with him getting into a crash, which leaves him too injured to race for the Speed Stars in their next encounter with the Red Suns. Seeing an opportunity, Bunta asks Tak (who is looking to use the car for a personal trip) to race on behalf of the Speed Stars, with the condition that Tak is granted permission if he does so. Tak relents, but the book ends on a cliffhanger with Tak arriving fashionably late to the race (much to Cole's relief, who had faith that Bunta would come through on a 50/50 promise that the Eight-Six might turn up). Street racing has always had an innate thrill to it, but the book's unique setting of Mount Akina adds a whole new level of drama to it. It's made clear throughout the story that it takes more than just a beefed-up car and speed to navigate the mountain roads at top speed; plenty of emphasis is placed on the driver's skill at maneuvering dangerous turns with impressive techniques like drifting. All this being the case made reading about the races much more exciting than if it were just a drag race along a straight road, as there are a lot more interesting variables to watch out for than just raw speed or a souped-up engine. The Eight-Six is emblematic of this aspect, as it's looked down upon by the racer characters as an outclassed model, but Tak's driving demonstrates that it's the man the makes the car and not the other way around. The rivalry between the Speed Stars and the Red Suns seems pretty one-sided until the legend of the Eight-Six comes into play. I can't say I cared about anybody winning the rivalry before that point, as the Takahashi brothers were clearly leagues above the Speed Stars. It's a shame that the volume ends before the race even begins, as I can see the story becoming much more interesting when the Red Suns actually take a loss and start to work towards beating Tak. I can't say that I'm that invested in any of the characters yet as there's not a lot to them in this first volume. There are tidbits here and there, like Bunta still having the thrill for racing despite being an old man content to run his shop, but others don't have much other than one personality trait. Of course, I'm sure this is something that is expanded upon in later volumes. Tak himself is not someone I'm invested as a protagonist just yet, as he doesn't really care about what's going on for most of the volume. The most character he gets is a subplot regarding his renewed relationship with fellow student Natalie, a friend he drifted apart from after an incident involving her boyfriend. Even then, that has nothing to do with what the book is setting him up to do, and he mostly just dwells on his past feelings and tries to reckon with his present ones towards Natalie. Again, this is probably something explored more in later volumes, but as of now, it feels unconnected to the premise of the manga. Speaking of Natalie, it's clear that she's looking to reconnect with Tak in a romantic way, as she is quick to insist on a date after suggesting that they bury the hatchet. The suddenness is certainly odd (as it's not shown why Natalie is even interested after what seems like an extended time apart), but what unnerves me about Natalie's treatment in the story is how pretty much every appearance of hers sexualizes her in some manner (largely in terms of how characters talk about her, but there are visual instances as well), with the creepiest part being her bizarre relationship with an unseen, unnamed character. I can really feel that the art in this manga is hand-drawn, as there's a certain rough quality to some of the linework and the texturing for a lot of panels. I also thought the light grays being more dominant than pure white was notable, and all these elements plus the solid level of detail for the characters and background elements come together to deliver a visually striking package. Naturally, the art style shines the most when depicting cars moving at full throttle, as they're drawn in a way that not only gets across the blistering speed they're traveling at, but also the intense forces of the sharp turns and drifting. I don't recall reading any other piece of visual media that depicts the movement of cars in such an effective and impactful manner, and it might take me a while to find something that makes me feel like I'm actually in the car feeling all the G-forces and the speed just by looking at how they're drawn. VERDICT: Initial D is probably one of the most well-known and iconic manga series ever, and while the story doesn't quite kick into full gear in the first volume, there's more than enough in here that I can easily see why it became so popular. Both the premise of racing up and down dangerous mountain roads and how that is depicted in the art had me hooked from the start, and I am more than willing to finish this series just to see more of that. I can't say I'm as invested in the overarching plot or the characters, but I can see the potential of storylines like the Red Suns becoming the underdogs, and how Tak may go from indifferent to perhaps the greatest street racer in all of Japan. This is another series I'm seriously considering continuing, and I may even go the extra mile and watch a bit of the anime (which is totally not an excuse to listen to some Eurobeat). There's probably no argument that this can be considered an "essential" manga given its pop culture impact, so there's merit in reading Initial D on that alone. Personally, I think car guys would get a kick out of this story, and I'm not just saying that because there are cars in Initial D (or that they talk about cars in a more in-depth manner). I feel this to be the case because one of my close friends is a car guy and loves this manga, though I've never asked if it was the manga that led to his passion or the other way around. - end -
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