May 2008 Archives

One thing I've noticed watching comedy and romantic anime is that the characters that populate these often act marginally normal at best (compared to societal norms). Usually this isn't just some randomly drawn attribute assigned by the mangaka or author, but evidence of something lying beneath the surface. It's meant to tell us something about the character that deepens our feelings about the whole story.

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I'm not going to lie to you: I'm a huge Initial D fan. The show had me the first time Takumi smoked Keisuke with an inertial drift. I can recite large portions of the first episode in Japanese. Initial D was my first fansub, my first import, and my first really hardcore anime fandom. My love for the show kept me from coming anywhere near the American release for a long time, knowing what had been done to it.

They did a lot to it, all right. Tokyopop's biggest mistake was to try and bring the show to the mainstream, in such a way that it's barely the same show. Character names were changed, the hyperactive Eurobeat was replaced with downtempo rap, and "tricked out" (their term, not mine) sound and video effects were added in an attempt to move it that much closer to the import tuner scene in America.

Despite this, the heart of the show remains unchanged. Initial D brings us to the world of Japanese street racing. Drivers compete in the winding mountain passes, driving and drifting their cars to the bottom to find out who is the fastest.

Check out the full review.