Anime News Part 2 of 2

My long-time friend Serdar Yegulalp is out at the New York Anime Fest this week and brought back some news for me (I should add that my beautiful wife informed me of this earlier in the day but she’s not AT NYAF where the announcement happened).

Initial D First Stage, Second Stage, Extra Stage, Third Stage, and Fourth Stage will be rereleased by FUNimation in the US with rerecorded dubs and original music preserved.

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*pee*

Here’s a nice fancy news link.

When Tokyopop announced the release of Initial D back when I was in college (maybe 2001 or so), I skipped and danced and acted like a fool. The first volume of the manga came out and it was great. Then Tokyopop really turned me into the fool.

Instead of bringing us a manga and tv show with a preinstalled fanbase, Tokyopop decided to second guess us. Americans won’t get all those… Japanese names. With the Asians and what not. And how come the cars don’t have spoilers and fartcan mufflers? And what’s with this thumping eurobeat? Americans listen to THE RAP MUSIC.

Tokyopop did everything they could to make Initial D acceptable to an American audience, from shortening the names, to adding unnecessary special effects into the visuals, changing the music that helps make the show what it is.

The first volume of the manga had the names all correct, so this change clearly came from on-high late in the game. An open letter from Tokyopop joked rather insultingly about including a bottle of white-out and a felt-tip pen with the manga so that fans could make their own edits. Of course Initial D was being “positioned for a younger audience,” which makes sense because IT IS A SHOW ABOUT CARS. So some important plot points involving sex were modified. Honestly, I never read the manga past volume 1. I’d already seen the first two stages of the show twice through by that point.

I never would’ve watched the US DVDs either, if it hadn’t been for our friends at AdvancedMN Anime. I was able to review the box sets of the first and second stages, reprinted by FUNimation. I was surprised. Despite Tokyopop’s best efforts, the dub actually was not bad. I grew to like the actors portrayals of the characters, despite the stupid names, obnoxious rap music (Initialiiiiiize, Customiiiiiize), and “tricked out” car sounds and visuals. I wouldn’t mind seeing them back for the new dub!

FUNimation’s decision to do this shows me their commitment, once again, to the fanbase. Of course they could go and screw it up, but they’ve built up a pretty good reputation for doing this stuff right. It’s fairly safe to assume the money is already out of my wallet and in their hands.

FUNi, are you taking preorders? I want to help!

This was some of the best news I’ve heard on the anime front in a while! Now, how about a manga rerelease? BIG-style, similar to VIZ. I’d pick it up, if you did it right, guys.