Initial D - 21 Years Later, Still A Must-Watch Anime 

Nothing will ever beat Takumi's 2D rendered face staring blankly out of a 3D rendered 80s toyota lmao

Deja Vu: Singer: Italian Show: Japanese Name: French Lyrics: Engrish

Hold up hold up hold up. Did this man say that this was his girlfriend's favorite anime. This man got a good one

it makes me sad that more people know initial d only through memes and have never actually gotten into this wonderful show

As long as car guys exist, this anime will never become irrelevant. Also EIGHT UH SIX UH

Just from my personal experience. Don't ever play Eurobeat while driving on the open road. You will be tempted.

Reasons not to watch the Legends Movies:- 1. No Eurobeat 2. No Eurobeat 3. No Eurobeat

What’s funny is most people only know Deja vu but in the show it played for like 20 sec

Initial d has the greatest soundtrack. this is not an opinion, it’s a fact Edit: usually I’m open to opinions. But for eurobeat I’m willing to bend my morals

STOP DON'T DO IT ! Prices of ae86 are inflated enough!

I can not overstate how Initial D has impacted my life. Although I was always interested in cars as a boy it was more along the lines of "oh look, a cool sports car!" or playing NFS with friends. Also, when I got my license I alredy loved to go driving in warm summer nights with my first car (an old Mitsubishi Colt). However when I watched Initial D in my late teens it was like fanning the embers of my fledgeling car enthusiasm. I sucked it up like a sponge, started to read about driving dynamics, mechanical systems, engine and suspension setups and all that. I began working on my cars, bought aftermarket parts and worked on learning things like heel-toe, left foot braking and stuff. Also, while I liked my cheap japanese cars before, now I began to love them for their character, nimble cornering and ease of working on them. I learned that it's not just horsepower that matters but feedback from your car and first and foremost that it's fun while driving. And today, a decade after watching Initial D for the first time, I've owned multiple 80s and 90s JDM cars, modified them, driven thousands of kilometers for fun, been to so many car meets I can't count them anymore and found friends I've been though thick and thin with. All that because I'm a weeb who took a late 90s anime a bit too serious :P But I'm damn glad I did...

Then he gets trolled by his own father, who is driving a impreza

I haven't watched Initial D since it was... *Running in the '90s*

If your girlfriend's favorite anime is Initial D, chances are, you probably don't deserve her. Whatever you do, don't let go.

Fun fact: the movie's portrayal of the "inertia drift" completely biffs the whole move with its cuts, while the original shows the move properly The technique is when you chain a drift on one side of the car to the other without having to break or clutch kick at all, just turning the wheel in the direction of the next turn hard enough to whip the car around (which is made difficult in needing the front wheels to maintain traction AND not whip the car too hard or else you'll spin out) The original clearly shows you the move from behind while the movie just cuts from the car aimed in one direction to forcing it to the other without any indication of how it actually happened

hi normie anime fans: welcome to the initial d fandom

I never found the CG to be a huge problem tbh.

Friend:There arent any good christmas movies Me:Excuse me have you ever seen initial d third stage

Imo, the "bad graphics and animations" are an essential part of initial d. It wouldnt be the same without it. Also, lots of initial d fans consider the 1st stage to be their favorite. It certainly is mine as well

Akina Incel Stars is absolutely accurate.

Initial D: The reason we have Tokyo Drift, the Subaru BRZ, Formula Drift and half of America's modern tuner culture...

This is the anime version of "Graphics aren't everything". This show is amazing and you guys shouldn't pass it up because the art and CGI are crazy old.

What I always found impressive about Initial D were the distinct car sounds. It’s just that more satisfying to watch

"Tofu Shop" was a money laundering front. Takumi was a drug runner. The more you think about the low profit in tofu vs. operating the Trueno, and the clandestine middle of the night high-speed deliveries; the more sense it makes.

Initial D - an anime of great ost's.

Do you mean rewatch right!??? *deja vu* ........

There should be a spin-off pre-qual. Telling the story of Bunta that how he became a racer, how he was like when was young, who he raced, how he met Takumi's mother and what actually happened to her, a special scene of him buying the AE86 from the showroom and some scenes showcasing how he and Takumi modified the ride over the years.

Honestly the old cgi made the series so much cooler, it was so advanced in that era

He says clunky old CGI, but half the studios today can't composite to save their lives, lmao. Like, Initial-D is still better than the CGI in some modern day anime.

That's an easy answer: "Hell yeah, you should check out Initial D!" The anime is amazing and the soundtrack is a classic banger.

Other anime fans - I bought my fav anime merches and cosplays from my fav anime Initial D fans - I bought and built my fav car from Initial D

Woo boi Takumi tax gonna hit harder this year

My fave thing about Initial D music is that you know it's Initial D music in under ten seconds. AND I HAVEN'T WATCHED ANYTHING OF IT

This anime singlehandedly got me back to what my childhood loved the most: Racing. I can't thank the franchise enough for it.

Iketani and Mako left a pit in my stomach.

Every few months I get the urge to watch that first racing arc of Initial D. The 3D animation and compositing of the first stage may be antiquated, but it has a certain charm to it only helped by the fantastic sound and music work. Additionally, that first race arc is a masterclass in dramatic irony, with the audience, Bunta, and his close friend being the only ones aware of Takumi’s potential and what the whole arc is building up to. Even Takumi himself is ignorant of the skill he possesses, and as a result his friends take him for some kind of moron. They don’t even realize that his disinterest comes from unwittingly being so far above their level. All of the setups for the other people he would later race really give you the feeling of being at the tip of the iceberg. Watching the whole thing unfold over those first six episodes is a joy every time I sit down for it again.

>Sees Title >Don't do it. Me: "Inisharu D! Doo doo doo.. weeeeeooo!" _GOSH DARN IT._

I actually liked the disconnect between the normal anime and the janky cgi. I don't know why exactly. It just added a bit of uniqueness.

I just finished Initial D, a true masterpiece. I can't recommend it enough.

Initial D is my favourite anime of all time. The dated animation and CG of the first season are a non issue. It doesn't matter. The CG just adds to the experience in my opinion. And it gets WAY better every season. The legend movies, while having gorgeous animation, having different (japanese) voice actors for the characters, and the lack of Eurobeat is just the dealbreaker. I actually convinced two friends, neither of whom have any interest in cars, to watch season 1 with me. They were both completely hooked by episode 5. Its just a masterpiece in anime.

Initial D is more than just the memes. A LOT MORE in fact.

Thank you for calling out Eurobeat's origin in Italo Disco. Now, talk about Read or Die.

I came across this as a youngin, from the arcade game. So many quarters spent, so many high stakes races on a Friday night. Fights, close friends the whole thing. Literally life changing, got me into cars and appreciation for motorsport. Before Tokyo drift was even thought of.

For me, I was hooked from the very first scene. A little context: for most of my life, I've mainly listened to classic rock. Eagles, Aerosmith, Led Zeplin, my parents passed down their music tastes to me pretty hard. So the show opens with cricket chirps and a quiet, forest-surrounded mountain road. As a few angles are shown to you, distant tire squealing is heard. As you see a hairpin corner, a guitar riff plays, the opening beat of Dave Rodgers' Space Boy. Drums kick in as you are shown more of that iconic pass. The bass begins to pick up as the images cycle faster. Then, as you see the AE86 for the first time, the song changes, losing the guitar in favor of an upbeat keyboard. As one of the best Eurobeat songs ever crafted plays, you see Takumi's skills first hand as he effortlessly flies through the corners, racing home from his early morning delivery. The moment the music changed, was the moment my taste in music changed. The opening riff is indicative of 70s classic rock. A simple, catchy guitar accompanied by a nice drum beat. It could have easily been straight out of a Fleetwood Mac song. That shift though, it hooked me. I was instantly engaged, and loving every minute of it, outdated visuals be damned. It sparked a new interest in me. An interest in the show, in JDM cars, in Japanese night culture, and in Eurobeat. While I'm still a huge fan of classic rock, that opening montage has forever imprinted my choice in song, and whenever I go driving in my 1990 FC3S, you bet some 90's dance music is coming with me.

Me: are you a virgin? Her: This is my initial D

I just finished Initial D a month ago and now my life feels empty... It is really special and nothing is quite like it. Also planning to visit mount Haruna, on which mount Akina is based, this summer.

I just came here to remember the amazing time I had watching this back when I used to watch anime at anime "cycles" (as we used to called them): Weekend screening that showed one chapter of several series every Saturday. This is how I watched initial D. In a theater full of people screaming and reacting to it. No wonder years later (just some years ago) "move", the band that played the score, played a gig at an Otaku event. And we all danced to the initial D OST being played live and LOVED IT!!

I finished First Stage a week ago and I can say Initial D is one of my favorite Anime now. And thanks to Initial D, I began to show a lot of interest in cars and have an actual topic to talk about with my dad since he's quite knowledgeable about cars

*Mother's Basement posts a video about Initial D* Me: (I watched Initial D for 1000 times) ah shit, here we go again.

The downhill battles dont rival shounen fights ... They're straight up better

Initial D is an S tier anime and you cannot be considered a true anime fan without watching it. It's one of the classics that all anime fans have to watch

That feel when you will never be a Japanese street racer.

Man You just about killed me with the "Akina Incel Stars" line

86% of comments: Deja Vu memes 13% Casual normies 1% Intellectual hashiriya

Other anime's: ILL WIN WITH THE POWER OF FRIENDHSIP Takumi: ill win with tuning my car, and listening to eurobeat

Mate, you were so right. I am currently 19 episodes into Initial D first season and I am LOVING it. The adrenaline, the tension it is so real, and the sounds, oh my god, the sound. It is so worth it.

The moment they played "Forever young" is my favorite moment of the series. Thank you for letting me relive my nostalgia with this video

Initial D-The anime that made JDM cars HELLA EXPENSIVE to buy today

The animation was very likely processed by Silicon Graphics hardware. Between the 80s and the mid 2000's most animation work stations were made by this company and corporations purchased them for their easier to use interface provided by IRIX.

I like how you played the Remember Me song from the 1st stage :') it's one of my top 3 favorite Eurobeat songs. I got into Initial D and anime as a whole because my mall's arcade used to have the arcade game and that was my favorite song to race to in the game. It was how I learned how the manual transmission works which got me into driving stick-shift and got me into cars... Man, I'll hold this series very close to me forever just because of all the things I got introduced to by getting into this series.

Initial D is a masterpiece. My fav anime.

*flashbacks to Regular Car Reviews* WEEABOO. WEEABOO WEEABOO WEEABOO.

This is your best video, and potentially the best anime video I’ve seen on RU-vid.

Wangan midnight and shatokan boogie are amazing auto-animes too

This was my childhood anime. It's what got me into cars and Eurobeat.

Roses are red Violets are blue *"Deja Vu"* *"Deja Vu"* But jokes aside this anime is actually good.

I watched this anime 3 yrs ago still my favourite and best anime I've watched some far this anime got me into drifting Also shingo is god

I’ve watched initial d almost 13 times and it gives me chills watching it still. It got me interested in cars and now cars are pretty much my life. And the eurobeat never gets old.

Initial D was the anime that got me into anime as a whole, and I continue to stand by it as one of the best out of the anime that I've watched. The only downside is that it's permanently influenced my music tastes, and now all my playlists have at least one eurobeat song XD

I felt so sad when iketani lost mako, I would've loved seeing those two together for the later stages... COOL VIBRATIONS!

18:38 the intensiveness of this scene still gets my blood boiling. Especially after comparing it to the legend movie version of this show. Even after having watched it a million times. Goes to show how good the sound designs of this show is.

Track list: 1. Beat of the rising sun - Dave Rodgers 2. Running in the 90s - Max Coveri 3. Crazy on emotion - Ace 4. Stop your self control - Marko Polo 5. Let's go, come on - Manuel 6. Remember me - Leslie Parrish 7. Deja vu - Dave Rodgers 7⅓. No one sleep in Tokyo (from the anime scene) - Edo Boys 7⅔. Deja vu - Dave Rodgers 8. Wait for you - Ace If i missed some please let me know.

I got no impression This town is made by the imitation Wanting your sensation In this silly simulation I wanna rage my dream

Initial D is my favorite anime of all time.

Thank you! Initial D was my favorite anime and still is. Such a childhood show and it was one of many shows to show me car knowledge. Its old but amazing!!

The thing about me is that I generally LOVE cars. It's just a big thing for me since I was small. I have heard about Initial D a lot, I just never got interested it back then since I don't really like anime. Until this year, Summer 2020, as I got bored, I got hooked up to watch some anime since I was super bored. Surprisingly enough, the first ever anime that I ever watch "full time" is Initial D. I have never regretted it to this day, it both makes me more educated in cars, like their physics, engine differences and specs, and it's just a story that never really intended to be just racing at the same time. The anime showed actual stories, developing interests to anyone besides for car guys. I just don't understand why this is just so underrated, who cares if the CGI was bad, it was old but GREAT. It's only famous through the memes like Deja Vu or Running In The 90s. Although those kept the anime alive, it just doesn't feel like it's the energy that Initial D has. I just hope that the next Initial D sequel MF Ghost can hook up this anime as time goes on, 'cause let's be honest, this anime needs more attention and love.

*WAIT, THIS ANIME WAS 21 YEARS AGO?!* damn, i feel old...

Finally! I was waiting for someone "known" to talk about this great anime (my favourite in fact), thanks for making this video.

I love how searching for Initial D on youtube, half the results are Eurobeat remixes.

I never watched a show because of stupid memes. I started on Initial D during the winter of 2001 because of my uncle. While JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure I started with the manga NOT starting with the anime & memes. It’s cool if that’s how you get into it BUT don’t act all high & mighty lol. Anyone else reading the sequel to Initial D aka MF GHOST?

Everyone: Initial D: multi-track train drifting

Even car guys who dont watch anime, watch initial D. it is clunky to watch at times, but its just that good

Honestly one of your best videos, very clever how you held onto the euro beat segment. I like inhaled fresh air lmao. Nice

1:28, wrong, AE86s were sold worldwide and while the name is different, they're still the same chassis with a LSD and 4AGE. US got them as Corolla GT-S's, Europe as Corolla GTs, and ofc, Japan's Sprinter Trueno and Corolla Levin GT-Apex and GT-V (the latter is a stripped down GT-Apex without air con)

He came up from the bottom, and straight to the top.

Oh dear, this anime... Got me into anime... But like... I barely knew cars, my uncles did, cuz, heh, they street raced at the time... The early 2000's with the rise of gangsta rap and xhibit's pimp my ride, man...

this show turned me on to eurobeat so hard that i always play it in any racing game i play and i honestly cant drive the same without it

I actually went in reverse; I watched the Legend movies first and then discovered the anime. Fell in love with both. It's kind of an easy transition; the anime series fills in all the missing parts the Legend movies left out, and by watching the anime, you get the complete story- and it's a really good one! I love it!

But the most important question is: “D o y o u l i k e m y c a r ?”

As a car guy Initial D basically got me into anime in my teen years. But damn that wait between stages 4, 5 and final were long.

I love that I was waiting for the discussion of the soundtrack, and you nailed the fact I was practically shouting at the screen for the discussion.

Started watching yesterday for the first time, this is the first anime I've watched and I'm absolutely hooked.

Initial D is similar to jojo: community of memes, and a difficulty to make others watch the show despite how good is it cause "it is really old" or "i dont like cars" In the case of initial D or "I dont like buff man anime" In case of jojos

21 years later and I’m still blasting the soundtrack as I speed and drift around the city in my 350z fun af 😜

Thank you. This is the most professional review of Initial D I have seen. This highlights the show's pros and cons with a clear, and in my opinion, well judged recommendation to watch the series. Also, thank you for mentioning more than just Eurobeat. Cheers.

I just watched initial d this quarantine just amazing everything the hype, the flow of the story, the characters everything is just amazing.

Hopefully MF Ghost got an anime adaptation and with Eurobat as the osts. Also, would you cover Wangan Midnight too? It's a racing anime that takes place in the highway and uses crazy powered cars for the time.

there's no such thing as Initial D without Eurobeat

I remember seeing the legend movies some years back and finding an edit someone had done using the original Eurobeat Soundtrack.

this is one of the greatest video essay's on this site... thank you sir