If you’ve watched the ”Fast & Furious Tokyo Drift” and you’re a fan of drifting, then you should check out a show called “Initial D.” Initial D is an anime series about racing cars down a mountain pass. In Japanese it is called Toge racing which means Mountain Pass Racing. The story portrays how a high school student has become a legend in Gunma prefecture which is a large mountainous area in Japan. The main character, Takumi Fujiwara drives a Toyota Corolla Panda Trueno AE86. He is a delivery boy who delivers tofu every morning, passing through the twisty, windy roads of Mt. Akina. Drivers who’ve heard rumors from all across the region challenged him to a race on the Toge. He faces many challenges that would change him from an ordinary delivery boy to a legendary street racer.

This series started as a manga created by the author, Shuichi Shigeno, who also owned a Toyota Corolla Panda Trueno AE86. The manga was released back on November 6, 1995. then later became an anime on April 18, 1998. Shigeno was inspired by actual Japanese street racing. Drifting was because of the Japanese “Drift King” Keiichi Tsuchiya who also owns a Trueno AE86. It’s Tsuchiya’s different drifting techniques that helped Initial D and drifting gain so much popularity. The story and plot are plain and simple, but the journey is what makes this series exciting and fun. All the unique styles of every driver showing off different skills and techniques, and the animation progressively got better and better. The reason was that it’s an old series and the animation was old. But It improved throughout the years

Initial D is one of the most popular animes in the racing genre. Not only is it one of my personal favorites it is alsoone of the reasons why I love cars. I give this series a 5/5 because the series shows that a plain and simple plot can become a very exciting adventure. It has very basic storytelling, and it shows an accurate portrayal of the lifestyle of a drift racer and the Japanese style of drifting. If you love racing and drifting, I would recommend this series to you.

“Initial D.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 18 Apr. 1998, www.imdb.com/title/tt0385426/.

“Keiichi Tsuchiya.” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/name/nm1484306/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm.

“Shuichi Shigeno.” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/name/nm1482322/.