First Impressions / Initial D Fifth Stage / Series Introduction

OP Sequence

OP: 「Raise Up」 by m.o.v.e.

「運命の出会い」 (Unmei no Deai)
“Encounter of Destiny”

Initial D’s fifth season might not be the place for newcomers to start as its story begins immediately after the previous season ends. It is possible though, and hopefully a brief summary of the characters will help ease viewers new to the series. Fujiwara Takumi (Miki Shinichiro) has been driving the mountain passes in Akina delivering tofu for his father Bunta’s (Ishizuka Unshou) shop ever since he was 12 years old, which has honed his drifting skills to a point approaching that of a genius. After about a year or so of racing, he has joined forces with his onetime rivals – the Takahashi brothers Ryousuke (Koyasu Takehito) and Keisuke (Seki Tomokazu) – forming a racing team called Project D. Together they travel around Japan racing at other mountain passes to hopefully improve Takumi’s and Keisuke’s skills enough for them to pursue careers as professional racers. These races form the story arc that spans across Initial D’s Fourth Stage and Fifth Stage.

While I would have preferred a little more racing action in a premiere episode, fans of this longtime series already know what to expect so the choice to reintroduce the cast of characters after such a long hiatus wasn’t a bad call, and to my knowledge, it lines up well with the manga as well. I don’t think I can ever fault a show for sticking with the original material as much as possible. A welcome surprise in this episode was the humor, an aspect about Initial D that I had forgotten about, so it was great seeing that side of the show from Iketani Kouichirou (Yao Kazuki), Takeuchi Itsuki (Iwata Mitsuo) and Kenji (Takagi Wataru) again.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but after seeing how ugly Takumi and Keisuke’s doppelgängers (Katsu Anri and Miura Hirokazu respectively) were, I’m going to have to agree with Keisuke because I’m not sure if I would be willing to accept that flattery either. The imposters did serve to remind how dedicated the real Project D drivers are to improving their skills and not just using their celebrity status in the world of street racing to pick up girls. Takumi, who is coming off a close victory over God Hand (a driver who only used one hand on the steering wheel at all times), was very mindful of exactly what he needs to do to attain his dreams, and what he has left behind in his pursuit of them. It will be interesting to see if the appearance of a potential love interest Uehara Mika (Hayami Saori) will throw a wrench into his plans or not. As for Keisuke, I’m hoping he’ll have more screen time in the coming episodes, or at the very least, his Mazda RX-7 FD.

~-~

Even after all these years, I still haven’t been able to find a show that delivers adrenaline fueled excitement quite like Initial D does. Unfortunately, when I was selling the series to a friend, the six years since the previous installment had dulled my memories of the excitement each race brought. I could recite the models of the cars involved in each nighttime battle, and I could somewhat recall the stories of the characters, but these are facts that anyone can look up – I had lost an emotional connection to a series that I grew up with.

Yet Initial D has a wonderful formula for rekindling that connection. Even better, it’s one that is successful no matter the decade, no matter how outdated music or cars might be, or how crummy the animation or CG looks – which is very important for a series that began in the late 90s and sometimes looks like it too.

It’s actually quite simple. All it takes is an energetic Eurobeat song reaching a crescendo in tune with the hum of the famous Panda Trueno’s engine as it speeds towards a sharp curve. With the preternaturally talented Takumi behind the wheel, you know that an otherworldly, almost inhuman drift is coming up soon, and your adrenaline level rises almost as high as the speed of the car. This excitement may not match the pure exhilaration that comes with the thrill of experiencing the visceral speed and lateral forces while behind the wheel, but to me, it’s a great alternative that is not only safer but also more frugal. So far, Initial D Fifth Stage is shaping up to be another worthy addition to a franchise that played a major role in sparking my love for all things automotive, as I’m sure it did for many others.

  • Judging from the OP, looks like we’ll see a Mazda Roadster RS, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII GSR, Toyota MR2, Toyota Supra RZ, Honda NSX-S, Nissan Fairlady Z, and a Nissan Silvia this season as opponents for Project D
  • Full-length images: 05, 07, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 34, 35, 36, 37, 40, 42, 45.

 

ED Sequence

ED: 「Flyleaf」 by CLUTCHO

Eyecatch

26 Comments

  2. I missed this adrenaline pumping show so much!!! it’s like a dream to finally see it back. Although I feel like it’s lacking quite a bit of the impact power and sophistication of the fourth stage (God the fourth stage was awesome in every second, the op/ed, the music, the races!!!).

    I still hope this will awake the long time fans and also create a new group of fans that will make a good market for this series, making them create more content based on this amazing concept.

    projectnoa
    Reply

  3. i’ve missed this Drag Racing based anime with a DRIFTING moves on a mountain to the MAXIMUM performance and for CAR enthusiast, TRUENO with a high-powered engine since the last upgrade from 2nd Stage

    cutemi2
    Reply

  6. Seems Verdant and all readers agree that what made the races great was the Eurobeat tunes on the background and more importantly that they were choreographed or at least edited to fit the beat of the music. It all went to shit when Tokyopoo decided that for their American release of the first few series they had to change the music… >:(

    Kamui04
    Reply

  7. I’ve personally fell in love with this series myself. Despite the crummy character designs and at times, lacking animation, this is a series that truly has withstood the test of time itself. From 1998 until now, I can’t believe they’re still adapting this series. The cars are what drive me to it every time.

    Ziko
    Reply

  8. Like you Verdent, I love Initial D and was thrilled when the Fifth Stage coming to the fall season was announced. I was hoping to see some racing action, but I guess I will have to wait for the next episode to come…. One thing that I do want to bring up is that with Initial D I am excited to hear the voices of some of my favourite seiyuus — Miki Shinichiro, Koyasu Takehito, and Seki Tomokazu — and I am happy that they are all back to the show.

    ronbb
    Reply

  10. Fujiwara Takumi’s car with the decals on the side of his doors a neighbor has that on his van. I never knew what it was in till now. He even has the Mazda but it’s green so I guess Initial D really inspired him.

    SilentCid
    Reply

    2. Dude, do u even interest this racing anime?? if yes, just ignore the character design,
      if the character design are lame, why they still release the anime?? It’s about the story Dude..

      TrendyGan
      Reply

  15. I disagree that starting from the 5th season is a bad idea. I watched maybe 5 episodes of the 1st season and then stopped watching and when I resumed with this episode not only did I feel that I haven’t missed anything (same guys, same tofu job, same gas station, etc), but it actually felt that nothing has changed except the number of wins and they still apparently haven’t hit THE main race circuits.

    So yeah, it’s friendly for new timers just as it is for old timers.

    dimasok
    Reply

  18. The only thing i have to complain about us they make main character acting all nice and forgiving, if someone copy me and using my name to cause all kind of trouble and ruin my reputation like keisuke have say i wanna break a few bones. For him to just act like nothing happen really annoy me the most.

    mike
    Reply

  21. the engine sound synchcronizing with the beat of Eurobeat never failed to pump out the adrenaline. that’s the beauty of Initial D which never can be found on any other series. I dont find any problem for newcomer to watch this season though, the battles are standalone, but I agree the mood could be a lot higher with story background known

    Blacksun88
    Reply

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