Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
Bensonas
Round of applause for Initial D Season one. I have absolutely no idea why I waited so long to watch this but I am so so glad I did after watching some average to only just good anime series'. Like another reviewer has said before me, who knew a story about street racing would be so entertaining, and to add to this statement, so exciting. I've not been this excited for a long time while watching anime.
Firstly I'm going to begin with the biggest and frankly only hurdle I had to overcome. You are treated to lovely hand drawn animation. The characters look great, the scenes are great and the cars are great. It really is prime animation for it's time. However, when you see the animation for the moving vehicles for the first time, you may be as surprised as I was. Initially I thought, 'what i…
Read at the sourcesp4ce1
*** This is a review of all the stages of Initial D (contains spoilers) ***
Initial D is one of my favorite animes of all time. Whilst it arguably doesn’t have the best story and certainty not the best animation/art it has influenced me so much. I happened to find the song “Déjà vu” on YouTube and thought it was kinda good, so I looked into it and found that it was from Initial D. I started watching it not expecting too much but wow, it is just great. This later got me into getting into cars which has now become a huge part of my life. My favorite stage is stage 3 closely followed by stage 1.
STORY: 8/10
Like I mentioned the story is nowhere revolutionary but, in my opinion, it is still great. The fact that Takumi is winning every race could easily get boring however the races are incre…
Read at the sourcejonaswood1999
Welcome, to my first ever review on this website!
Introduction:
Initial D is one of the first anime I've ever watched, back when I was young and did not know much about anime and cars. Every single race that immediately got me hooked on, the mesmerizing euro beat soundtracks on standing out on a league of their own and of course, the characters, changed me. We'll get onto those in detail in a bit. To me, cars and anime were never really my thing, but after watching this show I wanted to get a license, I could not wait until I was legally allowed to get one. It motivated me, to advance in my life.
Story (10/10):
The story of Initial D is quite simple and easy to grasp. You can watch your TV, phone, computer screen, or whatever you watch it on laid back. A high school student works part ti…
Read at the sourcevebjornzen
Short Review: (click "Overall Rating" for scores)
Overall: The best racing/ car anime. I think people who are not into cars and racing will enjoy it too. Definitely worth to watch!
The show starts slow but after a few episodes when the racing starts you are instantly hooked. The story is good, and is like an introduction to the later seasons.
This anime is from the late 90's so the art style is not high quality, and probably the worst aspect of this season (art style becomes better in later seasons). Sound is ok, nothing notable negative.
Caracters have development, but might not seem very deep (in first season).
I really enjoyed this anime and the way the races are presented really keeps you on edge and your eyes glued to the screen. This anime has made a number of people interessted…
Read at the sourceBagietson
THIS THING IS A MASTERPIECE! When I first started watching Initial D, I dodn't like the old CGI and art style, but that's only the first season. And OH MAN is the story good. Also the music is outstanding. The show builds up drama in a very good and entertaining way. From a person that likes cars, I want to say that this is the best show I have ever watched.
if you don't like cars/japanese car culture, this could be a great incroduction, but that's not what you watch a show for, so I'll just leave it here. Peace!
Read at the sourcecameronrb24
Initial D is a bit of a mixed bag. When it's actually focused on the races, the drivers, and Takumi's developing interest in the sport, it becomes clear as to why its THE anime you go to for racing. It's enjoyable to see how Tak manages to outmaneuver his opponents in a slower car. The soundtrack is unique and iconic, and it complements the racing well. However, these highlights only comprise about half the show, and its the frequent detours into the slice-of-life/romance genre that really drag the show down for me.
This is mainly referring to Itsuki and Iketani, two of Tak's friends and "teammates" in the show. There interactions in the show are bearable at best, and painfully annoying at worst. Won't spoil too heavily, but Iketani's romance arc is easily one of the most confusing I've s…
Read at the sourcephynto
Being someone who despised anime and everything about it growing up, I'm very picky about my anime. If it's all boobs bouncing up and down with no story, I'm not going to enjoy it. If it's boring and repetitive, I am not going to watch it beyond the first season. If there is no story, I am not going to put it on my favorites list. This anime is none of those.
First of all, let me say, I find it weird how many people comment on how choppy the animation is. Yes, it's absolutely choppy and cheesy. We're talking about high speed racing and drifting both drawn and computer generated from the late 90's. Popular mid to late 90's anime always looks great with choppy animation to make up for the lack of ability to animate enough frames per second as popular anime of today. That's just a fact we'll…
Read at the sourceKanseiDorifuto
Vroom Vroom, if you're into street racing then you'll love initial D. Tak is so gosh darn thicc and irresistible, and my homeboy Shingo can hit a drift faster than anybody can smack that nae nae. Whevever my homeboy Tak does a drift everyone goes zoo wee mama, including me. Bunta is smarter than any Rick and Morty and he smokes really cool. Because of him i've become a heavy smoker and my life expectancy has gone down to 30 years. My boy itsuki sucks at drifting, but he is such a qt π and he does the most epic fails xD. Overall, I'd give initial d a 69/10 but i can only rate it out of 10 so whatever :P
Read at the sourceLucky2525
Honestly this is by far the best racing/car anime I've ever seen. Filled with lots of drifting and lot of different cars such as the AE86, the Mazda RX-7, and many more! I mainly enjoyed Initial D for the variety of cars and the depth that the creators went into when made the anime. Another thing I would like to mention is the music, the music helps add suspense and excitement plus it's just genuinely good music. The art is very good showing different scenes of the cars turning around corners as well as doing pretty well animating it. I encourage you to check it out because you will be in for a wild ride. (great pun)
Read at the sourceFAKEANIMEGIRL
(Check out my profile for a link to my site containing more up-to-date reviews and bonus media!)
EDITED 11/5/2025: Wow. My writing's improved a lot since I first wrote this. I didn't do a total rewrite, but I cleaned up some lousy syntax. Hopefully, it's easier to follow, as I noticed a fair amount of "confused" reactions. It's still not ideal, but it's at least [i]closer[/i] to my current standards.
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Vroom, vroom, vroom—it’s anime’s most popular racing series, Initial D. Initial D stars Takumi Fujiwara, a constantly spaced-out and quiet gas station worker with seemingly no hobbies or interests in life. The reserved Takumi is forced into the spotlight when his incredible talent for street racing is discovered by his peers, having been honed through years of making delicate tofu del…
Read at the sourceFireEmblemIke24
First Stage review
Who would have thought that the fastest driver in town is just your everyday tofu delivery boy. High schooler Takumi Fujiwara’s perception of driving changes after being encouraged to enter his first street race. Remember it’s illegal!
Story –
You would think that an anime revolving around street racing would get pretty dull after a couple of races or so but that is not the case with Initial D. The story begins with the laid-back Takumi being forced to enter a street race by his father which was meant to be Ikitani’s problem who is his co-worker at his part-time job. Takumi accepts the proposal and wins it in convincing fashion with an ulterior motive, which is he would be rewarded with a full tank of gas for his date with a girl named Natsuki.
There is romance developm…
Read at the sourceGreenixx
Being one of those person who dont like to watch sports anime, a soundtrack on youtube brought my attention to this series and after looking into it i got addicted instantly, mainly cos of the catchy soundtrack and the overall nostalgic flair.
Story and Plot: 7/10
High school student and main character Tatsumi knows nothing about cars and racing but has hiddent skills and technique thanks to his fathers training, which opens his path to the world of street racing. This simple pemise unfolds into tatsumis skills being tested by all kinds of foes, while also developing his skills and learning about his faults and weaknesses. Besides the racing, you get a view into his personal life and how it is affected by racing, though the highschool theme is mere background and aside from his relationsh…
Read at the sourceHarryPness
To start off this review, I have to say; the saying "it's not for everybody" has never been more accurate for anime. As a huge car enthusiast, I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this anime and finished it in only two days (first stage). Because most cars are automatic nowadays, most people won't have any idea about how manuals work or even about the lost art of double clutching or toe/heel techniques. Seeing little things like this was totally nostalgic and made the show just that much better for me.
Story: 8
I thought it had a pretty interesting story-line, and while some may not agree; I feel Initial D was very strong in setting up situations to force Takumi into racing. The races themselves were extremely enjoyable as well not to mention intense, seeing a beefed up Corolla go against…
Read at the sourceFuro
This is my first review and I just finished Initial D so I thought that writing a review could be a good idea. This review is only about the first stage and not the whole franchise.
Story: 8/10: The story is pretty classic and is all you might want from an anime about street-racing. It's about recklessness, the will to aim always higher, etc...It's most of the time over the top, but in a good way: after each episode of Initial D you'll get seriously fired up, and even eating a sandwhich afterward will be fucking epic, it will have the taste of sweat and victory as you headbang to techno music.
Which is my next subject:
Music: 9/10: Damn, that OST is awesome. If you are into Eurobeat, just watch it already, but if you hate that 90s techno music, just go away, this anime is simply not for…
Read at the sourceggultra2764
Yeah, this is one of those shows that have a niche audience that I'm not gonna have interest in continuing further with. I've heard quite a bit about Initial D since college where it was popular with street racing fans and even served as a gateway drug to anime for some. It even gets poked fun of for its subpar animation in some comedy anime like Lucky Star and School Rumble, which I'll cover a little later in this review.
Pretty much, Initial D's selling point is the various street racing competitions that male lead Takumi and his friends are involved with. Plenty of in-depth terminology on the various cars and their parts are part of regular conversation between racers as they hype up the capabilities of their car and driving, as well as any reputation that a reputable racer within the…
Read at the sourcelilithilk
I like watching sports anime. People who know me and have accepted the fact that I am a hardcore couch-potato find this hilarious. But the irony doesn't end there. I am a member of minority who does not possess a driving license nor has the faintest clue about driving.
After my Yawara "Brain-Imploding-Annoyance-Rage" I was rather desperate. There were very few sports animes left I hadn't watched yet. And I was - still am actually, I can't take bludgeoned faces!- digging my heels in not to watch Hajime no Ippo.
Barring any alternatives I gave in to desperation and started watching Initial D though in my couch potato opinion Street-Car-Racing is no sport.
The art took some getting used to. Every time I saw one of those "fish-on-land-gasping-for-air" mouths I just wanted to smash my fist…
Read at the sourceArtimesGamer
Takumi Fujiwara is an average 18-year old high school student with an average job as a gas station attendant, and a not-so-average hand in the family business. To help his father's tofu shop, Takumi has been delivering tofu in his father's 'Eight-Six' Trueno to a hotel at the peak of Mt. Akina. Every night at 4 a.m. He's is brought into a world full of street racing and eventually over time feels compelled to become the best drift racer in all of tokyo. He is soon plunged into a world of competition and contests against some of the greatest racers in the japan prefecture.
The story may not be its strongest aspect and just by reading it, may turn some viewers off if they are not the type of car junkie otaku fans but the focus and attention in this series is to the Characters. Takumi whic…
Read at the sourceAuronSurmount
A friend told me about this Series, the other day. I was skeptical when he explained what it was about. He said it was about street racing and mainly about the cars. To be honest, I am not all that interested in cars. I am like the next person and have a mediocre interest, but not enough where I would be overly excited to watch a series about cars.
I was hanging out with my friends at his house when he insisted that we watch Initial D. Still skeptical, i try to convince him to put in something else.. but he was dead set on me watching this series. We started watching the series in the morning, and by the time we stopped I had watched nearly every episode in the first stage.
It never accrued to me that I would have any interest in cars or street racing, until i watched this show. I found…
Read at the sourcejmoriarty84
At first, I’ll admit that I did not think I would like the concept at first, but other factors which I will further elaborate on would keep on pulling me into this franchise and would like it more and more. I know it’s not the most exciting or appealing anime, and that I’m not the biggest gear head, but I felt something special about this one. Even though Takumi is not exactly the most appealing anime character of all time, it’s kind of weird that his lack of charisma in some ways makes him charismatic at the same time because he does all his talking behind the wheel and he’s a monster at it, and yet, he thinks his abilities are nothing special. The cast is well rounded and they all get equal attention for the most part. There’s not much that goes with s…
Read at the sourcelowell
I never thought a story about street car racing would be this entertaining. And if I had known what I would be watching when my friend made me watch the first few episodes, I would have said thanks, but no thanks. ...Boy, am I glad I didn't know.
Story: On the surface, it's about a pretty bland high school guy who's got a bunch of car-crazy friends... and turns out to be the 2nd fastest driver in Akina. (Who's first? Ooooh, don't you wanna know?) Below the surface...? Okay, pretty much the same thing. ;) Most of the "story" is just a bunch of kids in cars racing through dark mountain passes ...or talking about racing through dark mountain passes. I know it doesn't sound interesting if you're not into car races, but it was. There's something about the speed and the pressure and the tension…
Read at the source