Audience reviews
17 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
fh1478
Who Put All This Protein In Their Diet?
Initial D Second Stage is an anime, about races trying to get better balance in their cars, by growing bigger so their weight helps that not drift off the road.
This initial D season is about humbling, and realizing then something even you best is not enough, and these 13th episodes were really good job of that.
Main antagonist bandana man isn't that interesting, he is distinct from the previous racers and has a cool bandana. but he works so well for this section and is memorable nonetheless.
The second antagonist is a good mirror match, for the main character to truly push his skill to a limit.
The anime as a whole looks better now with the style change, even if I really am sad about the different character colors, and the more broad shoulders…
Read at the sourceJJMFREAP
Initial D remains absolute peak. A timeless classic serving as the perfect time capsule of a bygone era. If you're looking for something simple, straightforward and fun, there's few that do it better.
Season 2 brings much of the same cool stuff we loved from the start - intense races, nail-biting tension and a killer soundtrack to go along with it! Forever and always, the music remains such an iconic part of this anime, that it's just unimaginable without it (you hear that, English dub? Yuck!).
It's not just more of the same though, as this time around the tensions are higher and the drama even greater. There's stronger character revelations, multiple ongoing subplots and a lot of turmoil for almost everyone involved, which itself leads to noticeable and engaging character development.…
Read at the sourceNevyZine
Initial D is one of the most influential car animes any car enthusiast can watch.
This is technically a follow-up to a review I wrote back in 2022, so this will not be an insightful review of the Initial D Second Stage itself.
| If you have any interest in cars, I think this anime is a must; if you don't, watch this anime if you only particularly want to. |
My life has changed a lot since my first review. In 2022, I deleted the first sentence that I was going to end up wrapped around a tree in five years because of Initial D. I'm now 19, and I'm a freshman at Northeastern University. While at Northeastern Oakland for a semester, I finally recognized how impactful Initial D is on my life and the car community as a whole. Ten minutes away from campus lies a road that hosts a diverse grou…
Read at the sourceBensonas
Well, I'll start with the only two negatives o have;
1. The story isn't as superb as Stage 1. I'm purposely using the word superb here for a reason. It's not at AS superb but it's still great.
2. The animation of the 'non driving' scenes is more polished but lost a little bit of the charm as stage 1. However, it just did what every anime did and got more polished with its animation. Again, this isn't really a negative.
And that is it. That's the only real things I can say are negatives. Let's face it though, they arnt really negatives.
Now, onto everything great. First of all, the racing animation is excellent. Better than that in stage 1. The corners are smoother and the movement in general is more realistic. The specific piece of animation that impressed me the most is the dramatic cuts…
Read at the sourceAnimeGuy00
This anime always has a charm to it that makes it so enjoyable and I love it so much.
Not only is this anime enjoyable, everything about it is flawless in my POV.
STORY - outstanding, couldn't see why anyone wouldn't love the story. The story of this particular anime is uplifting and executed beautifully
ART - I love the art of all the stages, it's always an aesthetic vibe and when it comes to races, I love how the car designs in general look. The character designs could get choppy at some times but there's no reason to not love the art of this anime
SOUND - Amazing.... Eurobeat.... Car Effects.... These all impact the love for this anime and the sound is just executed flawlessly
CHARACTER - This might be biased but all of the characters are exquisitely written and I absolutely lov…
Read at the sourcesleemo
Spoiling bits of the story, but not too important ones.
At first I thought Initial D was about racing, cars and kind of like a coming of age story featuring Takumi, but it's just so much more than that.
While Season 1 was a near perfect introduction to the whole story, Season 2 was a 100% perfect continuation to it.
And here are my reasons for that: First of all, the antagonists:
They started off very weak with Iwakii Seiji who just was like any other antagonist.
Mean, kind off stubborn and overall a prejudging idiot.
Just the kind of antagonist you are supposed to hate.
Don't get me wrong here, I hate it when an anime obviously wants to influence your opinion on a character, but the other antagonists made this part of the story completely enjoyable.
Akiyama Wataru and Sudou Kyouichi…
Read at the sourceOtacu2017
Se você viu essa review deve estar se perguntando por que eu dei uma nota maior para 2st stage do que para o primeiro é simples 2st stage é simplesmente perfeito sinto que o amadurecimento do anime era necessário os diálogos,aqui são muito mais profundos,takumi está mais sério que nunca, um grande exemplo foi o itsuki ele foi de um completo desajeitado babaca pra alguém mais realista no final tudo que aconteceu nessa temp foi o amadurecimento dos personagens, sobre animação ela tem meu traço favorito e initial d ela está linda e suave, o cgi está muito melhor agora com melhores gráficos e fluidez, novamente a soundtrack está excepcional com mais toneladas de eurobeat que eu preciso, o anime foi bem curto com 2 vezes menos episódios que a primeira temp porem eu gostei disso não teve enrolaç…
Read at the sourcestmwg01
Quick take: If you like cars, you'll like the story of Takumi Fujiwara and his Trueno 86. While in the First Stage, you'll find a simple plot, the plot become more complex in Second Stage and the battles become much more entertaining. I would say the manga and anime are similar in quality. Rewatch value: high, despite memorable plot, the details become fuzzy as the plot become more complex, making a second watch enjoyable.
The Second Stage treats us to a quicker paced plot where the sub-plots don’t feel like they're necessary to help prevent the story from stalling. The storyline is genuinely more entertaining and a tad bit more complex. As such, a second watch means it's rather enjoyable as it isn’t quite as memorable. While I remembered the characters and races, the details were fuzzy a…
Read at the sourcecameronrb24
Second stage is more of the same, for better or worse. We get to see Takumi push the limitations of his 86 even further (eventually past its breaking point). More races outside of the usual Akina downhill get showcased as well. The drama/romance arcs still mostly fall flat, but it's definitely handled better than in first stage. Itsuki just takes more L's, but it plays an important role regarding Takumi's progression as a racer.
There are some odd changes in character design, but the art/animation is an improvement overall. The cgi is less jarring and animated more fluidly. The backgrounds are less flat and bland than before. The soundtrack remains unique and fits nicely with racing.
Overall, I had a decent time with this season. I'd imagine i would have enjoyed it more if I had more int…
Read at the sourceSlowpokeWild
Well... after I finished the first stage I've jumped straight for this second stage and boy was good but with some little flaws.
I'll start with the story/characters.
Here we see a Takumi more mature but he still tries to figure it out his feelings about racing. So this a seasons were Takumi matures a lot. He faced his problems driving and this brings him a couple of lessons that makes him grown a lot as a character.
Also love how Itsuki changed, despite been the comedy relief we see him more emotional and also stepping up his driving skills.
Bad luck for Iketani, I loved him in first stage and want it the best for him but no, never happens and here well, he's just there being the leader of Akina Speedstars. Gang where absolutely has nothing to do.
I love the "villains" specially because…
Read at the sourceTheIceDragon
IMO This anime had great potential, but imo it needs a graphics / art overhaul. Comparing this anime to some of the old animes like DBZ or Naruto which continued to improve their art overtime, you can see it. Whereas Initial D's art becomes stale as I felt the artist got lazy and decided not to improve on the overall graphic quality of the manga / anime. The original is a good standard to set, but comparing it to today's anime / art, it's just not appealing and won't cut it.
Story Telling: 7/10
The story telling is amazing. The plot pace moves along well when it comes the main character and his car racing days. The character develops very quickly when it comes to the art of racing with his innate talent for it. However when it comes to expressing how the the character feels, I feel like…
Read at the sourceGroupanimenight
Tadgh: This series was always one I never thought I'd like. We draw our anime from a list out of a hat, so when the first Initial D came up I was skeptical. After the first series, I couldn't wait for more. Sad part is, we draw our anime out of a hat, so I had to wait. I was stoked when this series came up and it didn't disappoint. The characters were really fleshed out here and everyone seemed to grow. The races are still exciting. The others in my group might disagree, but I really like the CG cars. Everything about this anime besides the 90's music makes me excited for more.
Laohoam- I really enjoyed the story this time. The character development really stepped up and all though it was shorter in episodes I feel that this season gave more overall. Though I did not like the new art styl…
Read at the sourceHybridMedia
This review both covers First Stage & Second Stage. I’ll try not to spoil as much as possible.
Well, for me, this is a rarity for an anime series where the subject involves street racing although it is not strange in Japan since the concept of that is known in 8 countries and the fact that street racing has been involved in other parts of media including videogames like Midnight Club, some elements of street racing have been shoved in Grand Theft Auto & later iterations of Need For Speed franchise and also in the cinema, which I will bring up later in the review. Anyway, it is based off the manga series created by Shuichi Shigeno and it’s been serialized in Kodanasha’s Young Magazine. The story focuses on the world of illegal Japanese street racing, where all the action is concentrated in…
Read at the sourceapatch3
I'll be honest with you guys, I really enjoyed the second stage, much more so than its predecessor. With only 13 eps to spare the series wastes no time, almost everything that is said or done adds to the story or develops the characters significantly, it was this that kept me glued to the screen as I watched it. The first stage was much more spaced out there was a lot more needless comic relief.
Itsuki from stage 1 annoyed me, he was brash, loud, irritating and a failure as a human being, it was frustrating that he didn't develop at all - but the during the second stage he begins to show signs of changing, and it isn't just Itsuki. Every single member of the cast shows signs of changing - this sort of character development was completely absent from the first stage.
Having said this the…
Read at the sourceDae_Lhach
Second Stage was half as long as First Stage. Although it was shorter it still packed just as much a punch as the first stage did. The race scenes in this one were awesome! The artwork was much cleaner and flowed WAY SMOOTHER than the first. You can tell that the storytelling and character development was the main focus of Second Stage. Overall it is an excellent series and I would watch it again without a doubt. I kind of feel sorry for Itsuki though. Poor Guy can't catch a break with ANY WOMAN! haha 9 out of 10
Read at the sourceAuronSurmount
This is my second Initial D review. This one being, obviously, about Stage 2. If you are looking at the reviews for the second stage you more than likely know a little about the series already. That, or you are looking to see if -all- the stages/seasons will be worth your time. Either way, i will write this for both of you. I recommend reading my original Initial D Stage 1 review, because I may make references to it on occasion. (http://myanimelist.net/profile/AuronSurmount/reviews)
This will be somewhat a comparison to the previous Stage. In comparison, stage 2 has improved tremendously over stage one. Stage 1 focused more on the crazy intimidating races while stage 2 threw in other elements on top of the races, while maintaining the original quality. (If not exceeding the previous qual…
Read at the sourcejmoriarty84
Though this series is much shorter than the previous season, it does cover a lot of ground. What I really liked about 2nd Stage is that it focuses more on character development and the relationships of the characters. Specifically the main ones like Itsuki and Takumi. Iketani and Kenji are still around, but they play their uses, but they aren’t really that central or given the same screen time like in season 1. You get to see more of how emotional and passionate Takumi can really be at times, and I like how Itsuki is not just really a comic relief character and has his good side to him.
Once again, the technical jargon is still present. If you did not see my review of season 1, I will once again state it may be difficult to understand, but once everything is applied, you’ll un…
Read at the source