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Of all the animes I’ve watched, Initial D holds a special place in my heart since it deals with another great passion of mine: cars.  Initial D Fifth Stage is obviously the fifth installment of a Japanese anime based off the Initial D manga.  For those who have been under a rock or just don’t care for anime, Initial D is a story of a young man named Takumi Fujiwara, a high school kid who delivers tofu for his father’s tofu shop.  He never had an itch for street racing, and just thought driving was a chore.  His best friend Itsuki Takeuchi, loved cars and wanted to be a member of the Akina SpeedStars and convinced Takumi to race.  Takumi meets Keisuke and Ryosuke Takahashi of the Agaki RedSuns, a rival car club in the Gunma prefecture and through many races, we see Takumi beat everyone and a spark is lit.  We see a natural progression of Takumi’s character similar to that of many young adolescents striving to find their purpose in life.  Now you might be thinking, “Oh what the hell, Cars? Racing? Sounds boring if he keeps winning.”  Well all I can say is this:  This show gives you an adrenaline rush. 

Fifth Stage brings us to where Fourth Stage left off, Project D is still going, Takumi’s Trueno is broken, and he struggles to perfect the technique he’s seen from God’s Arm.  After watching the first two episodes you can tell the producers, animators, and writers took that extra step to make this an even better series.  It’s the little things that stick out, the sound effects the transmission makes while selecting reverse gear, the sound of a car door closing, and also seeing car movement due to the undulation of the road and its effects on a car’s suspension.  All of these things combined together are what makes car lovers like myself say, “Wow, holy crap, they got it right.”

The opening Intro is performed by a band in Japan called M.O.V.E. They have been creating music for this series since the beginning and while some of it is quite good, other songs, not so much.  It’s hit or miss really.   You have to remember this series started in the mid 90s.

All in all, Initial D is a fantastic series which showcases vehicle dynamics, racing technique, and actual character development.  The first four stages are available on Amazon or Netflix DVD rental, so I suggest you watch it.  Fifth Stage is currently being fansubbed by Sage Fansubs which can be found here.