Sep 18, 2023
From my notes after watching the first episode: "Not crazy about some of the character designs, and wasn't too keen about watching a racing anime to begin with, but by the end it interested me enough to keep going." Which turned out to be a very good thing indeed since it produced hours of tense race-watching pleasure. And that's saying a lot from someone who has never been interested in cars, let alone racing.
My biggest qualms are mostly qualms with the sports genre in general. Such as the cliched story of taking an underdog (or someone completely new to a sport) and turning him
...
into a sort of wunderkind who remains an underdog throughout by continually stacking the deck against him even as he levels up (so to speak). But it was executed well and, unlike most other sports series, you have the added suspense of the very real possibility of someone you've come to like getting seriously injured or even killed.
How realistic this anime is compared to real street racing who knows, but of course it's a given that things will be exaggerated to keep viewers entertained and so won't quibble too much there. However, it was a bit bewildering seeing spectators lining up IN FRONT of guardrails at different curves along the road. Surely they wouldn't do that in real life, right? Also couldn't help but wonder whether they have any highway patrol in this fictionalized Gunma or if they simply turn a blind eye to street racing. Hmm...maybe the police chief was a street racer growing up?
At times though, especially in the 2nd half of the season, the things done to keep upping the ante seemed a little too blatant. But again, given the genre, that's pretty much to be expected.
CHARACTERS
Takumi was fine although it's hard to imagine someone remaining basically the same personality-wise (low key, seemingly without ego) despite skyrocketing to fame within a relatively short time. But that wasn't what the series wanted to deal with and it's probably better that it didn't (racing is what people were tuning in for, not psychological insights). Some people dislike Itsuki, but I thought he was okay even if at times I couldn't help wondering why Takumi would have him as his best friend. Still, he has his moments and is basically a good guy. There were issues with a couple of the secondary characters in one or two episodes, but overall it didn't detract from the series.
MUSIC
This anime introduced me to the Eurobeat genre, which is pretty awesome. So great music and great sound effects too from what I recall.
GRAPHICS
While some have complained about the CG graphics it never bothered me. Well, actually, to be perfectly honest I thought they were quite good and was surprised by the criticisms. But then again I'm not one who focuses on visuals very much.
Ahh, but wait, would you look at that? It appears we've finally made it to...
THE FINISH LINE
Despite some shortcomings, Initial D First Stage almost always delivered in a big way on the emotional side of things and that's the main reason why it has earned itself a very high score here as we cross the finish line.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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