Hey guys. Justin here and welcome to another exciting addition of the Otaku Mind. Let’s talk about parodies and shout outs in animes/mangas. Every now and then an anime or manga creator will reference the work of another author in their story. This is what we call a parody or a shout out and it’s quite common among authors in Japan. Some do it as a practical joke to get a laugh out of people while others do it as a way of saying they’re a fan of each other’s work. Either way it’s all in good fun and nothing else. Over the years authors have reference each other’s work a lot but the one series I see a lot of mangas and animes reference over the years is Initial D. Consider one of the best sports manga in the world, Initial D is a series that many authors enjoy referencing in their work. But why is that? What makes Initial D so popular in Japan to the point that it has it’s own underground following here state side? Well let takes a look at the series.
History
First off a quick history of this series. Initial D is a manga series written by Shuichi Shigeno who was the teacher of Jyogi Morikawa the author of Hajime no Ippo (the longest running manga series to this day if I’m not mistaken). In the series we focus on a young gas station attendant named Takumi who is trying to buy a car with his friend Itsuki which they plan to drift along the twisting roads of Mount Akina. One day a racing gang called the Speedstars are challenged to a set of races by another racing team called the RedSuns who seem to have the edge over them because of their experience and better cars. But one night the #2 driver of the RedSuns loses to a mysterious driver and after the Speedstars do an investigation they find out the mysterious driver was Takumi’s dad Bunta. They beg him to join their team but he refuses until they finally get a maybe out of him. On the night of the race instead of Bunta showing up Takumi shows up and wins the race for them because Bunta has been secretly training him for years. After this victory news spreads about Takumi and now racers from other prefectures come to challenge him where eventually the story moves away from Akina as Takumi goes on a journey to challenge other racers on their home turf in order to gain the title “fastest driver out there”. The series ran from 1995-2013 and like I said before it was a big hit. Throughout the years it got a number of animes, OVAs, animated films, and even a live-action adaptation. To this day it’s regarded as one of the best sports mangas out there and was an honorable mention on my top 11 animes I recommend list. So yeah this series has a bit of legacy but what else makes this series stand out from other sport mangas. Well first off the drifting.
Drifting
Probably the biggest thing why everyone loves this series is the realism. This series gets very close to reality. It takes place in a real world setting and in real locations. Although the names of these locations are different they are real locations throughout Japan (particularly the Kanto region). Shuichi Shigeno got all of his information about drifting from a professional racer named Keiichi Tsuchiya known as the Drift King. In fact, Takumi’s character and car are based off of Keiichi’s character. Anyway, let’s talk about drifting. Now drifting is a driving technique where you intentionally oversteer which causes a lost in traction on the rear/all tires yet you still maintain control of the car as you turn the corners. Nobody really knows where this technique originated from but Japan is often credited as being the first people to do it. This is the main game they play in Initial D. Two cars drive down a hill at amazing speed while trying to pass each other. For a while this was a huge problem in Japan with underground racing doing this on hills and stuff. Still though the whole concept of drifting is a pretty cool trick and the way the author draws the scenes in the manga and how the anime portrays them is amazing. You actually do feel the amount of emotion and concentration in each turn and since these scenes are all being described by a professional racer you know that what they’re doing is possible in real life.
The Characters
Everybody in this anime is relatable. These guys aren’t young lawbreakers, drug dealers, or undercover cops trying to bust a drug ring or anything they’re all guys who just love cars. They’re gearheads, that’s the best way to describe them. Just like you call someone who has a lot of interest in anime and manga an otaku you call a guy who has a lot of interest in cars a gearhead and that’s what these kids are. They love cars, they love racing them, they love talking about them, and comparing them with other cars. The technical stuff that they talk about is all accurate. They talk about oversteer, understeer, late braking, LSDs, the differences between naturally aspirated and turbocharged engines, and much more. And it’s all handled correctly. They don’t water it down nor do they BS us just to make it more mainstream. The stuff that they do and say is all grounded and can be applied in the real world. But despite being gearheads they all have normal lives outside of being racers. They have jobs, families, school, and a life outside of racing. At the start Takumi is just a normal kid in high school trying to earn money to buy his own car and hook up with a girl he likes. In fact, a lot of the side characters are in a relationship and are in high school. They even have independent and strong female drivers in the series. One of my favorite characters in the series is Mako a female racer who relies on technique to win her races. Along with her good friend and navigator Sayuki they make one of the best driving teams in the show. There’s a good side story where Mako and another racer named Ikentani (the leader of the Speedstars and a good friend of Takumi) try to hook up with each other but due to a series of misunderstandings the two miss their chance to be together. It’s a tragic story of what could have been an interesting couple. I was also a big fan of Bunta. I like how Bunta is like this wise sage-like driver who’s pretty much the best driver in the series but knows his time has pass and wants to pass his knowledge onto his son. Rather than actually teach Takumi his techniques he instead manipulates them into his psyche making his driving come naturally like a part of his nature. He doesn’t hand Takumi answers he gives him hints and has him discover the answers himself where he rewards him. In a way this is kind of like Bunta’s way of connecting with Takumi. From what I can tell the two seem to have a good relationship with each other. Takumi respects Bunta as his father and Bunta sees him as a son he can be proud of but at the same time there’s this gap where they want to connect with each other but they’re not exactly sure how to connect with each other. Well, here comes the racing to fix that.
The Music and The Cars
The one thing that everyone praises about this series are the cars and music. Let’s start with the cars first. When this series came out there wasn’t a lot of focus on Japanese cars here in the states. I don’t consider myself a car expert and I’m not one of these “oh it’s gotta be an American car otherwise it sucks” kind of guys. The first car I ever drove was my brother’s Volkswagen, the car I trained in and drove until I got my license was my dad’s Taurus, and now my main car is a BMW. So yeah, I’ve dealt with American cars and foreign cars and let me just say each one has their advantage and disadvantage to the other. Anyway, during the mid-90s a lot of the foreign Japanese cars were being marketed as just for show with cheap parts and nothing else. They were also ugly if I remember correctly. Well in Initial D we finally got a chance to see what real Japanese cars look like and how they functioned. The cars were unlike anything you’ve seen before. They didn’t look like comedic cartoon cars that were being imported at the time, they were all real cars. They were all portrayed in the series with a sense of respect and knowledge that you couldn’t find outside of Japan. Each car is amazing to look at and the different models and makes they choose offers a wide variety and makes each race feel different from the other races adding in a whole new challenge and experience. Some cars are faster than others and some can make sharper turns than others but in the end it all comes down to the skills of the driver and how they handle their car.
The Eurobeat music is also great and catchy. Each race has a different and catchy song that goes along with the race that you just can’t get out of your head as soon as you hear it. Once again it’s obvious that the author not only had a love and respect for cars but he also had a love and respect for music. Each music track sets the tone for the race and feels appropriate whenever it kicks in. Not once does it ever feel out of place. It’s timed perfectly and you find yourself humming along whenever it plays. In fact, you can find the soundtrack on iTunes which I recommend you do. It’s that good.
Conclusion
So why is Initial D so popular? Simple, grounded reality and a love and appreciation for your country’s cars. With its realistic characters and grounded reality mixed with real world knowledge that isn’t water downed it’s impossible not to find yourself invested in the stories and characters you see when reading the series. Also, it’s appreciation and respect for cars. The author clearly shows a great amount of respect and knowledge for cars. And I know what you’re thinking, don’t other sport mangas show a great amount of respect and knowledge with their sport as well? Well yes, they do but every now and then there’s something in there that takes the realism away. Initial D never does that. From beginning to end everything feels genuine and real. Nothing feels out of your place or made up. All of the cars portrayed in this series are amazing and you find yourself easily interested in wanting to learn more about them. It’s no different than say if someone else wrote the same story only instead of using Japanese cars he used American cars. Chances are high you would still want to learn more about these cars. In the end Initial D is a series that tells you to be proud of your country’s engineers and mechanics and a series that pays homage to our youthful dreams of one day driving a car that we dreamed of driving ourselves.
Is it overrated
Now with all that being said, is Initial D deserving of its popularity or is it just an overrated series that we hyped up way too much? Well in my honest opinion from a non-gearhead perspective I think the popularity of this series is well deserved. It’s a series that takes itself and its fanbase seriously. You can tell that everyone who worked on this series loved working on it. They had a passion for it and wanted to make it something special for everyone to read. Whether you’re a gearhead or just a regular reader you find yourself invested in the series because of how realistic it is. Are there things in there a regular reader will need time to understand? Yes, but at the same time they’ll be glad they learned something new and interesting about cars and about racing. The reason why a lot of authors and creators reference this series in their work is the same reason why I reference comedians, reviewers, and others in my work. They all in some way inspired me and I want to show my appreciation to them in the only way I know how and help them gain just one more fan.
Thanks for reading, let me know what you think in the comment sections below, and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
Thanks for reading. As always feel free to leave a comment, feedback, or request in the comment section below or email to iamprojectnitsuj@gmail.com