Post by Alucard on Aug 31, 2008 18:51:58 GMT -5
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initial_D
This manga/anime got SUCH poor treatment in the US. Tokyopop pretty much took a giant crap all over it when they dubbed it and changed everyone's name to something "cool" and tried to make the dialogue "hip and streetwise", except all they really did was make it a giant laughingstock. I actually consider their bastardization of it borderline racist, but I won't go into that.
I've been a fan since around 10th grade, before I-D was even stateside. I used to download the episodes overnight on 56k and come home from school and watch them. I was a big anime fan before it, but it was the first realistic anime I had ever watched. And I honestly liked it for that, it wasn't over the top or silly, it was a story that could have been based on real life events, it was strange fare for an anime but at the same time it just worked. It was like a soap opera for boys with cars and racing involved.
I've got the first and second season as well as the movie all on HK bootleg dvd's (they work great and I'd rather give my money to them than Tokyopop any day
), been re-watching First Stage every sunday afternoon.
The animation looks SO DATED and it was first airing in 1999. It's amazing how much better the characters, vehicles, and overall style looks in Initial D Second Stage. But I still love it. Sometimes it's truly not the looks, but the personality. It has such an addictive story that's easy to look past the animation.
The soundtrack...well, what can I say about it that hasn't already been said. It just works for the series.
I recently had Initial D Street Stage (basically the arcade game ported to PSP) imported, and I'm having lots of fun with it.
Anyone else remotely like the series? I won't be mad at you if you actually liked the US dub (as you probably didn't know any better, and I don't mean that in an offensive way), but my rage towards Tokyopop has cooled since I learned the company folded a while back.
In re-watching, I'm up to Act 15 of First Stage. Right when the end credits change to Galla's "Kiseki no Hana" rather than MOVE's "Rage Your Dream". The Iketani/Mako love story. *sigh*
For a shonen series about racing, it can be SO HEARTBREAKING
This manga/anime got SUCH poor treatment in the US. Tokyopop pretty much took a giant crap all over it when they dubbed it and changed everyone's name to something "cool" and tried to make the dialogue "hip and streetwise", except all they really did was make it a giant laughingstock. I actually consider their bastardization of it borderline racist, but I won't go into that.
I've been a fan since around 10th grade, before I-D was even stateside. I used to download the episodes overnight on 56k and come home from school and watch them. I was a big anime fan before it, but it was the first realistic anime I had ever watched. And I honestly liked it for that, it wasn't over the top or silly, it was a story that could have been based on real life events, it was strange fare for an anime but at the same time it just worked. It was like a soap opera for boys with cars and racing involved.
I've got the first and second season as well as the movie all on HK bootleg dvd's (they work great and I'd rather give my money to them than Tokyopop any day
), been re-watching First Stage every sunday afternoon.The animation looks SO DATED and it was first airing in 1999. It's amazing how much better the characters, vehicles, and overall style looks in Initial D Second Stage. But I still love it. Sometimes it's truly not the looks, but the personality. It has such an addictive story that's easy to look past the animation.
The soundtrack...well, what can I say about it that hasn't already been said. It just works for the series.
I recently had Initial D Street Stage (basically the arcade game ported to PSP) imported, and I'm having lots of fun with it.
Anyone else remotely like the series? I won't be mad at you if you actually liked the US dub (as you probably didn't know any better, and I don't mean that in an offensive way), but my rage towards Tokyopop has cooled since I learned the company folded a while back.
In re-watching, I'm up to Act 15 of First Stage. Right when the end credits change to Galla's "Kiseki no Hana" rather than MOVE's "Rage Your Dream". The Iketani/Mako love story. *sigh*
For a shonen series about racing, it can be SO HEARTBREAKING
