Initial D - Battle 1 - Akina's Downhill Specialist

I love this series! You can find all of these cars here in the states, just check out E-bay. The Toyota Trueno AE86, that's the Japanese version. Here in the states it's the 1985 Toyota :Corolla GT-S AE86, 3 DOOR, GT-S, TWIN CAM. Red lines at 7,500 RPM. The Motor is a 1.6 Twin Cam GTS. Yes it is a fast car, but still can be beaten by a Nissan Skyline GTR V-SPEC, 97'Twin Turbo Supra, NSX Type S Super Impression, 95 NSX Turbo GT1, or the Spoon Integra Gr.N. Although it would depend just how you modify your car. But if you want something in between, beautiful, fast, curvy, and affordable, then you might want to check out the RX-7's on E-bay. Or Buy a New RX-8. The Evo VII, comes stock with 271 Horses. Just watching this movie can make anyone want to buy a speed-oriented car, modify it for raceing, and race it. It really is a rush driveing more than a 100mph. Or opt for a Ford Focus SVT, or a Honda Civic SI. Then again the Dodge SRT-4 is American made, stock with 240 horses. Comeing out soon is the Saturn ION Redline. You should also buy all the Best Motoring DVD's you can before they're gone.

Ugh, I've been a fan of Initial D for several years. For those of you not familiar with Initial D, the series has been divided into three stages, 1st stage, 2nd stage, and 3rd stage. From reading about the product on the website it sounded to me like this dvd contained all episosdes from first stage (probably 10+ episodes, im not sure the exact number). Well in actuality this dvd has 3 episodes from first stage, barely enough episodes to get the plot even started. I was very dissapointed when I found this out. Also, even though they have a classic setting on the dvd, they still changed the subtitles. Even despite that they change the wording, what I found particularly annoying was that they tended to cut long sentences in half. If you can read at any reasonable speed though, you are left waiting to read the next half of the sentence. It makes the dialog feel much less smooth. Maybe for the price I shouldn't have expected all of the first stage episodes, but at the same time, 3 episodes at probabably 20-25 minutes each doesn't seem like its worth what I paid (although with all the extra features they get to say they have 150 minutes of footage).I was extremely dissapointed with this product, and I'm going to go see if I can exchange it or anything right this second.

English version 0/5 Stars -I'm sorry. They really should have left the background music and sound effects alone. Whoever they payed to make the new music needs to be shot. Then there are the engine sounds. None of them even match up with the type of car. What is even worse is that they change for the same car. Also, what is with Itsuki acting like a wanna-be thug? It sounds stupid. Tokyopop should have either found somebody who knows about cars before making audio changes, or just left the own damn audio alone.Japanese side 4/5 StarsNot much to say about the Japanese side. Engine sound doesn't change for the same car. Original soundtrack. Subtitles are ok.NOTE: I am biased. I watched Initial D when it was originally aired on TV in Japan.

This item has extensive water damage to the extent that the paper torn when opening it. This should have been mentioned in the description of the item.

Initial D tells the tale of an 18-year old high school student Takumi "Tak" Fujwara and his very ugly buddy and fellow gas station worker Itsuki "Iggy" Takeuchi. Iggy dreams of owning a racing car, especially the classic Eight-Six. Tak does not share his friend's fascination with racing or cars. In fact, Tak does not even realize he drives his friend's dream car every night making deliveries for his father's tofu shop. Tak only knows his father's car is a Toyoto Trueno, not realizing it and the legendary Eight-Six are one in the same. Tak also does not realize that his father, Bunta, who was once the best downhill street racer, is teaching him everything he knows, testing his skills by giving him a cup of water and having him hit the corners at incredible speeds without spilling a drop.This DVD introduces you to the main characters of the story, including Natalie who is supposed to be the hottest girl at the high school but, to me, looks like a younger version of that runaway bride with the huge eyes. The downhill racers of Akina are taking on the Red Suns, who look like they are easily going to defeat the locals on their own turf. Again, unbeknownst to Tak himself, he out-drives the Red Suns' #2 driver during a tofu delivery run causing a big stir in the downhill racing community. That is where the three-episode DVD will leave you. Tak does not know yet what an incredible driver he is and is only hoping to win a tank of gas from his father to drive Natalie to the beach after his first race. One part I think is pretty funny is when Tak and Iggy see Natalie's underwear peaking beneath her very short skirt (shocking!!! I guess that's where it gets its PG13 rating!!).You can watch the video in the classic video or enhanced video style. I watched the enhanced and just a little of the classic to compare and, to be honest, I couldn't tell much difference. The cars look very realistic in most of the driving scenes in both styles. You can also watch it with Japanese or English dialogue with or without subtitles. It is odd hearing the American voices with Japanese names and towns. I know nothing about cars and really could care less about them, but I found myself totally engrossed in the storyline and have tracked down Battle 02 so I can find out what happens. Anyone who likes cars and anime will definitely like this. I'm not familiar with either (certainly not cars) and I liked it.