my brother-in-law brought home a few weeks ago copies of several episodes of "initial d," a japanese anime that will premiere this month on axn. although i felt i was too old to appreciate the show, i was hooked after watching an episode.
the show is about a group of street racers who manage to beat all their opponents, thanks to the simulations formulated by the group's/project's founder. project d, as the project is dubbed, aims to come up with a winning formula for street racers. what the "d" stands for has not yet been revealed (as far as the episodes i've watched).
conversations are, of course, in japanese but there are english subtitles. the subtitles however are long and replete with technical terms. turbos, lightened flywheels, carbon hoods, racing lines, drifts, etc. some of the terms, i'm familiar with coz i have them installed on my car - like a lightened flywheel. and these are terms i hear everyday from my husband, whose first love are cars.
the show's lead character is tak, a tofu delivery boy, who quickly earns the reputation of being the best street racer after beating even a professional race car driver. tak's 86 toyota trueno may not look the hottest on the streets of japan but the car's power is something to make rivals drool. and tak's unorthodox driving style which takes everyone - even his mentor - by surprise always assures him of victory. tak's father was an even more notorious racer during his time.
the graphics of the show are also good. from tak's "heel-toe technique" to the mags on the cars.
and the sounds are authentic. my husband can distinguish the sound of revving engines based on their make and "karga" and he says the sounds on the anime are the real thing.
the last episode i watched was tak's race against the professional race car driver of the much-feared todou school. can't wait to watch more eps.
