Over in Hollywood, the most successful franchise centered on cars and illegal racing is the love-it-or-hate-it Fast & Furious that has twice surpassed the $1 billion mark at the international box office with Furious 7 and The Fate of the Furious. Over in the world of anime, the closest equivalent to F&F is Initial D even though it’s raked in far fewer dollars.
Written and penned by Shuichi Shigeno, the touge racing series kicked off rather modestly in 1995. Published by Weekly Young Magazine, the seinen manga came to a grinding halt in 2013 after no fewer than 719 chapters.
The main character of Initial D is a teenager by the name of Takumi Fujiwara, a student who builds up an impressive array of driving skills over years of illegal racing events. Inspired by his father Bunta Fujiwara, the former number one downhill racer in Mt. Akina, the young man drives a tofu delivery-liveried Toyota Sprinter Trueno from the iconic AE86 generation.
Think of it as Dom Toretto’s 1970 Dodge Charger from the original Fast & Furious, a movie that has helped Initial D gain traction stateside by opening up the North American public to Japanese imports. The opening scene with the Honda Civic-infused truck heist comes to mind, along with the VeilSide-kitted Mazda RX-7 FD as well as the Bomex-kitted MKIV Toyota Supra.
Spun off into anime series, animated and live-action movies, and one too many games to list here, Initial D is coming back to the small screen in 2023 as MF Ghost. Also written and penned by Shuichi Shigeno, the new anime serves as a sort of sequel to Initial D. Named as such after a street racing organization dubbed MFG, the upcoming anime is based on a seinen manga serialized in Japan’s Weekly Young Magazine since September 4th, 2017.
The trailer video says that MF Ghost is taking place in the year 202X. Self-driving cars are the norm, but that hasn’t stopped car enthusiasts from participating in manned races. Kanata Livington is the primary character of the anime, and his weapon of choice is a first-generation Toyota 86.
Other cars featured in the clip include the Lamborghini Huracan, Ferrari 488, Lotus Exige, Alfa Romeo 4C, Porsche 911, and Boxster. Oh, and spoiler alert: Kanata’s skills have been honed by none other than Takumi.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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