Rating: 
Summary: Inital D-Battle 1
Review: I love Initial D. Initial D is one of the best animes out there. And I've been paciently waiting its arrival in the U.S. After buying and watching Battle 1 I've got a few things to say. There's good knews and bad knews. The good knews is that Inital D is a great show. The story, the characters, the cars, and definately the racing is awesome. I really like the whole CG effect used. The bad knews is that the "tricked out" version on this dvd is absolute garbage. They changed way too much. First off, they changed the music from the awesome eurobeat techno type of stuff which gets your blood pumping, to some really gay and loud rap. Not only is the music horrible, but in almost all parts of the episodes, the music is so loud you can't here what the characters are saying. Another bad thing is that the voices and some of the things they say have been somewhat changed. There is not possible way that they could have made Iggy's voice more annoying. The good thing is the enhanced video. It seems that the picture is clearer and brighter than the orriginal which makes it much easier to watch. Despite all these drawbacks, the best thing is that you can watch the original Japanese on this dvd. My advice is to choose the original version, make sure subtitles are on, and then also make sure in the settings part the video is on enhanced video. Because that way you can watch it with original music and voices, yet keep the higher quality video. That is the savior of this DVD. If it weren't for the horrible english version that has been created, I would have given this DVD a 5. Get it, no questions asked. Just make sure you watch it in Japanese. ^_^
Rating: 
Summary: Speed racer drifts
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A good racing anime with bad translations attatched to it
Review: I was first introduced to Initial D by my cousin, like months or weeks after my graduation. During that time, I played the game in the arcades, not knowing what Initial D is about, so I was anxious to know what the series was all about. So out of nowhere, my cousin pops in the Japanese Initial D VCD in my DVD. This disc contained episodes 4, 5, and 6 and boy...was I hooked ! I loved how the music went, and how the races were set. Some of my friends thought it sucks, just because of the bad mixture of Cel animation and old fasioned CG. I didn't really care for that at all. Nowadays, I'm just gathering up all the info I need on the series.Before the release of the first Tokyopop release of Initial D, I was aware of the name changes. I bought the first volume at Gamestop on the day it arrived, since I was very anxious about the first 3 episodes. I expected name changes but nothing prepared me for this. On the English version of Initial D, they didn't use the original Japanese opening theme or the Eurobeat tracks on the racing scenes. Instead it was replaced by some stupid underground punk and hip-hop, which sounded so fricken annoying. I was sooo disgusted by the music and immediately, switched to the original Japanese version. The only thing good about the US version is the Tricked Out enhanced video, with special effects like inverted colors, four way split screen, and close ups. You can also view the Tricked Out enhanced video in Japanese dialogue as well. As you know, the US and Japanese version are the same shows in two different layouts. As a matter of fact, you can choose between the two. The classic Japanese version, which contains the original video, original music, Japanese dialogue, and English subtitles. The "Tricked Out" English version contains the enhanced video with special effects, English voices with altered lines, and music designed for the English version. As far as the acting goes...let me just say, it's just bad. What's with the monotone acting and stupid lines ? And from my point of view there are only two known voice-overs in this series like Steve Blum who plays as Keisuke Takahashi (Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop) and Crispin Freeman who plays as Koichiro Iketani (Zelgadis from The Slayers). If you want to know the name changes...here they are: Takumi Fujiwara: Tak Fujiwara
Itsuki Takeuchi: Iggy Takeuchi
Koichiro Iketani: Cole
Keisuke Takahashi: K.T. Takahashi
Ryosuke Takahashi: Ry Takahashi
Natsuki Mogi: Natalie Mogi
Takeshi Nakazato: Zack Nakazato (sometimes pronounced Nakazoto)
Yuichi Tachibana: Boss
Kenji: still the same
Bunta Fujiwara: still the same Note that Takumi's real name will be recalled twice and Keisuke's will be recalled once by Iketani (Cole). In my opinion, the Tokyopop release isn't all that bad ! Sure the translations blow, but at least you still got the option to switch to the original Japanese video and languages. So that pretty much makes up for all the needless translations, underground music that deserves to STAY underground, and the Americanized names. To those who are dying to know about the world of Initial D, buy the complete Japanese DVD sets and the movie at E-Bay or buy the Tokyopop release. I highly reccomend it ! See you at the finish line !
Rating:
Summary: Obviously some reviewers haven't seen this
Review: I won Initial D vol.1 on 8/31/2003 at a TokyoPop panel during BAAF 2003. It is amazing! It has the original audio and updated audio. What is cool is you can chose English or Japanese, and you can choose the soundtrack (including the original for you whiny "everything must be the old and version because new is bad" Oatku), and you can choose the original 3D animation or the updated 3D animation. I think TokyoPop is really on to something here. How many other $$$ DVD's will let you customize your experience? They are offering a product that is accessable to new anime fans while still remaining true to Otaku.
Rating:
Summary: Initial D + Lazy American = : )
Review: I'm interested in getting the original Japanese release, but, the only reason...Its A LOT cheaper than the TP version, and you can get the ENTIRE series right now. But, the TP version wins me over, for one reason...When I watch something, I don't want to read, or watch "other" activities when trying to pay attention to a story. I'd rather just WATCH, and listen. Anyway you slice it though, Initial D, is a great watch, and, as proved by my fiance, can be enjoyed (as well as infect), even by people who don't know about cars :)
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Awesome
Review: Initial D is an absolutely hands down awesome anime series that has me stuck to my seat when I watch it and gives me the urge to tackle the corners myself when it's over. I can't wait for Battles 6 and 7 to come out in the near future.
Rating:
Summary: Gran Turismo anime.
Review: Intial D is ono the weirdiest anime that tokyopop ever released in 2003. Its about a teenager named Takane, he deleivers tofu around his city and he own's a Toyota Trueno. Tak mastered the akina downhill track which is one of the the famous trcks in tokyo. It really reminds you of Gran Turismo and makes you wanna learn how to drift with a car in the game. The races in this anime is in 3D so some times it is weird and a lot of getting used but anyway get this anyway if you like anime or intrested in racing.
Rating:
Summary: Do not mix up a pirate product and a Japanese legit product
Review: It is a mistake although some people say that the Japanese version is cheaper than the U.S. version. JAPANESE LEGIT INITIAL D DVDs ARE NOT REGION FREE, AND DO NOT HAVE SUBTITLEs, EITHER. If you really want to buy a Japanese legit Initial D Super Complete Box, please go to amazon.co.jp and look for AVBA-14821.
The list price of the R2 Initial D Complete Box is 81905yen ($744.6 @ $1=JPY110). And AVBA-14024 is 1st stage of volume 1, the list price is 3800yen ($34.5 @ $1=JPY110), and contains only episode 1 and 2.
And AVBA-14040 is volume 2, the list price is 5800yen ($52.7 @ $1=JPY110), and contains episode 3 to 6. I think this R1 DVD is cheaper than R2.
Rating: 
Summary: TOKYOPOP really should get a backbone.
Review: It's mangled, just like the manga (US release). In the English version on the disc, they really bent over for American Censorship (TM). K.T.? Natalie? Iggy? Who came up with these names? Also, the original creators actually sampled the authentic engine sounds for each of the different cars for the original version. But the english audio has these "tricked out" rice rockets in an attempt to be "cooler' and "more hip" to the same people who think "The Fast and the Furious" is real. The background music as well was mangled, as they replaced the original tracks with - face it - horrible garage and punk bands. The major KICK-IN-THE-PANTS is that the relationship between Natsumi (errr, Natalie?) and her "daddy" has been deeply removed. I guess enjou kosai is too deep a subject for American audiences. My advice? Don't buy the TOKYOPOP release. Save your money for the R2's.
Rating: 
Summary: i'm glad i rented this instead of buying it
Review: it's not the worst i've ever seen but i'm very glad i rented it instead of buying it. the storyline is okay (i'm supposing one would have to really be into cars to find this truly enjoyable) but the animation is, at times, just plain weird. mainly, i was bored with the exception of a few decent lines on interesting car chases (of all things).
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