Let me start out atypically, because I am telling you a rumor. I note that I do not know how much truth there is, maybe not much, maybe not at all, but I heard it from a trusted person + sounds credible. My ex-friend told me about it (QuantumSoul, a long time ago he was active on the M&A scene in Poland), who once was a great fan boy of "Initial D". In addition, he learned Japanese, spoke English much better, not to mention the fact that his knowledge of anime was greater than mine. Coming to the point, the music from this anime is rumored to have been used illegally without a license previously purchased. The people "on top" ignored this anime from the start, which we owe in large part to one fanatic. The guy put a lot of pressure on his superiors to let him adapt the manga (the same one that made the CGI models in TV series 1 and 2). Generally, they gave him a free hand on the principle "have fun, man, we lose little, and if you want to work, then go to work". Well, the guy used music from European artists, made models in computer graphics, edited individual segments into an episode and sent them to television. When the bosses screwed up what happened, they were probably furious. This nation is famous for its attitude towards piracy (they condemn it especially strongly) and respect for intellectual property. However, no one took any consequences towards the boy, because television had high viewership despite the poor broadcasting time, and the Eurobeat creators earned more money selling their CDs. The popularity of this genre's music had waned, and since the internet was still too archaic and the network architecture was in poor shape, it was difficult to download songs, let alone some YouTube equivalent. If you wanted to listen to music before releasing an album with a soundtrack, you had to buy CDs from Eurobeat performers. While most of this theory may be a rumor, the musicians certainly made some extra money thanks to the ambitious Japanese As I said, I don't know how much truth there is, but after watching 3 seasons and hearing that this type of music has already stuck to " Initial D ", this is very likely in my opinion. The more so because the third part of the manga was made in the form of a nice cinema film, not a TV series with a relatively low budget.
This one lasts an hour and 45 minutes, and is produced by Deen studio. Before watching the first season, I was very happy with the cinematic formula. This, in principle, is associated with better lines, animation, more effective scenes, a larger budget, better climate, etc. After comparing First Stage to the three cinema films, I can see how much I lost. Seemingly, these are irrelevant scenes, because everything that is important went to the movies, but there were conversations between the characters, a few less important threads, which are an added value from the perspective of the entire series. You can't fit everything in the movie because it would affect its pace and would last too long. I felt it after Third Stage, which I liked very much and I didn't complain about it right after the screening or now, after a few weeks, I was a bit tired. It has three long and emotionally engaging races, including two on the same track. The films with the subtitle "Legend" were a bit too short, but satisfying enough not to leave anyone unsatisfied. After the movie adapting the 3rd stage of the manga, I felt a bit of overeating. Surprisingly, with the slightly shorter "Brily" I didn't feel it at all. On the other hand, in the case of ID I do not treat it as a disadvantage, because while watching "The Third Board" I had problems in my personal life, which could have a negative impact on my reception.
Skipping the introduction in the form of a summary of previous events and conversations between the characters, the plot begins with a rematch between Takumi and Kyoichi Sudou, the leader of the Emperor group. In season two, Sudou trampled his dignity and defeated him, painfully realizing his shortcomings. Takumi, equipped with a new experience and engine, arrived in his territory and challenged him. He won them thanks to his iron nerves and his propensity to take risks. As the owner of a Mitsubishi Lancer rightly said, a person with ordinary nerves is incapable of actions like him. Not much later, Kai, son of Ken Kogashiwa, Takumi's father's former rival, arrives on Irohazaka. Their relationship is presented here in a way like Goku vs Vegeta. Kai wanted to challenge the leader of the Emperor and was sad to learn that Irohazaka had a new champion recently. The boy got pissed off and decided to change his goal. At a similar time, he meets Mutiny on his way and has the opportunity to look at the machine of his future opponent from a very close perspective. The third race, or rather the pursuit, takes place during the winter break. Although the drivers in this anime are gods in street racing, even they are unable to control the car when the road surface is too slippery. Rain and autumn leaves can still be survived, but they are not crazy enough to risk their lives. The exception is Takumi, but like I said, his approach is on the verge of madness and fucking. Other than that, the scenario is good, but noticeably worse than in Season 1 and 2. The characters evolve, we get a nice relationship between them, I have nothing to complain about. On the plus side, I can write down one important observation of Ryosuke Takahashi, which I remember - "If the trap is set too quickly, an experienced driver with strong nerves, maybe he will be able to control his emotions and regain his disturbed rhythm, and thus make up for the loss." I will not reveal which race it relates to, but it can apply universally to cases in our lives. Anyway, in Poland we have a similar term - "emotions are the worst adviser".
The same is with music, which is the weakest of the 3 seasons, and apparently even the worst of all. It's different with the opening song, the song by M.O.V.E is the best intro I've heard on ID so far. I like to listen to it both in the anime and while driving to work. It is similar with the track of the Speedman group - Speed Lover and to a much lesser extent Max Power. That's it, the rest was pretty good and if it were in a different title, I would have rated it as good, maybe even very good, but with Third Stage I only think of one word - disappointment. The previous seasons in terms of soundtrack deserved at least a rating of 9/10, and in this case I can give 6-7 / 10. Even the two tracks listed are anything but level 100, Make up your mind, Speedy Boy, Deja Vu, Don't stop the music, or those I forgot to mention.
The graphics are different, in this respect it is the most beautiful arc in the anime series so far. The film is on a decent level, there are no sloppily drawn faces, missing animation frames, the cars have better CGI models. Overall, everything looks fine and the drawings are made in more detail. Nothing special, because movies in this respect are usually better than TV series, but it is worth mentioning because of the vanity of First and Second Stage. It's hard for me to estimate how it looked compared to other productions from 2001, but today, after 19 years, it looks quite decent and is just as pleasant to watch.
All in all, this is the weakest stage of "Initial D" I have seen so far. The following seasons are already classic TV series and apparently the best is yet to come. That doesn't mean it's a weak anime - quite the opposite. It's still a decent product that is emotionally engaging, has a good script, and satisfies the storyline of previous episodes. I think we left the hill that Takumi knew by heart for good and moved to new routes. I recommend, good entertainment.
Thank you for helping Karol.
