Anime [David Anime] Initial D Fourth Stage 6

By all accounts, this series *should* have been a flop -- the characters are crudely drawn, the technicalities are esoteric, and, quite frankly, car racing is much more prosaic than shonen mainstays like ninjitsu or alchemy. However, despite all expectations, this episode turned out to be fast-paced, suspenseful, and wickedly entertaining.

Perhaps as an analogy, this series seems similar to Hikaru no Go, at least at the level of plot execution. Like Hikaru, this title introduces several complex tactics into the storyline (i.e. offensive car drifting, gear-ratio switching), but instead dwelling on the mechanics of these strategies, Initial D focuses on the psychological struggle going between the opponents and the resultant correlation with their goals. This is all rather gripping stuff, and, as a case in point, it's riveting to see Fujiwara feeling despair as he's being pinned by his rival, followed by recklessness and defiance as he tries to fulfill his dream of becoming Japan's best street racer.

In addition to having great character focus, this series has an outstanding soundtrack that does justice to the high-speed action -- as a caveat, the synth and the Engrish boy-band vocals can be grating at times, but, as a whole, it lives up to the legacy of prior Initial D titles. When you couple all this with a relatively fluid storyline, it's clear that this series is definitely worth checking out.

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