Initial D
With the Initial D manga ending last year at forty-eight volumes, we got the news that there would be a new feature coming out in 2014. Avex, who provided the music for the TV series incarnations up through the Fifth stage that came out in 2012 and 2013, has let loose with the first teaser for what’s being called New Initial D: The Movie – Legend 1: Awakening. Set for release on August 23rd, 2014 in Japan, it’s going to be directed by Masamitsu Hidaka with animation done by Sanzigen and Liden Films. There’s not a lot to the teaser, but the right elements are certainly there to start getting fans interested.
The manga, which began back in 1995, has had multiple anime adaptations over the years while the manga itself has done solidly and appealed to the region in which it takes place as well. The property even had a live action adaptation along the way.
Series concept: High school student Takumi Fujiwara works as a gas station attendant during the day and a delivery boy for his father’s tofu shop during late nights. Little does he know that his precise driving skills and his father’s modified Toyota Sprinter AE86 Trueno make him the best amateur road racer on Mt. Akina’s highway. Because of this, racing groups from all over the Gunma prefecture issue challenges to Takumi to see if he really has what it takes to be a road legend.