The Initial D animated series holds a special place in my heart since it’s the anime my cousin and I bonded over. This series started in 1998 and you can basically envision it as the anime version of Fast and Furious. It’s a sports anime that covers street racing. If you’re a JDM (Japanese Domestic Market) fan this is definitely an anime for you.

The synopsis of this anime is: a high school student named Takumi Fujiwara works at a gas station during the day and delivers tofu for his dad at night.  His dad was actually able to somehow teach Takumi how to become the best amateur road racer on Mt. Akina’s highway over time when Takumi was delivering tofu with his dad’s modified Toyota Sprinter AE86 Trueno.  The series unfolds as Takumi’s friends find out how good of a racer he is, and so do road racing teams from other parts of Japan.  Takumi, driving his AE86, soon becomes the challenger to beat as he takes on becoming a legend. 
The artwork for this series isn’t pretty. We are talking about some pretty disastrous looking girls, but to me it is a bit humorous. The art style is that of a slice of life comedy manga with pretty unique looking characters. They even include some old school 90s CG when it comes to the anime’s intro and car racing portion. The faces that were drawn for the characters are pretty animated. Overall I do love the look and feel of this anime. Check out the trailer for it below.

What I love about this anime is the range of cars you learn about in the time period. The episodes also contain dialogue on theories on how to take on races, what cars are better suited for turns and the type of races requested. It really can be an eye opener knowing that street racers think more than just how fast they can drive but the actual physics it takes to win. Initial D is the anime for car enthusiasts. 
Also, if you don’t want to check the anime out, the series did get its own live action movie. The trailer below shows off a bit of the vibe. It’s still one of my favorite movies to watch.

Overall if you want to check out Initial D I give it a 4.5/5. It’s not perfect but it’s definitely in my top 10 favorite 90s anime.