Series Review: Initial D Fifth Stage

Image courtesy of Initial D World Forums

Though Initial D is not the only car related anime out there, I have always considered it to be the quintessential car racing anime for people interested in Japanese cars, tuning, and drifting. In fact, without any exposure to Initial D, I might not have been as interested in cars as I am today, especially aftermarket tuning. While a lot of the stuff that happens in Initial D is far from accurate, it was this show that drove me to study more about the way cars with different drivetrain layouts react in different situations. I really do owe quite a bit of my knowledge to Initial D's inaccuracies.

Initial D has been around for about 18 years now, primarily in manga form. As an anime, Initial D has so far been divided into four seasons, a movie, two additional side movies, and two clip shows that chronicle all of the races from the first three seasons and movie. Initial D Fifth Stage is the fourth, and final season of the Initial D anime series, which coincides with the final few chapters Initial D author Shuichi Shigeno has written. Fifth Stage takes you through the final expeditionary races of Project.D, the racing team main character Fujiwara Takumi has joined to become a better racer. This final expedition takes Project.D to the Kanagawa region Japan, facing off against what is supposed to be Project.D's toughest series of opponents yet.

Does Fifth Stage live up to its predecessors, offering both compelling story and gripping racing?