Initial D: 4th Stage

I finally got a chance to watch the 4th stage and the Initial D series continues to be exciting. I'd have to say that this is the best TV series ever when you take into consideration the challenge of coming up with original stories for street racing. Going all the way back to the 1st stage, viewers would think to themselves, "how will Takumi win this race with his underpowered AE86?" This continues to happen in every episode. And there's always a logical explanation for the outcome of each race.

As with most Japanese animation, the graphics are great. At the center of visual attention are the cars of course. They're modeled in 3-D, but have a cartoon look that matches their environment. The level of detail is amazing. The cars in the series even sound just like the real things. In an age where every car manufacturer has several nice-looking futuristic cars, Initial D really makes the old street classics compete against modern fanciness. Takumi's AE86 gets a carbon fiber hood and Keisuke's FD gets an aggressive looking wide bodykit. Opponents in this stage include Type-Rs, Miata, R34s, Evos, S2000 and more!

The music matches the action as this series continues to revive the Eurobeat genre. I have no idea what they're saying, but the Japanese rap is pretty cool too.

Related Links: Fourth Stage @ YouTube, Initial D @ Wikipedia