Anime: Initial D
Lately, I have been watching the anime called Initial D. I like to say I don't normally like racing, but I would have to say I am also a liar.
First off, the anime is about a young man, who as a boy of 11, was enlisted by his father to make tofu deliveries to the top of Mt. Akina in the Gunma district of Japan. His father, in order to prevent the tofu from spilling and tearing, would place a cup filled with water into the cup holder and tell his son that as long as the water didn't spill out, the tofu would be safe... and thus began Tekumi Fujiwara's driving/racing/drifting training... unbeknowst to him.
Later, his skill is revealed to him in the form of Drifting and Street Racing that arrives when Takumi's father, Bunta (a street racing legend) is approached to Battle for the local Mt Akina turf. Bunta claims he is not into street racing anymore and makes a deal with now 18-year-old Takumi... a full tank of gas for a Date to the beach if Takumi will go to the race and win.
The first few episodes of the first season (Initial D: First Stage) are actually quite boring and geared toward boys and young men. As the stories progress, they tend to get more interesting to those who enjoy the heart-pounding action of dangerous racing.
Takumi eventually discovers that he likes to drive and race... he still doesn't realise that his skill and dexterity is unique until many races have come and gone... and several seasons of episodes pass.
In the meantime, it is exciting to watch Takumi as he discovers new things every race and to cheer him into winning and YES, even cheer him into LOSING (ha! You have to see that one to understand!).
I always said I don't like racing... But I am wrong. I have always been wrong. I played Pole Position on computers, I did every racing game in those days that I could get my hands on, I watched Pole Position the TV Show.... I checked out (and really didn't like) SpeedRacer... and yet I know the characters and the predicaments they got into... go figure.
When it came to choosing my own games for my own gaming systems, I have chosen such things as Grand Turismo and Burnout 3: Takedown (in addition to my rpg and puzzle games). Even in rpgs and puzzles, there were times when finding the perfect line through an area to beat the timer got my blood flowing (Spyro! Weird, right?) I play the racing games at arcades and I loved, loved, LOVED to drive my Cavalier just a little too fast for my own comfort.
Speaking of my Cavalier, THANK YOU ANNE AND ERIC for NOT telling me of this ANIME earlier and getting me into it when I was driving my favorite car. I am not kidding. I seriously was beginning to develop skills that I now know would have become decent (if not the best) street racing skills. You don't know. I was watching the anime and imagine my shock when Takumi or Ryousuke would describe a feeling with the car that I actually recognised and could remember feeling.... if I had watched that show.... I would've put a cup full of water into my cup holder and tried not to spill a drop as I did my normal driving...
Actually, come to think of it... that would've given me something to do instead of spacing out.... meh. O:-) So... yeah... Me? not interested in racing?? Who am I fooling?.... I wonder if I can get into the stats and such of NASCAR and the other racing circuits... would I find it all interesting now? dunno really... though I am almost interested in learning about those engine things beneath the hood of the cars now O:-)
buah... I even can't stand people in front of me when I am walking down the streets of New York. Meh, who the HELL do I think I am FOOLING????
First off, the anime is about a young man, who as a boy of 11, was enlisted by his father to make tofu deliveries to the top of Mt. Akina in the Gunma district of Japan. His father, in order to prevent the tofu from spilling and tearing, would place a cup filled with water into the cup holder and tell his son that as long as the water didn't spill out, the tofu would be safe... and thus began Tekumi Fujiwara's driving/racing/drifting training... unbeknowst to him.
Later, his skill is revealed to him in the form of Drifting and Street Racing that arrives when Takumi's father, Bunta (a street racing legend) is approached to Battle for the local Mt Akina turf. Bunta claims he is not into street racing anymore and makes a deal with now 18-year-old Takumi... a full tank of gas for a Date to the beach if Takumi will go to the race and win.
The first few episodes of the first season (Initial D: First Stage) are actually quite boring and geared toward boys and young men. As the stories progress, they tend to get more interesting to those who enjoy the heart-pounding action of dangerous racing.
Takumi eventually discovers that he likes to drive and race... he still doesn't realise that his skill and dexterity is unique until many races have come and gone... and several seasons of episodes pass.
In the meantime, it is exciting to watch Takumi as he discovers new things every race and to cheer him into winning and YES, even cheer him into LOSING (ha! You have to see that one to understand!).
I always said I don't like racing... But I am wrong. I have always been wrong. I played Pole Position on computers, I did every racing game in those days that I could get my hands on, I watched Pole Position the TV Show.... I checked out (and really didn't like) SpeedRacer... and yet I know the characters and the predicaments they got into... go figure.
When it came to choosing my own games for my own gaming systems, I have chosen such things as Grand Turismo and Burnout 3: Takedown (in addition to my rpg and puzzle games). Even in rpgs and puzzles, there were times when finding the perfect line through an area to beat the timer got my blood flowing (Spyro! Weird, right?) I play the racing games at arcades and I loved, loved, LOVED to drive my Cavalier just a little too fast for my own comfort.
Speaking of my Cavalier, THANK YOU ANNE AND ERIC for NOT telling me of this ANIME earlier and getting me into it when I was driving my favorite car. I am not kidding. I seriously was beginning to develop skills that I now know would have become decent (if not the best) street racing skills. You don't know. I was watching the anime and imagine my shock when Takumi or Ryousuke would describe a feeling with the car that I actually recognised and could remember feeling.... if I had watched that show.... I would've put a cup full of water into my cup holder and tried not to spill a drop as I did my normal driving...
Actually, come to think of it... that would've given me something to do instead of spacing out.... meh. O:-) So... yeah... Me? not interested in racing?? Who am I fooling?.... I wonder if I can get into the stats and such of NASCAR and the other racing circuits... would I find it all interesting now? dunno really... though I am almost interested in learning about those engine things beneath the hood of the cars now O:-)
buah... I even can't stand people in front of me when I am walking down the streets of New York. Meh, who the HELL do I think I am FOOLING????