Initial D (D, Inisharu D, Kashiramoji D?) is a manga by Shuichi Shigeno which has been serialized in Kodansha's Young since 1995. It has been adapted into an anime series by Avex and a live-action film by Avex and Media Asia.

The anime and manga focus on the world of illegal Japanese street racing, where all the action is concentrated in the mountain passes (called Tge) and never in cities nor urban areas, and the drift racing style is emphasized in particular. Keiichi Tsuchiya helps with editorial supervision. The story is centered around the Japanese prefecture of Gunma, more specifically on several mountains in the prefecture and in and their surrounding cities and towns. Although some of the names of the locations the characters race in have been fictionalized all of the locations in the series are based on actual locations in Gunma Prefecture.



The manga and anime have also been licensed by TOKYOPOP for an English release. Many fans questioned TOKYOPOP's intent when it changed some characters' names and gave others Americanized nicknames. For instance, the main character, Takumi, became Tak (this is a nickname many Japanese-American change their names to), and his best friend Itsuki became Iggy. Some characters, such as Takumi's father, Bunta, retained their original names. These name changes were to reflect the name changes that Sega implemented into the western releases of the Initial D Arcade Stage video games {see below} due to name lengths. Viewers are able to view the episodes with the original Japanese 5.1 track should they wish. In addition, TOKYOPOP cut out a character's enjo ksai relationship with another character and edited sex scenes in the manga. In addition, "street slang" has been interlaced in translations (a drift is described as "slammin'", for example), and there have been accusations that Tokyopop has put out incorrect spec sheets on the characters' cars in the manga. The company also changed the music from the series' staple eurobeat tracks to originally developed tracks of rap and hip-hop via an in-house DJ called DJ Milky. [1] (Complete Initial D Eurobeat Song Selection.) The massive editing has been attributed to rumors that TOKYOPOP was hoping to cash in on the growing Import Scene brought about by The Fast and the Furious with edits that would conform to American broadcasting standards (Americanization) on TV.

Large numbers of fans have reacted negatively to the changes (particularly the renaming of the characters), preferring the original version of the series[2]. Fans have accused both TOKYOPOP and Avex of "selling out" and betraying classic anime fans in favor of money feeling that the changes in story line were done in bad faith for the purpose of "dumbing down" the series for a broader casual audience.[3]

As a result of these alterations and the ensuing dissent by fans, a number of fans have opted to obtain illegal fansubs in boycott of the TOKYOPOP releases. Normally the use of fansubs is considered acceptable by most fans only if there is no licensing of a series by an American company or announced American release or translation plans. Tokyopop and its employees have responded to fans' concerns several times with regard to these changes. On the Tokyopop forums staff members explained that censorship moves were made with plans to reach a broader audience and hopefully air on American television. [4] However, this idea of Americanizing the series might have backfired on Tokyopop, as the show was reportedly rejected by Cartoon Network in 2003 due to the radical changes Tokyopop did to the show. The anime does, however, air on Adult Swim in Australia.

Recently, FUNimation announced that it would be distributing the DVDs of the series (since TOKYOPOP's original distributor went bankrupt), but this may not mean that things are looking up for the series.

The manga was also subject to the same name bastardization as the anime, but the street slang was toned down and TOKYOPOP has been leaning toward the Japanese names in later volumes.