Okay, how did I miss this topic. This is my area of expertise. For Mr. Becker, other racing series: Well they're hard to come by..eX Driver is a pretty nice one and is easy to collect, its not really a pure racing series, but none the less its driving action. I've got it too and I must say its pretty decent. Short, but good. Wangan Midnight is an okay manga series, as is OverRev, if you know how to read Japanese. Yes, these boxed sets are all bootlegs, but hey, I'd rather buy it than that Tokyopop BS. They really have no idea how many people they've pissed off. I've got the whole series too, got mine all from
www.discountanimedvd.com , one at a time. I'll do quick reviews (and I do mean quick.)
Initial D Tv Series vol. 1 boxed set: Aw yeah, the OG. The animation and character designs isin't really..um..good. But you tend to ignore it once you get into the story, the CG used for the cars more than makes up for it. Although, it seems to really look awkward during daytime scenes. This ones a must own. (Derr.)
Initial D Second Stage boxed set: Got it for christmas, it wasn't as long as the first season, but I loved it! Every moment of it! The CG, character design, and animation all got shots in the arm and were back and much much better. The story was pretty good (Damn Emperors..) and there was really nothing to complain about..although, it seems the anime series is VERY dodgy on outright saying what Natsuki and Papa have been doing (though its obvious...damn Natsuki..nah..I can't say that, she's still good..) Second Stage had this emotional feel to it that really gets to you, and was overall my favorite
Initial D Third Stage the movie: Um, well, the CG rocked, but the compression in the dvd left things looking a little squished at times, but its easy to ignore. The soundtrack wasn't hardly as good as the previous two installments had, but this was a great movie and a fair enough "ending" (don't worry, it'll be back) to the series.
Initial D Extra Stage: Uh..hm. It was...okay. Not exactly action packed so to speak, and I think its supposed to happen sometime during Second Stage, as a kind of side story thing. It had approximately one race, and also, Mako Satou's boobs. I liked it, but I can live without it.
Initial D Battle Stage: You've seen this before, its nothing new. Don't bother unless you're a completist, its basically just a remix of a couple of the battles with the movies CG and a new soundtrack. Nothing to speak of to add to the series.
Man I love Initial D ^_^, its my like, second favorite thing on earth, and I am sooo jealous of you guys with the arcade game..all I've managed to play is Wangan Midnight =/, but I'll be flip-topping the PS2 soon and importing Initial D Special Stage so I can have the arcade game at home. As for getting a car from the series..the Trueno..I'd be careful..thats why I'm getting an RX-7. An FD or an FC, I don't care which, I'll have one. Takahashi Brothers forever indeed
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