The Initial D Boxed Set contains volumes 1-5 for a total of 15 episodes, and a SPECIAL BONUS: 3 Logo Decals and 3 1/64 scale Collectible Die-Cast Cars. After years of navigating treacherous mountain passes to deliver tofu, Tak has unknowingly acquired the driving skills of a master street racer. When his hometown racing team gets pummeled by a visiting team, it’s up to Tak to save the day.Despite his amazing driving skills, spacey Takumi “Tak” Fujiwara, the hero of the broadcast series Initial D, isn’t fascinated by street racing, the way his friends Iggy and Cole are–at least not at first. The teenagers in their dead-end town north of Tokyo hold high-speed races because there’s nothing else to do. The technical challenges of performing various maneuvers and the arrogant racers from various gangs propel Tak into competition. Initial D mythologizes street racing as if it were a new martial art. Tak drives with a “powerful aura,” and races become duels of honor. Viewers may find it odd that the adults in the cast encourage the kids to take part in the dangerous and illegal races. Tak’s father, who runs a tofu shop, has been making his son drive a delivery route since he was in the 7th grade. That route runs up and down Mt. Akina, the course of the only race that matters, so Tak knows every curve. The characters are less developed than the endless discussions of driving techniques.

Initial D was a huge hit in Japan when it premiered in 1996, but any game today boasts better computer animation of car races: more realistic physics, flashier editing, more polished rendering. Although each episode is presented in both “classic” (original video, Japanese audio) and “tricked out” (enhanced video, English audio) versions, including only three per disc seems stingy. (Rated 13 and older: minor violence, tobacco and alcohol use, some profanity) –Charles Solomon

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