Initial D: A Love Story

The beginning of the Initial D anime adaptation celebrates its 20^th anniversary this year, with the original manga just a couple of years older. It’s only fitting to bring out this classic CarLustBlog.com post from 2015 for the celebrations. Many links have been removed (bummer) and it’s been edited and expanded upon slightly.

Have you ever had something (not someone) that has been part of a surprisingly good chunk of your life, for better or worse? Most of my friends would just say ‘videogames’, which is a little vague. I’ll just lump ‘em under Nintendo and/or Pokémon, since those two are forever intertwined. For me, it’s an anime, a car anime to be specific. You may have heard of it: Initial D.

Initial D Fujiwara Tofu Shop (AE-86) Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX:

The beginning of the Initial D anime adaptation celebrates its 20^th anniversary this year, with the original manga just a couple of years older. It’s only fitting to bring out this classic CarLustBlog.com post from 2015 for the celebrations. Many links have been removed (bummer) and it’s been edited and expanded upon slightly.

The AE-series Toyota platform is a gem of a car that was a fun to drive machine right from the beginning. But what’s so special about this one? What makes it any different? What is it about it that inspires replicas to be built all around the world, let alone inspire a college buddy of mine to replicate it as best as he could (Sorry, no pics. He sold it soon after)? Because it’s a hero car for a niche of a niche entertainment category (read: anime)?

Yes, and to be fair, this car is not so different from other well-cared AE86s… not until later anyways.