Initial D Extra Stage

I thought that Initial D without Fujiwara Takumi and his fearsome Hachi-Roku would simply not work out at all, but I was proven just the opposite. I found the story very good, although it was quite different from Initial D has offered so far. What's more, it was a very pleseant feeling to see one of the minor characters play the lead guitar. The first episode of the Extra Stage was especially pleasing since it was another race I have become used to throughout the series. It was also very interesting to see the members of the Night Kids in a better light. The second episode was moreof an emotional story. On one hand, it's not what one might expected from Initial D. On the other, due to its Christmas theme such a plot did the job perfectly. It was also very pleasing to see one of the characters picture the dilemma each racer faces at the climax of his 'career'. Concluding, story-wise the OVA does a great job since it answers problems which have not been addressed in the series. When it comes to art, we see the same animation as in the First and Second Stages. Some characters are still having a bad hair day and the girls are still darn ugly. But Initial D is not about the animation of people but more about the animation of cars and races and in that aspect it fullfills the expectation. As a whole the OVA looks very good, though those of you who don't like Initial D's style of animation will feel dissapointed. In the sound department we gat the same thing as in the series, which is a combination of very good, almost top notch voice acting with that cool eurobeat we have been savouring throughout the series. As I have said it's nice to see minor characters in the leading roles. They fit the story perfectly and are interesting due to the difficulties that they have to face due to their line of 'profession'. However, without Takumi, who is the protagonist of the series, and Itsuki, who is hilarious in his role of the leading racing dumbo. As an OVA Extra Stage was a joy to watch, however I'm hoping that the emotional direction adapted in it won't be used too much in the series itself. If this would be a separate anime I would rate it even higher, since the 'Initial D=Takumi and his Hachi-Roku' factor would be put aside. In overall, the Extra Stage is quite different in terms of plot from the series it is still fun to watch and a must for every fan of the Akina Hachi-Roku.

It’s basically a spin-off that features Impact Blue, the female racers that Takumi encountered before in the 1st stage. The story deals with the dynamic of Mako & Sayuki, rather than the usual main cast (although they do appear in the OVA sans Takumi) facing a challenge with one of the racers of Team Emperor, who were the challengers from 2nd Stage and at the time was reigning over the Myogi Night Kids, while Mako is dealing with the breakup between her and Iketani. This is a…….alright edition to the story. I don’t know how it will affect the later editions but it is good tofocus the series on another main character with their backstory and the Impact Blue girls does seem interesting to focus on to, although some problems I have with the OVA is the challenger (or antagonist of the first half) they faced with. I’m not sure of his name but he is mostly a generic, sexist with the “girls can’t do what we do” attitude and the arrogance of him just reeks of annoyance and blandness. WE GET IT!!! It’s just so f***ing annoying. The second half deals with the relationship and while it is emotional and shows how Mako will eventually have to settle this soon, I just lost interest half-way through the OVA. FINAL VERDICT: It is very passable but it won't hold my attention all the way.

I tried to be vague while writing my review but final paragraph is spoiler-ish. This is not super bad but it's still pretty bad. I'm alright with a side story featuring a different main character, I'm also alright if it's more about the characters than the racing. The issue is that the OVA feel like it's fan fiction, it doesn't have much of a goal in mind, character interaction is pretty bad and the dialogues are flat. It adds nothing to the story aside from explaining a little bit what the "project" mentioned at the end of Second Stage is about. For some reason, they added somenudity and male gaze too, and made Zack/Nakazato a huge pervert that can't hold a conversation if a girl is there because he's going to stare at her cleavage and her ass instead. It's still pretty tame but this is a weird addition for Initial D, which never went further than kissing. It's like they tried appealing to mature audiences all of a sudden and without warning. Oh and I dunno about what they say in the original version but in the english dub, they use the word bimbo. That's pretty vulgar for a tame show like Initial D. It's also annoying how much they need to mention how girls are special when it comes to driving. "Oh those are girls but they're the only ones we got to beat the Emperors", "She's a girl but she's good!", "She's fast for a girl", "If a woman can do it, so can I", "Oh you think I'm going to lose because I'm a girl?" etc. The romance developed is also bad, the two characters have no synergy at all and just met a few days ago and the guy says driving is too dangerous and she needs to stop and do lady things like wearing fancy dresses. Maybe you're thinking I'm an angry feminist but I'm not. It's just driving, why do they need to put so much emphasis on the fact that women are driving? It's just so stupid when the only thing they could come up about female characters is to keep referencing the fact that they are females. The writing was good in First Stage when they appeared, so how did they mess it up? Finally, the plot. Team Emperor wanted to challenge and defeat every team around so obviously the girls from Usui Pass are going to be on the list. Even though they're not a team with a sticker to steal? So Team Emperor comes to Usui Pass to race the girls, for some reason the two leaders of Emperor aren't there. The guy from Emperor loses, he says to his friend "don't tell this to our boss" and "hm okay". Soooo did Team Emperor wanted to win Usui Pass or not? Are Sudo and Iwaki fine with this? Did they berate the Team Emperor dudes that went there? Do they want their revenge like "just because you beat one dude doesn't mean you beat me"? This is not shitty but still, it was awful.

I never write reviews so this is not gonna be some professional review, I'm just genuinely disappointed. I've watched Initial D first & second stage so far and what I liked so much about it, is that the fanservice wasn't noticable at all and that the female characters actually had a personality. This OVA however, just left all of that in the dust. Fanservice is almost everywhere and I can usually tolerate it pretty well, but I was quite upset with this one. There was no need for fanservice and nudity in the first & second stage, so why add it now? It didn't add anythingto the story at all and was actually kind of annoying. Street racing and racing in general is something that is viewed as a masculine thing, which is exactly why I loved Mako & Sayuki so much because they defied this stereotype. So to see them portrayed as mere sex objects in this OVA, really hurt. Besides that, the story was pretty boring too. Initial D usually has me on the edge of my seat, not wanting to miss a single second, but that's not the case with this one.

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