Initial D (頭文字(イニシャル)D, Inisharu Dī?) is a manga by Shuichi Shigeno which has been serialized in Kodansha's Young Magazine since 1995. It has been adapted into a long-running anime series by Pastel, Studio Gallop, and OB Planning, which premiered in Japan on Fuji TV and Animax, and a live action film by Avex and Media Asia. Both the manga and anime series were licensed for distribution in North America by Tokyopop.
The anime and manga focus on the world of illegal Japanese street racing, where all the action is concentrated in the mountain passes 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, (mostly Shibukawa where Takumi's home is) more specifically on several mountains in the kanto area 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 (a nickname many Japanese-Americans 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 length limits. 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 kōsai relationship with another character and edited sex scenes, appearing in volumes 1 and 9 in the original tankōbon manga. In addition, "street slang"...