Initial D Third Stage

[ParaParaJMo]

Initial D Third Stage

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YouTube - GrapplerJMo Anime Review Initial D Third Stage

Story and Characters
Picking up from 2nd Stage, Takumi has now become fully accustomed to his new engine and snow is about to fall, which means the end of racing season until the following spring. Before racing season ends, Takumi is presented a number of issues which he must resolve by the end of this movie: Ryosuke offers Takumi to join a special team he plans on assembling, Takumi is honored, but wants time to think about it, because he still has a score to settle with the leader of the Emperors, Sudo Kyoichi. This time, they are going to finish it on Sudo’s home course of Irohazaka. However, also on Irohazaka is the home of Bunta’s former rival, Kogashiwa Ken, and now his son, Kai, who drives an MR2, has also taken over and wants to avenge his father’s loss by besting Takumi. Not only does Takumi have issues to deal with on the streets, but his ex-girlfriend Natsuki still wants to patch things up with him and seek his forgiveness.

The movie has a considerable amount to deal with and it does an excellent job of covering its material. It transitions smoothly and takes one thing at a time and it’s well paced. Unfortunately, characters such as Itsuki, Iketani, and Keisuke are mostly in the back seat for all the right reasons, but still have presence. You finally get to see Takumi develop as a true well rounded racer and his other qualities also begin to develop in this movie as well. Not much else to say, but I say viewing the first 2 installments are a necessity since the movie is a continuation and a progression of the franchise. So I give a 9/10 for story and characters.

Art and Animation
Well, the art, resolution, and the cg continue to progress. The art is cleaner and more detailed, and the cg’s rendering also improves. The races as usual are exciting, but have more of a gimmick or twist behind them this time, which makes them fresh and original in addition of allowing the races to take place in a new environment. And you can never get bored of breath taking drifts. However, some problems I have in this movie are that the races this time tends to end more anti-climatically more than usual.

Fortunately for some, the tech speak is virtually non-existent this time so it’ll be easy to follow and just simply enjoy the races. But I say the tech speak in the previous sagas are always a big help in getting a professional understanding of how the cars and techniques work. But that’s just me. So anyway, that’s all I got to say except the art and animation progress to a 9/10 as well.

Music and Voice Acting
Well, I can’t really add too much about the voice acting since anything I said in the previous reviews can be applied here too. However, the addition of Kai played by Canna Nobutoshi is a great one. He is very intimidating and hot blooded as Kai like other roles he has played such as Guts from Berserk, Tasuki from Fushigi Yuugi, and Knuckles from Sonic. The music is still the number one trait has always captivated me to Initial D, and is a great representative of the fast and fun nature of this anime. The opening theme Gamble Rumble by MOVE goes very well to the sequence and is always in tradition that MOVE is part of the soundtrack, and I love the insertion of Crazy for Love as well. The ending theme Jirenma adds a new kind of feel to this series as well that you have to watch to understand what I mean. So if you’re familiar with my past reviews of Initial D, then you should know why I still maintain a 10/10 for music and voice acting.

Overall
Like I said, to get into this movie, and understand and enjoy it, you have to see the first 2 seasons to understand a lot of things such as Takumi’s developing acquainting with Ryosuke, why Takumi is avoiding Natsuki and what ended their relationship, and the score he has to settle with the Emperors. To me, this movie is an extension of season 2 and transitions very well into the 4th stage. This movie does an excellent job of standing on its own by further developing Takumi’s character, and balancing his issues and resolving them, and these traits play a big part on why I give this an overall 9.25/10.