Customer Reviews

Initial D - Battle 9 - Akina's Superstar Challenge

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The climactic final battle between street racing god Ryosuke Takahashi and driving prodigy Takumi Fujiwara is finally here. It's a shame that the descriptive blurb just above this review gives the ending away, but it's still a hell of a match to watch-the best race in a season of great races. We get to see just how great a driver Ryosuke is. We also see that Takumi isn't invincible, even on his home course. This disc also contains the first episode of Initial D's second season. It's a pretty quiet intro to an absolutely phenomenal season (yes, I've seen it, and in my opinion, it's even better than the first).

This volume is the big one, containing the last two episodes of Season One (First Stage), with Takumi's climactic race against his most formidable challenger, Ryosuke Takahashi, team leader of the Akagi Red Suns, and the first episode of Season Two (Second Stage), which introduces a formidable new set of challengers for Tak in the persons of Team Emperor. The race with Ryosuke (taking up two episodes, nos. 25-26) is the event to which all the previous 24 episodes have been building. And an exciting race it is, accompanied by phoned-in commentary from Tak's unflappable father, Bunta, and featuring what appear to be the first instances of self-doubt on Tak's part. We also get to glimpse a lot of the spectators, including several characters we've met before, such as the two attractive female racers from Usui Pass, Mako and Sayuki, from Volume 7. Tak's girlfriend, Natsuki, shows up as well for this all-star gathering. If I have any criticism of the series conclusion it's that the most decisive moment in the race is handled too matter-of-factly, resulting in something of an anti-climax. Even so, it's been a great series and leads us directly into Season Two (Second Stage), first episode (listed as Act 27 onscreen in the English version, and Act 1 in the Japanese version), where we meet an older, rougher crew of racers who are eager to challenge any and all locals including Tak and his Trueno Eight-Six. It should be pointed out that the character design in Second Stage is noticeably more detailed than it was in First Stage.

The Super Eurobeat soundtrack continues to pump away on all cylinders, keeping the proceedings musically stimulating throughout. One of the songs heard during the race, "Blackout," in ep. 25, appears on the "Initial D: Vocal Battle" import CD. I should remind fans that this music is heard only via the "Classic" option (Japanese track) and not in the "Tricked Out" (English track) version, which has its own newly-appended score. The only mention that a new season of the show starts on this disc is a tag line in small letters on the back of the DVD case that reads, "Includes Episode 1 of Initial D's Exciting Second Season."

Arrived fast. Plays fine. Good vendor.
I like the FC cars so Battle 9 is a very good 1 for me.
Other than that, it's pretty much on par with most other initial-D... very enjoyable.

TOKYOPOP doesn't know anime and transform it into uglyness (change score, characters' names, cut scenes, etc...). Pioneer at least keep the original score and characters' names for their animes.