Initial D, Book 1 [Paperback]

Shuichi Shigeno (Author)

Book Description

Series: Initial D | Publication Date: May 21, 2002

Only the fearless survive in the white-hot world of street racing, as teams take on dangerous roads in the shadow of Akina Mountain. Behind the wheel of the mysterious `Ghost of Akina` is Takumi, on his way to becoming the greatest racer ever.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: TokyoPop (May 21, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931514984
• ISBN-13: 978-1931514989
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #545,065 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #43 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Sports > Miscellaneous > Motor Sports
  • #43 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Nonfiction > Automotive > Racing

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars NOT an "authentic manga", July 7, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Initial D, Book 1 (Paperback)

The book iteself is of poor quality with the margins of the manga running into the spine, which is stiff as a board. Certainly this isn't one of Tokyopop's worst releases, but they certainly didn't put their best into it either. Some of the text is so small, you can barely read it, some of which also runs into the spine.

The translations are terribly inadequate. Seasoned fans of Initial D will NOT appreciate the liberties taken with the translations of this series, of which the flavor and personality is lost. Things the characters said were either totally made up or misconstrued. For example, an original sentence in Japanese on Page 16, in the Japanese version, Takumi says "Hey, stop reading that while walking ... It looks silly...", in Tokyopop's version, same word bubble, Takumi says something about being so upset he wanted to burn the school down. It's nice to know that new fans will think Takumi is a pyromaniac with a scary temper. Later in the chapter, Mogi asks "Papa" (who is now "Baby" in Tokyopop's version), if making that much money is okay (feeling guilty for being paid to see him), but Tokyopop has her saying, are you sure I'm worth it? I'm high maintenance you know. Made up conversations take place thoughout the book totally disregarding the original content. Perhaps it wouldn't be so disappointing if Tokyopop would not claim to have produced an "authentic" manga. This is certainly not a translation, but an adaption. They even changed all the names. In fact, they did the names correctly the first print, and changed them for the second print.

New fans to Initial D, and to Tokyopop, will probably not notice a difference at all. What you don't know, won't hurt you. If you do not know that the dialog was ripped apart and made up, then you will not care and will probably enjoy the book. In fact, you're probably going to be happy that you can read the manga at all and enjoy it in a language you can understand. But understand that you are not reading the same story that was intended by the original author. Seasoned fans who know the dialog and know what is being said and can stumble their way though manga in Japanese will be sorely disappointed in this book.

If you're buying this book soley to support Tokyopop, or to enhance your Initial D collection, don't bother. You will be very unhappy. Stick with the originals. If you can't understand Japanese and can't find translations, and want to try this book, go ahead, buy it, you'll probably enjoy it as you won't be able to compare it to the original and cringe at the awful job they did representing the content. But know that you are being cheated because you didn't have the hindsight to take Japanese before you became interested in manga, and that you are at the mercy of a company that has sole rights over the work, and doesn't care about it's presentation.

I returned my copy and will just keep my Japanese collection.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Addictive Despite Iffy Translation, May 7, 2005

By 

FrednTidy (NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Initial D, Book 1 (Paperback)

I picked up this manga by chance at an import bookstore thinking that a car comic would be somewhat amusing. It has turned out to be one of the most fun comics I have read in a long time. This is an awesome comic for guys, dealing with all that good stuff like honor, pride, competition, male bonding, etc. This could have been a series which just had the same race after race with fake filler drama padded in between, but I was very impressed by how the author Shigeno goes way beyond that. He creates compelling characters that the reader will care about, and writes interesting stories about the characters' lives both on and off the street and how those aspects of their lives are completely intertwined.

Shigeno's drawings of people are a bit rough, but it doesn't matter all that much because of strong writing and storytelling. The action scenes and the hype building up to them are spectacular nonstop page turners. From what I understand Shigeno made the effort to accurately depict the cars and the various racing techniques, and it gives the entire series a real edge of authenticity. At the beginning and end of each book, there are car and character descriptions, glossaries, and road maps. I'm not sure if they were in the original comic or if Tokyopop added them, but they're pretty cool.

The Tokyopop English translation leaves a bit to be desired. Many of the characters' names have been Americanized and it seems a bit awkward. Tokyopop has also greatly toned down certain scenes that deal with sexuality. These name and content changes seem like an attempt to kiddify the series. The only exception is the first print of Book 1. For me the larger issue is that there are also numerous typos in the text descriptions and glossaries, as though Tokyopop rushed the books to print and didn't bother editing them properly. Also, in the team rosters at the beginning of one of the books, the Red Suns and Night Kids rosters are switched. Even within the actual comic of Book 5, one panel mislabels Ryosuke Takahashi's car as an FD. Once you get into the story, you will start to care about these distinctions.

This manga series shines despite the spotty translation. If you enjoy the first one and don't mind the translation job, I would encourage you to buy up to at least Books 5 or 6 because they complete the first story arc, it's totally worth it!

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Nice story...Lost a lot in the translation., August 5, 2003

By 

"tripplea99" (Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Initial D, Book 1 (Paperback)

This is not another 'why did they change the names' write up (but I still don't like that). It is more along the lines of the translators being totally clueless about cars (and racing). It appears that the only information they ever gathered about racing is from 'The Fast and the Furious'. Thing like Ryosuke saying 'I changed the turbine to increase the compresion.' Hello, changing the turbine has no affect on compresion ratio, it affects the boost pressure. Then there is the part when Ryosuke is racing Takumi. The corner where Takumi passes Ryosuke is not '2 R shaped curves back to back' (as Shingo/Nakazato where saying), it is a 2 radius turn (it sharpens near the end). Then there are the 'definitions' in the end. Load shift is not side to side shifting of weight, it is front/rear. Then there is the description of a rotary engine, which is just downright pathetic.

Last of all, fix the scale on the map of the Gunma prefecture. It is not 200km per (whatever). That would make Gunma 1000km (600 miles) across!! I've driven in Japan, and it isn't that big.

Sorry, the original Japanese one is a little more techinical (and acurate) then this sad translation. This looks like a sad attempt to cash in on the Fast and the Furious. The only reason this volume (vol 1) has a 2 is because it kept the original names. All the other ones I've looked at I have given a 1. I'm waiting to see how their version of the Anime translates (compared to the funny english HK version I currently have)