Initial D Vol.3 [Paperback]

Shuichi Shigeno (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 22, 2002 | Series: Initial D (Book 3)

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This latest installment in the popular manga series continues the fast-paced auto-racing story of Tak Fujiwara, a young racing star on the verge of greater things. Tak falls into racing by default, testing his driving prowess up and down Mt. Akina while delivering orders from his father's tofu business. He eventually hooks up with the racing team Akina Speed Stars, encouraged by the team's leader, Cole Iketani, who becomes his mentor. In this volume, Tak reaches a turning point, hooked on the racing life. Pushing to master the sport, he begins to surpass Cole, and their relationship comes to a head after Tak takes Cole's place in the book's cliffhanger finale. Shigeno sets this book up like a video game, identifying the characters and the specs of their amped-up cars before ushering readers into the story. And like a video game, character motivation, development and empathy aren't quite as important as the hair-raising race action on Mt. Akina. Shigeno's drawing is competent, and he's in full control of his subject. His panels are cinematic, with quick cuts and dynamic visual angles of the cars hurtling down the mountain. His layouts are thrilling and highlight in clear detail the characters' driving techniques. Indeed, the racing action compensates for the soap opera-esque cliches and slow-moving subplots that pad the rest of the book. The book is published in the newly fashionable American manner, to be read right to left, as it was in the original Japanese edition.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: TokyoPop (October 22, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591820367
• ISBN-13: 978-1591820369
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #624,563 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great manga, bad translation, March 16, 2003

By 

Steve (Carmel, IN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Initial D Vol.3 (Paperback)

Alright, so we all know that Vol. 1 of Initial D was translated flawlessly, and everybody was happy. TokyoPop must have known this too, because the sales were great. So what we don't know is, why the heck did they screw the rest of the series up? They decided to completely remake the names, who knows why. They butchered the dialogue, and to top it off, they call it '100%' manga. what the H? Though I would like to complain all day about it, the entirety of this review isn't focused only on the translation. The story is great and the illustrations are fantastic (I dont really care much for the character design, but who cares). If I was basing this review on translation alone, I would give it 1 star, and if I was basing it on the manga itself, I would give it 5 stars. So, I merged the two and gave it 3. My suggestion is learn japanese and buy the import mangas. hope this helped some

5.0 out of 5 stars Takumi vs. Takeshi, May 9, 2005

By 

FrednTidy (NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Initial D Vol.3 (Paperback)

Volume 3 shows Takumi's race against Takeshi Nakazato ("Zack" in the English translation) and his Skyline GTR. It is a great race. I am continually impressed by how a lot of Japanese artists are able to take an action scene and totally drag it out in incredible lengthy detail, and yet have it be a fast-paced page turner. The Takahashi brothers also go watch the race and they are just so totally awesome! Later on in the book, Itsuki ("Iggy") gets his first car, and through that we see how Takumi is such a great friend and person.