Anime: Initial D Second Stage

On the surface, Initial D Second Stage seems better in every respect. But paradoxically, for all its various improvements, it's a much less interesting series.

Partly, of course, it's just that a sequel has to better rather than just equal the original. Second Stage's battles could be every bit the equal of the first Initial D's, and they would still seem dull simply because we've seen them before. On some levels this is true; both main races battles are scenarios we've seen before: lead Takumi first faces a more powerful car, and then an experienced driver on his own turf. It seems the inventiveness that characterized the first series' choice of battles has finally run out, and while the races themselves are perfectly good technically, they lack a lot of the earlier tension. On a presentational level everything is a lot better, with more modern animation and music combined with greatly improved CGI. The cars now actually look like cars, and the racetracks can show a lot more detail, with the newly textured road surfaces being the most obvious of many upgrades. The songs are perhaps simply less dated, but that counts for something, while the character designs are a welcome improvement, dragging the look of the series into the third millennium while remaining faithful to the originals. The visual difference is so strong it could almost justify a straight remake of the original.

But Second Stage is meant to be a distinct story, and in the end this is what holds it back. With only thirteen episodes, and a strong tradition of slow pacing, there isn't time for much plot advancement, which leaves the series feeling rather pointless. At the start, on the back of Initial D, Takumi is pretty much the fastest downhill racer in his prefecture, and at the end he's nothing more than that. While Takumi takes the decision to stop racing on Akagi and go elsewhere, ultimately perhaps to search for national success, we don't have time to see this make any real difference. And while some time is given to both Takumi and his friend Itsuki's romantic entanglements (which gives the chance for some welcome character development), only one is resolved satisfactorily, and the conclusion we get is jarring and leaves the series feeling rather unbalanced. In the other romance plotline, as in the main plot, we seem to merely be passing time; things inch forward a little, but this is plainly a bridge between what comes before and after rather than a story in its own right.

And that's the fundamental problem with Second Stage. It can't stand up when considered without Inital D, but if we try to consider the two as a whole then it doesn't provide anywhere near a satisfactory conclusion, particularly when compared to the end of that series. Perhaps, given the third stage movie and fourth stage series, we should really consider Second Stage as the middle of a single 66-episode-ish Initial D anime. But in that case it seems to have fallen prey to the same problem as many long series, and run out of steam after a big mid-series climax. The whole series feels like those two episodes after a major battle where everyone stands around picking up the pieces for a while.

It's not all bad, but even where Second Stage improves on the original, it can't capitalize too much. The racetracks probably look good enough to stand racing in the daytime now, but the night races are so well established that the fans would be outraged. The characters are starting to show a bit more depth, but this has to be developed oh so carefully to avoid putting people off with sudden drama. Even the music seems to be pacing its progress, making sure there isn't too much of a dramatic shift in style. The better non-CG animation would make it possible to put some action sequences in the non-car-racing sections - but such a move would destroy the mood of the series. The original was so carefully arranged to hide its flaws and make the best of its strengths, that Second Stage is straightjacketed.

So even though Initial D: Second Stage has improved or eliminated all of the first series' weaknesses, what makes the most impact is that it has destroyed its greatest strength. The racing simply isn't interesting enough, and without its races Initial D is nothing, never mind how good the looks or characters are. Having got here I'll watch the remaining series and hope things improve, but I certainly can't recommend Second Stage to anyone in its own right; unless it turns out the third and fourth stages are much better, you'll be better off stopping at one.

The second stage expands on the first series a lot. We see our hero getting more seriously involved in motor sports and facing generally are harder time than before.

As to the elements there is more of what made Initial D enjoyable. A little more story and a little more polished.

The animation and drawing style are exactly the same. The story and character development is a little deeper, as it shows more hardship and the hero is getting more into the hang of things.

The sound and music is again unremarkable which means it probably does its job and is not annoying.

Like for the first stage, I recommend this even to non auto enthusiasts (I am not one either) for the sheer fun of watching the races. And the ones in second stage are more grittier and thrilling than ever.

If you liked Initial D stage 1, then you don't want to miss stage 2, which is a bit more mature, but also less interesting.

The animation is still bad, although the characters have become more mature, and especially Itsuki is a lot less annoying. Still, the animation suffers a lot from the character design, which causes them to look ugly. And when you see the girls, you will even think it's even worse than the guys.

The sound is good. Less capturing as the stage 1-music, but nevertheless worth listening too. The voiceactors are the same, afaik and those are okay too.

The story continues where Stage 1 left off, and that's a good thing. After all, Stage 1 had a few loose storylines which were never finished and Stage 2 tries to cope with those. The series is only 13 episodes this time, and therefor it feels like it's a lot shorter than Stage 1. Still, it brings up new issues and problems, but doesn't really solve them, or rather in a way which didn't satisfy me. I have to agree that they finished this series in a decent way. Although I didn't like the ending, it's not bad at all. I just hoped they'd have changed some stuff.

The characters still look horrible, but this time Itsuki seems to have grown up, which is a huge plus. It's just a pity that the main character doesn't really evolve this time. Even though his car changes, and there are some interesting things about his relationship with Mako, it doesn't feels like he has changed much. Still, it's a lot better than stage 1.

For some reason I didn't like this one as much as Stage 1, which had a certain charm and attraction to it. Stage 2 had less of this all, and even though it's not annoying to watch, it's not as good as Stage 1. Or rather, not as interesting as the prequel.

more initial D!

Perhaps a little more serious in nature, this edition explores the possibility of loss, and pain of dealing with failure and loss.