Initial D Volume 2
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4.6 • 15 Ratings
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
Showdown on the Mountain
With news of the phantom EIght Six spreading like wildfire over the prefecture, more and more racers want in on the action … but the Eight Six driver, Tak, might not really want any of the action, at least, maybe not that kind of action. His romance with Natalie grows all the more ambiguous even as he anticipates a date with her, a semi-romantic excursion to the beach on a Sunday afternoon. Of course, Tak’ll need some wheels to get there, and his dad won’t let him borrow the car unless he lines up again K.T. (one of the best drivers in the rival racing gang of the Red Suns) in a race down the serpentine roads of Mount Akina. The Akina Speed Stars are counting on him, his best friend Iggy is counting on him, his old man is counting on him, and, most of all, Natalie is counting on him. But once Tak gets a taste of how sweet victory really is, his indifference to driving just may turn into a passion for it.
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 clich s 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.
