════ ⋆★⋆ ════ Considerations ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ ● This is a spoiler-free review ● As this work is still being released, I would like to start off by saying that at the time that I'm writing, we are at chapter 118. If things change drastically with time, I will come back and rewrite or edit this review. ● I've watched all the Initial D series and started reading this manga after learning of the release of an animated version coming in 2023.
════ ⋆★⋆ ════ The Setting ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ The story goes on after the happenings of Initial D. In 20XX. The manufacture of cars with internal combustion engines has ceased worldwide. Motorized land transport is dominated by self-driving electric or fuel-cell vehicles. Over the past decade, the number of cars on the streets has decreased, and fossil-fueled cars have been removed from the roads of advanced nations. In Japan, however, a new motor-sport event was created with fossil-fuel cars and streamed worldwide with extreme popularity. (Information in the first chapter)
The story is, to say the least, slow-paced. All the drama is centered on Kanata Livignton. Our main character is looking for his father in Japan. However, after some time, the story revolves around Kanata and the MFG Tournament and just keeps going as if nothing else matters. The focus then goes to races, cars, and nonsense. I'll leave an example of a story and plot in the later chapters. (without spoiler)
I also would like to mention how the art is perverted and weird. As you can see from the image above, there's also a scene with a high-school girl talking normally when the wind blows and we can see her underwear. Great plot on this manga.
════ ⋆★⋆ ════ The Art Style ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ Art Style on MF Ghost is definitely a difficult topic. If you're looking for cars, Perfect!, this is the manga for you. Everything is super detailed. No matter which angle he draws it from.
A lot of panels and backgrounds seem to come from edited real photos, and that would be okay if he just put all his drawing effort on the rest. Which isn't the case. When we start looking at characters, we see things that don't make any sense at all and you end up with faces like this.
Just for context. That's what we had in 1995 with the initial D.
════ ⋆★⋆ ════ The Characters ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ There are a good number of characters in this manga; pilots, family, and friends. Each personality is well-made and you can identify with each different style, but when it comes to depth, every single one lacks. Whenever they have reasons for either racing or behaving in a certain way, those reasons look childish.
The main character, Kanata, is by far the one that triggered me the most. Putting aside his main goal(finding his father) in order to focus on races. His mentality doesn't change as the chapters progress, and there's no real main character development whatsoever. It is bad. ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ Conclusion ════ ⋆★⋆ ════
If you're like me, you skip everything and read only the conclusion because you don't want to get spoiled with other themes. So I will try to be brief on this point:
Don't read it. That's probably the first time I've ever declined to recommend something, but there are a variety of reasons for that. Characters without depth, weak character design, a story that doesn't progress. Races can take 20-30 chapters, and you just keep waiting for months without anything really happening.
If you have already read or watched Initial D and are curious about how the characters turned out, then you have some excuse to read it since a lot of characters from the source series appear in MF Ghost.
