Initial D is a work that i find rather important in my own time as an anime fan. Back around the time when I first watched it, i used to hold this belief that shows had their quality derived solely from "objective" factors, usually dividing it all up into "Visuals, Music and Story" as the three main categories that were worth discussing on any given show. It was my belief, as learned from years of watching other media, that the level of these three things are what dictated the enjoyment of any given piece, and that the enjoyment was thus equivalent to it's overall score.

It was so that I was shocked to find Initial D to be so good. if we looked at it "objectively", the show isn't great. While the music is a solid 10/10, The visuals are generally bad in their quality, and If i sat down and talked about the story, you wouldn't think that it's particularly great. If i were to make an average of the scores I'd give each individual piece, the show would come up as a 63/100. A passable score, for sure, but not one that you'd think twice about.

But Initial D's true worth is not something that comes from objective scores. It comes from the fourth category, the one that truly makes or breaks any given show. "Enjoyment" is Initial D's secret ingredient when it comes down to my final thoughts on it. The story is alright, and the visuals are bad, but neither of those faults matter as much, simply because I was having fun. I never had the time to concentrate in how poorly the CGI was being done, because i was so invested on the race itself that i became blind to it. I never really questioned the quality of the story, because everything else collaborated to make the experience more enjoyable that what it would have been to read it on plain text. Truth is, that initial D was a fun thing to watch, and fun things are fun.

For a more standard review, I will say that the story is better on this re-watch than from what I remembered. The character of Takumi Fujiwara is an interesting exploration of how one can learn to enjoy something that they had no prior interest in (and how that interest may have been there all along), his relationship with Natsuki is definitely outside of the standard you'd see on a traditional romantic subplot for this kind of show, and Itsuki's character is that of an idiot, but a lovable one at (almost) all times. The show's Formula may wear thin during it's second half as the story becomes a repeat of what has been going on, but that issue is solved once you go into it's second season, which I think this first season more that fully sells you on.

When it comes to visuals, 3D animation is (and has always been) a double-edge sword. It's benefits and it's downsides are really uneven, and it's no wonder the anime community loathes it, myself included. But even then, I think Initial D's 3DCG is something particular that should be viewed as an upside. It would have been impossible to truly animate some of these things in 2D without making it feel like a boring slide show, and it's ultimately thanks to this 3D animation that the directorial work gets the chance to shine the way it does, increasing the enjoyment of the show to a point that 2D animation might not have been able to ever achieve. The show at one point mentions how a bad car can still thrive in the hands of a good driver, and it's in much of the same way that I think 3DCG can thrive in the hands of a good director, despite it's quality.

Ultimately, I think Initial D is much like the AE86 portrayed in it's story. With 10/10 music, 3/10 visuals and 6/10 plot, it doesn't seem like this show could ever possibly pull off the moves to compete with more modern anime, which should definitely leave it in the dust at a measly 63/100 score. But Much like how the AE86's true strength lies on it's impressive driver, Initial D's true strength relies on how it's enjoyment level goes way beyond what should be possible, making the final score one that is as subjective as subjectivity can go, and one which I've chosen to be funny about giving. Initial D's final score, as far as I care, is that of it's main car.