step on the pedal and forget about your fear

have you ever heard of the old saying that goes "never judge a book by its cover?"

well, NEVER JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER.

there, you've heard it twice now.

i take back everything i said about initial D yesterday. my belief that sequels are never as good as the first one stays, but it does not apply to initial D. i was wrong to judge the thirteen-episode long second stage based on the first four; it just has a slow build-up, that's it. but here are some reasons why i came to think that second stage was great.

first of all, character developmet. it was a sudden change, compared to the first one, and i still believe that it's either a different mangaka or he had a change of heart. but not disregarding the possibilities that the first stage was deeper than it looks. probably he already had something like that in mind in the first stage but concealed everything and never disclosed it to the viewer. character development in the second stage was abrupt, but good. takumi's character changes completely, he's got more lines to say than the first stage, and on the battle he seems to analyze more. but his is not my favorite character change; it's itsuki's.

in the first stage, itsuki's role is only a friend whose faith in takumi never ends; no matter how annoying he gets, or how much he brags, he never loses faith in takumi. that's his sole purpose in the first stage. nothing much is seen of his character except that he's an annoying reckless baka. however, in the second one, his recklessness declines by quite a lot, and he shows more maturity. the way he speaks of his love for driving when he was driving with sayuki reflects the strength of his character. he still cries easily and still hasn't reached complete maturity, but the growing process is obvious in the second stage. over the course of summer he has developed from a childish reckless person into one who is more serious and rational. definitely my favorite character of the second stage.

another reason, is the death of the hachiroku. whoever did the animation, editing, and music, i totally have to give them props. hella props. hachiroku is the only character that doesn't change since the first stage. when not being used, the hachiroku looks like a sleeping giant; it has a peaceful and compassionate look on it. but when the headlight flips and the engine roars, it looks like a tiger in a fighting stance. this doesn't change in the second stage, but what so amazing is when takumi finally killed the hachiroku. engine blew up, that's nothing special, but the aftermath. i almost cried. great cg. i have no idea how they did it, but the hachiroku looks completely dead. like it no longer has life. well, not that it has one to begin with, but work with me here. it doesn't look like it's sleeping; it looks dead, out of life.

whoever has the idea of killing the hachiroku, it was a great idea. i understand now, the craptalk about better engine determines a race is not how it looks. it's just a buildup, foreshadowing the death of the hachiroku. for some reason, the new turbo injection 4AG engine installed in the hachiroku makes it look different. it has been given a new life; it's been purged and revived.

lastly, the battle between trueno and levin. i'm just speechless.

enough comment on initial D. i think i'll look for the third and fourth stage after school starts. i can't download anything with 56k that disconnects every 26 minutes.

going down to sandiego after my parents get home from church. mraz concert at the copley symphony hall. finally something to look forward too. this summer seems like it's going to be hella long. a week feels like forever.

and i WILL make an entry about kaku, sometimes tomorrow.