Tag: FD3S

The cars of Initial D – Manga Car Spotting – part 1

April 20, 2018 / banpei / 1 Comment

Manga Cars

Ever wondered which cars are featured in Initial D? And perhaps also wondered which model, make and type these manga cars are? In this third episode of Manga car spotting, I’ll be spotting cars in the first book of Initial D! This first book is the US version of the Manga by Tokyopop and covers chapters 1 to 10 of the Japanese Manga.

Initial D by Shuichi Shigeno

I don’t think Initial D needs an introduction: it’s the classic racing manga / racing anime series that gained huge popularity during the mid 1990s in Japan and mid 2000s outside Japan. The manga itself contains many layers of depth and isn’t just about cars, but also about (family) relationships and harsh training by commitment and determination. These first 10 chapters are mostly the introductory of the characters and the setting, so not a lot of action will happen. Still it was fun to do!

You can find the video and the high resolution scans of the panels containing manga cars below:

Friday Video: Rotary vs Skyline by Best Motoring

June 20, 2014 / banpei / 0 Comments

Back in the early 70s Mazda and Nissan fought for the grand championships with their rotaries (RX-2 and RX-3) and their Skyline GT-Rs (KPGC10 and PGC10) and Best Motoring is reliving those fierce battles with a bit more modern machines in Hot Version 52 (Rotary vs Skyline):

Unfortunately by the time Group 5 races emerged in Japan this meant the cars used never were the actual production cars anymore. So what Best Motoring did was to line up cars that never battled with each other and they range from early 80s till early noughties.

My personal favorite is the battle between the Mazda RX7 SA22C (tuned by REOS) and the Nissan Skyline RS Turbo DR30 (tuned by Escort) and you can watch this battle in the video below: Continue reading

Itasha: this year will be big!

January 3, 2010 / banpei / 1 Comment

A new year has started, so let’s bring on the predictions for the upcoming year! My first prediction will be that Itasha will become big! Maybe not outside Japan, but surely it will become BIG in Japan!

As you can see in this video at 4:05 even Isami Amemiya is picking up the trend! So if you want to be running up front and be a trend setter: start converting your GTR, FD or VIP car to an Itasha! :D

video: Ferrari versus Mini

August 8, 2009 / banpei / 2 Comments

You’re probably thinking: wtf? Is he mad or something? A mini versus a Ferrari?
No, I haven’t lost my mind yet and it makes perfectly sense to post this video:

It is an amazing achievement by this Japanese to keep up with that Ferrari (except on the straight) and it is amazing how much faster this Mini is in the cornering sections. This Mini is fast!

It is not the Mini nor the Ferrari that I find interesting: the cars they are passing are! :)

@0:23 a Starlet KP61, @0:42 a N2 AE86, @1:11 a Toyota Levin AE86 and a Nissan Sunny B310 coupe, @1:36 he gets passed by a RX7 FD (which he passes later on), @1:46 a Honda Fit (?), @2:13 a third generation Honda Integra, @2:39 another FD and a Toyota 2000gt, he does have some trouble with that Yaris Sport @4:00 and finally passes the Ferrari @4:43. Another oddity: @4:57 a rare VW Golf Mk2.

Hilarious: Initial D cosplay

November 21, 2008 / banpei / 5 Comments

Initial D Cosplay: hilarious!
Initial D Cosplay: simply hilarious!!
Do I need to say more?? I hope not… :D :D

They are all there: Takumi in the Sprinter Trueno AE86 (looks more like Itsuki to me), Bunta (behind the AE86), Ryosuke in the white FC3S RX7, Kyosuke in the yellow FD3S RX7, Sayuki (next to the Sil80?) and some other dude who doesn’t look like anyone at all. ;)

The only thing that crossed my mind: what if they were not cosplaying, but actually showing their Halloween costumes? What would happen if someone comes to your door in these cardboard cars and say “Trick or treat!!”?? Would you have to show your heel-to-toe as a trick? Or of course treat them upon some high-octane?? Hopefully we’ll never know!! I’d keep my door shut when these nutters come around! :P