Initial D - American Licensing and Alterations

American Licensing and Alterations

The manga and anime were originally licensed for English releases in North America by Tokyopop. The company changed the names of the characters in the anime edition, and subsequently changed them in the manga to match. For instance, the main character, Takumi, became Tak, and his best friend Itsuki became Iggy. Some characters, such as Takumi's father, Bunta, retained their original names. These name changes were to reflect the name changes that Sega implemented into the western releases of the Initial D A Stage video games {see below} due to name length limits. Tokyopop also cut out a character's enjo kōsai relationship with another and edited sex scenes, appearing in volumes 1 and 9 in the original manga. In addition, "street slang" was interlaced in translations (a drift was described as "slammin'", for example). The company also changed the anime's music from the series' staple eurobeat tracks to originally developed tracks of rap and hip-hop via Stu Levy (DJ Milky), the Tokyopop CEO and an in-house musician.

The massive editing has been attributed to rumors that Tokyopop was hoping to cash in on the growing Import Scene brought about by The Fast and the Furious with edits that would conform to American broadcasting standards (Americanization) on TV. Their version of the anime aired on Adult Swim in Australia.

The manga also had some translation errors. One example was the technical term "Wastegate" (which is a mechanism used to regulate the boost pressure generated by a turbocharger) that was translated as "West Gate". Another was an inaccurate explanation of how an engine's displacement is calculated (the explanation given is how a ship's displacement is calculated, which is totally different). Many of the explanations of automotive design and function, as well as the spec sheets of the various cars, were incorrect. Takumi's AE86 was listed as having twice the horsepower it should have had early in the series.

In August 2009, Kodansha announced that they would not be renewing their licensing agreements with Tokyopop, citing "tense relations" between the two companies. This meant that Tokyopop could no longer release new volumes of Kodansha manga properties, nor re-release Kodansha titles that were already printed. Tokyopop ceased the release of Initial D after volume 33, which was released on December 30, 2008. Volume 34 had a scheduled street date of April 7, 2009, but never released. There have been no announcements as to a new distributor in NA for continuing or restarting the manga.

In 2006, Funimation Entertainment announced that it would be distributing the DVDs of the anime (since Tokyopop's original distributor went bankrupt). This new distribution was marked by slightly revised packaging and two box sets corresponding to the licensed seasons Tokyopop had dubbed, although the DVDs themselves were exactly the same as the original Tokyopop release.

Tokyopop had completed an English dubbed version of Third Stage, and reportedly screened it at the Big Apple Anime Fest on August 29, 2003. They briefly mentioned that their version of Third Stage would retain the original Japanese soundtrack, in contrast to their treatment of the anime series. This version of the film was never released on DVD, nor was it ever mentioned by Tokyopop past the original announcement.

At the New York Anime Festival 2009, Funimation Entertainment announced that it would be re-releasing and re-dubbing Initial D: First Stage, Second Stage, Extra Stage, Third Stage, and Fourth Stage. Their release included a brand new English dub and retained the original music from the Japanese in an uncut format. Funimation released the series out of order, with the Third and Fourth Stages releasing before the First and Second Stages. Funimation has not specified whether or not they will dub and release Extra Stage 2 (the first Extra Stage was included in the Second Stage box set) or either of the Battle Stages.