Toyota AE86

I came across the above photo I took of my Uncle’s Toyota AE86 a few years back, which I thought was a really interesting car. I’ve watched the anime: Initial D way back in high school and was surprised he was able to get his hands on one of these. I don’t really know too much of the history behind the car, but to see the same AE86 hatchback body style that was in the anime was pretty cool. I’m normally used to seeing the uglier (in my opinion) Corolla GT-S as seen below.

Initial D Anime

Initial D is an anime that follows the protagonist, Takumi Fujiwara, a high school student who drives and races a Toyota AE86 Trueno. He has been driving this car since middle school, helping his father out deliver Tofu for their Tofu Shop on Mount Akina. He develops incredible racing skill from his daily deliveries as well as from training from his father. The whole story follows Takumi through his encounters with new challenges and the development for his love of racing.

Honestly, the whole racing thing is not really my scene, but there is a lot around the cars themselves which makes it interesting for me. I think the manga only went up to the second season when I first watched it back in high school, but now there’s been a whole lot more released. So I’ve been catching up on it when I’m at the gym and it’s pretty fun to watch again. I do like watching the antics of the car fanatics that are all over the story line, however ridiculous they may be (Takumi’s friend Itsuki for example, who I thought was annoying when I first watched it, but hilarious now watching it again).

What’s great about watching it now is that there are so many options for finding it. I’ve found full episodes either by Google searching or by watching them on YouTube. If you’re into racing, or just into car performance in general, this is a pretty good watch.