Not something I'd suggest to people who don't know/care about cars. Plot is nonexistent aside from "cars and racing", love sequences seem really forced and...

repetitive, once you've read the first relationship story you'll know how all the other ones will end.

Also, the fact that...

the primary mc Takumi NEVER loses a serious race. Neither does the secondary mc Keisuke, unless of course he's racing against Takumi.

All in all it was 'sorta' interesting, but I wouldn't recommend the series to anyone but those who are interested in cars and/or touge racing.

So.. This is first comment after years for this page. It was pretty interesting at first but this manga get boring after the project D started. A few notes from me for this manga was those long boring naration when trying to explain about what the main character is doing rather than telling the story in the first person's pov (e.g. the monologue of his thoughts), some characters were a bit difficult to be distinguished, hence the arts/drawing. Personally, the anime would be more enjoyable than the manga because it was hard to get the feeling of 'speed' in manga.
Also I think this manga was specifically made for car lovers, since i have no clue until the end what is fr, fd, fc, etc... when the author made initial D, google hasn't even existed yet.

As a whole, what i feel after reading is not good... Because it made me aware of how dangerous street racing is and there is no benefit for doing it. Sure the characters in this story are all good drivers. But in reality, street racing could lead to innocent victims being dead.

The chapters are WAY too short!!! And i wish there was a bit more development outside of the racing world. However, one of its best qualities is that it doesn't detract with a lot of drama or any of that fluff. Somehow it's just really captivating =)

The races tend to drag on, but the art(for the cars anyways the people are kinda...) is wonderful so it's not so bad.

The plot is simple but exciting and it's the kind of story that you can't wait for the next chapter in once you start reading it.

ittedly, the art takes a bit of time getting used to and the repetitive touge scenes can be quite vexing (after a hill or two, all the mountain/hill roads looked the same) BUT for people who already have driving license and oft daydreamed of being a racer, be it amateur or pro, would definitely find this manga appealing in a sense that Shigeno-sensei under editorial supervision from Keiichi Tsuchiya had painstakingly explored and explained in detail the mechanics of a driver's potentials, the relationship between man and machine, and the sometimes awkward emotional scenes (especially with the opposite sex). Shigeno-sensei excells in narrating and subsequently breaking the 4th wall in a humorous lighthearted way. The technical may put most people off, especially if they had no idea what the heck they meant, but the excitement of the touge racing, despite the repetitiveness, is the one thing that will make you stuck reading from the 1st to the latest volume.

I don't know what it is about this series but it is amazing.
I'm normally one to read shoujo stories, and i never thought i would get into car racing, but whenever i start to read this series, or watch it i become infactuated and i can't stop!
the best story ever!

Once I thought this series was absolutely fabulous, like when I first wrote this comment. Sadly over the years it has dragged on endlessly and it has become a very tiresome series to follow.

It still is a great racing series and I don't think it has any competition in its genre, and I would still easily recommend the anime to anyone, but I can't hide my frustration/disappointment that it's lost a lot of its shine over the last years.

Hey guys,
I'm not a big fan, i do it he does a nice job of creating car worship, the drawings aren't to my liking, and the plot is very very very very simple. The characters are likeable, but not very deep.
I still read amazing amounts of this manga, but i wouldn't cconsider it high quality

The best! The characters and story keep me coming back for more.

Strong story, Strong secondary characters. Tak's father is simply the real deal.
Very nice technical information throught the manga, really makes you want to learn these techniques 😛

And i think another strong point of this manga is that it focuses a lot on Takemi's life, and the huge impact driving has on his personality and dreams. The beaten opponents and other characters manage to keep their rightful place in the 27 volumes i've read 🙂

Nice work. Read it.