Initial D Omnibus 3 Review
There is once again more enthralling motor-racing action in this third collection of Shuichi Shigeno’s manga, but there is also a whiff of romance thrown into the mix too.
It begins with Takumi Fujiwara facing his toughest race yet, against the “White Comet” himself, Ryosuke Takahashi of the Red Suns, the star of the biggest racing team in the area. He is unbeaten in any race so far, and as you may well expect, the action between the two competitors is indeed intense, going all the way down to the wire.
However, perhaps the more interesting element in this collection is the fact we have our first female racers in Initial D. Mako Sato may not know exactly how cars work, but she is able to drive fast. The fact she doesn’t know the mechanics of her car comes into good use for one of Takumi’s friends, Iketani, who helps Mako repair it when she has a breakdown, leading to the pair hitting things off romantically and Iketani getting a date, unaware of her racing pedigree.
Mako though has mixed feelings about racing and is thinking of quitting. When Iketani learns about her skills when they bump into each other on a road she is racing on, Mako asks is he can arrange a race with Takumi on her local roads in exchange for giving her virginity to Iketani. While he has no interest in going that far, he agrees to arrange the match: the first time Takumi is playing away from home tarmac.
Once more, the action taking place in the races is the main attraction in this collection. That is something you get the feeling will never let you down when reading this series. However, the way that Mako is written feels a bit more mixed. While it is great to see a female racer finally make an appearance in the story, the idea of her offering up her virginity to someone she has only recently met to arrange a race feels rather creepy. While it is good that Iketani rejects the offer but still agrees to arrange the match, the fact that this still appears in the story does have an unfortunate misogynistic tone. Even after the race is over and the entire gang go to a day to a water park, Mako offers up her virginity again to him, which he again refuses, at least at first. I leave it for readers to find out what happens afterward.
Again, the production of the manga is good, with Kevin Steinbach’s translation having no obvious issues, although once again the use of some very small lettering in some tight spots from Scott O. Brown might be dealt with better. Maggie Le’s editing appears OK, and Phil Balsman’s cover art is again well designed.
Due to the way that Mako is written, I do feel that this collection is not as positive in terms of my rating for this collection, but hopefully things will improve in time when it comes to the portrayal of women in this work. In terms of the rest of the story, one thing we do learn is that Ryosuke is planning to expand his reach further by recruiting the best drivers in the area. Could Takumi be part of his plans?
Our review copy from Kodansha was provided by Diamond Book Distributors.
