MF Ghost, the sequel to the classic Initial D anime, dropped the first teaser trailer for its upcoming anime adaptation.
The teaser debuted on the official YouTube channel of distributor Avex Pictures. The characters of the new sequel series take a backseat in the new trailer, which focuses entirely on the new anime's cars. Like the original Initial D, MF Ghost's drift-focused mountain racing will feature real cars, with the flagship ride this time being Toyota's 86, the rear-wheel drive coupe that the Japanese car company co-developed with Subaru to be the successor to its classic AE86 Corolla, which was the standout car of the original series. Additional details about the new anime, including its cast and crew, have yet to be revealed. The series has been given a premiere window of 2023.
MF Ghost is set several years after the events of Initial D, and focuses on a new protagonist, Kanata Livington. Livington is a half-Japanese, half-British teenager who uses his customized Toyota 86 to take on luxury supercars such as Lamborghini Huracan, Lexus LC500 and Ferrari 488 GTB. While his racing opponents have him beat in terms of raw horse power and torque, Livington has one major advantage: he has been trained in the art of drifting by Initial D's original protagonist, Takumi Fujiwara.
The new anime is based on the manga series of the same name, which was first published in 2017 and was created by Shuichi Shigeno, Initial D's original author. While Shigeno has created a number of successful manga series, including the motorcycle-focused Bari Bari Densetsu and the Sailor Ace sports manga, Initial D remains his most internationally recognized creation. Shigeno's manga about Japanese drift racing and the subculture surrounding it has sold over 48 million copies worldwide, and spawned numerous adaptations into other media. Video game publisher Sega has created dozens of Initial D racing games, which have become some of the company's most successful arcade releases of the last two decades. The series received multiple TV anime adaptations, which aired from 1998 to 2014, and was most recently adapted into a trilogy of animated films, which were released in Japan from 2014 - 2016. A live-action movie based on the manga was released in Hong Kong in 2005, which starred Cantonese pop-stars Jay Chou and Edison Chen.
The series was originally brought to North America by the now-defunct distributor Tokyopop, which controversially edited the story's content and changed the characters' names in an attempt to "Americanize" the story for mainstream audiences. A more faithful localization of the Initial D manga and anime are now available Kodansha USA and Funimation, respectively.
Source: YouTube
