ceo of matsuryo

this fucking thing is notorious for being incredibly dangerous to drive. like, it straight up wants to kill you. there are several reasons for this:

-massive engine combined with a very lightweight body. absolutely insane amount of torque.

-no airbags

-no ABS, no traction control, no electronic driver aids whatsoever

-stiff suspension, lots of power and wide tires meant that it was incredibly twitchy and would oversteer badly if you didnt manage it perfectly

-the tires werent really equipped to handle all of that power so they'd often lose grip or just literally fucking melt

-it does not like bumps. if the pavement isnt perfect and youre going fast, it will spin out

Bonus under the cut lol

I've been excited to do this one for a while.

The Initial D Art Book was released by Kodansha in 2001, and features a lot of the art made by Shuichi Shigeno for the series up to the time of release (which would have been around the time of the Northern Saitama Alliance races).

The books 233 pages are split between pages of artwork, block coloured manga pages, art featured on cover pages of the manga chapters, and photos of the courses. Also included is a several page interview with Shigeno himself, and a look at merchandise that had been released up to that point.

It's a very interesting book, and I'm glad to have been able to scan it in full. A previous scan does appear to have existed, but it was likely made in the early 2000s and thus the quality isn't the best. The only surviving remnants of that scan are a handful of cropped pieces that have been archived, as well as a deck of cards that somebody made using the art.