Initial D Omnibus, Vol. 3

Initial D (2-in-1) #3

by Shuichi Shigeno

Will the Akagi Red Suns burn brightest? After two white-knuckle races against Takeshi Nakazato and Shingo Shoji of the Myogi Night Kids, Takumi is faced with a challenge from none other than the "White Comet"—Ryosuke Takahashi. Ryosuke has been observing Takumi's extraordinary driving skills and fine-tuning his Mazda FC3S RX-7 to face Takumi's Trueno Eight-Six. Will pure instinct be enough to overcome theoretical prowess? Moreover, a challenge is starting to brew beyond Mount Akina, on twisty roads in the Usui Pass that Takumi has never drifted on before. And will this challenge prove that Takumi is just a regular driver on unfamiliar roads?

Genres: Manga, Sports, Graphic Novels Manga, Comics

472 pages, Paperback

First published November 6, 2020

About the author

Shuichi Shigeno (Japanese author profile: しげの秀一) is a manga artist, best known for the manga series Initial D. Shigeno has also created Bari Bari Densetsu, Dopkan, and Tunnel Nuketara Sky Blue ("First Love in Summer") all prior to the manga that would make him famous in 1995. In 1985, he received the Kodansha Manga Award in shōnen for Bari Bari Densetsu.

Reviews

[kesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

peak peak peak

this addition was really heavy on character dev with takumi racing outside of akina and shigeno introducing two new characters, mako and sayuki co-drivers who run usui as downhill specialists (shigeno is a feminist fr 6’2 i bet)

i love how initial d handles relationships like when kenji was mad at iketani for making takumi race outside his comfort zone and women — justice for my boy iketani 🙏🙏 you really start to get attached to the characters and their friendships esp as small-town guys who work, race and hang out all day (me and sam fr)

i’d say this is series has grown to be a comfort read fs.
s/o my boy sam for ordering the omnibus after this one for me — immediate cop (when i’m less broke)

4.75/5.

[Zachary Stivers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peak

[Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

83%

And now I’m sad. Why’d you have to write a painfully relatable character like Iketani and have him go through all that, Shigeno??!😭😭

Really liked this Racing on Usui arc. Iketani is probably one one my favourite characters now, up with Takumi (Takumi’s a little bland personality-wise, but I still like him). Takumi also got to improve his driving to new heights. Still can’t get over Iketani’s heartbreak, though… damn. He’s an idiot, sure, but he’s a relatable one. I feel for bro. Hopefully him and Mako can fix what they had going forward since they had good chemistry, but it’s not looking likely, sadly.

On to omnibus volume 4!

[Mike Reiff · Rating 3 out of 5]

The genius parts outpace the tedious parts but only by a nose for now. Mako is a great example - a genius racer with a unique style and setting, her own theory and philosophy to racing on the course, but her characterization falls to the same gender tropes that bedevil the series. Not wretched like aspects early in the series but Shingeno is still not living up to potential here.

[mikayla :) · Rating 4 out of 5]

the whole virginity part was so funny oh my god what the hell

[Carlo Gnutti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Come nei precedenti volumi, anche qui a volte fanno capolino piccoli commenti da parte dei lettori che sospendono un po’ il senso di immersione nella storia.
A inizio volume Takumi per la prima volta si fa prendere dall’ansia e commette un errore in gara
Alcuni passaggi sono abbastanza problematici, come quando Mako (che insieme a Sayuki forma il duo più veloce di un altro passo di montagna) promette a Iketani di fare l’amore con lui nel caso fosse riuscito ad organizzare una sfida tra lei e Takumi.
Proprio Iketani e’ il personaggio che più viene approfondito nel volume: si infatua di Mako ma visto che prova soggezione nei suoi confronti decide di non presentarsi all’appuntamento, ma quando cambia idea ormai e’ troppo tardi.
Durante la sfida con Takumi Mako gareggia con Sayumi nell’abitacolo: da una parte può sembrare controproducente, visto l’aumento del peso della macchina, ma dall’altra Sayumi svolge per Mako il fondamentale ruolo di navigatore e consigliere/stratega.
Sayuki dopo la sfida persona con Takumi prende una cotta per lui.

[Reyne Derrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Might be the best chapter so far. Really enjoyed this section of the story. My only real complaint is that the main character feels a little bland, like he’s the most bland character in the story. I’m hoping they add more dimensions to his character.

[Kyler Polson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the first 5 volumes in like a week, so they all blend together.


This is the volume that hooked me.

Iketani and Mako's love story was something I did not expect, and the ending had me in tears. Surely it can't end like that.

[Norbert Grim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Around the third one we start to understand why S. Shigeno decided it's slowly time to move out of Akina touge, because seeing just this one over and over again was slowly becoming boring.

But I love all the quirky characters so I didn't mind it as much hehe.

[Karl Dilkington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Car

[Lorenz Mlekusch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Less failed romances and more racing please, I’m here to have fun with Japanese cars, not to be reminded of my own shortcomings

[Al Capwned · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't believe I'm getting emotional by a drifting cars manga.

[notacargirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this sm

S14 top tier

[Matthew Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like this is a good place to stop because I don't want to collect the whole series. It wraps up a few things and has a satisfying ending.

[Caitlyn Cross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poor Mako chan 😭

[ReadingFrog · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

[Charlie Trubac · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would probably be 5 stars if the way the guys talk about Mako in this books big arc didn't gross me out so much. Great manga, but it was DEFINITELY written in the 90s and shows its age with some kind of gross tropes. Cest la vie, still an awesome story and it's not too hard to skip a few pages to get past it.