Initial D Omnibus #3
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeInitial D Omnibus #3 collects the pivotal story arc in which Takumi Fujiwara's unbroken winning streak is finally tested by Ryosuke Takahashi — the 'White Comet of Akagi' — a methodical, theoretically-driven racer who has spent years developing a data-based framework for predicting race outcomes, and who specifically fine-tunes his Mazda FC3S RX-7 to counter Takumi's instinct-fueled AE86. This confrontation marks the narrative high point of Initial D's early chapters: Takumi's first-ever defeat of a truly elite rival who enters every race with a premeditated scientific strategy, establishing the series' central tension between pure instinct and analytical racing theory. The omnibus also introduces the Usui Pass storyline, widening the geographic and competitive scope of the series beyond Mount Akina for the first time. As part of Kodansha USA's 2024 omnibus program — itself the first complete, fully retranslated physical English edition of the series — this volume is historically significant as the English-language debut of this story arc in a corrected, unaltered translation, restoring original character names and removing the localisation distortions of the earlier Tokyopop run.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Written and illustrated by Shuichi Shigeno, Initial D was serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Young Magazine from July 1995 to July 2013, spanning 719 chapters collected into 48 tankōbon volumes. The original volumes 5 and 6 contained in this omnibus were first published in Japan in late 1996. In North America, Tokyopop had previously released a heavily localised version beginning in 2002 — altering character names, adding street slang, and censoring nudity — before losing the Kodansha license in 2009 after releasing just 33 of the 48 volumes. Kodansha USA digitally released the complete series in 2019 via ComiXology, but it was not until the 2024 omnibus program, announced at Anime Expo 2023, that English readers received a brand-new, faithful physical translation by Kevin Steinbach with cover design by Phil Balsman, presented in a larger-than-standard 2-in-1 format. Professional drifting pioneer Keiichi Tsuchiya served as editorial supervisor on the original manga, lending the series its technical authenticity.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published by Kodansha Comics (USA); print release date: September 3, 2024; ISBN: 9798888771006; 464 pages.
- Collects original manga volumes 5 and 6, written and illustrated by Shuichi Shigeno; original Japanese volume 5 first published December 4, 1996.
- Features a brand-new English translation by Kevin Steinbach and new cover design by Phil Balsman — distinct from the Tokyopop localisation, which had renamed characters and added street slang.
- Presented in a larger-than-standard (5¾ × 8³⁄₁₆ inch) 2-in-1 format, the same physical specification used across the entire 2024 omnibus line.
- Narrative centrepiece is the showdown between Takumi Fujiwara (Toyota AE86 Trueno) and Ryosuke Takahashi, founder and leader of the Akagi Red Suns, who drives a white Mazda FC3S RX-7 and is known as 'The White Comet of Akagi.'
- Ryosuke Takahashi is one of the series' most important recurring characters: he later founds Project D, serves as Takumi's mentor, and appears as a key figure in Shigeno's sequel manga MF Ghost (2017–2025).
- This arc also introduces the Usui Pass racing storyline, expanding the series' setting beyond Mount Akina for the first time.
- The 2024 omnibus line is the first time the complete 48-volume Initial D series has been available in an unaltered physical English edition; Tokyopop previously ceased publication at volume 33 in 2009.
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