The content of this piece was written on a viewing of the first two episodes of Initial D: Fourth Stage on April 29, 2010. Edits have been made for spelling and grammar, but the rest is completely untouched, and un-edited from the original Twitter feed.

8:16 PM Before I begin, the usual background:

8:16 PM Initial D: Fourth Stage - TV series, started 4/17/2004.

8:17 PM Directed by Tsuneo Tominaga

8:17 PM Well known for its CG auto races and thumping Eurobeat soundtrack

8:18 PM This version features a new English dub to make up for that godawful "Tricked OUT!" version of the show

8:25 PM Anyway, away we go!

8:25 PM "This story is fiction. All names of chracters, places, and organizations in the story are fictional."

8:26 PM "Follow the traffic rules and drive safely."

8:26 PM We all know what that means - TIME TO GO SPEEDING ON '95 AFTER THIS IS DONE! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

8:27 PM Opening theme - rawkin Eurobeat! Dununu >:o

8:28 PM "Aburenbo no paati >:o"

8:29 PM Some research says that this is Dogfight, by t-kimura and motsu

8:29 PM performed by move

8:30 PM "project.d" OMG wut? :O

8:30 PM "Deta deta! Projekkuto D! :O"

8:31 PM "You know Ryosuke Takahashi, right? :o" "Oh, that super good-looking guy!" Way to have your priorities int he right place

8:31 PM Red CG car go!

8:32 PM "Will they really come? :O" Of course. It wouldn't be Initial D if they didn't.

8:33 PM "If they think they can look down on us, let's give 'em a lesson in pain!" ...kay. Is this racing or bare knuckle boxing, here? Both are fun

8:34 PM "Tires AGAIN? :O"

8:34 PM "Those were just cheap ones. The grip's no good." ...I don't know cars. :I But begging for money from your girlfriend?

8:34 PM "You spend too much money on your car. -_-" I agree.

8:36 PM She lends the money... but if he loses, he has to give up racing. :O WHAT A TWEEST!

8:36 PM Red car gogogo!

8:36 PM "The feeling of new tires is the best. :o" ...it is?

8:37 PM "Naho's important to me, but... there's no way I'm gonna quit racing! :O" oh no?

8:37 PM "Hachi-roku? :O"

8:37 PM Takumi Fujiwara's here to kick ass and take names, bitch!

8:38 PM "Ryosuke has such incredible concentration... he hasn't opened his eyes since we left! :O" ...maybe he was sleeping? '-'

8:38 PM Epic background music is epic

8:39 PM They're very polite for street racers

8:39 PM VERY polite

8:40 PM "Far as I can see, you've only got two cars, an FD and a hachi-roku." That Trueno's gonna kick their asses

8:40 PM "They're more polite than I expected :O" likewise. >_>

8:40 PM "It's sort of a letdown how friendly they are, huh? :(" Yes. Yes it is. -_-

8:41 PM "What the heck are those three minivans?" support team.

8:41 PM "They're more like traveling circuit racers T_T" ...that's how they win - preparation, preparation, preparation!

8:42 PM "Our team's been active for two years. At even a moderate guess, we've run this a thousand times!"

8:43 PM "Support team or not, it won't make a difference!" ... I see things going differently >>;

8:44 PM It's local pride!" ...and testosterone

8:45 PM "have you watched the video?" ...I thought this was T-rated at highest >_>

8:46 PM "About 40 times" Ohhhh - race prep >_>

8:47 PM Takumi's the talkative type, I see.

8:47 PM Eurobeat racing go!

8:48 PM "When racin' on the course, all you can believe in are your driving skills and your car!" ...he's got a good point

8:50 PM Takumi's day er... night job. >_>

8:50 PM The infamous water training

8:51 PM Itsuki seems WAY too happy to rub that pump down >_>

8:51 PM "It's almost PAYDAY! :D" Sounds like me on Thursdays

8:52 PM "It feels like I've become an adult!" ...working at a Texaco

8:52 PM sorry - GS :P

8:52 PM "VROOM :D" best human-made sound effect EVER XD

8:52 PM Itsuki's adding a Turbo to his Eight-Five - explaining as he runs in place... in a circle. it's good to have dreams

8:53 PM "I wonder what Takumi's doing right now. :D" Deliveries.

8:53 PM I have to admit - I love the character designs in this show.

8:54 PM They're not conventional, but they're just gorgeous in their own way.

8:54 PM "What is my dream? :o" To sell tofu? -shrug-

8:55 PM "I like to ride cars, and I want to be faster than anyone else." It's good to have dreams :D

8:55 PM He has a great girlfriend for her to go along with this. :\

8:56 PM "Goin' on a date? :3" "Not really. >_>" Only if you count drift racing as "dating." Certain groups of people do. It's a fetish or something

8:56 PM Eyecatch!

8:57 PM Route 20 - "There are no covers on the sides :o" buh?

8:57 PM "The roads in Gunma generally have Concrete covers." oh. o_o

8:57 PM Yeah, a water ditch would screw up your undersides.

8:58 PM "We don't get what Ryosuke's thinking right up tot he very end. However... in the end, it always turns out as he said." He knows his stuff.

8:58 PM Car porn time.

8:59 PM "There's no way I could lose! For sure!" He's gon' eat his words, I think

8:59 PM "Beware of brush fires." Is this Japan or California? o_o

9:00 PM "Before long, they'll lose." Way to be a buzzkill, Mr. Fujiwara T_T

9:01 PM "An Eight-Six is so old! D:" So? >_> it's got character.

9:01 PM "If we lose the first race, it's over T_T" urgent time is URGENT :o

9:02 PM "That's definitely not an ordinary Eight-Six!" They fear the Takumi and his Trueno Eight-Six.

9:03 PM "It's scary! :O" yah... going as fast as they do, you could kill yourself.

9:04 PM I feel bad for him - Tohru genuinely loves racing. :\

9:04 PM Hope those tires are properly broken in, Tohru!

9:05 PM Race start!

9:05 PM "There's not a person out there who can keep up with Tohru's downhill!" ...'cept Takumi

9:05 PM -dook dook dook- backgorund music

9:06 PM The CG is terrible, but the action is great!

9:07 PM Analysis from Ryosuke is great. :D He makes the races make sense.

9:08 PM "Here we go! oohhh~OH~"

9:08 PM "Tohru's cornering is as dangerous as ever! :O" GET OUT THE DAMN ROAD

9:09 PM "That's no normal Eight-Six." Again... it's Takumi's monster-Toyota

9:10 PM "The fastest racer in the Gunma area with bare his fangs!!" And end credits

9:11 PM Ending theme is a music video for move's Noizy tribe. Awesome :)

9:12 PM You know... it seems just wrong to leave the commentary here, halfway through the race.

9:12 PM I've got another episode in me. :) This time, let's do the new and improved dub.

9:13 PM J. Michael Tatum as Ryosuke, Joel McDonald as Takumi, and Todd Haberkorn as Keisuke. Chris Patton as Tohru this episode.

9:14 PM 5.1 audio, so I can make good use of my home theater receiver (for once).

9:17 PM Back to the race!

9:17 PM That surround mix sounds NICE :3 Subwoofer's getting a nice rumble

9:18 PM "Wat! Are you serious? T_T"

9:18 PM This guy sounds like Batman.

9:18 PM Acting is... "meh"

9:18 PM "To even think that the eight-six can run this fast T_T"

9:19 PM "One of these guys could end up crashing T_T" thanks, captain obvious

9:20 PM "C'mon, the guy's a downhill specialist :3" Tatum makes Ryosuke sound like a douchebag

9:20 PM Rather than a stoic racer

9:23 PM Upper limit reached on Tweetdeck -_- Consider this a minor setback.

9:30 PM OK... back to adventure!

9:31 PM "I can see the differences between our driving styles." Joel McDonald is a -great- Takumi.

9:32 PM "Those guys are frickin' amazing!" Well said.

9:33 PM Flashback to Tohru's girlfriend. She's awesome. But I think Tohru's gonna choke.

9:33 PM "I'm not losin dis!" ... don't care for Tohru's actor

9:34 PM Takumi's riding Tohru's ass now.

9:34 PM "This is me driving at my best!" Your best ain't good enough, Tohru!

9:35 PM "That Eight-Six is eating Tohru's bumper. It doesn't make any sense!" Well, Batman... Takumi's a better racer. A Gunma legend

9:36 PM "He knows every detail of this course!" Takumi = Captain Exposition now.

9:37 PM Banter between Ryosuke and co. now

9:37 PM Idiots on the road now... SMART

9:38 PM "That's the most reckless driving I've ever seen!" "Yeah, maybe, but I don't think I've ever seen tighter cornering!" Contradiction, much?

9:38 PM More shitting on the Eight-Six.

9:39 PM The epic water ditch stretch now.

9:39 PM "They're better than we thought they'd be." mmmyep.

9:40 PM "Just don't rush things." He's gonna rush things.

9:40 PM Eyecatch!

9:43 PM "There's only one way to get over those gutters T_T" So douche-y sounding, Ryosuke.

9:43 PM "He's an incredible driver!" These racers are SO polite

9:44 PM "This is KILLING ME!" of course it is.

9:44 PM And the Eight-Six takes the lead!

9:45 PM -dook dook dook dook- techno music.

9:45 PM "yer NOT gonna pass!" sure he isn't

.

9:45 PM "WAT!"

10:39 AM Summary of the end of the episode since I got capped last night -

10:41 AM Tohru flips car trying to do a risky drift he wasn't ready for, Takumi wins, Tohru quits racing, on to the next challenge

As a preliminary verdict, the show is definitely made with the car enthusiast in mind. The obsession over details, as well as the focus on minutiae of racing and automobiles is admirable. The CG was rough several years ago and, frankly, it's laughable today.

The new dub is a vast improvement over the original, though some of the the actors sound a bit mis-matched to the character. Overall, though, the series is in very good hands with FUNimation.