The Ultimate Tofu Guy Drift

The above line is the title of the first episode of 'Initial D', an anime about car racing which has almost as much dramatic car racing per episode as some driving movies. Some fans of the movie 'The Fast and the Furious' might like this anime's driving scenes, but (fortunately) there are no sex scenes in the entire series. The makers of the series are clearly auto racing fans, and many details of the racing are fairly accurate. Also, the 'cinematography' is very good, and draws you into the excitement of the races. You do not have to be familiar with cars to enjoy it, but there is a lot of technical talk along the way. Most of it summarizes to, "Much better than the hero's car". The series focuses on a few characters, and builds a good plot around them.
I don't know what the cars are, other than the names that the characters refer to them by. Sorry!
Takumi
The main character. He is 17, and just got his liscence, but his dad has been making him drive the tofu to the hotel on the top of Mt. Akina for the last 5 years, since he was 12. He developed a masterful driving technique, both driving gently so as not to disturb the tofu (his father gives him a cup of water, and he must not spill it), and driving fast downhill to get home and to bed. He drives his father's Eight-Six (refers to the chassis, 'AE86'), a Toyota Trueno, white with a black stripe. They call the color design 'panda'. Initially, he knows nothing about cars, and doesn't care, but he gets interested later.
Itsuki
Takumi's best friend, and a principal comic relief character. He has been really interested in road racing for a while; in the first episode, he is looking at cars in a catalogue, and he's planning to get an Eight-Six. He is a nice guy, and somewhat of a loser, but he is fairly honest, when he doesn't get carried away by pride. Itsuki is a great fan of the Akina Speedstars, and eventually gets a Toyota Levin (the sister car of the Trueno).
Mogi
Prospective girlfriend of Takumi. Is from a rich family, "hates people who smoke or break promises", and turns out to have mild motion sickness or something. She mentions it in the fifth episode, after Takumi drove her to the beach, because that was the first car ride in a long time when she didn't get ill. When she goes on her second date with Takumi, she, at Takumi's request, sets up a girl for Takumi's friend, Itsuki.
Part of the background of the series is the existence of 'Road Racers', who take their cars and race on public roads. There are many groups of such racers, the local one being the 'Akina Speedstars', who race on Mt. Akina, the central course of the series, and a couple racers from outside groups come by for a while; these include the 'Redsuns' of Akagi, the first to arrive, and the 'Night Kids' from Myogi.
Iketani
The head and founder of the 'Akina Speedstars' (which is said in English even by the Japanese voice actors), he is an okay racer in his S13 (a Nissan), and a friend of Takumi. Early episodes had a running joke about fried tofu, which began when he was asking Fujiwara Bunta (Takumi's father, and owner of a tofu shop) to race for Akina against the Redsuns. He sometimes serves as comic relief too.
Kenji
Another comic relief character; Kenji is the No. 2 racer in the Speedstars. He drives a "180".
Keisuke
Number 2 in the Redsuns, after his brother Ryosuke. He is an instincts driver, and a very good one. He is the first to be beaten by Takumi. His car is a yellow Mazda RX-7, which the characters call the FD.
Ryosuke
The "White Comet of Akagi", a legendary undefeated driver. He is a real 'think' driver, and even uses computer simulations to go faster. Strangely, though he has black hair in the first season, his hair changes in the Second Stage, and looks like his brother's. His car is a Mazda RX-7 'FC', the model of a year before his brother's. He is the leader of the Redsuns.
Nakazato
Top driver of the Myogi "Night Kids", Nakazato drives a black R32. It is a four-wheel-drive 'grip' car, with a fancy "ATTESA" drivetrain that gives it a huge power advantage over the other cars. Nakazato began to drive the 32 after he was defeated by one in his (black) S13.

Home page