Although you usually have to dig for it, anime has a decent amount of motorsports racing anime on offer to watch. However, there are none that are as iconic – or as actually good – as Initial D. In fact, it is usually Initial D that makes people realize that they’d like to watch more anime about motorsports racing.
However, as is common with iconic anime, Initial D, at a glance, can look a little intimidating to start since it ran for so long. It has amassed quite a sizable amount of TV anime, OVAs, and movies.
Luckily, while it looks intimidating, the Initial D watch order is actually quite simple. Now, let’s get you hooked on some eurobeats racing.
Initial D Watch Order
Complete (and Chronological) Initial D Watch Order
The nice thing about Initial D is that, because of the way the story is told in a nice linear fashion, the release order is often the chronological watch order as well.
The only real thing you needs to keep in mind is what you do and do not need to watch to get the core story. Some things are a little more optional than others.
How to Watch Initial D in Order:
- Initial D First Stage (TV)
- Initial D Second Stage (TV)
- Initial D Extra Stage (OVA) (Optional, but Recommended Side Story)
- Initial D Third Stage (Movie)
- Initial D Battle Stage (OVA) (Optional)
- Initial D Fourth Stage (TV)
- Initial D Battle Stage 2 (OVA) (Semi-Optional)
- Initial D Extra Stage 2 (OVA) (Optional, but Recommended Side Story)
- Initial D Fifth Stage (TV)
- Initial D Final Stage (TV)
- New Initial D the Movie, Legend 1: Awakening (Movie) (Optional)
- New Initial D the Movie, Legend 2: Racer (Movie) (Optional)
- New Initial D the Movie, Legend 3: Dream (Movie) (Optional)
- Initial D Battle Stage 3 (OVA) (Optional)
- New Initial D the Movie: Battle Digest (Movie) (Optional)
- MF Ghost (Spin-Off)
What Are The Initial D Battle Stage OVAs?
Do you like Initial D for the races and eurobeat, but not so much for the characters and plot? The Battle Stage OVAs are compilations of all the races in the TV and movies proceeding it.
- Battle Stage 1 OVA complies all the races in the First, Second, and Third Stages
- Battle Stage 2 OVA compiles all the races in the Fourth Stage – It is semi-optional because this OVA in particular animates two extra races from the manga that were skipped.
- Battle Stage 3 OVA complies all the races in the Fifth and Final Stages
- Battle Digest is the same thing as Battle Stage, but for the New Initial D movies. It also added a new soundtrack to the races.
What are the Initial D Extra Stage OVAs?
The simplest way to sum up what Initial D Extra Stage is about is by saying it is “Initial D with girls” instead of Takumi, the main character of Initial D proper.
Initial D Extra Stage are OVAs that follow Impact Blue, a team of female racers that Takumi encounters. You enjoy some races, but mostly it focuses on character dynamics and their various stories.
They aren’t necessary to watch since they don’t really add anything extra to the main story, but they are still pretty decent if you like Initial D and just want some more of it.
What are the New Initial D Movies?
The New Initial D movies are essentially remake/summary movies of the entire Initial D series. What they offer is some dope new eurobeats and much newer animation. However, the trade off is a compact and condensed story.
If you watched all of the original Initial D, you don’t need to watch the New Initial D movies, but they are still pretty good.
These movies can be an okay summary of the series for new fans of Initial D if they absolutely cannot stomach the older animation of some of the earlier series.
Can You Watch MF Ghost Without Watching Initial D?
MF Ghost is not Initial D, it is technically its own separate thing, but it is very much a spin-off of Initial D, written by the same author, that happens well after Initial D ends.
You can fully watch MF Ghost without any knowledge of Initial D and enjoy it for what it is as a racing anime. However, MF Ghost offers a ton of fan service for Initial D fans that would otherwise go right over their head.
Essentially, the main character in Initial D went on to train the main character in MF Ghost. You see a lot of tracks in the future, a few characters from Initial D, and find a shared love of eurobeats.
