As always, Initial D's animation keeps evolving every stage they make. However, the quality on this DVD is somewhat flawed. At times there would be a black blob that would come from above the sceen, but don't worry guys, it's not THAT big, and it's not all that noticeable in my opinion. Plus one thing you might notice is that how the picture keeps brightening on almost every scene. It's almost like adjusting the brightness of a TV or turning on a light on the picture. The video quality isn't a big problem, but if you're picky about quality, then you'll probably be annoyed by it. Other than that, nothing seriously wrong !

Nicely done audio, especially the 5.1 CH support and better than the one on the First Stage DVD set. 'nuff said !

Nicely done audio, especially the 5.1 CH support and better than the one on the First Stage DVD set. 'nuff said !

I've said it once, and I'll say it again...Initial D is one of the best racing anime of all time. The series have gained popularity since the First Stage. 2nd Stage is a great anime series in its own right ! Even if it's only 13 episodes long, its still fun to watch nonetheless. Definently worth every penny or dollar in your wallet !

Taken from the Japanese R2 DVDs. Video is VERY good, except for some small pixelation (allmost none) and a bit of grain due to compression. The only REAL problem was a part that wasn't encoded right. I believe it was in the 2nd episode where <b>-SMALL SPOILER-</b> Nakazato races the EVO from the Emperors <b>-SMALL SPOILER-</b>. That scene had some wrong interlacing/framing-whatever, and it caused it too look like frames were mended together, and plays a bit choppy. But it only lasted for 1-2 minutes or so. Nothing too bad. This set also has the black 'drop-down' bar that shows up sometimes. If you're not paying attention, you probably won't notice. But if you're very picky, you might find this annoying. For those people the video might get a 4/5. I might place some screenshots later on. CG Scenes in the 2nd Stage look quite a lot better then the first, and they're shown perfectly on this set.

Sounded perfect. Checked the 5.1 Dolby Surround for a little bit on my brothers set-up, and sounded it great. They use some very good surround sounds for the cars. On my on setup I use the Dolby Digital Stereo track, and that sounded very fine and powerfull too.

Sounded perfect. Checked the 5.1 Dolby Surround for a little bit on my brothers set-up, and sounded it great. They use some very good surround sounds for the cars. On my on setup I use the Dolby Digital Stereo track, and that sounded very fine and powerfull too.

Initial D, great series. That's all I have to say about it. I loved the 1st Stage, and the 2nd Stage is pretty cool too. I liked the first series a bit better, but that might have been because it was new to me then... But it also might have been because one of the biggest plot-twists had been spoiled for me on a message board :( The only thing I didn't really like about it now were the character designs. They looked a bit too computer drawn to me for some reason... At first I didn't even recognize Iketani and Kenji! And Itsuki looked a bit weird too. Still it's an awesome series, presented in an allmost perfect DVD set. VERY recommended!!

All 3 DVD: The graphic are highly detailed, cleaner and crisper than the first stage Only complaint is there is some grainy and blurry side during the race scene but it's very minor

The sound is AWSEOME. Hearing the 5.1 digital dolby in my surround speaker makes you feel that is you who is racing in the car.

The sound is AWSEOME. Hearing the 5.1 digital dolby in my surround speaker makes you feel that is you who is racing in the car.

I though the second stage was good but not as good as the first stage. The first 7 episodes were awseome with the Redsuns (Takahashi brother) racing the Emperor team but the last 6 episodes were kind of a letdown, it wasn't as exciting than the first part. And yes, Itsuki is still annoying. I was disappointed that the Sil-Eighty with Mako and Sayuki were a no-show in the second stage NNOOOOOO. It would have being fun to see Takumi racing (w/ engine rev-up) agaisnt all the other opponent that he defeated in the past. The Emperor team was a great addition in the roster. Overall, it's a great show. Very recommanded

Video: Excellent quality. Colourful, clear, and highly detailed. However, there is a black bar that fades in & out at the top of the screen throughout the series, but not too distracting.

Audio: Excellent. No problems at all!

Audio: Excellent. No problems at all!

Overall, an excellent set to own!

Excellent Video quality. DVD5x3 discs

perfect 5. The 5.1 is really awesome

perfect 5. The 5.1 is really awesome

Initial D Second Stage is slow at first but the second half really picks up. It's not as good as the origional because they overuse the computer animation and there are few very noticable plot holes.

Overall, if you've seen the first series, this picks up right where it left off and is enjoyable to watch!

After watching the first series I HAD to have the 2nd Stage. This is AWESOME quality. 2 Audio tracks(2.0 and a 5.1 track!) The animation looks alot cleaner, and the overall look of the series looks very polished. The packaging is also done very well. A must buy!! Make sure you pick up the 5.1 channel dvd set. There is a 2.0 only set out there...not good. Scale from 1-5 Story: 5 Picture Quality: 5!! Sound: 5!!!! TOO GOOD Packaging: 5!! Very good Subs: 5 Fansub

What can I say; Good Video, good sound quality and great fan sub. a definite buy for initial D fans!

Without further ado, just go find yourself one. It's that good. As usual, DVD quality is high. Audio/video/subs are all great. The CG scenes have been improved as well ( well, just a little :> ).

Can't go wrong pickin up this title. Video is good and so is the sound. Subtitles are fansub scripts which is absolutely a plus...

Initial D: Second Stage Japanese dubbed/English and Chinese subbed Disc: 3 Episodes: 1-13 Audio: Ripped from dvd source. Video: Ripped from dvd source. Subtitles: Fansub scripts from either central anime or anime vortex. Very well done except for either occasional spelling or grammatical errors. Nice set to get.

Another excellent HK release... Video: DVD source, it´s excellent. Nothing to complain about it, the only "thing" is that an horizontal black bar appears and disapears on the top of the screen during the show. I just noticed this the 2nd time I watched this set (and I paid special attention because I read about that somewhere). I´ll take some screenshots during the next week when I get a dvd-rom. I would say 4.5/5. Audio: Ahhhhh, nice surprise here, you can choose between a 2 ch. japanese track or a REAL 5.1 track!! and this last one rocks!!! PERFECT!!!!! 5/5. Subtitles: Great subtitles, fansubs for sure, I don´t remember to read somelines when there was no dialogue at all (like shady said). One of the bests out there: 5/5. BUY THIS SET (of course, if you already watched the 1st stage).

Definitely one of the best HK dvds to have in your anime collection. DVD R2 rip, fansub scripts and downhill car racing. The only series that even non-anime watchers love. Definitely buy this.

Like with 1st Stage, AC/MI did a great job with 2nd Stage as well. 2nd Stage contains 13 episodes on 3 DVD-5 dvd's. The video source was from the Japanese R2 dvd's if I'm not mistaken. It's really sharp and looks very good. There is no pixelation or anything like that. It's too bad that the graphics for this show weren't that great, some of the characters were drawn pretty ugly but the CG in the races were definately improved in comparison to the 1st Stage. The audio seemed fine as they used the R2 dvd's. Nothing to add really. The subs were also very good. Again taken from the fansubs. I'm remember that they were not as good as in 1st Stage but still very good. One weird thing though. Sometimes there were subs when there was no talking. It doesn't really matter but it struck me as a bit odd. This is definately a good buy and if you liked 1st Stage then go get this one too.