I first got into "Initial D" in 2001 during my homestay in Hiroshima. A friend told me that I would love it and was persistent that I would know once the episode actually began. After getting passed a banger of an opening, I was instantly blown away by the use of "Space Boy" by Dave Rodgers. I have been a fan of Eurobeat, largely thanks to Konami's "Para Para Paradise" arcade game, and just hearing this anime featuring Eurobeat as we see the Hachiroku shred Mt. Akina in the opening minutes had me instantly hooked. I was casually into cars prior to "Initial D," but after watching this episode, I wanted to know more about the Toyota AE86 Sprinter Trueno! I won't disagree that the art style isn't the most appealing along with the CG being out of date, but this is certainly an anime that is more substance than style. As a first episode, it immediately establishes the cast, setting, soundtrack, and themes. It is very technical with how the cars and courses function together, but the performance of the Japanese voice cast does a very job of conveying all of this that sounds convincingly authoritative. This is best expressed through the performance of Takehito Koyasu (also famous as the voice of Dio in recent years) as Ryosuke, the main antagonist. His performance truly shows that Ryosuke is a cold, calculating, and driven (pun intended) street racer. Playing Takumi, the main character, is Shinichiro Miki, also famous as the voice of the Grandpa in "Grandpa and Grandma Are Young Again." He effectively captures Takumi's aloofness and that he's always out of it (which won't be revealed until the following episodes). For longtime fans such as myself, the stain that TokyoPop put on this franchise by changing the names and criminally removing the Eurobeat and theme songs has still discouraged us from wanting to watch it in English in any form. Granted other fans have told me that Funimation's dub is an improvement, but still feel watching it in Japanese is the best.