The upcoming racing anime from the creators of Initial D now has a second trailer. We get some extended footage of Kanata’s neo-Hachiroku, as well as those of his supercar competitors. Of course, there is also plenty of Eurobeat.
It almost doesn’t matter that the humans in the MF Ghost preview are basically still drawings. The automotive animation with its subtle suspension articulation is top notch, especially in the clip where the 86 crests that blind downhill sweeper. You can almost feel your stomach dropping out from under you.
The engine sound effects are spot on as well. You can really sense the FA20 boxer giving it its all, its high-pitched and very stock-sounding revs echoing off the touge canyons. It really makes you wonder how the 86 will stand a fighting chance against opponents with literally three times the horsepower.
The MF Ghost anime comes out in 2023. In the meantime, you can watch the first trailer or read about the background story. And since it takes place in the same universe as Initial D, you can also find out what happened to our beloved heroes from the original (with spoilers).
One of the things that really attracted me with the 1st episodes of Initial D is the animation. This has that same feeling!
I’ve read some of MF Ghost and rapidly lost interest. I really liked Initial D but Shuichi Shigeno is really throwing credulity out the window by claiming a near-stock Toyota 86 can beat Ferraris, Porsches, GT-Rs, and so on in a professional road race as opposed to a downhill touge run. Not to mention that the fates of several of the major characters in Initial D as described in MF Ghost – like Takumi – weren’t exactly happy endings.