Initial D

The story is about 18 year old Takumi Fujiwara who is an average high school kid. His father, Bunta Fujiwara, owns a tofu shop and Takumi is the delivery boy. He uses his father's Panda 1983 Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX AE86 to do the deliveries. Takumi hated driving because he was forced to drive since he was in middle school. The deliveries train his extraordinary driving skills. His friends learn about his skills, and introduce Takumi into the world of Touge racing. Takumi eventually loves street racing, and driving altogether, and then he has only one priority: To become the best driver in the Gunma perfection .

Shortly after the story begins, the Red Suns, a highly experienced racing team from Mount Akagi led by Ryosuke Takahashi, challenge the local Speed Stars team to a set of races on Mount Akina. Dispirited after watching the Red Suns' superior performance during a practice run, the Speed Stars expect to lose. Later that night, the Red Suns' #2 driver, Keisuke Takahashi, heading home after the last practice run, is defeated soundly by a mysterious Sprinter Trueno, despite driving a much more powerful Mazda RX-7 (FD3S). An investigation into the identity of the driver leads to Bunta Fujiwara, Takumi's father. While trying to do his best for the team on Mount Akina, Iketani suffers a crash and damages his car and injures himself. He is unable to take part in the race to represent his team. Iketani begs Bunta to help the Speed Stars defeat the Red Suns, and he initially refuses, later relenting to "maybe" show up at the race. At the same time, Takumi asks Bunta if he can borrow the car for a day to take a trip to the beach with a potential girlfriend (Natsuki Mogi), and Bunta seizes the moment by granting permission (plus a full tank of fuel) on the condition that Takumi defeats Keisuke

On the night of the race, the Trueno does not show up, and the Speed Stars enlist a backup driver (Kenji) for the first run. At the last moment before the race starts, the AE86 arrives. Takumi steps out of the car to the bewilderment of the Speed Stars, who were expecting Bunta. He easily defeats Keisuke by utilizing a dangerous "Gutter run" (putting both the right/left tires into the gutters to prevent centripetal force pushing the car outward) technique on the mountain road's hairpin corners.

The Red Suns' embarrassing defeat sets up the plot for the rest of the series: drivers from neighboring prefectures come to challenge Takumi and the "Legendary Eight-Six of Akina" and thus prove themselves as racers. Meanwhile, Takumi, who was considered spacey and disinterested in the world around him, becomes more passionate about racing with every opponent he faces. Eventually, the plot moves away from Mount Akina as Takumi becomes bored with racing solely on that road. He joins an expedition racing team, Project.D, formed by Ryosuke Takahashi, former leader of the disbanded Red Suns and challenges more difficult opponents on their home courses in the pursuit of his dream to be "the fastest driver out there".