Current Episode Score: 6

Well it is time for a new season, and this includes 2 different racing related shows. First off is the Initial D sequel, with new characters and cars set in a near future. Now I don’t have any opinions on the original Initial D, I only ever watched the 1st season and was a pretty long time ago, and don’t remember much about it. So don’t have any comparisons with the original.

So fresh first thoughts on MF Ghost, ehhh I’m mixed. It hasn’t grabbed me from the first episode, lets just say that. I think the animation and visual style is a bit dated, like I really can’t take the characters visual style seriously at all. They all seem to lack detail and come of being very flat I guess, just doesn’t really stand out to me. Meanwhile everything else is just fine, but nothing special at all. The cars and racing seems to be CGI, which is perfectly fine to me. But haven’t really seen enough of it yet.

Something I’m not sold on yet is the story. So we have part of a story about Ren falling in love with Kanata at first sight, and I guess her process of making him fall in love with her. It just feels a bit cliche to me. Than adding in they turned the grid girls into some type of idol, which of course Kanata is, just feels strange. Especially since many motor sports have moved away from it given the rather negative impressions they give, it just makes it feel very dated.

And than we have Kanata who has come to Japan to race in this series, after going to driving school in Europe and having something happen to his mother. Other than that, I pretty much have no opinion on the guy at all yet. He looks to be in a Toyota 86 to start off, which is a bit of an odd choice. Sure I understand why, but it isn’t really a competitive option on this current field of cars.

You have this free-for-all with $100k+ supercars, with the only limitation being grip ratios. And your up against V8’s and twin turbos in a NA 4-cyclinder which is already down on power in the modern day. IDK, Kanata is going to have to show himself teleporting around this course to make me have any chance of believing he can seriously compete in this field of cars. Also something very odd, this is now an official racing sport that is apparently legal. But why are they not wearing racing suits or helmets?