PSA: The Initial D Manga Is Finally Getting A Reprint

Considering Initial D’s popularity in the Western world, it’s quite tricky to immerse yourself in all of its media. The anime’s final two stages have never had an English dub, nor been officially released through any (legal) means outside of Japan. Meanwhile, the manga’s 48 volumes went out of print following the last being published in 2013 - and only 33 of those have ever been translated into English. Delightfully, that’s about to change.

Shuichi Shigeno’s illustrated tales of a tofu delivery driver-turned-all–conquering street racer are about to be reprinted. Forgive us if this isn’t breaking news to you, with that fact being very quietly announced in August last year, but pre-orders for English copies of the manga are now live.

Rather than being split into individual volumes, the re-release will see them paired up in an omnibus format. Not content with just simply re-printing the original English translation, the publisher Kodansha has re-translated each volume and has increased the size of the pages too.

Volumes 1-2 will be released in the UK on 19 March, with a rather lovely drawing of the Fujiwara Tofu Shop AE86 adorned across the front, while 3-4 will arrive on 4 June blazoned with Keisuke Takahashi’s FD Mazda RX-7. No cover art for the 5-6 has been revealed yet, but we do know it’ll be released on 3 September.

Further volumes don’t yet have a release date but going off that pattern, we’d expect them to arrive in three months. Presuming all 48 volumes will be released, and in the same format, the final book should arrive in 2030. That’s a fair few Christmas lists sorted out, at least.

Each book has an RRP of £22.99, but there are already discounts to be had if you pre-order. Amazon UK, for example, has the first for £18.39 at the time of writing with the second at £17.93.

If you’re in the US and fancy a special-edition version of the first omnibus, Crunchyroll - the streaming service which currently has the rights to Initial D - has an exclusive orange foil cover available for pre-order at $18.39. It currently doesn’t ship outside of North America, though, and we’re yet to spot any UK retailers offering this special copy.

Let’s hope the anime’s Fifth and Final Stage may finally get an official Western release soon, too, maybe before Sung Kang’s Initial D film adaptation reaches cinemas.