Whenever I hit a writing or editing snag, down the anime hole I go. Today’s viewing is Initial D First Stage. This car racing show came out before The Fast and The Furious and actually got a shout-out in Tokyo Drift(HATED this sequel). The art style is rough on the eyes, but the car races are still a nice little thrill to have in the background when your characters won’t cooperate. There’s also some good shipping material between the MC, Takumi Fujiwara, and his rival, Ryosuke Takahashi, who sends flowers as his challenge. You should keep in mind that the female characters aren’t handled the greatest, but Takumi’s friends even this out by being total dorks who ruin their own attempts at finding love.