From comic book to Anime with effects scenes straight from the GT
simulator – that's what attracted me to these early series on Cartoon
Network. Getting the DVD sets that were available proved to be elusive, but
managed to collect most via eBay. The first ‘stage’ was obviously translated
correctly for the US market, but subsequently the rest of the ‘stages’ (up
to five) were awful subtitle translations that didn't make much sense. Along
comes the RL movie, with Chinese actors and crew. Considering the series is
based in Japan it only just gets away with it. They stayed true to the plot, a
coming of age for Takume (Tak) and his best buddy. There's ofcourse a girl in
the frame, but this subplot takes a strange turn. If you're into the typical
Chinese tragedy where the girl always crops it, then you'll get the idea that
this is typical Chinese symbolism at work with the suppression of women. Its the
only part of the film I did not like. As the film is about downhill racing and
drifting through corners its a riveting rush. The actors were taught to do their
own driving stunts, it made for realism and looked great on close-ups. If you
thought Fast & Furious was fantastic, get the movie that started it all for
an intense joyride and action packed suspense.