# Where to Watch Initial D

**Initial D First Stage streams on Crunchyroll and Hulu. The street-racing legend that made an entire generation hear eurobeat in mountain corners — and the tofu delivery boy who became anime's most iconic driver.**

## Where to Watch

- [Crunchyroll](https://www.crunchyroll.com/initial-d)
- [Hulu](http://www.hulu.com/initial-d)

Crunchyroll and Hulu both stream it — First Stage is where the legend starts.

## Synopsis

Takumi Fujiwara couldn't care less about cars. He's spent five years making pre-dawn tofu deliveries down Mount Akina in his father's old Toyota AE86 — which means he's spent five years unknowingly mastering downhill racing at a level local street teams can't comprehend. When the Akagi RedSuns come to challenge Akina's racers, an impossible rumor spreads about a phantom 'Eight-Six' that took the mountain's fastest driver apart. The joy of Initial D is the gap: hotshots with expensive machines versus a sleepy kid whose technique was forged by physics, repetition, and a cup of water in the drink holder.

## Fast Facts

- **Format:** TV
- **Episodes:** 26
- **Premiered:** 1998
- **Studio:** gallop co., ltd., studio comet, pastel
- **Score:** 8.2

## Watch Order

Start with First Stage — the saga continues through several sequel stages from here.

- Initial D Second Stage — sequel

## If You Liked This

- **[Redline](https://hozuna.com/anime/redline)** — Redline is the maximalist cousin — racing as pure animated adrenaline, every frame drawn by hand.
- **[Megalo Box](https://hozuna.com/anime/megalo-box)** — Megalo Box shares the underdog-with-outdated-equipment soul, swapping mountain passes for boxing rings.
- **[Hajime no Ippo](https://hozuna.com/anime/hajime-no-ippo)** — Hajime no Ippo delivers the same technique-obsessed, victory-by-inches sports storytelling.
- **[Frieren: Beyond Journey's End](https://hozuna.com/anime/frieren-beyond-journey-s-end)** — 
- **[Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood](https://hozuna.com/anime/fullmetal-alchemist-brotherhood)** — 
- **[Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc](https://hozuna.com/anime/chainsaw-man-reze-arc)** — 
- **[Re:Zero Season 4](https://hozuna.com/anime/re-zero-season-4)** — 
- **[Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2](https://hozuna.com/anime/attack-on-titan-season-3-part-2)** — 

## FAQ

### Where can I watch Initial D?

First Stage streams on Crunchyroll and Hulu.

### How many episodes is First Stage?

It runs 26 episodes.

### Do the dated visuals hold up?

The early CG cars are period charm at this point — and the racing direction underneath remains genuinely thrilling. The eurobeat does the rest.

### Do I need to know about cars?

Not at all — the series explains every technique, and the drama works even if you never learn what a drift is.