- "Life's a blur, Live it fast."
- ―Funimation's slogan for Initial D
Funimation Global Group, doing business as Funimation, was an American entertainment company specializing in the dubbing and distribution of anime. The company was founded in May 1994 as Funimation Productions by Gen Fukunaga and his wife, Cindy Brennan, in Silicon Valley. In March 2022, Funimation Global Group was rebranded as Crunchyroll, LLC, following Sony's acquisition of Funimation in 2017. With Funimation's catalog being transferred to the Crunchyroll streaming service.[1] However, the Funimation streaming service remained active until its shutdown in April 2024.[2]
Funimation originally distributed Tokyopop's English dub of Initial D in 2007 after acquiring North American distribution rights for select Tokyopop titles the previous year.[3] In September 2009, Funimation acquired the license to redub the Initial D anime after Tokyopop lost its license to the series.[4]
Anime
Funimation distributed Tokyopop's English dub of Initial D after announcing the acquisition of exclusive North American distribution rights for select Tokyopop titles for home video releases in May 2006.[3] Funimation released two DVD box sets of the Tokyopop dub in 2007: the first containing Initial D First Stage and the second containing Initial D Second Stage and Initial D Extra Stage.
On September 25, 2009, at their New York Anime Festival panel, Funimation announced that they had acquired the license to dub five stages of the anime: Initial D First Stage, Initial D Second Stage, Initial D Extra Stage, Initial D Third Stage, and Initial D Fourth Stage. This followed Tokyopop's loss of the license to the series.[4]
The Funimation dub of Initial D was released out of order, with Third Stage and Fourth Stage being dubbed and released before First Stage, Second Stage, and Extra Stage. This was likely due to Tokyopop having previously released its own dub of the those stages. Fourth Stage and First Stage were released in 2010, while Second Stage and Extra Stage followed in 2011.
Funimation did not license Extra Stage 2, Fifth Stage, or Final Stage, and had not made any statements regarding if they will.
Unlike the Tokyopop dub, Funimation's version kept the original Eurobeat soundtrack and the character names from the Japanese version. The visuals also remained unchanged.
Cast
| Voice Actor | Character |
|---|---|
| Joel McDonald | Takumi Fujiwara |
| Jessie James Grelle | Itsuki Takeuchi |
| Eric Vale | Koichiro Iketani |
| Christopher Bevins | Kenji |
| Brina Palencia | Natsuki Mogi |
| Todd Haberkorn | Keisuke Takahashi |
| J. Michael Tatum | Ryosuke Takahashi |
| Kent Williams | Bunta Fujiwara |
| Chuck Huber | Yuichi Tachibana |
| Chris Burnett | Takeshi Nakazato |
| Vic Mignogna | Shingo Shoji |
| Colleen Clinkenbeard | Mako Sato |
| Monica Rial | Sayuki |
| Greg Ayres | Kenta Nakamura |
| Chris Cason | Fumihiro |
| Chris Ayres | Miki |
| Jamie Marchi | Saori |
| Barry Yandell | Narrator |
| Kyle Hebert | Keiichi Tsuchiya |
| Christopher R. Sabat | Kyoichi Sudo |
| Jason Douglas | Seiji Iwaki |
| Robert McCollum | Wataru Akiyama |
| Cherami Leigh | Kazumi Akiyama |
| Bob Carter | Masashi Suzuki |
| Mike McFarland | Shuichi Matsumoto |
| Will Short | Kai Kogashiwa |
| Bruce Carey | Ken Kogashiwa |
| Chris Patton | Toru Suetsugu |
| Leah Clark | Nao |
| Scott Freeman | Atsuro Kawai |
| Nathanael Harrison | Shinichi |
| Ian SInclair | Daiki Ninomiya |
| Anthony Bowling | Smiley Sakai |
| Jeff Johnson | Tomoyuki Tachi |
| Caitlin Glass | Kyoko Iwase |
| Justin Pate | Nobuhiko Akiyama |
| Orion Pitts | Sakamoto |
| R Bruce Elliott | Toshiya Joshima |
| John Swasey | Kozo Hoshino |
Home Video Releases
- See also: Initial D Anime Releases
Tokyopop Dub Releases
| Title | Release date | Episodes featured | No. of Discs | ID numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial D: First Stage - The Complete First Season | 13th of March 2007 | Initial D First Stage (full series) Second Stage - Act 1 (Bonus) |
9 | FN-08640 |
| Initial D: Second Stage - The Complete Second Season | 16th of October 2007 | Initial D Second Stage (full series) Initial D Extra Stage (Bonus) |
4 | FN-08641 |
Funimation Dub Releases
Gallery
Miscellaneous
Store Icons
Wallpapers
Originally downloadable on Madman Entertainment's website.
References
- ↑ Todd Spangler (March 1, 2022). "Crunchyroll Is Adding All Funimation Anime Content, Sony Starts to Phase Out Funimation Brand". Variety. Retrieved on March 1, 2025.
- ↑ Rafael Antonio Pineda (February 7, 2024). "Funimation App Shuts Down on April 2 as Its Accounts Merge With Crunchyroll". Anime News Network. Retrieved on March 1, 2025.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Funimation to Distribute Tokyopop Titles". Anime News Network (May 22, 2006). Retrieved on March 1, 2025.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Egan Loo (September 25, 2009). "Funimation Adds X TV/OAV, 5 Initial D Anime Stages". Anime News Network. Retrieved on March 1, 2025.
External Links
- Initial D at funimation.com via the Wayback Machine (archived December 27, 2017)