The upcoming Initial D anime sequel has released the second MF Ghost trailer PV and it gives a sneak peek of protagonist Kanata Livington.
Staff details have also been disclosed. Tomohito Naka (New Initial D the Movie Legend 3: Dream, New Initial D the Movie Legend 2: Racer) will direct the anime, with Yamashita and Akihiko Inari (Inazuma Eleven GO: Galaxy) being in charge of the script.
Kenichi Yamashita (Hensuki: Are You Willing to Fall in Love with a Pervert, as Long as She’s a Cutie?) will compose the soundtrack, Inuyashiki’s Naoyuki Onda is a character designer, and Hiroki Uchida (Salaryman’s Club) is a 3D director.
The anime is being animated by Studio Felix Film.
MF Ghost anime release date in 2023
The MF Ghost release date in Japan is set for 2023. It is based on its namesake manga by Shigeno Shūichi (Initial D), who received the Kodansha Manga Award (shōnen) for Bari Bari Densetsu, an early motorbike racing manga, in 1985.
Published in Kodansha’s Weekly Young Magazine (Shūkan Yangu Magajin) under the Yanmaga KC Special label, the MF Ghost manga, a successor to Initial D, began on September 4, 2017, and numbers 13 tankōbon as of January 2022.
In January 2022, Kodansha Comics and Comixology announced an English-language publication of MF Ghost, whereby the first 10 manga volumes were promptly released. The series is also available on Amazon Prime and Kindle Unlimited.
MF Ghost Plot
The series takes place in the 2020s when self-driving cars are all the rage in Japan. The series’ main protagonist, Kanata Livington, is a Japanese driver who comes back to Japan after having graduated from a racing school in England at the top of his class.
MF Ghost revolves around the MFG, a street racing organization founded by Ryosuke Takahashi (Initial D), with Kanata Livington (competing under the alias Kanata Katagiri) making a debut with his Toyota AE86.
Adrenaline rush aside, Livington has a deeper motive in his undertakings: to find his long-lost father.
Of MF Ghost Mangaka
Shigeno Shūichi (重野 秀一, born March 8, 1958) is a Japanese mangaka best known for his motorbike racing manga. With Bari Bari Densetsu (1983–1991) earning him the Kodansha Manga Award for shōnen, Shigeno went on to create Initial D (1995–2013) and MF Ghost (2017–ongoing).
Trivia: Shigeno Shūichi bought himself a Toyota AE86 with the first check from Bari bari Densetsu, saying he chose the car so he could talk to his then-girlfriend, which was impossible while on a motorcycle. Later, he crashed the car into a guardrail, which proved to be a useful experience while he was working on Initial D. That being said, the Initial D MC Takumi Fujiwara owns the very same car model, which would later be popularized by the Gran Turismo series.