If you are either a car nut or a manga lover, chances are that you’ve heard of Initial D before. With over 55 million copies sold as of April 2021, Initial D is one of the most popular mangas ever written, putting them in the same category as Naruto and One Piece.
Touching on the world of illegal street racing in Japan, it tells the story of Takumi Fujiwara, a tofu delivery driver and his run-in with the Akagi Red Suns, the main antagonists of the story who want to conquer every racing course in Kanto. Takumi blazes past one of the aces of the Red Suns in an old Toyota AE86, much to their disbelief.
The Initial D franchise has spawned many things, such as collaborations and sequels. Casio is one of them, with their recent launch of the new Initial D x MF Ghost EDIFICE CB-2000MFG watch, which is sure to delight car nuts and fans of the respective mangas alike.
Sporting a red and black design, representative of the Toyota GT86 featured in MF Ghost, the overall design and shape of the watch give it a sleek, sharp look reflecting the high-octane feel of street racing.
Also imprinted on the watch are the Japanese characters “ギャァア”, onomatopoeia for the sound of screaming, which are commonly seen in both the Initial D and MF Ghost mangas. “藤原とうふ店” (Fujiwara Tofu Shop) is also imprinted on the inside surface of the watch as a tribute to the tofu shop that Takumi Fujiwara works for in Initial D.
To top off the street racing feel to the watch, Casio has also added the names of the courses featured in MF Ghost onto the Cordura strap of the watch.
Enough of the design, however, as there are also other features of the watch that take the cake. It comes with Smartphone Link, which allows the watch to link to multiple Bluetooth devices. Furthermore, with the EDIFICE Connected app, you can have auto time adjustment for your watch (no more manual adjustments!) and activate a Phone Finder feature, to name a few.
With G-Shock’s seal of shock resistance for the watch, you can expect it to be a tough nut. To round off the watch’s specifications, it utilises solar energy to charge the battery, meaning that you won’t need to worry about its battery life.
The EDIFICE CB-2000MFG will cost you a cool S$629 and can be purchased off Casio’s official website. You can also find the specifications for the watch on the listing page as well! Finally, to learn more about the mangas themselves, check their MyAnimeList pages for Initial D and MF Ghost – and the Gas Gas Gas scene from the anime!
Visuals courtesy of Casio Singapore.
