A couple of weeks ago, we were happy to see Toyota embrace the AE86’s anime fame with a series of Initial D-inspired commercials for the GR86. If anything, they left car fans around the world clamoring for some more illustrated adventures within the Initial D universe.
But it appears that Acura may end up overshadowing the marketing efforts of Toyota’s department, as a sixteen-second teaser trailer for “Type S: Chiaki’s Journey” was released on Acura’s social media pages.
Details as yet are few and far between, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves too much. A project funded by Honda/Acura, bearing the name of its product line, is almost guaranteed to be a rolling advertisement for whatever products need pushing. But that’s not to say it’s destined to be an uninspired spiel of product placement. When done right, a manufacturer-sponsored web series can be enjoyable — look no further than BMW’s “The Hire” series starring Clive Owen.
Plus, after Initial D, automotive-themed anime series have been few and far between. Aside from Wangan Midnight, there’s not much else out there, although the Initial D spin-off, M F Ghost, is set to make the jump from manga to anime sometime next year.
Read: Toyota Creates Initial D Inspired Adverts For The GR86
So what can we expect from the new series? From the opening card, we can see female protagonist, Chiaki, leaning against an Integra DC2 Type R. We then see her racing an Acura NSX Type S against a fictional supercar of some sort.
If you think the track looks familiar, it’s because the event is the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. So far, so on-brand, as it’s the track where the 2022 NSX Type S holds the production car record.
The voice-over mentions that “when it comes to racing, respect is earned,” which is gives us some strong “The Fast And The Furious” vibes. The trailer is over as fast as it begins, but not before we see a PIT maneuver performed on the NSX and a very Initial D-inspired shot of the hybrid motor and cylinders firing into action.
We won’t have long to wait to see how it turns out, as the series will begin streaming on January 20, 2022.