When I read this story about an Initial D café out in California, I was a little skeptical.  Initial D is a property that I’ve been pretty passionate about, and frankly of all the anime series that have ever existed, absolutely none of them can say that they’ve been able to keep my interest for 18 years.  My interest in Initial D could legitimately vote. 

Kare Kano, Ranma 1/2, Evangelion, Rurouni Kenshin; none of these properties, among many others, as much as I loved them when I did, had the ability to keep me coming back for more throughout their existences.  With Initial D, I would watch whatever I could, but then in later years, when I’d learn that more of it existed, I would search and watch it and catch back up, until the point came when the series was out of episodes.

As suspect as I thought the ending kind of was, my love for the series was unmistakable.  Frankly, almost all anime have shitty endings, and Initial D’s was far from the worst out there.

Anyway, this Initial D café out in California; of course it’s in California.  And as much as I like the execution of the place, and the obvious love for the property that the owner has, there’s just one thing that bugs me:

Fujiwara Tofu Cafe, while not formally endorsed by Initial D’s creators, 

It’s a business that’s completely more or less unauthorized.  And in spite of the lack of endorsement, the place is completely smattered with Initial D stuff all over the place, and has completely lifted its entire identity from a property that they more or less don’t have the endorsement to use.  I’m no legal expert, but I wonder about the legality of using so much official stuff for a business not sanctioned by the creators of it.

I think it bugs me because I’m such a fan of the property and generally protective of my fandom of it, and this is definitely something that I wouldn’t have done, at least without trying to gained some approval from those in charge of the property in the first place.  I mean, who’s to say the guy who owns it hasn’t, but the thing is if I don’t get the green light from Shuichi Shigeno, then this is definitely a venture that I don’t embark on.

But that’s just me.  Otherwise, I have some respect for the fact that the duder’s family has an actual history with making tofu, which gives a degree of legitimacy to the business, and wasn’t just some mega fanboy opening an Initial D café, but then just selling hot dogs and/or other weeaboo-ey Asian food.

However, the lack of endorsement from the creators, and the fact that the guy is making a living on intellectual property that isn’t endorsed kind of rubs me the wrong way.  Would I go to this place if it were in Atlanta and not California?  Absolutely, I am that much of a fan of Initial D that I would.  But knowing the backstory of the whole place and that it’s not officially endorsed still gives me this trepidation that I’m probably doing a shitty job describing.  It just rubs me the wrong way, and I feel like a property that I love so much, is getting a little bit of a raw deal, with fans making a buck on their name without their approval.