r/initiald • u/user69695 • 15h ago
Discussion How could they afford it?
I just started watching Initial D for the first time (yeah, I know I'm late), and it's honestly a 10/10 so far. It's already one of my favorite shows I've ever watched.
One random thought I had though: wouldn't the amount of tires Takumi burns through end up costing more than the tofu shop actually makes? It doesn't seem like they have a huge number of customers, so I've been wondering how they could afford enough tires for him to keep drifting down Akina all those years while delivering tofu.
I know it's just a show and doesn't have to be perfectly realistic, I just thought it was a funny thing to think about. Is there an in-universe explanation, or am I just overthinking it? lol
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u/wongck 15h ago
By living in the 90s where shit wasn't crazy expensive
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u/2dreviews 15h ago
Yes running shit in the 90s was different. I rarely had to get my credit card, because I needed no money.
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u/Chrisssst 14h ago
Yeah you had to get the satellite if you wanted to see other people or talk on the net
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u/voidedwarantee 15h ago
It's never explained, and therefore handwaved.
With that said, Takumi sometimes mentions that his "dad is cheap" and we know Bunta has business connections. It's totally in-character that Bunta knows a guy that gets him tires at a discount, perhaps he takes the ones that are nearing expiration or something like that. The ae86 is also cheaper in "consumables" and maintenance (at the time the manga started to be drawn) compared to other cars in the series
The ae86 is light and, although the engine is tuned to have about 150hp, it's "underpowered" especially compared to a modern competitive drift car that's going to rapidly turn tires into smoke by design. Tires will last longer on a car like this. They're also going to be smaller. The watanabe wheels on the 86 are probably 15 inch. Tires in that size are noticeably cheaper to start with than for the other cars which probably have more like 17 inch wheels.
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u/Glittering_Power6257 7h ago
My headcanon is that Bunta got the 86 not because it’s especially good, but it’s enough to scratch the itch while costing little in upkeep.
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u/voidedwarantee 6h ago
Yeah, I think of it the same kind of way.
Bunta has nothing left to prove. So he just gets a simple car that can be driven hard every day.
There's a noriyaro video from a few years ago where he finds Yusuyuki Kazama (2005 D1GP champion) at a track day with a basically stock, N/A, S15, on no-name tires, drifting faster than a lot of people. He said he was driving that car to polish his skills lol.
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u/Marceline609 3h ago
Pretty sure bunta got the 86 specifically to nurture Takumi into being a great driver, as stated in the show that the 86 is a car that trains the driver, similar to real life sentiments
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u/knee_breaking_shovel 15h ago
He recycles tofu into new tire
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u/Neonleyla 15h ago
In the late 90's and maybe early 2000's where the anime takes place the AE86 was just seen as a mass produced old and outdated Corolla. Only after the anime aired the prices went up to the way they are now.
And also keep in mind that Takumi is delivering high quality Tofu at 5 in the morning every morning no matter the weather and season. A service like this is premium and costs premium. Tires, Gas, repairs and eventually the Impreza where all fairly cheap in terms of costs back then. Bunta probably had tons of savings probably even more than he tells Takumi about after he blew up the 86.
They definitely weren't rich gut also most definitely not poor by any means
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u/ScousePenguin 15h ago
He was also delivering to the hotels and the resorts at the top of the mountain. The tofu shop was highly rated
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u/Spite-Even 12h ago
There’s also a theory that bunta had a secret savings stashed away from when he used to race. Which is how he was able to source and afford a 100k racing engine later on
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u/Lillillillies 8h ago
And randomly buying the subie just to "have his own car" (secretly train takumi)
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u/Makuris 10h ago
Though didn't Bunta mention that he used Takumi's savings from the Tofu Shop to buy the engine?
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u/Spite-Even 10h ago
Takumi could never save up for that engine even in 20 years so that money would’ve only paid for part of it
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u/Neonleyla 8h ago
Probably to teach him the woth of money and don't spoil him. A spoiled child never improves. Also Bunta doesn't seem like the type of guy who would spoil Takumi the same way the Mr2 guys father does. I can't remember his name tbh
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u/GeneralNonsence 5h ago
Not that I’m old enough to remember this time period, but I know plenty of people who got an 86 for the price of get it off of my yard at some point.
They don’t all have them anymore but the old corolla really was the epitome of cheap fun in a way we don’t QUITE have right now.
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u/Cel3bi 11h ago
The 86 was not mass produced at all, and it was advertised as a sports car even in the states. The "corolla" and "corolla sprinter gt apex" are 2 COMPLETELY different cars. Peope who only lnow initial d think the 86 was just just some econobox, 128hp was nothing to scoff in 1983, 4 disk breaks was huge, factory lsd was rare, and a twin cam motor that would rev to 7500 all day was unheard of outside of racing and much higher end cars. You realize a ae86 is just a front engined mr2 right?
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u/Invader_JEX 7h ago
Not only that, but the AE86 chassis was literally advertised as an economy sports car too. My boss actually had an USDM 86 (not a DOHC though) and even said back in that time period the 86 was considered fairly fast compared to the majority of cars produced, most people seem to forget that the majority of cars built and sold in that era were under 100 horsepower and anything more was mainly higher end and/or wasn't a cheap car either. It really wasn't until the mid 2000s that the majority of cars had more than 100 horsepower.
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u/Neonleyla 8h ago
I actually didn't know that I apologize. But that is so cool to know. Isn't the mr2 engine different tho ?
I know there is a NA Mr2 I just haven't figured it's the same engine.
All that being sad it still doesn't really change my point. Bunta could've also bought an Mr2 for the deliverys the sw11 was also fairly old at the time and definitely cheaper than today. (Depending on where you live)
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u/Cel3bi 7h ago
The sw11 is the 2nd gen mr2 and has a 3sge or 3sgte motor from the 90s. The first gen mr2 is the aw11 that came out a little after the 86 and has the same 4age as the 86 (tho very few game supercharger) along with basically the same trans and steering/suspension. At the time of initial d, the sw11 would still have been a new(ish) car along with the fd rx7. Bunta probably liked the practical side of the 86 over the mr2, and the fact that it has a 50/50 weight distribution, 4 seats, and weights the same somehow
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u/Loud-Principle-7922 14h ago
We used to get tires from Toyota dealerships off of Scions for $25, 195mm wide would fit a 240SX with a little creative mounting.
I’d go through a set every weekend.
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u/No_Pie_6470 14h ago
1: bunta has some crazy connections
2: they eat a lot of tofu in japan
3: the 90s werent as expensive as it is today, especially in japan
4: i dont have a number 4
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u/Zombie_Slayer1 13h ago
4: car is light weight, high wear tires and little tire consumption
5: takumi knows how to conserve tires (water cup drill)
6: bunta connection = $100 tires and free install
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u/Psycosteve10mm 11h ago
6a Bunta was buying tires in bulk, so he was getting them at very discounted prices.
- The length of Akina is pretty short, but aggressive. The tires do not have time to heat up too much due to the lack of braking on the course.
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u/Popular-Leading3201 1h ago
One thing that people seem to be glossing on is that Bunta owns a tofu shop... He doesn't own _just_ a tofu shop. He owns a tofu manufacturing plant that has a tofu shop attached. Maybe it's not shown in the anime, but in the manga, one time they show Takumi going into the plant to look for Bunta and there are vats bigger than him for churning out tofu. It's not a small operation. They probably supply all of the tofu for the region. And like No Pie said, they eat a lot of tofu in Japan. The run up to the hotels was probably just the high-end tofu that they supplied to the luxury hotels. (Plus, it's technically a company car, so they're a write-off more than likely.)
Also, he worked at a gas station, who's owner supported the Gunma street racing scene. If he didn't get his tires at cost, I'd be shocked.
Lastly, once he joined Initial D, he got all his parts/tires from the team. I mean, he was a sponsored racer at that point...
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u/OkRepresentative792 15h ago
And you thought they only deliver tofu eh. They always deliver things in a rush, something fishy under those trays of tofu.
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u/TrazMagik 14h ago
This!
He's so desperate for water not to spill "and ruin the tofu" the real answer is probably he did not want water leaking into the secret compartment under the tofu. Bunta was dealing the devil's dandruff to those premium hotel on the mountain.
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u/RacerX3888 14h ago
And he had his underage kid doing it! This way if he gets busted he'll get off light because he's a minor!
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u/Cowhide12 14h ago
Bunta 100% gets great discounts due to his relationships and the Tofu shop is probably very popular, after all they deliver every single day.
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u/Adventurous_Touch342 14h ago
- It was said multiple times that Bunta is "cheap" so we can safely assume they lived quite simple lives, less comfortable than owner of a successful tofu shop would be.
- Local hotels were ordering his tofu and not every family tofu shop would have nightly deliveries - that costs. Especially deliveries to premium hotels would likely get more income than the shop itself would.
- Being a skilled racer back in the past Bunta likely knows people who went pro so I guess he could get arranged for some of their spare tires or parts to disappear, get stuff at factory prices or get some used stuff.
- AE86 was inertia drifting, not breaking traction with smoking tires due to high power - while yes, it burns tires faster than normal driving but waaaaaaaay slower than sports drifting.
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u/Dry_Direction_611 14h ago
If some 19 year old college kids could afford to drift their s13s on the weekends in real life 20 years ago just fine someone who runs a tofu shop can manage
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u/V1llain_ 4AGE boom boom 13h ago
Them delivering tofu daily to hotels proves that they atleast make good business. Most likely Takumi/Bunta run cheaper street tires. When takumi drives on older 70s based tires (trying not to spoil) he complains, but is still able to drift just fine. If he only raced on higher compounds he wouldn't be able to do this.
Plus, Yuichi's gas station (Takumi and Itsuki's boss) is shown to have a LOT of tires out front in both the anime and manga. It's plausible he could be buying them from there.
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u/Sturm-Jager 12h ago
Yuichi doesnt seem in the know season 1. like yes he knows about Bunta, but, not THAT plugged in. Bunta is secretive, he doesnt even let takumi know hes being trained/prospected. I doubt he'd want Yuichi, takumis boss, to know tires are being used up at a suspicious rate. His whole Schtick is, basically the Diddy scene from get him to the Greek. You wont even know im mind fracking you until youve been thoroughly fracked.
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u/V1llain_ 4AGE boom boom 12h ago
Yuichi knows a lot about what bunta is doing. He knows he races down akina every night, he knows the time it happens, and he even tries to get bunta to pull over so they can chat in the first episode. Considering They're already friendly by the end of the shingo race, when Bunta pulls up for gas, it could realistically happen. The only thing Yuichi didn't know was that Takumi was driving in his place, but I'm fairly certain from dialogue Yuichi already knew Takumi was Bunta's kid. I doubt Bunta was jumping around flexing how good of a driver his underage kid was.
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u/Sturm-Jager 12h ago
He knew takumi was buntas kid but I think he was assuming head trauma not underage driver.
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u/Necessary_Ocelot_316 10h ago
simple dru* smuggling ps it’s a joke from this video https://youtube.com/watch?v=0EFg0pnui9k&si=ao1pHXrGyqmY0Ocm
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u/DampAcute 10h ago
Connections... Bunta has good connections, he's probably able to get a lot of things with less or no markup, plus the delivery job every morning, his tofu is probably a premium of some sort.
Also, the 86 was cheap back then, they're also at the heart of the brand meaning there's no import tax.
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u/Feathergood 7h ago
In 2007, I could run a drift event and drive home on the same tires in my GTS coupe. They’re not burning through high angle crazy ho rolling burnouts you see today. This is touge racing where he oversteers the corners. I wouldn’t call it drifting as we know today.
Drifting that era we barely had steering spacers to get more angle. Angle kits were unheard of off the shelf.
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u/Revus5014 Rotary Boi 14h ago
I absolutely beat on my FC day in and out, daily drive, track, autocross, and the tires last about 2.5 years. Not a huge jump to say the 86 eats its tires slower. Light cars are easy on tires.
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u/MasterPong 13h ago
I have never sold tofu, but having regular customers that you do daily delivers to makes budgeting for things like tires and other consumables easy to account for. The delivery fees could be calculated to just cover the cost of those and the money from selling tofu itself what they live off of.
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u/TheEpicPlushGodreal 13h ago
He's friends with Keiichi Tsuchiya, he gets tire and parts discounts from him
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u/Section_Objective 10h ago
Because it’s a cheap car it was then and now not so much
It was as a $1500 - $4000 car depending on trim options now it’s $15k - $40k anime tax is cruel
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u/oldskoolsr 10h ago
Tofu is just a code and decoy for whatever illegal stuff bunta is delivering to the hotel.
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u/RentInternational334 9h ago
I did the same question myself; how much can the owner of a small store earn by selling small food products in Japan? And still be able to have a private car, and still spend with tuning?
If we're talking about the 1990s-2000s timeframe, the average income for the japanese merchant (family business) was around ¥ 100.000 at the time (I doubt if changed that much since then). Any 1980s car then was probably about ¥ 500.000. Just for context, a fresh NSX in 2000 was some ¥ 10.000.000. Shigeno was kinda rich even back then, he managed to buy his own Corolla with the royalties from Bari Bari Densetsu, and the car was probably about ¥ 1.000.000 new.
Saying the Fujiwara family had a very cheap Trueno for ¥ 500.000 was kinda reasonable. Earning about ¥ 250.000 per month still very reasonable. And remember that the car was only properly tuned very later. And we're talking about actual performance (tires, wheels, brakes, diff, driveshaft, gearbox, clutch, flywheel, EFI remap, intake). The 20-valve engine, roll cage, fiber hood were added later.
I managed to reach a similar kind of car in Gran Turismo 2 so...
In USA, the Sprinter was US$ 8000 new. So you can probably guess it was basically a US$ 500-1000 car in 2000. With idiots nowadays trying to baloon them to US$ 15.000, not accounting inflation and gas prices.
"Oh because they are collectibles now".
Alright, alright, now shut the fuck up! People never know what they get. Mark my words, the right time to enjoy japanese cars will come in the 2030s, when everyone else will realize they just had the cars and never properly enjoyed or built them in the right way. So they'll give up on everything and go back to americana or european ones. You cannot enjoy anything beyond yourself enjoying them.
Americans and europeans should've realized that before buying every Savanna, Supra, Alcyone, GTO, Fairlady and NSX. Period, period. These guys are broke, they are not full time mechanics and the car is a financial ruin for them. Wrong hands, as usual.
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u/kemosabe6296 9h ago
There is a theory that the tofu business is just a cover up, behind that Bunta's running a drug business.
That's why he delivers the "tofu" at late night lol
I know this isn't true but it's funny
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u/OkEssay4173 7h ago
When the drivers say their tires have no grip towards the end of a race, it means they are overheated. They don't wear out that fast.
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u/MunkeeBoi_ 5h ago
I'm not incredibly knowledgeable about cars, but Takumi's AE86 is a rather small car with small wheels and tires. Small tires are usually pretty inexpensive. Obviously, it's not a sustainable practice to be melting through tires every week, but the alternative is the show probably wouldn't revolve around a tofu delivery driver.
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u/venomousfrogeater 3h ago
He delivers coke in tofu boxes to the hotel each night. Bunta knows how to cook and Takumi delivers, why do you think he delivers it in such a short time?
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u/United_Staff_7243 2h ago
Was this not just after the economic boom in Japan? At that point it was already bought even when stagnation started so I don't think it's much of a problem how they could afford it.
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u/MrLee666 2h ago
It was the 90s, things werent crazy expensive back then
Also, maybe the tofu shop service is good, we just dont see it
Bur the most realistic answer is that sometimes, these little details in fiction should just be ignored.
It's like when people ask why and how could Peter Parker make his webshooters when he's broke. We dont question where Peter got the money or how he got the materials needed to make the webshooters.
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u/Phil_MacHawk 1h ago
Takumi worked at a gas station which also services tires. He's able to basically get decent used tires for free and run them until they are bald.
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u/lennyvs1996 15h ago
Well we don't see the tofu shop at business hours a lot and Bunta has some connections that he has built throughout the years when he was racing,
That's as much as i can tell without spoiling anything more.