頭文字D ARCADE STAGE
The manga and anime were originally licensed for English releases in North America by Tokyopop. The company changed the names of the characters in the anime edition, and subsequently changed them in the manga to match. These name changes were to reflect the name changes that Sega implemented into the western releases of the "Initial D Arcade Stage" video games {see below} due to name length limits. Tokyopop also cut out a character's enjo kōsai relationship with another and edited scenes featuring nudity, appearing in volumes 1 and 9 in the original manga. In addition, "street slang" was interlaced in translations (a drift was described as "slammin'", for example). Even the anime's music was changed from the series' iconic eurobeat tracks to self promoting Hip Hop tracks made by Tokyopop's CEO, Stu Levy.