Video Option
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is a monthly
direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...
magazine version of the long-running '' Option magazine'' introduced in March 1988 by Sunpro.


Programme format

The video has always been presented by Daijiro Inada, who did many of the tuner car road tests, either on a test track, on public road with Daijiro's adventures at Bonneville. During the video early days, the series used to cover illegal races usually in expressways, which is sometimes contributed by an anonymous figure called "Chiba Kun". Nowadays the series features Wangan competitions and unlike the rival
Best Motoring was Japan's preeminent automobile magazine, video, and DVD series, before becoming a web video series. Alongside ''Best Motoring'', there were ''Hot Version'' and ''Video Option.'' History With the first edition debuting in 1987 and the last ...
series, the show is more focused on drift, drag, time attack, speed tests and mountains rather than pro racing techniques or circuit practises. The series also covers Inada's escapade at the Silver State Classic from the unfortunate (1999), to having narrowly escaped (2003) and the unintentionally hilarious (2005) Option Video has always covered drifting, even hosting one of the first drift contests in 1989 with Keiichi Tsuchiya called the Ikaten. Option would continue to cover drift events especially their own Ikaten, until in October 2000, they would introduce the D1 Grand Prix which appears exclusively on the videos. They also gave the Americans their very first drifting events in 1996 at Willow Springs International Raceway,
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, which incidentally was won by a
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, it was not until seven years later Option gave them their first oversea D1 Grand Prix event. In 2005, the video series followed the season of former judge turned competitor Manabu Orido in his quest to compete in D1. Other highlights in the show includes the owner of tuner
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, Kazuhiko "Smokey" Nagata run-ins with the law in both the UK and New Zealand in 1998 and 2000 and the video contribution of Chiba-Kun and his exploits in his
Nissan Skyline GT-R The is a Japanese sports car based on the Nissan Skyline range. The first cars named "Skyline GT-R" were produced between 1969 and 1972 under the model code KPGC10, and were successful in Japanese touring car racing events. This model was fol ...
at the
Bayshore Route The signed as Route B, is one of the routes of the Toll road, tolled Shuto Expressway system in the Greater Tokyo Area. The Bayshore Route is a stretch of toll highway that runs from the Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanazawa ward of Yokohama in th ...
(Wangan) of the
Shuto Expressway The is a network of Toll road, tolled expressways in the Greater Tokyo Area of Japan. It is operated and maintained by the . Most routes are Grade separation, grade separated and have many sharp curves and multi-lane merges that require cauti ...
especially his run-ins with the law. Beside the series high speed adventures, there is a segment called Go-Go Daijiro ''(Go!Go!大二郎)'' in which the Inada test drives other unusual form of transportation not normally covered in by the magazine, for example VIP style cars (customised luxury saloons) and the segment called D1 Gals which the stars of the segment (Kazumi Kondo and the D1 Gal of previous year, Hatsuno Sugaya) are tested in for example, their knowledge in car maintenance and what car they drive for comedy results. The show tends to cover Takayasu Ozaku's (more commonly known as Zaku) close up shot of campaign girls at the
Tokyo Auto Salon The is an annual auto show held in January at the Makuhari Messe, Chiba City, Japan for Performance and custom aftermarket parts and technology displays. Hosted by the Nippon Auto Parts Aftermarket Committee (NAPAC), the Tokyo Auto Salon is one ...
, especially sequences which he
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s them. Magazine contributors Keiichi Tsuchiya, Nobuteru Taniguchi, Eiji Yamada, Ken Nomura, Manabu Suzuki, Manabu Orido are also guest presenters. In 2004, to satisfy the demand of US D1 Grand Prix fans who watched the Irwindale round, Sunpro introduced an English-language version called JDM Option. Unlike many Japanese orientated videos, JDM Option retains many of the original voiceovers with English narration. This segment was dropped from the Japanese version altogether 2007 onward. Another feature to be omitted from the Japanese version are the
commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...
s that has been a feature since 2005, these commercials only apply to D1 coverages. Also many segments from the Japanese versions are omitted, whereas many features from the non-Japanese version, such as the US events do not appear in the Japanese versions.


Highlights

*The video magazine, always had numerous scrapes with the law in the past, the most notable was the Super Street Series (abbreviated as SSS), the series involves speed runs on public roads in the mid to late '90s. *The series featured a segment which "Tarzan" Yamada as a human
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, where he was tested for various dangerous stunts.


See also

*
Import scene The import scene, also known as the import racing scene or tuner scene, is a subculture of modifying mostly Japanese car industry, Japanese-import cars, particularly in the United States and Europe. History Car modifying has been popular among y ...
*
Japan domestic market The term "Japanese domestic market" ("JDM") refers to Japan's home market for vehicles and vehicle parts. Japanese owners contend with a strict motor vehicle inspection and grey markets. JDM is also incorrectly used as a term colloquially to ref ...
*
Option (car magazine) ''Option'' ''(オプション, Opushon'' in ''katakana and subtitled Exciting Car Magazine)'' is an automotive magazine founded by in 1981, to meet the demand for enthusiasts of modified Japanese cars in Japan. The magazine is published by the ...
* D1 Grand Prix


External links


JDM option site


Japanese



1988 establishments in Japan Auto racing magazines D1 Grand Prix Sports magazines published in Japan Monthly magazines published in Japan Magazines established in 1988 {{italic title