The series started as a street-racing picture and ended up in orbit, and somewhere in the middle it quietly rearranged itself. Tokyo Drift was the third film released, features almost none of the regular cast, and was later written into the timeline six films later so that a character who dies in it could be brought back. Release order is the order that retcon arrives in. Story order moves Tokyo Drift to where it actually sits, which is the one change that makes the whole run coherent.