Alright, I'll actually dive into the research again...

Oh, I see, D is garbage collected, so really it's more like Java or Python. Maybe that's what I'm remembering. Also, @safe code sounds like it's pretty limited - far more limited than non-unsafe Rust.

Basically, if a language had been Rust before Rust showed up, Rust would have been a non-event. They solved a problem that was legitimately open at the time.