Original subtitles

THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION.

PLEASE DRIVE SAFE AND FOLLOW THE RULES.

(Initial D Fifth Stage)

TANZAWA NATIONAL DORMITORY YABITSU ROAD SHOP

Awesome!

Keisuke rushed past the finish line first!

That's amazing.

He managed to get ahead by seven seconds.

The downhill race today will be terrifying.

Oh, don't get me wrong.

I don't mean the opponent will be "terrifying",

but myself.

Once the race starts, I won't be able to hold back my competitive spirit.

I might gradually be unable to maintain a safe distance.

I'll keep pushing to the limit.

It would be best if it goes smoothly.

But if it doesn't, I might lose my life.

What frightens me is the part of me that doesn't fear death.

Omiya...

Don't worry, I'll be fine.

Tonight, I'll showcase the best performance of my racing career.

The opponent chose to lead in the first round.

Really?

He must have made the decision after watching Keisuke's performance.

The opponent may use the same tactics to fight back.

This means he's very confident in his speed.

On the other hand,

this is also our opportunity.

Look, the section with numerous bends in the second half will be the key.

You must handle the opponent's speed changes smartly.

Once you feel it's time, finish it in the first round.

No need to be polite with him.

I'm Satoshi Omiya.

I'm Takumi Fujiwara.

Fujiwara, you better not lose.

Alright, countdown starts now.

TANZAWA OYAMA NATIONAL PARK, YABITSU ROAD

(Episode 3: Dead Line) TANZAWA OYAMA NATIONAL PARK, YABITSU ROAD

TANZAWA OYAMA NATIONAL PARK, YABITSU ROAD

What do you think about the downhill race?

You successfully predicted the uphill race, Mr. Kubo.

No, I'm not sure about this one.

Even I can't figure it out.

The driving skills of Omiya are indeed top-notch.

Three.

Two.

One.

GO.

But the strength of that 86 is unknown.

It's clear that they've put a lot of effort into that car.

And the young driver is not simple either.

I've been in this industry for so long and I have never met someone like him.

He has a certain unique worldview.

Is he fast?

Of course.

That 86 driver has "that guy" around him.

What do you mean?

I mean Ryosuke Takahashi.

I've been curious since before.

Do you have any grudges with him?

With that...

Ryosuke Takahashi...

Maybe.

No.

There is someone else who has grudges with him, I should say.

The NB8C's MX-5,

and the AE86's TRUENO.

Both adopt lightweight bodies and small-displacement natural aspiration engines.

They conquer the winding road with shock absorbers, providing a light ride.

The basic research and development concepts of these two cars are the same.

Despite the fact that they were produced in different years,

the performance of the two cars is quite similar.

Therefore,

the result of this race depends on the sensibilities of these two drivers.

The sensibility of the NB driver Satoshi Omiya

and the 86 driver Takumi Fujiwara.

The winner will be the one whose sensibility aligns more with the car.

You talk about their cars as if they were alive.

Perhaps they are.

Whoever misses the sound the car makes in just a blink will lose.

The legendary racing team that has won time and again in the North Kanto region,

"Project D".

What kind of racing method do they use?

It makes me want to follow and observe closely.

That's what Kobayakawa is thinking.

I have the same idea.

But there's a trap here.

Choosing to observe the opponent means not being able to maintain your own pace.

I think observing that 86 is very dangerous.

That's what my intuition tells me.

So, I chose to lead.

I want to keep my pace when I can see nothing but the road.

Everything for victory.

I wonder how the downhill race will go.

It probably won't be an easy win.

Racers here are generally strong.

Looking at the results, it wasn't an easy win for me either.

Fujiwara's opponent today is especially challenging.

Among street racers, he is almost perfect.

Can you even see that?

I can.

I think Fujiwara...

he should have noticed too.

There is no loophole.

It feels like he filled up all the space.

The NB leading in front is waiting for an opportunity.

He will start sprinting somewhere.

For local racers, it is advantageous to lead and control the pace.

Which means, the key to victory

is likely to be in the latter part with many bends and bad road conditions.

For the 86 with an old shock absorber design, it's quite unfavorable there.

Well... I guess so.

But this is not the first time we face unfavorable conditions.

Since the "RedSuns", we would intentionally go into the enemy camp to challenge them.

Exactly.

The away race strategy that my brother thought of

is enough to handle all kinds of battlefield conditions.

If the opponent is a specialist in the route,

then we are a professional team that specializes in conquering enemies.

Who will have more speed in the end.

That's all that really matters.

As long as we have the genius Ryosuke Takahashi,

there's nothing "Project D" can't accomplish.

That's what I think.

They're very close now, almost here.

They're aiming for the hairpin turn in the middle.

-Here they come! -Great!

Go, Omiya, give it your all!

The 86 is nothing to worry about.

They passed the middle section closely following each other.

The race so far has been identical.

I know the opponent will definitely start sprinting at some point.

I kept guessing, but he never struck.

This made me extremely anxious during the race.

For some reason, I always felt pressured.

That 86 driver should feel the same way.

Now it's Omiya who's setting the pace.

This relentless situation will continue.

It's just halfway through the race,

I feel his drive has reached its peak.

But I can go even higher.

My competitive spirit will explode somewhere.

(Initial D Fifth Stage)

(Initial D Fifth Stage)

My legs feel thicker than before.

Like here... and here...

Did I do too much weight training?

It's great to hit a longer distance with the driver,

but I don't want to buy bigger underwear because of that.

It's summer vacation.

I also want to go to the beach sometimes.

Maybe with Takumi.

But I guess that's not possible, since he's so busy.

Takumi should be in Kanagawa competing against someone right now.

I really want to see a race in person.

But I would probably get scared.

Takumi, do your best.

You have to win.

Good, I'm very focused right now.

From the perspective of conquering mountain roads,

I think the most important thing in downhill racing is "braking".

In downhill races where the braking distance is much increased from flat ground,

a braking mistake can be fatal.

Ordinary roads do not have distance signs like race tracks.

To find the correct braking point,

you can only rely on the sharp senses of the driver,

instead of the road signs.

The potential of the human brain is really astonishing.

Fujiwara's sense of braking is more acute than others.

Even when racing against local drivers who are familiar with the route,

he can continue to succeed due to this gift.

This is a skill that cannot be achieved solely through practice.

It's a talent.

TANZAWA NATIONAL DORMITORY, YABITSU ROAD SHOP By observing your rival's braking timing,

TANZAWA NATIONAL DORMITORY, YABITSU ROAD SHOP you can tell the opponent's strength.

Indeed, this is not a difficult task.

Especially if your skill levels are close.

On the contrary, not allowing opponents to see your braking timing is also a strategy.

The moment you let the opponent see your real braking timing

is the time to decide the race.

He's one step behind.

Only a tiny bit, but he indeed got slow.

Behind that long straight road just now, he hit the emergency brake.

It was only once, but he was braking too slowly.

That's a very fast entry.

It's pulling away from the 86.

I am going into 100 percent serious mode to push it to the limit.

They are coming.

Nearly here.

Although that seemed a little dangerous,

cars from that era would have this issue if the suspension is set too stiff.

That car is indeed an 86.

In the world of an average speed of less than 100 kilometers per hour,

that car was built to be the strongest.

Did they choose the 86 for a reason?

This does seem like a thing Ryosuke would do.

Absolutely no aerodynamic attachments.

It seems that this was his plan from the start.

However...

At that level, even in a low-speed section,

there's still a possibility to reach top speed in a blink.

Even the GT spoiler, which only shows effectiveness on the circuit,

is not just decoration anymore once you've reached that level.

The clincher between the two might lie in aerodynamics.

The feature of Mazda's RWD car

is basically its longitudinal axis, which is designed underneath the front of the car.

Although the FD is the same,

the MX-5 can increase the steering angle through the front wheel load.

So it feels more agile in handling.

But once you want to sprint, due to the insufficient load on the rear wheels,

oversteering becomes a problem.

So when modifying the MX-5, this would be a major challenge.

Although there are various solutions,

essentially, it is still impossible to avoid oversteering.

In this regard, it depends on how the driver responds to such a situation.

Oversteering on a downhill can be fatal.

It's better to make it understeer, which can make it even faster.

Since the opponent is an expert,

I suppose he would have the car perfectly tuned.

If we could find an opportunity to disrupt his rhythm,

then Fujiwara could have a chance to win.

I can't overtake him.

But...

The gap between us has not widened either.

I'm merely following the route and speed of the car in front...

You've managed to keep up until now,

this could be considered a miracle.

I won't need the rearview mirror from now on.

Since I've come this far, I don't need any calculations anymore.

All I need to do is to sprint forward.

I will look back when I reach the end.

By that time, the winner will definitely be me.

What? The 86 turned off the headlights.

Is that a joke?

He is driving on a completely dark mountain road...

What on earth is he trying to do?

Did the 86 turn off its headlights?

Is this a "Blind Attack"?

Ryosuke,

I think Fujiwara might have realized that

the high-speed section would be disadvantageous to him.

This is Fujiwara's unique talent.

No.

He might have heard the sound of the 86.

"Blind Attack".

Fujiwara's unique technique.

It allows him to strike at his opponent psychologically

while making it impossible for them to detect his line of attack.

However, for those who know the route well and are particularly focused...

That's right.

This technique will not be able to exert its full effect.

But then...

When the flip-up headlights are off,

the resistance is less than when they are on.

So he can reduce air resistance, right?

Even if it only reduces a bit of air resistance,

Fujiwara wants to make his car as fast as possible.

Is this Fujiwara's obsession?

And this obsession... perhaps...

can provide him a glimmer of hope.

It must be a little bit earlier than his braking.

I don't understand the principle,

but...

It should be here.

He is so fast, even though only for a split second.

What exactly just happened?

Damn it. I won't lose.

I've already driven this far.

I'll take this space.

Let's see how long you can keep up.

My spoiler is broken.

I can't let the race continue to drag on any longer.

I need to end it in the first round.

The whole car is having strange vibrations.

Although I'm not clear about the current situation of the spoiler,

the sideway balance of the car is gone.

It would be better if the whole spoiler broke off and flew away directly.

Damn it, how could I lose here?

I just need to rush to the limit with momentum.

It seems today... God has not favored me.