Fifth Stage - Act 4

Revenge Battle of Fate (因縁のリベンジバトル, In'nen no ribenjibatoru) is the fourth Act of Initial D: Fifth Stage.

This episode features the first half of the rematch between Takumi Fujiwara and Kai Kogashiwa.

Synopsis
Kanagawa's Second Line will be against RT Katagiri, where Takumi encounters Kai Kogashiwa: a former rival from Irohazaka; graduated from street racing and now a professional racer with his MR-S. However, Takumi is starting to show a "Zone" that had evolved from the Purple Shadow races, a zone that even Ryosuke cannot explain. The winner of this race is up in the air.

Plot
Satoshi Omiya inspects his broken GT wing on his car after losing the battle. He states to his team members nearby that despite not being lucky, he was happy that he had a real battle after a long time. At another part of the course, Eiji Kubo tells Go Hojo that he didn't expect Omiya to lose the battle. He was also slightly disappointed to learn that Takumi didn't go for a time trial either as he could've collected his data. But Go tells him that Ryosuke is no fool to let any time trial run free. He then orders Kubo to bring back their team members scattered around the course and head home. At the Daizan Observatory Deck in Hakone, Kai Kogashiwa arrives in his Toyota ZZW30 MR-S to meet Hideo Minagawa with his Supra. Kai states since Team 246 lost to Project D, they can have their chance to defeat them. Kai was especially looking for his rematch with Takumi after his loss to him at Irohazaka a few months prior. Back at Gunma, Takumi arrives at the gas station and is greeted by the SpeedStars members applauding him for his victory on the race. Itsuki acts as news reporter and asks Takumi how he feels on his first victory at Kanagawa. Takumi apparently not in a mood for acting, just asks Itsuki to fill up his car, which is responded by a slap on his head by the latter being angry. Takumi then tells Iketani his next race will be the week after this as Project D takes intervals between every battles. Iketani then tells them his plans on visiting Kanagawa just to see Takumi's race. While they plan on visiting hot springs in Kanagawa, Takumi tells the gang to better visit sooner because if he loses once, there won't be any other chance. The SpeedStars reacts to this with dismay, stating Takumi must keep on winning. Matsumoto was working at the Project D's garage when Ryosuke calls him on his phone. He asks Matsumoto for a 'favor', which the latter initially interpreted as installing a supercharger on the Eight-Six, but upon hearing Ryosuke's call he was confused on hearing that he was talking about his FC instead, as Ryosuke never raced after the RedSuns days. When asked why, Ryosuke responds that he couldn't say the reason right now, but asks Matsumoto to keep it as a secret between them. Ryosuke at Lake Akagi with his car thinks to himself that if Go Hojo of the Sidewinder team is at Kanagawa, then "he" must also be there as well. He decides to face this inevitable fate as he mutters the word "Kaori". At a restaurant in Saitama, Takumi tells Mika he's free this weekend, much to her delight as she wants to go to the beach with him. But she's worried that she can't stay overnight or reach home late. Takumi then tells her they can leave early instead. That day at the gas station, the SpeedStars comments on their opinions on girls with short skirts and bikinis at the beach. Iketani goes full on insecure and tells with aggression how women should only dress exposed in private areas. An energetic Itsuki gives support to him. While Iketani and Itsuki says they should be a monk, Kenji meanwhile states that they both are just jealous. Meanwhile at the beach Takumi and Mika enjoys their time there playing. Later on they talk about how them going on trips like this is like a new record for them. Back at the gas station the SpeedStars comments on how Takumi has changed throughout time, as he went from a unconfident emotionless kid to a sharp confident man. Itsuki and Kenji states that its thanks to Takumi's role in the Project D which gives him confidence on achieving the goals set by Ryosuke. Kenji then tells that being in Project D must be tough as well as satisfying, as working on the goals together with the team can be tough, but he also gives the presence of a role model for those who are looking at the bleak future. Later on that evening Takumi drops her back at Saitama. Just before leaving, Mika asks Takumki to call her just 'Mika' instead of 'Mika-chan'. Takumi blushes and calls her that. She then smiles and tells him to call her that from now onwards before leaving, making Takumi blush. That night Bunta test drives the Eight-Six on Akina after learning Takumi took his Impreza because it had better air conditioner. After the run Bunta notes the down the improvements on the balance done upon the car by Ryosuke. He realizes the car can go much further than this, but not until the final step. The next night at the gas station, the SpeedStars looks upon in awe at the addition of the roll cage in Takumi's Eight-Six. Takumi tells he now feels like sitting inside a metal box with the new addition of the roll cage. SpeedStars realizes Project D is devoted more towards their goal of finishing the battles in Kanagawa, as their second battle in that prefecture approaches. When asked upon by Itsuki, Takumi states to him that their next battle will be held somewhere at Hakone. That night at the Daizan Observatory Deck, Kai drives his tuned MR-S back to the parking lot where he talks to his mechanic that his car well tuned for the course. The mechanic states that they won't lose to no amateurs despite the fat that their team is based more on circuit racing than street racing. Kai is sure of himself he could win and he will stop the glory of the 'White Ghost of Akina'. He gets into a flashback when Takumi defeated Irohazaka. He then tells him that immaturity is Takumi's strength, as Kai who mostly races in circuits are used to safety features such as runoff areas. He considers this race as his graduation ceremony before going to be a professional racer, and is sure he is still 'immature' enough to drive in the touge. The next morning at Kanagawa, Project D members looks outside their lodge to check out the clear view of Mt Fuji. Kenta asks Keisuke if Mt Fuji is bigger than Mt Akagi to which he calls out Kenta for being stupid as Fuji is the biggest mountain in Japan. Fumihiro then orders the members to eat their breakfast, to which Keisuke remarks Fumihiro for acting like a school teacher. The night of the battle came and Project D arrives at Nagao. Takumi was then surprised to see his old rival Kai Kogashiwa on the rival team. Fumihiro asks Kai to select the starting position when Kai resorts to using coin toss for selection. Kai gets to be the chaser from the result of the toss. Meanwhile back at Gunma, Ken Kogashiwa calls Bunta to inform him about his son battling Takumi right now and states his son is doing much better than himself. He tells how he chose to take motorsports career as his choice and asks Bunta if his son can do better than him. As the race starts off, Fumihiro and Ryosuke discusses about Kai as they know him previously. He states due to his kart racing skills, he drives Mid-Engined cars very well. They did not expect him to show up at such place. Fumihiro also tells about Keisuke's rival being another professional racer as well. Ryosuke is sure that since they racing in the mountain passes, they don't need to worry about their opponent's titles. Meanwhile during the battle Kai notes down the improvements on Takumi's Eight-Six, but isn't bothered about it as he is confident on how to tackle it. Meanwhile Keisuke tells Kenta on the how the course is divided into 3 sections. The top section being wider for higher speeds, the middle part being slow with tight corners everywhere, and the lower part being a mid-speed section with narrow roads. Kenta doubts if Takumi can really win against a pro, when Keisuke states that Takumi will use up his top potential to do so, and he may even show up his "zone". As Kai chases, he notes Takumi doing the inner wheel lift gutter technique. He is impressed, but doubts if it helps in increasing his pace. Meanwhile Keisuke tells Kenta about the "Fujiwara Zone", a term named by his brother to Takumi's extraordinary connection with his Eight-Six, he can corner faster than expected by the car. Keisuke finds it hard to explain, but reveals to Kenta moments when he was training with Takumi and found it hard to keep up in some corners on the exit. He states it feels like an illusion when you're chasing him. When Fujiwara syncs up with the rhythm of the course, its bound to happen. As Kai chases him, he suddenly felt as if the Eight-Six suddenly pulling away from him, like an illusion. He reminds himself not to make any mistakes as he gets anxious. Meanwhile Ryosuke explains to Fumihiro on the Fujiwara Zone. He tells him that while he had seen a glimpse of this zone back when he first raced him at Akina, it was much refined when he battled Dr. Joshima of Purple Shadow at Ibaraki. Simply put, its his abnormal amount of practice on his car which makes him fast. He then compares it with the phrase used in auto industries, that is "the driver and the car as one" where Takumi actually manages to do this with his Eight-Six. He is able to use the best parts of his tyres, resulting in his car behaving like a 4WD. The Eight-Six still is a rear wheel drive car, yet when Takumi is in his zone, he is able to maneuver it so sharply, it can create illusions. When his driving style matches with the peaky characteristics of the car, he is in his zone. Ryosuke then tells that he can't even completely explain it, as things such as Takumi and his Eight-Six's performance can't be explained with any theory.

Airdates

 * Animax: December 14, 2012

Characters (in order of appearance)

 * 1) Satoshi Omiya
 * 2) Go Hojo
 * 3) Eiji Kubo
 * 4) Hideo Minagawa
 * 5) Kai Kogashiwa
 * 6) Takumi Fujiwara
 * 7) Kenji
 * 8) Koichiro Iketani
 * 9) Itsuki Takeuchi
 * 10) Shuichi Matsumoto
 * 11) Ryosuke Takahashi
 * 12) Mika Uehara
 * 13) Bunta Fujiwara
 * 14) Tomiguchi
 * 15) Kenta Nakamura
 * 16) Keisuke Takahashi
 * 17) Hiroshi Fumihiro
 * 18) Ken Kogashiwa

Cars

 * 1) Mazda Roadster RS (NB8C)
 * 2) Toyota Supra RZ (JZA80)
 * 3) Toyota MR-S S-Edition (ZZW30)
 * 4) Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX (AE86)
 * 5) Mazda efini RX-7 Type R (FD3S)
 * 6) Subaru Impreza WRX STi Coupe Type R Version V (GC8D)
 * 7) Nissan Silvia K's (S13)
 * 8) Nissan 180SX Type II (RPS13)
 * 9) Toyota MR2 G-Limited (SW20) (Flashback)
 * 10) Mazda SAVANNA RX-7 ∞ III (FC3S)
 * 11) Honda S2000 (AP1) (Flashback)

Music

 * 1) Raise Up - M.o.v.e
 * 2) When The Sun Goes Down - Ken Blast
 * 3) Flyleaf - Clutcho

Quotes
Kai Kogashiwa: I'll put an end to the glory of Fujiwara Takumi, I mean... of Akina's Eight-Six.

Ryosuke Takahashi: What I mean is that the Eight-Six maneuvers so sharply that it creates such an illusion. It's a huge shock to see from behind, especially to those who know what I mean.

Notes & Trivia

 * A major part of chapter 488, where Takumi in the Impreza with Mika avoids a traffic accident pileup at the expressway was not adapted into the anime.
 * Takumi at gas station error Fifth Stage Act 5.png the gas station, there's a particular scene where Takumi is shown with the SpeedStars. However Takumi was at the beach with Mika at that time. This is mostly due to an animation error.
 * In the manga, Ken and Bunta meets up at Lake Akina instead of calling in the phone to discuss about their son's battle.