Fifth Stage - Act 3

Dead Line (デッド・ライン, Deddo rain) is the third Act of Initial D: Fifth Stage.

This episode features the battle between Takumi Fujiwara and Satoshi Omiya.

Synopsis
As the first battle winds down, the downhill between Takumi’s Eight-Six and Omiya’s NB8C Roadster begins. As both cars reach their limits, the control of the drivers will determine the outcome. Against Omiya’s miraculous car control, will Takumi be able to win? Another factor will come into play.

Plot
As Keisuke drives on to victory with cheering across Project D members and spectators alike, Team 246 members notes that Keisuke had defeated Kobayakawa by a huge margin of 7 seconds. Satoshi Omiya then tells them that he is afraid of his downhill battle, because of his lack of fear when it comes to going all out. He then tells them he will perform his best tonight. Fumihiro tells Ryosuke that Omiya had decided to be the chaser for the battle, which Ryosuke interprets as him deciding to go all out somewhere during the race. He tells Takumi to take advantage of this by making his move in the second half of the course and tells him to end the battle in the first run itself if he can. At the starting point, Omiya greets Takumi, with their auras glaring out. As Fumihiro starts off the downhill battle Go Hojo asks Eiji Kubo if he has any idea on this battle, to which he responds he has no clue this time. While Omiya is a really fast driver, he senses something strange about the Eight-Six. He states Takumi is unique in his own way which makes him fast as well. When Go says that Takumi is being backed by Ryosuke Takahashi, Kubo senses Go has some sort of issue with him. Go then tells him that its not exactly him, but someone else he knows who has the issue. Meanwhile Ryosuke states to Project D members that because both the AE86 and the NB8C Roadster shares the same concept of a light car with a zippy engine which have the agility to race down the windy roads, the battle will be decided by the driver's instincts, especially on that of their cars. As the two cars race downhill on sharp corners, Omiya states that while it was a wise option to observe Project D while chasing, that caused the defeat of Kobayakawa. Hence that's why he chose to lead and keep his pace instead of observing the Eight-Six. Meanwhile Keisuke discusses with Kenta and Tomiguchi that while his race may have looked easy for him, he had it tough. It maybe even more tough for Takumi as his opponent is even more skilled. He also states that Omiya plans to do a spurt somewhere along the bottom of the course where its steep and rough. Tomiguchi states it can be disadvantageous for the Eight-Six with its old suspension, but Keisuke is confident of his brother's plans and in their team. At the mid point of the course where the two cars passes a hairpin with spectators cheering, Kobayakawa remembers his battle at the same point on the course where he felt frustrated on Keisuke's movements as he couldn't predict them properly. He thinks that Takumi now must be feeling the same and neither drivers can ease up at this point. Omiya at this point feels the scale of tension increasing, but knows he has a point where he really starts driving all out. At Saitama Prefecture, Mika is seen taking a bath in her bathtub. She notes her muscles increasing due to her daily golf training sessions. She wishes she could go to the beach this summer vacation with Takumi and wonders what he is doing at present, wondering if he is racing somewhere at Kanagawa. Meanwhile back at Yabitsu, Ryosuke explains to Fumihiro and Matsumoto the importance of braking in downhill. Since street racing is not like racing in circuits where there are landmarks, the driver's intuitions are necessary for perfect braking, and Takumi is no exception when it comes to perfect braking. However he says that drivers who hides their true braking skills are even more skilled as they only reveal when they decide to settle down the battle. Just as then however, Omiya suddenly brakes hard and enters a corner sharply, thus starting his sprint. Takumi realizes it in the split second and suddenly follows his suit, despite him realizing he was late for just a small fraction of time on braking. Omiya proclaims that now he's in his full potential and in a 'dangerous zone'. Go Hojo and Eiji Kubo eagerly looks upon the two cars as they race past them. Kubo tells cars of those era tend to behave so aggressively due to their stiff suspensions. He also comments they have been tuned in such a way that they'll reach their peak performance at speeds of 100kmph (62mph). The addition of spoilers and GT wings in those cars will not just be a decoration in such battles and Kubo says aerodynamics plays a decisive role in this race. Back at the starting point, Ryosuke and Matsumoto discusses on the NB8C's weight distribution being more front biased, leading to oversteers. They are aware that Team 246 has tuned their cars in a way it has been dealt with sufficiently. Fumihiro realizes that if somehow Omiya's balance of the car is eliminated, Takumi may have a chance.

Upon learning that Takumi is still keeping up with him, Omiya turns his rear-view mirror away so that he can concentrate ahead more. Takumi then suddenly takes his chance and retracts down his headlights, shocking the onlookers nearby. On learning about this news Ryosuke states Takumi has realized he's taking the advantage of the blind attack strategy to cover up his disadvantage on the high speed section. Other than just distracting his offensive ability (which doesn't work for Omiya as he is concentrating on the road ahead), the blind attack strategy also allows more aerodynamic flow for his Eight-Six. Takumi waits for the perfect moment to reopen his headlights when the road widens up ahead. Fujiwara then reopens his headlights, causing Omiya to be in a state of confusion thinking some opposite traffic, moving aside and creating space. Takumi then takes up this opportunity and moves ahead as they both enter a sharp corner side by side. Omiya still in a state of shock on the current events unfolding around him, but doesn't plan to back away from the battle. The road now suddenly converges into a smaller lane with two cars battling side by side along the narrow pass. Omiya pulls in front of the race as they both approach a sharp 90 degree corner, with Omiya retaking the lead. However just prior to passing the corner, Omiya hears a loud metallic crash just behind him, which happened to be his car's GT-Wing colliding with an obstacle on the course. Omiya now on the lead with a broken wing struggles to keep his car steady at high speeds downhill. However he still motivates himself to carry on till the very end. As they approach a high speed corner however, Omiya's Roadster loses control and completely spins out, with Takumi and Omiya looking at each other as the former passes the latter. Takumi goes on ahead to victory while Omiya now spun out in his car states today wasn't his day.

Airdates

 * Animax: December 14, 2012

Characters (in order of appearance)

 * 1) Keisuke Takahashi
 * 2) Kenta Nakamura
 * 3) Tomiguchi
 * 4) Hiroshi Fumihiro
 * 5) Satoshi Omiya
 * 6) Takumi Fujiwara
 * 7) Ryosuke Takahashi
 * 8) Go Hojo
 * 9) Eiji Kubo
 * 10) Shuichi Matsumoto
 * 11) Kobayakawa
 * 12) Mika Uehara

Cars

 * 1) Mazda efini RX-7 Type R (FD3S)
 * 2) Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX (AE86)
 * 3) Mazda Roadster RS (NB8C)
 * 4) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII GSR (CT9A)

Music

 * 1) Raise Up - M.o.v.e
 * 2) I Can't Stop Lovin' You - Dream Fighters
 * 3) Full Metal Cars - Daniel
 * 4) Flyleaf - Clutcho

Quotes
Eiji Kubo: Cars of that era tend to behave like that when their suspension is stiffened. You can say it's very 86-like.

Satoshi Omiya:(after losing) So, today wasn't my day after all.

Notes & Trivia

 * The part in the manga which shows Satoshi's Roadster's wings getting clipped by a signpost was cut from the anime.