Chapter 003

Tofu Drifting (究極のとうふ屋ドリフト, Kyūkyoku no Tōfu Ya Dorifuto, "The Ultimate Tofu Store Drift") is the third chapter of Initial D.

Plot
On the Akina downhill, Keisuke Takahashi is being followed by a car that he cannot make out, due to how dark it is. He notes that the car is small (he thinks it may be an MR2 or a 180SX, likely due to the popup headlights), and that he wants to get a closer look at the car because of it's speed. Entering a corner, Keisuke realises that the car following him is a hatchback Eight-Six, which annoys him because he is the second best driver in the Akagi RedSuns. As the two cars come to a corner, the Eight-Six passes Keisuke and performs an inertia drift, allowing them to clear the corner without having to slow down nearly as much. The shock of seeing this causes Keisuke to spin out, and as he sits in his car he wonders if the car he saw was a ghost because of the perfect drift that they had performed, noting that the only member of the RedSuns who could perform such a drift would be his brother, Ryosuke. This event causes Keisuke to begin his search for the driver of the Eight-Six, stating that a ten-year old clunker doesn't beat a brand new FD.

In the morning, Takumi is woken up by his father as there is a phone-call for him. Takumi answers the call expecting it to be Itsuki, but is surprised to find that the call was from Natsuki Mogi. The two of them meet, with Mogi wishing to bury the hatchet and have the two of them become friends again. The two of them then organise a trip to the beach, with Takumi driving them there in his family's car.

Back in Shibukawa, Koichiro Iketani pulls up outside the Fujiwara Tofu Store, noting that it has an Eight-Six parked out front. He concludes that this must be where the fastest downhill racer on Akina that Yuichi mentioned must live

Japan

 * July 31st 1995 (Weekly Young Magazine, 1995 Volume 32)
 * November 6th 1995 (Tankōbon, Volume 01)

Chinese

 * January 1st 1998 (Tankōbon, Volume 01, Sharp Point Press)

English

 * May 21st 2002 (Tankōbon, Volume 01, Tokyopop)
 * April 17th 2019 (Digital re-release, Volume 01, Kodansha USA)

French

 * March 26th 2009 (Tankōbon, Volume 01, Asuka)
 * January 14th 2010 (Tankōbon, Volume 01, Kazé)

Italian

 * March 28th 2023 (Tankōbon 2-in-1, Volume 01, J-Pop)

Polish

 * December 2022 (Tankōbon 2-in-1, Volume 01, J. P. Fantastica)

Characters (in order of appearance)

 * Keisuke Takahashi
 * Takumi Fujiwara
 * Bunta Fujiwara
 * Natsuki Mogi
 * Koichiro Iketani

Cars (in order of appearance)

 * Mazda ɛ̃fini RX-7 Type R (FD3S)
 * Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX (AE86)
 * Nissan Silvia K's (S13)

Quotes

 * "What the hell?! Inertia drift?!" - Keisuke Takahashi

Tokyopop/Kodansha USA version

 * Certain text bubbles have been removed
 * Several sound effects have been translated
 * Keisuke Takahashi calls his ɛ̃fini FD3S an "Enfini FD3S"

Notes & Trivia

 * This chapter features the Inertia Drift - one of the most iconic scenes in the series