First Stage - Act 1

The Ultimate Tofu Store Drift (究極のとうふ屋ドリフト, Kyūkyoku no tōfuya dorifuto) is the first Act of Initial D First Stage.

This episode features the impromptu battle between Takumi Fujiwara and Keisuke Takahashi.

Synopsis
High school kid Takumi Fujiwara works at a gas station with his buddy Itsuki Takeuchi. When the guys join their co-worker Iketani for a night of street racing action on Mt. Akina, Takumi’s life will never be the same.

Plot
The plot begins with a summer midnight scene on Mt. Akina, with Yuichi Tachibana driving on the mountain's roads. Suddenly, a mysterious, white Toyota AE86 drives past him, to which he acknowledges and commenting that "the guy hasn't changed a lot". On the next day, Takumi and Itsuki were taking a break before their final exam. Itsuki was extremely passionate about buying an AE86 as Takumi remained spaced out. After the final, the two friends went off to work at the gas station, where Itsuki continued to ramble on about the AE86. Their coworker, Iketani, joins in on the conversation and invites them to come with him tonight to the Akina SpeedStars meeting. Itsuki agrees while Takumi reluctantly tags along. Natsuki meanwhile meets her 'Papa', her sugar-daddy and they drive in his Mercedes while talking about money matters.

Having overheard the conversation to meet up at Mt. Akina, Yuichi briefly mentions a mysterious AE86 owned by the local tofu shop remains indisputably the fastest car on Mt. Akina to Iketani, who finds it rather hard to believe in. Later that night, Iketani picks up Itsuki and Takumi and drives them up to the top of Mt. Akina, with the latter screaming and panicking as Iketani drifts his way to the top of the mountain. Once there, Takumi was noted to be extremely exhausted and scared from the drifting, which he told Itsuki that he wouldn't understand how he feels. At the same time, a local racing team called the Akagi RedSuns has also reached Mt. Akina and challenged the SpeedStars to a race on the following Saturday. Not afraid to be challenged, Iketani, as the leader of the SpeedStars, agreed to the challenge and a practice run with the RedSuns team. During the practice run, the SpeedStars team realized their skill could never reach the RedSuns, with the opposing team's leaders, Ryosuke Takahashi and Keisuke Takahashi, concluding how easy it will be to take down the Akina SpeedStars. As the brothers decided to not partake next Saturday's time attack match, Ryosuke told Keisuke to race instead. That way, they will have a permanent time record that will be unparalleled.

At the end of the practice run, the SpeedStars members went home, depressed with their results in the practice run. Meanwhile, some members of the RedSuns stayed on Mt. Akina, including Keisuke. Near early morning, the remaining RedSuns members agreed to head back to Akagi. Keisuke takes the lead, noting that he should slow down as his members have not reached his skill level just yet. However, immediately after his comment, two headlights suddenly appeared on his rear-view mirror. As the car approached, it was apparent that it wasn't a car from the RedSuns. Wondering if it was an MR2 or 180, Keisuke continued his drive down Mt. Akina, feeling increasingly challenged the longer the mysterious car stayed on his tail. During a drift, Keisuke saw that the car was an AE86. Ashamed and outraged that an 86 could catch up to his FD3S, he pressed harder against this new opponent. As both cars reached a right turn, Keisuke braked as the 86 drove forward, as the former feared that having too much speed for the upcoming right turn would cause a crash in a tight left turn that comes immediately afterward. However, the 86 driver performed an inertia drift, recovered, and successfully passed a shocked Keisuke.

Airdates

 * Fuji TV: April 18, 1998

Characters (in order of appearance)

 * 1) Yuichi Tachibana
 * 2) Takumi Fujiwara
 * 3) Itsuki Takeuchi
 * 4) Natsuki Mogi
 * 5) Natsuki's Papa
 * 6) Koichiro Iketani
 * 7) Bunta Fujiwara
 * 8) Keisuke Takahashi
 * 9) Ryosuke Takahashi
 * 10) Fumihiro
 * 11) Kenji

Cars

 * 1) Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX (AE86)
 * 2) 1994 Toyota Camry (V40)
 * 3) Mercedes-Benz E-Class E300
 * 4) Nissan Silvia K's (S13)
 * 5) Mazda ɛ̃fini RX-7 Type R (FD3S)
 * 6) Mazda SAVANNA RX-7 Infini III (FC3S)

Tokyopop

 * 1) Initialize - Drop Logic
 * 2) Wire Trip - Full Frequency
 * 3) In Yo City - Octavia "Jymini" Harris
 * 4) Let Loose - Young Sons
 * 5) Pop It - Marlon D. White (Gemini), Kile Baker (Mindsetta), Hanif Winston (Mr. N.S.C.I.N.S.E.) and Jaron Thorne (Jhey-Tezee)
 * 6) The American Dream - The drp
 * 7) Initialize (Instrumental) - Drop Logic
 * 8) Initialize (DJ Milky D-Mix) - DJ Milky & b_nCHANt_d

Original

 * Director - Shin Masawa
 * Series Composition - Koji Kaneda (Fuji TV)
 * Script - Hiroshi Toda
 * Storyboard - Shin Masawa
 * Episode Director - Shin Masawa
 * Music - Ryuichi Katsumata
 * Original Manga - Shuichi Shigeno
 * Character Design - Noboru Furuse
 * Art Director - Kazuhiro Takahashi
 * Chief Animation Director - Noboru Furuse
 * Animation Director - Takahisa Ichikawa
 * Sound Director - Masafumi Mima
 * CGI Director - Akihiro Nagao (Studio Nest)
 * Director of Photography - Seiichi Morishita
 * Executive Producer - Ren Usami (OB Planning)
 * Producer - Hiromichi Mogaki (Studio Comet), Kayo Fukuda (Pastel)
 * Assistant Animation Director - Kazuhiro Shintani, Kiyotaka Iida
 * Assistant Director - Teruo Naruse
 * Assistant Producer -Kuniyasu Ichikawa (Prime Direction), Sadahito Kikuchi (Studio Comet), Shigeo Sugimura (Studio Gallop)
 * Background Art - Katsuki Takao (Studio Jack), Kazumi Kataoka (Studio Jack), Minoru Akiba (Studio Jack)
 * CG - Emiko Hatanaka, Kazuhira Tanaka, Nobuaki Hayashi, Sadanori Kaneda
 * Color Design - Naomi Anzai
 * Color Setting - Naomi Anzai
 * Compilation - Koji Kaneda (Fuji TV)
 * Digital Supervisor - Kouji Kobayashi
 * Editing - Akihiro Kawasaki (Okayasu Promotion), Hajime Okayasu (Okayasu Promotion), Hideaki Murai (Okayasu Promotion), Kiyotaka Miyake (Okayasu Promotion), Toshihiko Kojima (Okayasu Promotion), Yumiko Nakaba (Okayasu Promotion)
 * Editorial Supervision - Keiichi Tsuchiya (Hot Version Editorial Dept.)
 * Effects - Masayuki Nakajima
 * Effects Cooperation - Kunji Tanifuji
 * Ending Production - Transformer
 * Finish Animation - Eiko Tokuda (Peacock), Eri Okamoto (Studio M), Fumiko Ishiguro, Hajime Aida (Peacock), Hiroko Takahashi (Studio M), Kayoko Suzuki (Studio M), Kimiko Ookura, Noriko Omura (Peacock), Ritsuko Kanazawa (Peacock)
 * In-Between Animation - Kazuhiro Fukuchi, Kenji Nakano (Wonbat), Sansai Onoki (Wonbat), Shingo Ohyama (Wonbat), Tomohisa Ishiyama (Wonbat), Toshiharu Suzuki (Wonbat), Yō Hashimoto, Yoshiaki Iwata (Wonbat)
 * Key Animation - Aki Nishizaki, Kazuhiro Shintani, Kiyotaka Iida, Tadayoshi Okimura, Takeshi Yamazaki, Yojiro Shige, Yuichiro Masuda, Yukio Oya
 * Layout Supervisor - Chihiro Hayashi
 * Opening Production - Shinji Kobukata
 * Photography - Katsuaki Kamata (Studio Twinkle), Katsumi Ota (Studio Twinkle), Kenji Takehara (Studio Twinkle), Koji Sawada (Studio Twinkle), Masayuki Iwata (Studio Twinkle), Tadafumi Ono (Studio Twinkle), Takashi Aoki (Studio Twinkle), Takashi Kimishima (Studio Twinkle), Tatsuji Fukumoto (Studio Twinkle), Tomofumi Fujita (Studio Twinkle)
 * Planning - Ryuuzou Shouji (Prime Direction)
 * Production Advancement - Takehiro Miyashita
 * Production Business - Miwa Tagawa
 * Production Supervision - Wataru Hirukawa
 * Promotion Video - Wataru Takeishi
 * Publicity - Sachio Tamenaga (Fuji TV)
 * Recording - Fujio Yamada
 * Recording Assistant - Yuji Tagami
 * Sound Effects - Kenji Koyama
 * Sound Production Manager - Takeshi Takadera
 * 3DCGI - Nest
 * Animation - Pastel
 * Animation Production - Studio Comet, Gallop
 * Backgrounds - E-cho, K-Production, Studio Jack
 * Broadcaster - Fuji Television Network
 * Development - Tokyo Laboratory
 * DVD Distribution - avex mode
 * Editing - Okayasu Promotions
 * In-Between Animation - BAEK KOO, Studio Wonbat
 * Music - Avex Trax
 * Music Cooperation - Avex Group
 * Paint - BAEK KOO, Studio M, Studio Peacock
 * Photography - Studio Twinkle
 * Production - Fuji Television Network, Kodansha, OB Planning, Pastel, Prime Direction, To Max
 * Recording Studio - Aoi Studio
 * Research Cooperation - ONIX Shin-Oume Accel Auto
 * Sound Production - Techno Sound
 * Titles - Maki Production

Funimation
English Reversioned by Funimation Entertainment


 * Executive Producer - Gen Fukunaga
 * Producers - Carly Hunter, Justin Cook
 * Line Producer - Colleen Clinkenbeard
 * Head Writer - John Burgmeier
 * Script Writer - Eric Vale
 * Cast:
 * Bunta - Kent Williams
 * Iketani - Eric Vale
 * Itsuki - Josh Grelle
 * Takumi - Joel McDonald
 * Keisuke - Todd Haberkorn
 * Kenji - Christopher Bevins
 * Yuichi - Chuck Huber
 * Ryosuke - J. Michael Tatum
 * Takeshi - Chris Burnett
 * Natsuki - Brina Palencia
 * Fumihiro - Chris Cason
 * Narrator - Barry Yandel
 * Additional voices - Josh Martin, Scott Freeman, Brian Witkowicz, Nathanael Harrison, R. Scott Cantrell, Mario Rodriguez, Lauren McDonald, Justin Pate, Kyle Philips, Jim Foronda, Drew Wall, Jerry Russell, Cynthia Cranz, Jeremy Inman, Anastasia Munoz, Curtis Raymond Shideler, Liza Gonzales, Brian Witkowicz
 * ADR Director - Joel McDonald
 * ADR Engineer - Stephen Hoff
 * Assistant Producer - Michael Harcourt
 * Production Assistants - Trenton Jons, Gino Palencia
 * Talent Coordinator - Tara A, Williams
 * Mixing Engineer - Nathanael Harrison, CAS
 * Director, Video Post-Production - Brandon Tyler
 * Digital Video Coordinator - Jeff Yale
 * Senior Video Editors - Daniel Mancilla, Jeremy Jimenez
 * Video Editors - Jessie Mancilla, Robert Bell, Josh Tyler, Ashley Rosse, Christopher Bryan
 * Lead Video Engineer - Sarah Mueller
 * Video Engineer - Michael Rivas
 * Post-Production Assistants - Casey Barteau, Niki Cooper, Aya Spann

Tokyopop
English Language Production by Tokyopop


 * Executive Producers - Stuart Levy, John Parker
 * Creative Director - Jennifer Wagner
 * Written by - Bob Buchholz
 * Producer - Jamie Simone, Stuart Levy
 * Associate Producers - Daisuke Kinouchi, Jennifer Wagner
 * Voice Director - Jamie Simone
 * English Language Cast
 * Takumi "Tak" Fujiwara - Dave Wittenberg
 * Itsuki "Iggy" Takeuchi - Robbie Rist
 * Koichiro "Cole" Iketani - Crispin Freeman
 * Keisuke "K.T." Takahashi - Steve Blum
 * Ryosuke "Ry" Takahashi - Lex Lang
 * Bunta Fujiwara - Kerrigan Mahan
 * Yuichi "Boss" Tachibana - Michael McConnohie
 * Natsuki "Natalie" Mogi - Kat Cressida
 * Takeshi "Zak" Nakazato - Wally Wingert
 * Kenji - Jason Spisak
 * Recording Engineer - Michael Clark
 * Final Mix - Michael Clark
 * Sound Effects Editing - Ron Salaises
 * Visual Effects Editing - Terry T. Marlin
 * Production Manager - Jennifer Wagner
 * Production Coordinator - Daisuke Kinouchi
 * Packaging Design - Gary Shum
 * Art Director - Matt Alford
 * Music Supervisor - Benjamin Chan
 * Background Music composed by Hiro Awanohara, Andy Yao, and Peter Price
 * Additional Background Music composed by b_nCHANt_d
 * Translation and Subtitles - Captioneering, A Visual Data Media, Services Company
 * Additional Translations - Daisuke Kinouchi, Bryan Masumoto, Jason Alnas, Mutsumi Miyazaki
 * Special Thanks to Central Anime - Todd R. Perkins, Hiroaki Fukuda, Lillian Fukuda, Barbara Girrens, Richard Roberts. Brian Bushman, Dave Hogan
 * DVD Menu Design - Nightjar
 * Recorded at Studio E
 * Executive in Charge of Production - Ron Klamert

Quotes
Yuichi Tachibana: He knows even the smallest stain on the asphalt on Mt. Akina. I'd even bet on it. The fastest car on Mt. Akina is the Eight-Six from the tofu shop

Keisuke: What the hell?! Inertia drift?!

Keisuke(Japanese): Na-Nani!? KANSEI DORIFTO!?

Differences from the Manga

 * The opening scene where Yuichi drives past the Eight-Six is exclusively added to the anime.

Notes & Trivia

 * In the first scene, Yuichi is driving a Toyota Camry, but when the scene changes to the first person view from inside the car, the model is from Ryosuke's FC3S.