Second Stage - Act 13

Changing Seasons (移りゆく季節のなかで, Utsuri yuku kisetsu no naka de) is the thirteenth and final Act of Initial D Second Stage.

This episode features the second half of the battle between Takumi Fujiwara and Wataru Akiyama.

Synopsis
The battle between the two Eight-Sixes becomes an extreme test of endurance and will for the two drivers. Will Takumi take his newly-tuned machine all the way to victory, or does Wataru have what it takes to force his rival to a halting defeat?

Plot
The endurance race between the two Eight-Sixes continue on as Keisuke observes how fierce the two are battling out. Ryosuke states endurance racing is both physically and mentally demanding and have to maintain extreme intensity dealing with the continuous lateral G-Force which can drown out even the strongest driver one can think of. And the person who has the most stamina wins whereas the one who loses focus will lose. While waiting outside the train station, Itsuki worries about not seeing Kazumi again and doesn't know how to cope with it. He also is hesitant to admit his feelings for her. Round 3 continues and Keisuke feels the intensity growing and wished he can be the one racing while Ryosuke saw the Turbo running different than earlier. Takumi can barely keep up due to Wataru's change of driving style. Wataru now is past the point of being cautious and will not hold back anymore after the warm-up. Takumi now quickly adapts to the new engine and became ever motivated to win. Takumi nearly loses control after running through the mudslide but remained focused. Takumi has a new problem, his rear tires are losing their traction and fears he will lose. Wataru too barely has grip on his tires and unable to pull away from Takumi.

Round 4 begins with both cars have less grip to both cars putting more power increase causing stress on the tires as Wataru stated. Wataru senses the more danger that comes their way, the faster Takumi gets and senses the aura in the Trueno. As both cars running equally fast, Takumi now feels the worn down tyres makes driving feel a lot better and easier to control as he is now feeling the full potential of what the new engine is able to do. Takumi now feels the power and adrenaline of the race. Round 5 begins and finally Takumi has complete control with the new engine. Wataru loses count of how many rounds they raced and starts to lose focus. Takumi does too. With the stage they are now Wataru says it's more exhausting for the follower to keep up than the leader trying to maintain the lead. That makes winning a lot harder for them due to difference in speed. And the loser will be the one to fall behind while the leader can still be at the advantage for sometime. The mudslide is coming up and Takumi impetuously tries to make a move due to less mud than before. The Trueno rides on the mudslide and the slight bump caused it to go airborne and Takumi won much to his surprise. Wataru was nonetheless satisfied with the race after seeing Takumi's skill.

Both cars slowly arrive and Iketani and Kenji cheerfully saw Takumi victorious. The race concludes and both cars arrive at the station ready to pick up Itsuki and Kazumi. A disheartened Itsuki pains to see Kazumi leave. Takumi informed Itsuki of his victory while driving on the highway. Itsuki feels uneasy thinking of Kazumi and falling in love hurts. Takumi feels his pain exactly just by remembering how he felt betrayed by Natsuki's secretive dating with the Benz driver. Takumi parks the car at the tofu shop with an hour to spare for his usual delivery run. He then asks his dad to teach him more about engines in order to understand the car better. Bunta proved he opened his mind. The next morning at the gas station, Itsuki feels depressed with the rest of his friends worried. Kazumi surprisingly shown up but to take some belongings she left accidentally and also wanted a chance to say goodbye after leaving too quickly. Itsuki was given one hour to spend final time with Kazumi. Yuichi notices how important she is to Itsuki. Takumi then got informed of Natsuki having a part time job. With Autumn ending soon as both have one final drive, Kazumi embraces the memories she had in Gunma and described compliments to the one boy who changed her life which is Itsuki. Takumi's shift ends and realised Natsuki works part time at a fast food joint. Itsuki and Kazumi then part ways. As the credits roll Ryosuke sets up an open invite by devising a time trial to pick a candidate suited to join his new race team. Takeshi Nakazato vows vengeance against Takumi and Team Emperor while running the time trial, Emperors continue their Gunma sweep, Iketani teaches Takumi the basics of engines and mechanics and Itsuki continues to practice drifting on Akina.

Airdates

 * Fuji TV: January 20, 2000

Characters (in order of appearance)

 * 1) Ryosuke Takahashi
 * 2) Kenta Nakamura
 * 3) Keisuke Takahashi
 * 4) Itsuki Takeuchi
 * 5) Kazumi Akiyama
 * 6) Takumi Fujiwara
 * 7) Wataru Akiyama
 * 8) Koichiro Iketani
 * 9) Kenji
 * 10) Bunta Fujiwara
 * 11) Natsuki Mogi

Cars

 * 1) Nissan Silvia Q's (S14)
 * 2) Mazda ɛ̃fini RX-7 Type R (FD3S)
 * 3) Mazda SAVANNA RX-7 ∞ III (FC3S)
 * 4) Toyota Corolla Levin GT-APEX (AE86)
 * 5) Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX (AE86)
 * 6) Toyota Corolla Levin SR (AE85)

Music

 * 1) Blazin' Beat - M.o.v.e
 * Grand Prix - Mega NRG Man
 * 1) Déjà Vu - Dave Rodgers
 * 2) キミがいる (Kimi Ga Iru) - Galla

Quotes
Takeshi: I swear vengeance will be mine! I will avenge my defeat on those Emperors and Akina's Eight-Six!

Differences from the Manga
The way that Takumi passes Wataru is different between the anime and the manga. In the anime, Takumi takes advantage of their driving having flattened out a mudslide in order to pass Wataru, hitting a bump to go airborne and jump him in front of his opponent. In the manga, Takumi's inexperience and not knowing the local wisdom of the course leads him to pass Wataru in an area that is deemed by those familiar with the touge to be impossible to pass in. Wataru, stunned at Takumi's bold maneuver, hesitates and that allows Takumi to get ahead of him.

Notes & Trivia

 * This episode features Kenta's S14 seen properly for the final time in the show (aside from the flashback in Fourth Stage).