Initial D Legend 2: Racer

Initial D Legend 2: Racer is a 2015 movie directed by Masamitsu Hidaka and Tomohito Naka. It is the second film in the New Initial D movie trilogy which adapts the Akina's Eight-Six half of the manga.

Plot
The film opens with Takeshi Nakazato, the Myogi NightKids' leader, challenging Ryosuke Takahashi, the RedSuns' leader on a downhill battle one night. Afterwards, Nakazato tells Ryosuke that he witnessed Takumi Fujiwara's gutter technique he used to defeat Keisuke Takahashi, and believes that he battling Takumi will make things interesting. However, Ryosuke believes that Nakazato's car is incapable of defeating Takumi's Eight-Six, much to Nakazato's chagrin.

The next day, Nakazato arrives at a gas station where he encounters Itsuki Takeuchi, who accidentally accepts Nakazato's challenge as he drives off. However, Takumi later refuses to accept because he is not a racer despite being persuaded by Itsuki. Meanwhile, Yuichi Tachibana overhears the situation and tells the Akina SpeedStars why Takumi refuses to race. He referenced to Takumi how good Nakazato is and that no one would think he's a coward if he refuses. Later, Takumi changes his mind, but when he arrives home, he is shocked to discover that his father, Bunta, had already taken the Eight-Six with him. Takumi waits desperately, and realizes how much of a racer he already is.

Meanwhile, in Akina, the Akina SpeedStars attempt to apologize to the NightKids for their mistake. Just as they did so, Takumi arrives in the Eight-Six, much to their relief. As the race starts, Nakazato takes the lead, whilst Ryosuke and Keisuke follow as spectators. During the race, Nakazato's AWD driving skills keep Takumi at bay. Unbeknownst to Takumi, Bunta tuned the Eight-Six's suspension, allowing Takumi to stay on Nakazato's tail. As they approach the five consecutive hairpins, Nakazato blocks the inside, prompting Takumi to try and overtake Nakazato from the outside. Eventually, Nakazato drives into the outside, causing Takumi to drive into the inside, overtaking Nakazato. Nakazato attempts to block Takumi again, but his car spins out, and hits the guardrail, making him lose.

The following day, Iketani's Nissan Silvia S13 has been fully repaired, and Iketani and Itsuki take it to Akina to test drive it. They were then ambushed by a posse of NightKids led by Nakazato's teammate, Shingo Shoji, and his red Honda Civic SiR II EG6. Shingo then bumps Iketani's car, making him spin out. Takumi arrives and witnesses the situation as the NightKids drove off. Back at Akina's peak, Iketani demands Shingo's apology, which Shingo agrees if he loses his "Duct Tape Deathmatch" challenge against Takumi, during which the driver's right hand is taped to the steering wheel. Shingo then admits that if Takumi loses, Shingo will overthrow Nakazato as the new leader of the NightKids.

As their race starts, Takumi's tape nearly causes him to crash. He then learns that steering less will let him clear corners faster. Shingo gets impatient with Takumi's inability to crash. So, he bumps Takumi's Eight-Six, making him spin out. However, Takumi manages to avoid crashing and regains control. Enraged, Takumi drives recklessly, even going as far as cutting corners and bumping guardrails. Takumi eventually overtakes Shingo by using his gutter technique. Shingo, refusing to lose, decides to end the race in a double crash, but Takumi countersteers in time and moves out of Shingo's way, causing Shingo to crash, and lose the race.

The next day, the film ends with Takumi receiving a bouquet of flowers at work, along with a card addressed to "Panda Trueno", which then happens to be a formal challenge issued from Ryosuke.

Original Japanese

 * Mamoru Miyano as Takumi Fujiwara
 * Yuichi Nakamura as Keisuke Takahashi
 * Daisuke Ono as Ryosuke Takahashi
 * Maaya Uchida as Natsuki Mogi
 * Minoru Shiraishi as Itsuki Takeuchi
 * Hiroaki Hirata as Bunta Fujiwara
 * Tomoyuki Shimura as Yuichi Tachibana
 * Junichi Suwabe as Takeshi Nakazato
 * Keni Fukuda as Hiroshi Fumihiro
 * Hiroshi Tsuchida as Koichiro Iketani
 * Shūhei Sakaguchi as Shingo Shoji
 * Anri Katsu as Kenji

Funimation English Dub

 * Joel McDonald as Takumi Fujiwara
 * Gray G. Haddock as Keisuke Takahashi
 * J Michael Tatum as Ryosuke Takahashi
 * Brina Palencia as Natsuki Mogi
 * Josh Grelle as Itsuki Takeuchi
 * Bill Wise as Bunta Fujiwara
 * Charlie Campbell as Yuichi Tachibana
 * Brian Mountbatten as Takeshi Nakazato
 * Michael Federico as Hiroshi Fumihiro
 * Eric Vale as Koichiro Iketani
 * Vic Mignogna as Shingo Shoji
 * Christopher Bevins as Kenji

Soundtrack

 * The Brave - Clutcho
 * Carry On - Backdraft Smiths
 * Strobe - Clutcho
 * No Matter - the valves
 * Inner Fighter - Moonlight Green
 * Monster - Moonlight Green

Differences from the Manga

 * In a similar fashion to the previous movie, Kenji witnessed Ryosuke and Nakazato's impromptu race against each other as they pass by him. in the manga, a generic driver and passenger witnessed it instead.
 * In the manga, Iketani and Kenji quickly went to the Fujiwara Tofu Shop to see why Takumi hasn't arrived to his race with Takeshi. When Bunta came around with the AE86, Takumi quickly sped off to the race, with the two SpeedStars members following behind him. In the New Movie, most of the scene is the same, albeit with Iketani and Kenji staying at the start of the race.
 * Shingo was introduced the same way in both versions, however with a few differences. Shingo sped off after he bumped Iketani in the manga, only to return shortly after Takumi drifted in Iketani's S13, the following night. The movie, Takumi was following when Iketani was bumped, prompting him to almost immediately start the race after he demanded Shingo to apologize.