Chapter 027

Levin It Up While You're Going Down (イツキのレビン登場, Itsuki no Rebin Tōjō, "Itsuki's Levin appears") is the twenty-seventh chapter of Initial D.

Plot
Several days after the battle, Itsuki and Iketani are still talking about the battle between Takumi and Nakazato. Iketani imagines that a lot of racers will be drawn to Akina because of Takumi, and that the SpeedStars will have to improve their skills in order to even stand next to Takumi.

At Lake Akina, Takumi and Natsuki are on a date. Natsuki asks Takumi if he's annoyed that he's spending his final summer vacation working, but he tells her he'd rather work than sit around doing nothing, and that he's saving for something anyway. Natsuki pesters him about what he's saving for, and he relents, telling her that he wants a car of his own. Natsuki tells him that she really likes the Eight-Six, but he tells her it isn't his car, and he wants his own.

The next day at the gas station, Itsuki reveals he's bought his own Levin, to the shock of the others. Iketani asks to hear the engine, and are surprised how poor it sounds. Yuichi asks to take a look under the hood, and reveals to the group that the car isn't an Eight-Six, but is actually an Eight-Five, the weaker model of the generation. Iketani and Kenji break out in laughter, amazed that he could even find an Eight-Five. Itsuki runs off in tears, and an angry Takumi runs off after him.

Takumi catches up to Itsuki, and he thinks that even he must be laughing at him, but Takumi tells him that he envies him.

Japan

 * February 5th 1996 (Weekly Young Magazine, 1996 Volume 7)
 * May 8th 1996 (Tankōbon, Volume 03)

Chinese

 * March 1st 1998 (Tankōbon, Volume 03, Sharp Point Press)

English

 * October 22nd 2002 (Tankōbon, Volume 03, Tokyopop)
 * April 17th 2019 (Digital re-release, Volume 03, Kodansha USA)

French

 * May 28th 2009 (Tankōbon, Volume 03, Kazé)

Italian

 * March 28th 2023 (Tankōbon 2-in-1, Volume 02, J-Pop)

Polish

 * April 2023 (Tankōbon 2-in-1, Volume 02, J. P. Fantastica)

Characters (in order of appearance)

 * Koichiro Iketani
 * Itsuki Takeuchi
 * Takumi Fujiwara
 * Natsuki Mogi
 * Kenji
 * Yuichi Tachibana

Cars (in order of appearance)

 * Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX (AE86)
 * Toyota Corolla Levin SR (AE85)
 * Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX (AE86) (Pictured)
 * Toyota Sprinter Trueno GTV (AE86) (Pictured)
 * Toyota Sprinter Trueno SR (AE85) (Pictured)
 * Toyota Sprinter Carib (Pictured)

Tokyopop/Kodansha USA version

 * The title is completely changed in this version. The new title appears to be a reference to the Aerosmith song "Love in an Elevator", specifically the lyric "Livin' it up when I'm goin' down"