Chapter 002

Kings of the Rotary Engine (最速!! ロータリー・ブラザーズ, Saisoku!! Rōtarī Burazāzu!!, "The Fastest!! The Rotary Brothers!!") is the second chapter of Initial D.

Plot
At the top of Mount Akina, Koichiro Iketani announces to Keisuke Takahashi that his team, the Akina SpeedStars, are the fastest racers on Akina.

Meanwhile, Yuichi Tachibana is shocked that Bunta Fujiwara has been letting his son do the delivery runs for his tofu store for five years, as he would have been in middle school when he first started doing deliveries. Bunta tells him that he didn't worry much as there was very little chance of Takumi being seen by the police, and that it no longer matters because he has his license now.

Back on Akina, Hiroshi Fumihiro of the Akagi RedSuns proposes that the two teams practice together and then later have a race, an offer that Iketani and the SpeedStars agree to. The two teams leave to do some practice runs together. Iketani explains to Itsuki Takeuchi that this "friendly proposition" was actually a challenge and that the RedSuns had come to Akina to show off. He then continues, saying that he wants to see what the Takahashi brothers are capable of, explaining to Takumi and Itsuki that the Takahashi brothers are both fast and have been featured in magazines, due to them both driving Mazda RX-7s (Ryosuke driving an older model FC3S and Keisuke driving a newer model FD3S, both of which feature Wankel rotary engines) they are known as the Rotary Brothers. Iketani then leaves the pair to join his team mates on their practice runs.

Later, the Takahashi brothers discuss their thoughts on the Akina SpeedStars and their upcoming race, with Ryosuke noting that they wouldn't need their best racers to win the race, however they wish to set a record that will take a while to be beaten, so Keisuke will be the one racing. Ryosuke then explains that he wants them to be legendary on Akina for years after, with him wanting to beat every mountains record in Gunma and, eventually, the whole of Kanto, something he calls the "Fastest in Kanto Project".

Hours later, the SpeedStars regroup at the top of Akina. Kenji says that the RedSuns had come to show that they're the best and that they suck in comparison, he admits that he feels like selling his car and giving up racing, with the other members telling him that there's no point in doing so, due to the fact that the RedSuns have properly modified cars (which are significantly more powerful than the SpeedStars cars). Iketani tells the SpeedStars that they can't give up, because they had already agreed to meet with them. Iketani then leaves to drive Itsuki and Takumi back to Shibukawa and explains to the two of them that losing is a part of being a racer, but that doesn't mean that they have to like it, especially when they lose on their own mountain to racers who think they're better than you.

At nearly four in the morning, Keisuke and several members of the RedSuns decide to head back to Akagi. On his way down Akina, Keisuke spots someone behind him, and decides to ease up on the gas to allow them to catch up. The car catches up to Keisuke, and is revealed to be a Toyota Sprinter Trueno. Keisuke is shocked to see that the car following him isn't one of the RedSuns.

Japan

 * July 24th 1995 (Weekly Young Magazine, 1995 Volume 31)
 * 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)

 * Koichiro Iketani
 * Keisuke Takahashi
 * Yuichi Tachibana
 * Bunta Fujiwara
 * Fumihiro
 * Ryosuke Takahashi
 * Itsuki Takeuchi
 * Takumi Fujiwara
 * Kenji

Cars (in order of appearance)

 * Mazda ɛ̃fini RX-7 Type R (FD3S)
 * Mazda SAVANNA RX-7 ∞ III (FC3S)
 * Nissan 180SX Type II (RPS13)
 * Nissan Silvia K's (S13)
 * Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX (AE86)

Quotes

 * "We won't move on until every racer on the Kanto plain knows our name. That's the RedSuns' new mission... Operation Kanto!" - Ryosuke Takahashi

Tokyopop/Kodansha USA version

 * The nickname the Takahashi brothers have is changed from "the Rotary Brothers" to "the Kings of the Rotary Engine" (hence the chapter title). Similarly "the Fastest in Kanto Project" is changed to "Operation Kanto"
 * Certain text bubbles have been removed
 * Several sound effects have been translated
 * Mazda ɛ̃fini is misspelled as "Mazda Enfini"

Notes & Trivia

 * The drawing of Keisuke's FD on the eighteenth page is the same that is used for the "Vehicle Specs" pages in the Tokyopop and ComiXology versions from Volume 03 onwards.