Final Stage - Act 2

The Strongest Enemy (最強の敵, Saikyō no teki) is the second Act of Initial D: Final Stage.

This episode features the second part of the battle between Takumi Fujiwara and Shinji Inui.

Synopsis
Takumi and Shinji continue with their match while Takumi, still bewildered by Shinji, starts to focus. But suddenly, Shinji allows Takumi to pass, which disturbs Takumi even more. Even Kubo is utterly disheartened by the turn of events, but both Go and Ryosuke believe that this was inevitable, creating a suitable conclusion to Project D's expeditions.

Plot
While Takumi is having a hard time keeping up with Shinji on corners as he had understood earlier, the Speedstars members near the bottom of the course comment on how this battle feels very different from the one where he battled Wataru Akiyama. Meanwhile Mako Sato and Sayuki standing somewhere at the middle of the course notes how Shinji and Takumi are the same type - same cars, being the silent type and all. As both cars race past a section, Kyoichi Sudo and Seiji Iwaki comments on their driving styles, in which Fujiwara has better speed in straightaways due to its engine, but the leading Eight-Six has better cornering as its even more smoother despite being "boring and lacking impact". Ryosuke meanwhile at the top with the rest of Project D members thinks about how the "D" in Project D has a meaning behind it and it wouldn't have been possible without Keisuke or Takumi and hopes he does his very best to fight this battle. During this time Kyoichi further explains to Seiji about how Shinji's driving techniques is different from Takumi. Takumi and other fast touge racers use the steering to make a yaw in a corner and steps on the gas to drift around the corner, as done by WRC racers. While this helps in knowing what's ahead of the corner, Shinji's technique of gripping around is used by circuit racers, which is faster. Since its not usually used in touge as there's no safety margin, Shinji's exceptional course knowledge backs it up. Seiji meanwhile gets confused after trying to understand all this and acts like he's understood it. When asked by Eiji Kubo and Go Hojo on how Shinji can jump into corners at high speeds without any hesitation, Mrs Inui reveals that since he was a kid, Shinji in the passenger seat was noticing the roadsides every day as his mother drove the car uphill, the knowledge of gutters and asphalt cracks and other details is noticed during different seasons. And since she drives car both uphill and downhill, he gets the knowledge of the corners from opposite sides.

As this was being said, the cars pass the Todo School members Daiki Ninomiya, Smiley Sakai and Tomoyuki Tachi. Daiki, being an expert in braking controls notes that while Fujiwara is better at braking with his heel toe shifting being done at a professional level, Shinji's brake release point is perfect, as it comes from the thorough course knowledge. Tomoyuki comments that since Fujiwara is using his car upto the full potential, his tyres will wear out more quickly than Shinji's who is driving more smoothly. Takumi was struggling to keep up with Shinji while realizing he needs to catch up with him in the upcoming corners when suddenly as he exits out of a corner, he sees out of pure shock and confusion that Shinji's Eight-Six was slowing down with its hazard lights being switched on. Takumi passes him with a weird shock and confusion in his face while Shinji looks at him with a confident smirk. While Takumi now drives in lead position wondering why did he even do this, Shinji states to himself that he wants to see the angelic 'wings' he witnessed in Takumi's car during his battle at Nanamagari. Seeing all this happen in front of them, Satoshi Omiya and Kobayakawa discuss about whether if Shinji even understands the rule of this battle. When the Sidewinder members hears this news from one of the team members, Kubo is devastated upon hearing as he realizes there's no way he's gonna win unless Shinji overtakes Takumi someplace else and Mrs Inui realized her bad feeling of her son doing something stupid turned out to be true. But then Go began to laugh upon hearing it. Meanwhile Mako and Sayuki was confused upon hearing it too. Go Hojo then explains to Kubo and Mrs Inui that Shinji did this on purpose as Shinji told him earlier that he 'want to be a hero'. So Shinji has a plan on winning and they'll never know what happens next. At the top, Project D members are in a state of shock and confusion as well, with Keisuke stating he wouldn't know what to do next if this happened to him as his motivation would hit rock bottom. Ryosuke says that earlier the chances of winning the battle was slim, but now with the battle unfolding unpredictably, its fitting to be Project D's final battle. As the Speedstars discuss on what happens next, Iketani can only hope for Takumi to win the battle. The race continues as Mika in her house hopes for Takumi to call her in her phone, and Bunta back at his house smokes thinking about what will happen next.

Airdates

 * Animax: May 16, 2014

Characters (in order of appearance)

 * 1) Shinji Inui
 * 2) Takumi Fujiwara
 * 3) Itsuki Takeuchi
 * 4) Kenji
 * 5) Koichiro Iketani
 * 6) Mako Sato
 * 7) Sayuki
 * 8) Ryosuke Takahashi
 * 9) Seiji Iwaki
 * 10) Kyoichi Sudo
 * 11) Mrs. Inui
 * 12) Go Hojo
 * 13) Eiji Kubo
 * 14) Shuichi Matsumoto
 * 15) Tomiguchi
 * 16) Hiroshi Fumihiro
 * 17) Keisuke Takahashi
 * 18) Kenta Nakamura
 * 19) Smiley Sakai
 * 20) Daiki Ninomiya
 * 21) Tomoyuki Tachi
 * 22) Kobayakawa
 * 23) Satoshi Omiya
 * 24) Mika Uehara
 * 25) Bunta Fujiwara

Cars

 * 1) Toyota Sprinter Trueno 3door GT-APEX (AE86)
 * 2) Toyota Sprinter Trueno 2door GT-APEX (AE86)
 * 3) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III GSR (CE9A)
 * 4) Mazda efini RX-7 Type R (FD3S)
 * 5) Honda Civic Type R (EK9)

Music

 * 1) Outsoar The Rainbow - M.o.v.e
 * 2) Magic Sunday - Dave Rodgers feat. Futura
 * 3) The Jungle Is On Fire - J-Stark
 * 4) Gamble Rumble - M.o.v.e

Quotes
Ryosuke Takahashi: We can't control everything, but this is suitable for Project D's final battle. there stars are out there, so there's no need for a mediocre scenario. The greatest drama is about to unfold.

Notes & Trivia

 * Since this episode used only a very few manga chapters (the Kanagawa Expedition Arc chapters have few pages), some many repeating scenes were used for this episode.