Second Stage - Act 3

The Feeling of Defeat (敗北の予感, Haiboku no yokan) is the third Act of Initial D: Second Stage.

This episode features the first half of the battle between Takumi Fujiwara and Seiji Iwaki.

Synopsis
Going against Kyoichi’s instructions, Emperor’s Seiji launches his Evo IV into full power while racing against the Eight-Six. Though his car is out-classed by the highly-advanced Evo IV, Takumi takes every necessary risk to prove his worth.

Plot
The race begins with Takumi leading and Seiji follows. Both cars display incredible cornering, shocking the spectators. Takumi recalls the encounter between the Emperor aces and their goal. He states nobody knows whom the true victor of the battle unless it's over. The real battle begins. Other Emperor members believes Seiji doesn't need to hold back on the Eight-Six and Simulation 3 is overkill for him to follow. Kyoichi in his mind there maybe potential in Seiji in his past races but he's not smart enough. The past races he's been were easy for him which stabilises his confidence but Simulation 3 is to tighten his mind of his and won't tolerate his disobedience nor defeat by the hands of the Eight-Six. The SpeedStars are in doubt of Takumi's race against Seiji as the Evo is a lighter car, turbo installation and has WRC rally car settings. Itsuki tells them to not be too pessimistic of him but they were trying to be true to the facts only for Itsuki to believe him. Seiji starts to lose patience with tailgating him. Meanwhile Natsuki wants to withdraw her secretive dating from the Mercedes driver. Later in the battle Seiji feels embarrassed and impatient with tailgating Takumi at slow speed. Kyoichi in his mind tells him don't let impatience get the better of him. The RedSuns (except Ryosuke) watch the race and Fumihiro asks Keisuke whom he thinks will win between the two. Kenta doubts that Takumi could beat the Lan Evo IV due to his car being inferior in comparison, only for Keisuke to remind him how he lost to him. Fumihiro tells Keisuke to cut him slack as it was good learning experience for him, but pays little regard of his opinion. Seiji impatiently overtakes Takumi and Keisuke states if you pass him too early then he will lose not knowing what surprises he will have to face in Takumi's potential.

Seiji says he races the way he should, instead of always following Simulation 3. Back at the traffic lights the Mercedes driver tries to persuade Natsuki to reconsider her choice. Back in the battle other Emperor members cheer Seiji for overtaking Takumi and believe victory is certain for them. Kyoichi is infuriated and Seiji doesn't realise that cornering is slower for him and requires him to corner at high speed in order to pull it off. He somewhat trusts him but still uneasy with his indecision. Seiji has full confidence in himself. However Takumi still is keeping up with him much to Seiji's surprise. He underestimated him and didn't think it would be impossible for him to keep up but is getting the real thrills in the race and prepares to unleash his car's potential. Seiji realised the mistake he made, he not only realised why he's slow tailgating Takumi but the main reason the Eight-Six is faster on the corners but he's slower. Takumi is amazed with Seiji's speed and is barely able to keep up with him. Yuichi and Masashi watch the battle near the five consecutive hairpins.

Seiji enters the corner shocking everyone with his cornering ability and the fact that Takumi is far behind. Takumi then results to using a gutter run. He enters the corner with such incredible speed much to everyone's shock especially Masashi who notices how similar his skill is to that of Bunta. However Masashi also fears Takumi could wreck his engine pushing it hard like that. Seiji can't keep up with the slow cornering but brushes off the Eight-Six's capabilities believing he can pull away anytime. However Takumi came back on track surprising Seiji. Understimating Takumi he loses patience and pushes his Evo IV pedal to the metal with little success to shake him off. Keisuke recalls the amount of opponents who loses patience and become impatient while racing Takumi the race would be finished for them. The Evo IV's tires are starting to lose pressure during it's struggle to pull away from Takumi. He still brushes off Simulation 3 and believes he made the right move to overtake him.

Airdates

 * Fuji TV: October 28, 1999

Characters (in order of appearance)

 * 1) Takumi Fujiwara
 * 2) Seiji Iwaki
 * 3) Kyoichi Sudo
 * 4) Koichiro Iketani
 * 5) Kenji
 * 6) Itsuki Takeuchi
 * 7) Natsuki Mogi
 * 8) Papa
 * 9) Keisuke Takahashi
 * 10) Kenta Nakamura
 * 11) Hiroshi Fumihiro
 * 12) Yuichi Tachibana
 * 13) Masashi Suzuki

Cars

 * 1) Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX (AE86)
 * 2) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV RS (CN9A)
 * 3) Mercedes-Benz W210
 * 4) Mazda efini RX-7 Type R (FD3S)
 * 5) Nissan Silvia Q's (S14)
 * 6) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III GSR (CE9A)

Music

 * 1) Blazin' Beat - M.o.v.e
 * 2) Mikado - Dave McLoud
 * 3) 100 - Dave Rodgers
 * 4) I Love You Like Are - Valentina
 * 5) キミがいる (Kimi Ga Iru) - Galla

Quotes
Takumi: Nobody can determine who the real winner is until it's over.

Seiji: Now I get it. I get why I was irritated back there but didn't realise it. I hate to say it, but it's true. I'm not as fast in the corners as him!