Second Stage - Act 8

Dangerous Impression (そのクルマ 凶暴につき, Sono kuruma kyōbō ni tsuki) is the eighth Act of Initial D: Second Stage.

This episode features the second half of the battle between Ryosuke Takahashi and Kyoichi Sudo.

Synopsis
Mt. Akagi’s battle continues, as Ryosuke plans to demonstrate his street-racing prowess against Kyoichi. Back in Akina, Takumi laments the loss of his Eight-Six and the trouble with Natsuki.

Plot
Kyoichi seemed to get the upperhand over Ryosuke. Takeshi points out the Evo pulled off that counterattack like nothing and Shingo states that car can do things they can never understand due to extra boost and traction that no FR can mimic no matter how well tuned they can get and the Evo can definitely win due to those superiorities. Takeshi believes Ryosuke is put in a tight spot and wonders if he can retake the lead. Shingo doubts he can but Takeshi still believes he can win since he is Gunma's only hope and pride. Kyoichi is no longer in fear of any issues of mountain races and believes he already knows Ryosuke's moves and has superior technique to beat him. In Akina lake, Itsuki asks Takumi what he thought the outcome of the battle would be while throwing stones in the water. Takumi says he doesn't know because he had been beaten before he could analyse what the Evo's capabilities were. Talking about it would just bother him about it even more. Itsuki apologises for asking but Takumi shows no resentment as talking about it is helping him try to get over it. Takumi suffered so much grief the entire day and didn't know what to do with himself. He recalls Sudo's words after it's blowout that he didn't count it as an official race and would only race for real if he's behind the wheel of a much more capable car. It at the same time damaged his pride and feels those words would haunt him. In the garage, the AE86's rebirth is beginning to surface as they got started in placing the new engine. Masashi explains it should be done before the following morning.

The battle continues in Akagi. Ryosuke is impressed with Kyoichi's improvement and how well he tuned his car. He noticed it corners faster than any car can ever dream of along with acceleration. Ryosuke is terrified watching its performance in which he felt the night before. Ryosuke then tapped his car on the guardrail much to everyone's shock. But Fumihiro explains it was part of his strategy to keep up with the Evo but also gave him an incredible timing. If the Evo kept at that pace then he would have shattered the timing. The spectators near Keisuke fears he would not only lose but beat the course record but Keisuke doubts it and his brother is alot stronger than he's ever been. He states he got enough info from the data during the time Sudo raced Takumi which would be more than enough to come up with a secret strategy. Ryosuke still in a pickle can't defeat Kyoichi in full acceleration and low gears. But he can still try to pass him in a high speed corner. However he found a better strategy, attack him on the right hand corner after seeing how awkward he is turning on that point of direction. Kyoichi noticed Ryosuke isn't even trying to attack him which made him wonder why. The passive driving he is doing is starting to undermine him and is trying to comprehend if Ryosuke has given up yet on the fight. But doubts that and believes he will attack. He felt the same situation Takumi felt being hunted down while being in the lead. He then doubts he has gotten over Ryosuke and his charisma. But as long as he wins he will no longer be concerned of it. Kyoichi still maintains confidence still having full traction in his tyres. Ryosuke feels the intensity and tries to take a chance in making a move. Iketani and Kenji are still in doubt that Ryosuke can win.

The Evo is still in the lead and Ryosuke is ready to make his move. Ryosuke points Kyoichi's weakness in right hand corners. He then takes outside and trapped Kyoichi similarly to what Takumi did to Seiji in Akina (but Takumi trapped Seiji from the inside while Ryosuke trapped Kyoichi from the outside). Kyoichi finds himself trapped rendering his 4WD traction and misfiring system useless. Kenji and Iketani cheer him on and Ryosuke reversed the situation. Kenta cheers on and Ryosuke won by a hair shattering the course record at the same time. The RedSuns too had saved Gunma. Seiji is shocked of Kyoichi's defeat. Keisuke points out the key to his victory to the curious spectators. He knows his brother well on bringing a big margin of error which prevents him from crashing during practice runs. The Evo was a formidable opponent from the start but he nonetheless took the race serious. A humiliated Kyoichi confronts Ryosuke of how he lost to him again. Ryosuke compliments him on nearly having as good as technique as him. But Kyoichi believes he is saying that to spite him and demands an explanation. Ryosuke is trying to tell him that it wasn't his technique that made him lose but his fear of turning right in which he was never bothered to conquer. Kyoichi is confused and Ryosuke explains clearly and it's because he has fear of oncoming traffic which is shown on the centre line that shows a dead zone in which Kyoichi is used to. And said he can't attack on the right corners without fear of head-on collisions which is common knowledge in which no one can give it 100%. But with enough circuit racing experience he can come as 100% as anyone can hope. That explains to him their differences. Kyoichi's circuit racing theories in street racing cannot help him win since racing in circuits won't have traffic and his home course in the Nikko slopes of Irohazaka is a one way road in which won't have any collisions in which he was both used to which is why he didn't fully practice racing. And during his race against Takumi in the practice run he shown too much of those weaknesses that resulted to defeat once again. Ryosuke drives out and Kyoichi realises it was all in his delusions of grandeur.

Excited Iketani tells Yuichi at work on how incredible seeing Ryosuke's driving style up close and Kenji states the Lan Evo threat diminishing is equivalent to restoring peace after war. Yuichi is envious on missing out on the action and then asks if Takumi and Itsuki were there spectating them in which Iketani denies. And would have assumed Takumi wouldn't show up after being traumatised by his defeat and they would have felt the same too. Iketani once again couldn't comprehend why Takumi reconsidered his choice in going to Akagi despite not wanting to at first. Itsuki too gets excited on hearing Ryosuke's victory but Takumi still didn't care. While Itsuki makes his way to class, Natsuki tries to greet Takumi but distanced himself away from her being in no mood to speak to her in which shocked her. A day later at the same restaurant where Natsuki's secret was discovered, Takumi gets notified by Iketani and Kenji that the repaired AE86 has been seen few days ago running Akina. But Takumi is still in doubt as he would have been told by his father if it did. Iketani asks if he knows where the car is but Takumi still doesn't know after the towing. Since then he wasn't told where the car was taken to. Itsuki is confused on how could he still deliver the tofu without his car but Takumi tells him he uses a pickup truck for the time being. Iketani begins to worry after the blowout it would have been scrapped but Takumi doubts that theory and tells him that his dad intends to put a new engine in which he doesn't want believing it will feel like he is driving a different car.

Later that night, Bunta test drives the newly resurrected AE86 in Akina with monstrous power and louder engine rev. Bunta gives feedback to Masashi and feels it improves each time he drives it. But one problem the suspension can't keep up due to the amount of power the engine has. Nonetheless he is very satisfied. Yuichi gets tempted to have a drive with Bunta someday to feel the power but warns him it's scarier than the last time he went on a joyride with him. He proves it due to scratches on his leg since he had to lean against it each time in order to keep upright. He used to think that the G Force in pass racing is too good for a bucket seat but now he's ready to put one in too. The pain in his legs will get worse unless they put in a bucket seat sooner or later and ends the test run for the night. Bunta still figures out how he will have the engine settings put in the meantime. For that, he will have to make Takumi feel inept in handling the new engine as part of his learning. Itsuki makes his way to take Takumi home and Takumi is impatient in graduation. Another day of school begins and a worried Natsuki tries to ask Takumi why he had been acting strange and very distant towards her. Takumi tells her to should stop worrying about him and nothing is wrong. Natsuki is in disbelief and is trying to help him by any means. Takumi blows his last straw on her and tells her to go back with her date with the Mercedes guy and walks off coldly disowning Natsuki. Natsuki is horrified and struggles to figure out how he knew about it.

Airdates

 * Fuji TV: December 2, 1999

Characters (in order of appearance)

 * 1) Takeshi Nakazato
 * 2) Shingo Shoji
 * 3) Ryosuke Takahashi
 * 4) Kyoichi Sudo
 * 5) Itsuki Takeuchi
 * 6) Takumi Fujiwara
 * 7) Bunta Fujiwara
 * 8) Masashi Suzuki
 * 9) Koichiro Iketani
 * 10) Kenji
 * 11) Kenta Nakamura
 * 12) Keisuke Takahashi
 * 13) Yuichi Tachibana

Cars

 * 1) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III GSR (CE9A)
 * 2) Mazda SAVANNA RX-7 ∞ III (FC3S)
 * 3) Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT-APEX (AE86)

Music

 * 1) Blazin' Beat - M.o.v.e
 * 2) Station To Station - Derreck Simons
 * 3) キミがいる (Kimi Ga Iru) - Galla

Notes & Trivia

 * The after-credits preview of the previous episode calls this episode "Dangerous Car".