Fifth Stage - Act 9

Grim Reaper (死神, Shinigami) is the ninth Act of Initial D Fifth Stage.

This episode features the first part of the battle between Ryosuke Takahashi and Rin Hojo.

Synopsis
The destined battle between Ryosuke and Rin 'Grim Reaper' Hojo has begun, over a girl named Kaori. As the race progresses on, the story of Ryosuke, Hojo and Kaori is revealed. And as Ikeda of Spiral Zero spectates the race from behind, it's obvious that this race of fate has quickly risen well beyond dangerous.

Plot
Continuing from the previous episode, Rin Hojo is seen at the foggy parking lot of the Daikanzan Observation Deck on Hakone with his car, where he contemplates his thoughts about Kaori and the events which will proceed shortly soon, when Ryosuke arrives in his newly upgraded FC3S RX-7, all prepared for his fate with Rin Hojo. Rin and Ryosuke greets each other formally. Back at Akagi, Fumihiro meets up with Keisuke and Kenta where he informs them about not being able to contact Ryosuke and Matsumoto, who supposedly helped in modifying Ryosuke's FC. Upon hearing this Keisuke decides to ignore whatever Ryosuke is planning because he is sure that whatever his brother does, has a meaning behind it, even including going solo behind them. He says to have faith in Ryosuke, and they should be focusing on practicing for their final showdown at Kanagawa with the Sidewinders. Back at the Daikan Observatory, as Ryosuke was preparing for race with Rin Hojo, Matsumoto vows to Ryosuke that he will be waiting for him to return here no matter what happens and until then he won't return back. Ryosuke assures to Matsumoto on his return, and thus he departed, driving off to Hakone Turnpike down the course, with Rin following him closely. Meanwhile at the gas station in Gunma, Kenji informs Itsuki and Iketani about a white FC similar to Ryosuke's being spotted at Akagi. He suggests Ryosuke either may be making a comeback to street racing, or it could be a similar case of imposters as what happened with Project D. However Iketani states since it was spotted at Akagi, the homeground of Ryosuke, an imposter would be caught immediately. Itsuki then makes a call to Takumi to get more information about this. Takumi who was on a date with Mika then, tells Itsuki he didn't know much. After the call, Mika tells Takumi they should thank the imposters as it was only due to their actions they met.

Meanwhile at the top of Hakone, Ryosuke's FC followed by Rin's R32 exits into the touge, starting off their death battle. Matsumoto worries about Ryosuke as he enters into a flashback of both of them in the FC heading towards Hakone through the Tōmei Expressway. Ryosuke who was driving suddenly tells Matsumoto about his love affair with a senior girl from his medical college days. Her contradicting type of behavior made him feel attracted to her by a lot. He asks Matsumoto if he can tell his story to him. Back onto the race, Rin notes both cars are equally potent in cornering, but Ryosuke's lighter FC is better at braking. it doesn't matter to Rin though, as he aims to slam into Ryosuke if he doesn't get away. If Ryosuke manages to escape this single round, he wins. but Rin doesn't plan on making it easy. At the same time Ryosuke enters a flashback of him and Kaori at lake Akagi. Kaori asks Ryosuke if he really wanted to be a doctor as his parents chose him to be. She asks what actually makes him happy, and what was his dreams. The flashback ends as both cars speeds past a point where Junichi Sakamoto who was secretly waiting for those two cars to pass him, contacts Ryuji Ikeda. Ikeda who was waiting ahead at a layby gets the info about the Shinigami R32 chasing an unknown white car. He then drives off steadily, waiting for the two cars approaching to pass him. Soon the FC and R32 passes Ikeda's Z33, to which Ikeda speeds up to keep up with them as he vows to finally take revenge for his earlier inident with the Shinigami. As now the three cars races on, Ikeda declares Team Spiral to be the home-guard of Hakone and they won't tolerate the Shinigami's recklessness anymore. He then wonders who the driver of the white FC ahead could be, but soon he makes an assumption of the only person it can be. Ryosuke then enters another flashback of him and Kaori, this time at a bar later on where she reveals to him that her family has chosen a fiancé for her and will have to marry in a few years. Ryosuke initially doesn't believe her as Kaori was not the type to firmly follow her parent's choices, but upon seeing Kaori cry and telling him to give up on her, Ryosuke firmly assures that he will not give up and will protect her no matter what. The flashback then ends with the ongoing race in which Rin notes that Ryosuke is not being as sharp on cornering. He then decided to 'wake' him up by suddenly ramming the FC from behind at a high-speed cornering section, sending the FC fish tailing. An anxious Ikeda notes that rear wheel drive cars tends to lose control when being pushed at such an angle. Ryosuke however calmly composes himself to countersteer and regain control just in time. Ryosuke notes the impressive tuning works by Matsumoto on his car and is certain of his control of the car. Rin then prepares to attack Ryosuke for the second time. As they approach another high-speed corner, Ikeda realizes what is about to come. However as Rin accelerated to ram the FC in front, Ryosuke almost instinctively accelerated, thwarting the shunt attempt. Both Rin and Ryuji was surprised by such reflex. Ryuji was now sure the driver of the FC is none other than the legend of northern Kanto, and wonders what made him to do a comeback. Rin was impressed by Ryosuke's quick adaptability, and as he was able to sense Kaori's 'presence' around, he dedicates this battle to her, not caring if he will die. Soon Rin enters into his own flashback where Kaori tells him about rejecting his marriage proposal. Rin, being shocked to hear such an abrupt statement from her asks desperately why the sudden decision as he expresses his feelings for her, while Kaori just cries standing. Rin slowly fades back to reality as his aura fills around him and his car. Soon Ryosuke and Rin gets serious and as both of them starts to race more fiercely, with Ikeda noting the situation has escalated much further, such that even he is having a hard time keeping up with them. He also realizes that unlike his assumptions, Ryosuke was not just the logical type. His adaptability and super skills made him go beyond the levels on a course where even locals don't push themselves this much. Ryosuke enters another flashback with Kaori at the lake where she tells him how matured he is and wishes she could be with him always. It soon fades away into the reality Ryosuke and Rin are facing currently, the high speed race-death battle where their life is at stake. The three cars keep racing ahead into the night.

Airdates

 * Animax: March 8, 2013

Characters (in order of appearance)

 * 1) Rin Hojo
 * 2) Ryosuke Takahashi
 * 3) Keisuke Takahashi
 * 4) Kenta Nakamura
 * 5) Fumihiro
 * 6) Shuichi Matsumoto
 * 7) Itsuki Takeuchi
 * 8) Koichiro Iketani
 * 9) Kenji
 * 10) Takumi Fujiwara
 * 11) Mika Uehara
 * 12) Kaori (Flashback)
 * 13) Junichi Sakamoto
 * 14) Ryuji Ikeda

Cars

 * 1) Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II (BNR32)
 * 2) Mazda SAVANNA RX-7 ∞ III (FC3S)
 * 3) Nissan Fairlady Z Version S (Z33)

Music

 * 1) Raise Up - M.o.v.e
 * 2) The Race Of The Night - Dave Rodgers
 * 3) 夕愁想花 - M.o.v.e

Quotes
Keisuke: My brother must have a significant reason for doing this...including going solo behind our back. He's always been been like this. You know that, don't you? He always makes the right choice. He'll come back and feign ignorance as if nothing happened. Just have faith in him and wait. There's no point in worrying. Let's just act like we normally do. What we should be doing now is preparing for the final battle. That's what my brother would say if he were here. There's no need to worry about a remote possibility. He's Japan's most ingenious street racer. Don't forget that.

Matsumoto: Ryosuke...I'll be waiting here, so please pick me up when you're done. I plan to return to Gunma in your car's passenger seat. I haven't thought about any other way. Even if it takes several days, I'll be waiting... Even if it rains, to the point where I get soaked... In other words, if you don't return, I'll die here.

Kaori: What makes you happy? What makes you truly happy? Don't you have a dream? What is your dream, Ryosuke?

Ryuji Ikeda: Besides, that Takahashi Ryosuke... I heard he was the logical type, but that's not true. Only a genius could pull off this kind of driving. It's almost a miracle for a non-local to maintain this high pace. This course is so unique that even the locals don't push themselves to the limit...because you only have one life.

Ryuji Ikeda: His handling of the rotary engine is almost an art. So, even being known as the logical type, it's because he has both the sense of a genius and an all-too-clever mind? That's the true nature of Takahashi Ryosuke.

Differences from the Manga

 * The scenes with SpeedStars and Takumi and Mika are anime-only addons.

Notes & Trivia

 * It is one of the six episodes to lack Takumi Fujiwara's Toyota AE86.