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in: Volume 01, Volume 01 Chapters, Chapters, Manga

Chapter 002

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The Rotary Brothers: Fastest of All! (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, 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.

Stats[]

Release Dates[]

Japan[]

  • July 24th 1995 (Weekly Young Magazine, 1995 Volume 31)[1]
  • November 6th 1995 (Tankōbon, Volume 01)[3]
  • September 1st 2004 (Bunkoban, Initial D: Birth of a Legend Vol. 1)[4]
  • April 11th 2012 (Bunkoban, Initial D: Birth of a Runner Vol. 1 - Appearance! Akina's Downhill Specialist)[5]
  • February 16th 2018 (Chogapponban, Initial D Super Combined Edition 1)[6]
  • November 6th 2020 (Shinsōban Omnibus, Volume 01)[7]

Chinese[]

  • January 1st 1998 (Tankōbon, Volume 01, Sharp Point Press)

English[]

French[]

Italian[]

Polish[]

  • December 2022 (Shinsōban Omnibus, Volume 01, J. P. Fantastica)[13]

Characters (in order of appearance)[]

Cars (in order of appearance)[]

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

Localisation Differences[]

Tokyopop/Kodansha USA (2019) 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
  • Mazda ɛ̃fini is misspelled as "Mazda Enfini"

Kodansha USA (2024)[]

  • Iketani calls the Takahashi's RX-7s "two new RX-7s", despite the fact the FC3S is several years older than the FD.

Notes & Trivia[]

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://comicvine.gamespot.com/weekly-young-magazine-666-no-31-1995/4000-868169/
  2. ↑ List of differences:
    • Keisuke is the one to propose the event instead of Fumihiro.
    • Itsuki's reaction has been added.
    • A few shots of Keisuke intimidating the SpeedStars have been added.
    • More scene's of the practice session have been added.
    • Iketani's monologue has been moved to before the conversation between Keisuke and Ryosuke.
  3. ↑ https://kc.kodansha.co.jp/product?item=0000006854
  4. ↑ https://kc.kodansha.co.jp/product?item=0000009712
  5. ↑ https://kc.kodansha.co.jp/product?item=0000015154
  6. ↑ https://kc.kodansha.co.jp/product?item=0000116212
  7. ↑ https://kc.kodansha.co.jp/product?item=0000347521
  8. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20090825165601/http://www.tokyopop.com/product/1040/InitialD/1
  9. ↑ https://kodansha.us/product/initial-d-1/
  10. ↑ https://kodansha.us/product/initial-d-omnibus-1/
  11. ↑ https://www.amazon.fr/dp/2849655678
  12. ↑ https://www.amazon.it/dp/8834918940
  13. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/share/p/gfTAjS5yjf9Hnsii
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