Chapter 249

Chapter 249
Kodansha USA
Kanji	消えるライン
Romaji	Kieru Rain
English	The Disappearing Line
French	La Trajectoire Invisible
Release Date	January 15th 2001
Volume	21
Length	16 pages
Anime Episodes	Fourth Stage - Act 6
Battle	Takumi Fujiwara vs Tomoyuki Tachi
Chapter Guide
Previous Chapter	Chapter 248 Wastegate (Release order)
Next Chapter	Chapter 250

The Disappearing Line (消えるライン, Kieru Rain, "Disappearing Line") is the two hundred and forty-ninth chapter of Initial D.

Plot

Tomoyuki is able to overtake, leaving both Takumi and the spectators shocked. Seiji doesn't understand how Takumi could be so far off the line, but Kyoichi explains that Tomoyuki had made use of the disappearing line, a trick where a driver uses their opponents blind spot to cut across their line. He doesn't think Takumi has much of a chance of retaking the lead. He compares the hairpins to a racing oval, and imagines that Tomoyuki must feel at home. Takumi is amazed by how fast he is.

Keisuke tells Ryosuke that he had thought about why he wasn't chosen to race while in his car, and believes it was because he was too focused on Tomoyuki being a professional, and not the race itself. Ryosuke admits that that was one reason, but says that it wasnt the main reason. Ryosuke explains that when he chose Project D's aces, he chose Takumi and Keisuke for their different approaches to racing; Keisuke as a traditionalist, someone who is familiar with racing on circuits, and Takumi as a street racer, who has a natural talent for racing on mountain passes. In choosing Takumi to race, he had hoped that Takumi's unorthodox racing style would throw Tomoyuki, an orthodox racer, off of his game. Ryosuke apologises for not telling them all sooner, but explains that the teams confusion helped further confuse the Todo School.

Tomoyuki thinks he might break the course record, and apologises to Takumi for having to beat him.

Stats

Release Dates

Japan

• January 15th 2001 (Weekly Young Magazine, 2001 Volume 4)
• May 1st 2001 (Tankōbon, Volume 21)

Chinese

• June 27th 2001 (Tankōbon, Volume 21, Sharp Point Press)

English

• February 7th 2006 (Tankōbon, Volume 21, Tokyopop)
• April 17th 2019 (Digital re-release, Volume 21, Kodansha USA)

French

• February 13th 2013 (Tankōbon, Volume 21, Kazé)

Characters (in order of appearance)

• Takumi Fujiwara
• Seiji Iwaki
• Kyoichi Sudo
• Keisuke Takahashi
• Ryosuke Takahashi
• Fumihiro
• Shuichi Matsumoto
• Tomoyuki Tachi

Cars (in order of appearance)

• Toyota Sprinter Trueno 3door GT-APEX (AE86)
• Honda Civic Type R (EK9)