First Stage - Act 22

Fierce Uphill Battle!

Stage	Act
First Stage	22

October 24th 1998

TV Rating (%)	Audience Share (%)
3.6^[1]	36.0^[1]

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← First Stage - Act 21	First Stage - Act 23 →

Fierce Uphill Battle! (激闘!ヒルクライム, Gekitō! Hirukuraimu) is the twenty-second Act of Initial D First Stage.

This episode features the battle between Keisuke Takahashi and Takeshi Nakazato.

It also features the beginning of the battle between Takumi Fujiwara and Kenta Nakamura.

At Itsuki's behest, Takumi heads out to watch an uphill race between two of his former foes - Takeshi of the NightKids and the RedSuns’ Keisuke.

In order of appearance:

Time	Song	Album
0:04 - 1:34	BREAK IN2 THE NITE - m.o.v.e	Initial D Sound Files Vol 2
2:19 - 2:35	Wish - Ryuichi Katsumata	Initial D Sound Files Vol 1
7:01 - 8:24	Enigma - Ryuichi Katsumata	Initial D Sound Files Vol 1
10:13 - 11:16	Unreleased Sound File - "serious"	-
11:20 - 11:24	Eye-Catch 2 - Ryuichi Katsumata	Initial D Sound Files Vol 1
11:25 - 13:13	Crisis - Ryuichi Katsumata	Initial D Sound Files Vol 2
15:05 - 16:14	Love & Money - Za-Za	Super Eurobeat Presents Initial D ~D Selection 2~
18:15 - 19:49	Anxiety - Ryuichi Katsumata	Initial D Sound Files Vol 1
21:35 - 22:17	One Night In Arabia (B4 Za Beat Remix) - Go Go Girls	Super Eurobeat Presents Initial D ~D Selection 3~
22:21 - 24:25	Kiseki no Hana - Galla	Initial D Sound Files Vol 2
24:26 - 24:55	Around The World (Instrumental) - m.o.v.e	-

Main episodic credits only. For a complete list of credits, please see Initial D First Stage#Credits

Script: Nobuaki Kishima
Storyboard: Hiroshi Kotaki
Episode Director: Hiroshi Kotaki
Animation Director: Hatsuki Tsuji
Assistant Animation Director: Kiyotaka Iida
Director of Photography: Kenji Akazawa
CG: Kazunori Yahata (Nest), Masamune Shimada (Nest), Toshihiro Honda (Nest), Yuichi Goto (Nest)
Key Animation: Hatsuki Tsuji, Kaoru Yabana, Katsumi Hiroe, Ken'ichi Hara, Masaru Yoshioka

In the manga, Takumi gets out of his daydreams while witnessing the impromptu battle between Takeshi Nakazato and Keisuke Takahashi on Akina. This battle isn't featured in the anime, and so the scene was merged into the main battle here.

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Initial D First Stage Memorial DVD Dash 1. Kodansha, November 2, 2012. ISBN 978-4-06-358422-6. Page 28. Release includes a booklet which contains viewership ratings for all Acts of Initial D First Stage from April 18, 1998, to December 5, 1998. Retrieved April 25, 2025.