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Sakai (酒井, Sakai), nicknamed Smiley Sakai (スマイリー 酒井, Sumairī Sakai), is a student of the Todo School and one of Daiki's friends and drives an Integra Type R DC2, equipped with an aftermarket turbocharger. Sakai races against Keisuke Takahashi of Project D in a hillclimb battle.

He uses two techniques to race, first, using high speeds to enter a corner to get the other person to do the same, then correcting his speed during the turn. The other trick is to feint brake his opponent, forcing them to back off while he speeds away. His face tenses up when he is racing to make him look like he is smiling, hence his nickname, Smiley Sakai.

Judging by the way that Daiki refers to him with the honorific san (Sakai-san), it can be inferred that Smiley is a senior student of the Todo School, and probably the reason why he knows much of Todo's experiences in racing, especially the school's rivalry with Purple Shadow and their top racers.

History[]

Project D - Tochigi[]

Smiley was one of the first members in the Todo School to be notified by Project D's expedition and plan to visit their home course after their victory against Seven Star Leaf. Later on, Smiley, Daiki and several Todo Alumni's discuss and comment about Project D and who will race against them. A few Todo School Alumni's decide to take Project D on but Smiley refuses as he thinks it would be unfair for both teams and instead thinks that the current students such as himself and Daiki should be the one to take on Project D. Later on the day Project D battles against the Todo School, Daiki loses his race against Takumi and informs Smiley that not only Project D was fast, but also smart. Smiley starts his race against Keisuke Takahashi in a lead position, so that he could trick Keisuke into a feint brake. However, this trick would be unsuccessful as Keisuke was able to recover after nearly crashing into a corner and also because Keisuke was at faster pace than he was earlier due to what Smiley had performed on him. Afterwards, Keisuke seizes the opportunity to nudge and overtake Sakai, ending the battle. Later on, after the battle, Smiley would apologize to a Todo School alumni for the loss which he would accept as they were unaware of what Project D was capable of.

Later on, after Project D wins against Todo, the Todo School summon their recent graduate Tomoyuki Tachi, to defeat Project D in a rematch. Afterwards, Smiley, Daiki and other members of the Todo School spectates Tomoyuki's battle against Takumi Fujiwara at Happogahara.

Saitama and Ibaraki[]

Later on, when Project D was about to face off Purple Shadow at Ibaraki, Todo asks both Daiki and Smiley to spectate Project D's battle there so that they can have a learning experience from it

Kanagawa Expedition[]

Much later on, him along with Daiki and Smiley are seen in Kanagawa, spectating Project D's final battle against the Sidewinder.

Trivia[]

  • "Smiley" is not his actual first name, rather it is a nickname given to him for his somewhat-relaxed, tense nature when racing. Because of this, his first name is unknown.

Gallery[]

Manga[]

Tochigi Arc[]

Saitama and Ibaraki Arc[]

Kanagawa Expedition Arc[]

Anime[]

Fourth Stage[]

Battle Stage 2[]

Final Stage[]

Games[]

Appearances[]

Manga[]


Anime[]

Games[]

Navigation[]

Initial D Characters
Project D Takumi FujiwaraKeisuke TakahashiRyosuke Takahashi
Akina SpeedStars Koichiro IketaniKenjiItsuki Takeuchi
Akagi RedSuns Kenta NakamuraKeisuke TakahashiRyosuke Takahashi
Myogi NightKids MiyaharaTakeshi NakazatoShingo Shoji
Impact Blue Mako SatoSayuki
Emperor Seiji IwakiRen NogamiSatakeKyoichi Sudo
Seven Star Leaf Atsuro KawaiShinichiToru Suetsugu
The Todo School Daiki NinomiyaSmiley SakaiTomoyuki TachiTodo
Northern Saitama Alliance Nobuhiko AkiyamaWataru AkiyamaKyoko IwaseSakamoto
Tsuchisaka Lan Evo Team/
Men in Evos
Aikawa/Man in Lan Evo V/Kuro WaruIchijo/Man in Lan Evo VI/Shiro Waru
Purple Shadow Kozo HoshinoDr. Toshiya Joshima
Team 246 Satoshi OmiyaKobayakawa
R.T. Katagiri S.V. Kai KogashiwaHideo Minagawa
Team Spiral Ryuji IkedaJunichi SakamotoHiroya Okuyama
Sidewinder Go HojoRin HojoShinji Inui
Other Characters Kazumi AkiyamaKazumi's Ex-BoyfriendThe Altezza GuysFake Project DFormer Bosozoku LeaderBunta FujiwaraFumihiroMrs. IketaniItsuki's ParentsMrs. InuiKaoriKaori's FatherKen KogashiwaEiji KuboKyoko's FriendShuichi MatsumotoMikiNatsuki MogiNaoOld ManPapaShiraishiMasashi SuzukiYuichi TachibanaTomiguchiTomokoTsugumiTsukamotoTwo Guys From TokyoMika Uehara
Non-Manga MamoruKatsuragi MikaSaoriShigeruEikichi Shimamura
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