Ropeway in Mt. Haruna

Like someone mentioned, Shigeno has been using real life locations since First Stage. When First Stage was released, it actually promoted quite a bit of tourism for Haruna. For example, in First Stage Episode 14, Takumi feels... troubled and annoyed before going up against Shingo's EG6. So he called up Natsuki and they met at the Ropeway in Haruna (榛名山 ロープウエイ), which is a real tourist attraction. You can ride the tram all the way up to the top of Mount Haruna. In fact, Itsuki took Saori to the top of Mt. Haruna in Episode 13 for their first date. The view is truly breathtaking. Check the info below and save them for the next time when you visit Japan! It's a must-go place. (smile)

| Additional Photos |
» http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...gen_Station.jpg
» http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm...cho_Station.jpg

| Address |
» Address: ８４５-１ Harunakomachi, Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture 370-3348, Japan
» Phone:+81 27-374-9238

| Image Sources |
» ＦＵＮＫＹ★ＤＯＧのＳＯＵＬ ＦＯＯＤＳ Ⅲ | http://blog.livedoor.jp/funky_dog3/archives/51714157.html
» Cinema Kingdom Blog榛名の紅葉（前編）| http://gank2o.blog5.fc2.com/blog-entry-1065.html
» 榛名山ロープウェイ - Wikipedia | http://goo.gl/jdgR5


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How much do you love your car?

How much do you love your car? Do you love it enough to give it a name? Does it pain you on an emotional level when your car gets damaged? Takumi drove the 86 day in and day out for five years. It's like a brother to him.... That's why he felt terrible when he realize what he has done to the lovely 86 in the Shingo duct-tape death match.

I really do love moments like this from early on in the series. It sets the mood so well that even for those of who had no interest in cars before watching the show, had started taking an interests in cars. Cars are more than just tools. That's the message the author tried to convey in the early parts of Initial D.


(Source image: Initial D First Stage ACT.15「拓海·怒涛の激走!」"Takumi's Fury!")


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Loose Ends in Initial D

This scene where they pinch each other to find out if they are dreaming always make me laugh. (Poor Takumi..) It's little things like this that got me hooked onto Initial D. Many people complain that Fifth Stage is just not... like before. I guess it'll never be like "before" simply because if they make all the stages the same like First Stage, then people will complain about it getting repetitive and boring. You can never make everyone happy. You either like it or you don't, no one is forcing you to like it, it's as simple as that.

Having said that, I do notice that most of the complaints are made from old school Initial D fans, which is understandable. If you have been there from day one, you'll realize how much the series has changed. Some people just can't accept such change and would rather they end it altogether. I think that's quite selfish to think that way. But who am I to judge others?

Personally, I wish the series would never end, but that's unrealistic. When it ends, I hope the author ties up all the loose ends. I am sure a lot of us are waiting for an epic conclusion on the father (Bunta) vs son (Takumi) battle. What loose ends do you want to see a conclusion on? Let's share your thoughts.


(Source images: Initial D First Stage ACT.16「碓氷峠のエンジェル」"The Angel of Usui")


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Project D's Expedition (Kanagawa)

To put some perspective on Project D's expedition in Kanagawa Prefecture, we created this map to help you visualize the locations of each "line of defense." Kanagawa is a prefecture located in the southern Kanto... region of Japan. The capital is Yokohama and it is part of the Greater Tokyo Area. As of 2010, the population in Kanagawa prefecture is 9.03 million, or about one fifth of the total population of Kanto region.

Geographically, Kanagawa is a relatively small prefecture located at the southeastern corner of the Kanto Plain, wedged between Tokyo on the north, the foothills of Mount Fuji on the northwest, and the Sagami Bay and Tokyo Bay on the south and east. The eastern side of the prefecture is relatively flat and heavily urbanized, including the large port cities of Yokohama and Kawasaki.

As we learned in Fifth Stage so far, there are four lines of defense set up by Team Sidewinder with it being the last line of defense. We are currently waiting for Episode 7 & 8, which will cover the third line of defense (Team Spiral) The race will take place in 七曲り (Nanamagari Pass) in Hakone. This pass has a lot of high speed sections and relatively less winding. How will Project D take on Team Spiral?! Find out next week!

| Previous Expedition Map |
» http://facebook.com/go2id/photos/554418131240523

| Sources |
» http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanagawa_Prefecture
» http://www.tsuyama.net/zakki/031216.html


'https://idforums.net/images/projectdexpeditionkanagawa.jpg'

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Takumi's Pride

Everyone has their own pride. Takumi is no exception. Takumi prides himself in cornering faster than more powerful cars with his 86. Corners are his best friend. So it's understandable for him to be confused when the... opponent can corner even faster than he does with a less powerful car. He stubbornly tried to counterattack the Cappuccino in corners but almost ended up crashing. That was a battle with his own ego and pride. It's hard to see past that. That's why Ryousuke said the following;

"Don't insist on a pretty victory. Having such self-centered fixations will only limit oneself. And being limited leads to the end of growth. If you feel resistance to pulling ahead on the straightaway, that is arrogance and naive! How one wins does not require style! Go, Fujiwara!"

Truth be told, winning need not to be aesthetic. It was a very important lesson for Takumi. It is too bad that someone like Minagawa (Supra driver from Fifth Stage ACT.6) could not let go of his pride as a professional driver, which ultimately became his downfall. Ryousuke really is a great mentor! 'html/emoticons/smile.gif'

(Source images: Initial D Fourth Stage ACT.12「葛藤のストレート」"Straightaway of Struggles")


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Minagawa's Pride

---------- WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILER, NAVIGATE AWAY NOW IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN FIFTH STAGE EP.6 ----------


There is an interesting discussion about the match between Minagawa (Supra RZ) and Keisuke (FD3S).... Minagawa lost mainly due to his pride. He followed the rule and didn't want to break his own principles in order for a cheap win. So Keisuke only won because Minagawa chose to chase. If Minagawa were to lead in front and go for an all-out sprint, there is no way Keisuke could keep up. Keisuke even said he felt the immense pressure from behind even when he was running at his max speed.

We know Takumi is always lucky with his win, but this time I think Keisuke also got lucky. Like Kubo (Team Sidewinder's Adviser) said, the placement of the two cars played a crucial role in deciding the outcome of the battle. This is perhaps a way for Shigeno to tip his hat off to professional drivers. After all, any win against professional drivers are always due to luck. Remember that match between Takumi and Todo School's Tomoyuki (EK9) and how Takumi barely won?

Bottom line, luck plays a huge role in the world of street racing. It shouldn't be viewed as a cop-out on the author's part since it does happen like that in real life. There wouldn't be a story if it wasn't for all these "lucky" events.


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Fifth Stage NON-STOP D SELECTION Pre-Order

Latest Initial D album SUPER EUROBEAT presents Initial D Fifth Stage NON-STOP D SELECTION is slated to be released on March 8th, 2013 for ￥3,150 ($34.73 USD) The album contains 23 remixed Eurobeat tracks AND 10... Eurobeat music video on the bonus DVD that came with it. Here's the track list:

| Track Listing |
01. ★ GAS GAS GAS / MANUEL
02. ★ FULL METAL CARS / DANIEL
03. ★ RUNAWAY / LEO RIVER
04. BREAKIN' OUT / ACE
05. ★ ROCKIN HARDCORE / FASTWAY
06. UP & DANCE,UP & GO / LOU MASTER
07. 7 LAPS TO GO / POWERFUL T.
08. BYE BYE GIRL / VIRGINELLE
09. RED HOT PLANET / MEGA NRG MAN
10. ★ I CAN'T STOP LOVING YOU / DREAM FIGHTERS
11. I WANT TO FEEL / DAVE RODGERS
12. ON YOUR WINGS / RICH HARD
13. DANCE EUROPE EXPRESS / KING&QUEEN
14. NON SENSE SENSATION / PAUL HARRIS
15. ★ CRAZY ON EMOTION / ACE
16. ★ WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN / KEN BLAST
17. EYES OF SKY / VIVI
18. I WON'T FALL APART / JAGER
19. SPEEDY RUNNER / KING&QUEEN
20. HOOLIGANS / P STONE
21. COME ON BABY / FASWAY
22. ★ LIMOUSINE / MANUEL
23. DDD INITIAL D / MEGA NRG MAN

★ TRACKS USED SO FAR (FIFTH STAGE ACT.1 - 6)

| Official Discussion Thread |
» https://idforums.net/index.php?showtopic=45...dpost&p=1262732

| Additional Comment |
If you pre-order now to get the First Press Edition, you will get a "special jacket" for the CD. As of this posting, there is only six (6) First Press Edition left on cdjapan.

| Pre-Order |
» http://cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=AVCA-62176 (Ships to USA and other countries worldwide.)
» http://amazon.co.jp/dp/B00AHA55L2 (Ships to Japan only.)


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We miss you, Yuuichi!

Initial D Fifth Stage is now into its sixth episode, and the gas station owner is still nowhere to be seen. So what happened to our loving boss Yuuichi?! He appears every so often in the manga with Iketani, Kenji and Itsuki... whenever they talk about Takumi and Project D's expedition.

Why did the anime cut him out? Yuuichi's voice actor, 西村 知道 (Tomomichi Nishimura), was born in 1946. Did something happened to the now-66-year-old voice actor? According to his IMDB filmography, he is actively voice acting for Naruto: Shippûden. In fact, the last episode he was in aired on January 17, 2013. So this is very recent. At least we know he's physically fine.

It seems to me this is another way for the anime production team to cut cost. In the manga, he has a few lines every so often. Perhaps the production company thinks it's okay to cut out a support character like that. For us die hard fans, it just doesn't sit well. Hopefully they'll bring him back later on in the series.

| Sources |
» Tomomichi Nishimura - Filmography by TV series | http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0632770/filmoseries
» Tomomichi Nishimura - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomomichi_Nishimura


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Attention to details: Golfing

Originally someone brought this up on the forums. For some reasons, Mika's hand look weird when she's holding the golf club in Fifth Stage Episode 6. Could it be a glitch on the anime production team's... part?

We did some research on it and found out that is actually the correct way to hold a golf club. The way Mika hold the golf club is called Interlock Grip. In this type of golf grip, the pinkie of the right hand is intertwined with the index finger of the left hand. The Interlock Grip keeps the hands connected during the swing. The fact that this grip requires less hand and less strength than the overlapping grip makes it ideal for women golfers and other golfers with small hands or short fingers.

As you can see, this is the definition of attention to details and another perfect example of how Initial D sticks to realism through other means than just using physical locations. Amid all the negative commentary about how Fifth Stage is being rushed into production, this should tell you the anime production team did do some research on golfing. As to why the author decided to have a golfer in Initial D, that's up to everyone's guess. The author probably likes to play golf, we may never know since he keeps an extremely low profile.

| Source |
» How Do You Grip Your Clubs? : GolfComplex.com | http://golfcomplex.com/?p=106

(Source Images: Initial D Fifth Stage Episode 6)


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IDW Presents Initial D Reunion Meet

We are three days away from the Initial D Reunion Meet. After numerous considerations, we've picked Lafayette Reservoir as the location for this meet.... As of this posting, there are 266 people going to the event and the number is increasing every day. If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, we would love to see you there Saturday morning. Just be sure to be on time and show up by 9:30am or you won't be able to park with the group!

For those of you that can't make it to the meet, you can follow the event here: http://facebook.com/events/497128356985755and there will be a lot of pictures posted on the day of the meet. So far, we've got Takumi's AE86, Keisuke's FD (Fourth Stage), Bunta's Impreza and possibly Shingo's EG6 and many more.

Special thanks to East Bay Regional Park District for allowing us to hold the meet there. Thank you!

Pictures of the Reunion Meet (2013.1.26)

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Here's the video taken by Flora On Photo and Film:
[doHTML]<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/58333594" width="398" height="224" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe>[/doHTML]


Some flyers for the event:

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