Ryousuke's Dream

Remember this scene from First Stage? Before the big race between Ryousuke and Takumi, Ryousuke said the following: "There are two people who will surpass me. One of them will be you, Keisuke. And the other person..."... Even though he said he's not planning to lose there, he was prepared for it. It's not a matter of losing spirit. It's more than that. Many opponents in Initial D lost because they treat victory as the only thing that matters, forgetting the actual meaning of racing.

Racing should be fun and competitive. It shouldn't be a result-oriented sports. It should be about continuously pushing one's limit and improve more and more in the process of it. Ryousuke already see past the superficial meaning and prepare to give it his best. I believe he would still recruit Takumi as part of Project D even if Takumi lost to him. Ryousuke is looking for potential and he believes Takumi's potential is limitless. Of course, he thinks Keisuke will be much faster. In a sense, that's where the idea of Double Ace starts to develop. And that ultimately tie back to the meaning of Initial D --- Dream, as Ryousuke revealed to us in Fifth Stage Episode 6 what racing mean to him.

(Source Images: Initial D First Stage Episode 24「赤城の白い彗星!」"Akagi's White Comet!")


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Best moves. ～and move goes on～

m.o.v.e announced today their last album's release date and the track list. The last album is called「Best moves. ～and move goes on～」There will be two versions of this album. The regular version... and the deluxe version. They will both be on sale on February 27th, 2013.

The regular version is only ￥2,480 ($27.75) and it contains two CDs. The deluxe version contains three CDs and one DVD for ￥4,480 ($50.00). The extra CD in the deluxe version is a new Initial D Hyper Remix. The DVD contains video footage of m.o.v.e's 15 years of existence from their debut in 1997 to their disband in March 2013. The DVD also contains the PV of "Raise Up" and "夕愁想花" Which brings us to the track listing of this last album.

| Track Listing |
CD1. EXTREME
01. Raise Up
02. Cross the X
03. Gamble Rumble (Stage 7 Version)
04. Ignite The Fire

CD2. LUXURY
Detailed Track List Not Available Yet (Final track list is being voted by the fans in Japan) CD2 will include the full length of the Fifth Stage ED2「夕愁想花」

| Commentary |
Whoa, Fifth Stage ED2?? Yes, there is a second ending theme in Fifth Stage. We are very happy to hear that news. If Initial D were to end, it has to end with a song from m.o.v.e, there is no other way for it. There is no preview for this new ending theme yet. But let's talk about the meaning of the song title. m.o.v.e rarely uses kanji for their track titles. So it was a very big surprise when we learn that the title of the very last song from m.o.v.e will be in all kanji.

The title is a four-character idiom and it contains so many meanings I am not trying to attempt to translate it to English. But the literal meaning of「夕愁想花」is "melancholy evening thinking of flower." 夕 means evening but in this case it probably means the end of the day; 愁 means anxiety, worries and depressed; 想花 means thinking of flowers. Putting them all together and we have "It is sad that it is near the end of the day, it makes me reminiscing about the blooming flowers in the daytime." So m.o.v.e is going away, they are reminded of the good times and achievement they had in the past 15 years. It is a very fitting title as an ending theme.

| Official Discussion Thread |
» https://idforums.net/index.php?showtopic=18591

| Pre-Order Links |
- Regular Edition -
» http://cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=AVCT-10189 (Ships to USA and other countries worldwide.)
» http://amazon.co.jp/dp/B009K6GJ14 (Ships to Japan only.)

- Deluxe Edition -
» http://cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=AVCT-10186 (Ships to USA and other countries worldwide.)
» http://amazon.co.jp/dp/B009K6GJ1E (Ships to Japan only.)


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Fifth Stage ACT.6 Anime vs Real Life

We hope everyone had a chance to watch Fifth Stage Episode 6. As promised, here is another comparison between anime and real life. You will be seeing this structure more and more in the upcoming episodes. It's the TOYO TIRES... Viewing Lounge at the entrance of 椿ライン – (Tsubaki Line) Some of you might have seen it from the Arcade Stage 6 AA intro. It was also featured briefly in Episode 4 when Kai was talking to Minagawa.

| Sources |
» Google マップ - 地図検索 | http://goo.gl/maps/xEQda
» 徒然なるままに・・・頭文字P | http://hamauna317d.blog46.fc2.com/blog-category-5.html
» 箱根・ＴＯＹＯターンパイクの風景 | http://jef-minato.com/dfuukei.2012hakone.tanpaiku..01.htm


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Weekly Young Magazine Scandal (NSFW)

When it comes to Initial D, we try to cover any news related to it. So when we learned ヤングマガジン (Young Magazine), a magazine that publishes Initial D manga on a weekly basis, was... forced to stop publication due to an allegedly "outrageous and controversial" photo, we had to investigate the details.

講談社 (Kodansha), the largest Japanese publisher, was forced to stop publication on Young Magazine due to allegedly including material that resembles child pornography in its latest issue that was supposed to be on sale on January 12th, 2013. (Coinciding with the broadcast date of Episode 5 & 6, by the way.) The issue includes the latest chapter from Initial D manga Vol.46, featuring Takumi vs Shinji. The incident caused the magazine to postpone the release date to the 21st of this month.

So what is this controversial photo? Due to the sensitive nature of some of viewers being minors, we will not post it directly on here. See below for the link to the image in question. The photo depicts the 21-year-old AKB48 member 河西智美 (Tomomi Kasai) topless with her breasts being covered by a small pair of hands seemingly from a boy around the age of 6 to 7.

Young Magazine is known to use photos of young girls as their magazine cover. It's not hard to guess that their target readership is all men, especially young men. However, this time they have simply went "over the line" as some has commented. And because of this, there will not be any new Initial D manga chapter for 10 days.

Here's the photo in question: (No nudity, but strongly NSFW)

SPOILER

'http://i.minus.com/iKRobAkRRqf2f.jpg' 'http://up.null-x.me/poverty/img/poverty37654.jpg'

This was the proposed cover of the magazine.

SPOILER

'http://i.minus.com/i5IMTNhNKc8K6.jpg'

| News Source |
» http://ameblo.jp/johaljp/entry-11447402207.html
» http://matome.naver.jp/odai/21358050279738...805355974296903


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Fifth Stage ACT.5 Anime vs Real Life

While waiting for the English subs of Fifth Stage Episode 5 & 6, let's do a quick comparison for Episode 5 between the scenes in anime and real life. We'll do Episode 6 next.

Editor's Note: We have... reliable source that the *real* 720p HD raws for ACT.5 & 6 are coming out in a few days. Do not believe the ones floating around the net now, they are upscaled from the 360p LQ raws, not true 720p. (facepalm)

(Photo credit: 頭文字D雑考 » 長尾峠 – Nagao Toge | http://echizenya.biz/initiald/?page_id=5)


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The cabin in Fifth Stage ACT.4

The cabin shown in Fifth Stage Episode 4 exists in real life. It really has a great view of Mount Fuji from the balcony also! If you consider visiting Kanagawa, check them out. It is located by the... 乙女森林公園第2キャンプ場 ("Virgin Forest Park Campsite #2")

Here is the Google Map Street View of the entrance: http://goo.gl/maps/0LlwK (Recognize the yellow metal gate?) And here is the Google Map link to the cabin: http://goo.gl/maps/u42wf

Editor's Note: The raw for Episode 5 & 6 will be out soon. This post will serve as a placeholder for people to post the links of the raw up as soon as they come out. Either that or you can keep your eyes peeled on our forums: https://idforums.net/index.php?showforum=2 The link of the raw usually get posted there first.


(Photo credit: 頭文字D雑考 » 長尾峠 – Nagao Toge | http://echizenya.biz/initiald/?page_id=5)


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Thank you, Natsuki. For better or worse.

Has it ever occurred to you that 86's engine breakdown was indirectly caused by Natsuki? If it wasn't for her, Takumi wouldn't get so angry and went to Akagi to race Kyoichi's Evo III and he wouldn't... subsequently break the engine. He was driving with rage, different than his usual style.

But if it wasn't because of that, the 86 wouldn't get an engine upgrade. Bunta actually had that new engine waiting since First Stage. He was waiting for Takumi to lose but because Takumi is so skilled he was able to keep on winning, until he drove with anger...

No matter what, Natsuki had played a big role in Takumi's growth. We shouldn't hate her. Like they say, it's the experience that counts. We should be thankful to those that made us grow as a person.

(Source image: Initial D Second Stage ACT.6「さようならハチロク」"Goodbye Eight-Six")


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Trueno and its origin

Did you know? The word "Trueno" came from Spain and it means thunder in Spanish. Why Toyota decided to use that name is anyone's guess. Perhaps, it's because it roars like the thunder? Or is it because its... debut was so shocking that it shook the ground like thunder does? It sure makes one wonder.

(Photo credit: Takumi Trueno)


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Realism in Initial D

The realism conveyed in Initial D is not limited to depiction of real life locations. At times, small details such as using cover of real automobile magazine (when Takumi was buying them in Third Stage) makes the series more... believable and easier for people to relate to. Although, in this case it might be because of the fact that Tsuchiya-san is the editorial supervisor of the series. 'html/emoticons/happy.gif'

Editor's Note: The VHS video Takumi bought in Third Stage is the Best MOTORing VIDEO SPECIAL Vol.41 featuring Keiichi Tsuchiya and his 86. Here's a discussion thread on our forums: https://idforums.net/index.php?showtopic=25827 The actual video is nowhere to be found on the Internet. And you can't even buy it anywhere, but I am sure someone out there still has this...


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Yabitsu Pass Anime vs Real Life

We realized we didn't do an anime vs real life comparison for Fifth Stage Episode 3. So here is a simple comparison on ヤビツ峠 (Yabitsu Pass). There are many more prominent landmarks and features... they showed in Episode 3 that we simply can't fit all in one post. If you want to see more images from the mountain pass they raced on in Episode 3, be sure to check out the sources below.

Someone said "what kind of corner is that" when referring to the right angle turn before Omiya broke his GT wing. Well, that's a 90 degree turn and it is very real. Though, I am not sure about going too fast around that corner, there is no shoulder on the side of the road. One mistake and it's over. Look at how close the 86 sticks to the guardrails. It's almost clipping guardrails!!

Here is an actual video footage of a guy driving down on Yabitsu Pass (Downhill) It is 10 minutes long, watch it if you are really interested: http://youtu.be/UnKrwVPsjts Here is the uphill video (Keisuke FD3S vs Kobayakawa Evo VII): http://youtu.be/qX1CbxpYFRg


| Sources |
» ぱぱくまねこの旅日記 | http://cxgm.blog133.fc2.com/blog-entry-112.html
» 頭文字D雑考 | http://echizenya.biz/initiald/?page_id=3
» いつもまっすぐ… | http://matutomoyo.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/c...7099/index.html
» 週末ウォーキング | http://skysoft.jpn.com/kanagawa/20000527.html
» ヤビツ峠 - Google 検索 | http://google.co.jp/search?tbm=isch&q=...#12484;峠


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