New Initial D the Movie

New Initial D
File:New-Initial-D-the-Movie-Legend1-Awakening-poster.jpg Theatrical release poster
新劇場版「頭文字D」
Genre	Car racing
Anime film series
Directed by	Masamitsu Hidaka Tomohito Naka (co-director)
Written by	Mayori Sekijima
Music by	Akio Dobashi
Studio	Sanzigen & Liden Films
Released	Legend 1: Awakening August 23, 2014 Legend 2: Racer May 23, 2015 Legend 3: Half Awake, Half Asleep February 6, 2016
Runtime	70 minutes (each)
Films	3

New Initial D (新劇場版「頭文字D」, Shin Gekijō-ban Inisharu Dī, lit. Initial D: New Theatrical Edition) is a 2014 - 2016 Japanese anime film series based on the manga series Initial D by Shuichi Shigeno. The movie is a retelling of the early stages of the manga and is split into three parts with the first part, Legend 1: Awakening released on August 23, 2014. The full trailer was revealed on 16 May 2014, containing an entirely new cast.

Part 2 of the series, named Legend 2: Racer, was released on May 23, 2015 and part 3 of the series, named Legend 3: Dream, was released on February 6, 2016.

Plot

See also: Initial D

Legend 1: Awakening

The movie opens with Koichiro Iketani driving on his way home on Akina, where he witnesses an impromptu battle between Keisuke Takahashi of the Akagi RedSuns and a mysterious Toyota Sprinter Trueno AE86 (known simply as "Eight-Six"), which outmaneuvers Keisuke, defeating him.

Later, at a gas station, Iketani invites his co-workers Takumi Fujiwara and Itsuki Takeuchi to a meet with his street racing team, the Akina Speedstars, on Akina. While there, they find that the Akagi Red Suns were already there. Keisuke wanted to find and challenge the "monstrous" Eight-Six whereas Ryosuke, Keisuke's brother and leader of the Red Suns, uses the meet to initiate his plans to dominate the Kanto region. During their practice, the Speedstars are outmaneuvered by the Redsuns' amazing driving skills, but this doesn't stop Iketani from trying to keep up. In doing so, he suddenly crashes into the guardrail due to his car striking a sharp bump along the road.

He later discovers the Eight-Six as a desperate replacement when his boss, Yuichi, reveals that the Eight-Six is a tofu delivery vehicle owned by Bunta Fujiwara, Takumi's father. Bunta declines Iketani's offer, claiming that he's too old to be Iketani's replacement. A few days later, Takumi asks Bunta to borrow the Eight-Six so that he can go on a date with his girlfriend, Natsuki. Bunta eventually accepts, but offers Takumi a condition that he must go to Akina on Saturday night and defeat Keisuke in a downhill race. However, unbeknownst to everyone else, it was Takumi who defeated Keisuke at that first encounter as he was returning from the daily morning delivery run.

Takumi heads to the race to the bewilderment of the Speedstars. Takumi explains his reason to race to Iketani, which agrees to let him race. At the start of the race, Keisuke takes the lead and pulls away, but Takumi later catches up as the race goes on. Eventually, Takumi overtakes Keisuke on one of the five-consecutive hairpins by hooking his tires in the inside gutter. After Takumi wins the race, Keisuke tells Takumi to not lose until he ever rematches. Despite Takumi's claim that he's no racer, Keisuke claims that Takumi's racing is part of Takumi's own pride before driving away.

The next morning, Takumi and Natsuki play around at a beach during their date, where Takumi realizes his experience regarding last night's race. As Takumi embarks on his next morning delivery, he prepares himself for the next battles to come.

In a post-credit scene, a black Nissan Skyline GT-R R32, driven by the Myogi NightKids' Takeshi Nakazato, storms up Akina looking for Takumi's Eight-Six.

Legend 2: Racer

After witnessing Takumi's gutter run to defeat Keisuke, Takeshi Nakazato of the Myogi NightKids decides to race against Takumi's Eight-Six, believing to be the best match against his Skyline R32 GT-R. He proceeds to Akina to practice, where he encounters Ryosuke, who believes Nakazato's GT-R will not be able to defeat the Eight-Six, infuriating Nakazato.

Whilst Takumi and Iketani are out, Itsuki unexpectedly encounters Nakazato at the gas station and accidentally accepts Nakazato's challenge on Takumi's behalf. Despite Itsuki's urging, Takumi initially doesn't accept as he believes he is not a street racer. Yuichi overhears the Speedstars' problem and discusses with Takumi why he shouldn't race, referencing how good the GT-R is and that no one would label him a "coward" if he doesn't race. Intrigued, Takumi changes his mind, but arrives home to find Bunta, and the Eight-Six, missing. Whilst he was eagerly waits, he realises how much of a racer he already is.

Meanwhile, the Speedstars drive to Akina to apologise to the NightKids for the error. Takumi arrives just before the scheduled start, to the relief of the Speedstars. The race starts with Nakazato leading Takumi, with Ryosuke and Keisuke, who arrived equally intrigued by the race, following behind in Ryosuke's FC. Predictably, Nakazato's 4WD GT-R keeps Takumi at bay, but Takumi still keeps up in part due to the tuned suspension Bunta worked on whist Takumi was waiting. As they approach the five consecutive hairpins, Nakazato hugs the inside, denying Takumi use the gutter run. Takumi drifts outside of the GT-R, taunting Nakazato. Eventually, Nakazato leaves a little more space on the inside, allowing Takumi to trail-brake into the inside, passing the GT-R. Nakazato attempts to pass back, but ends up hitting the guardrail and spinning out.

The following day, Takumi and the Speedstars head to Akina to test drive Iketani's repaired S13. With Itsuki riding with him, Iketani gets ambushed by a posse of Night Kids led by Nakazato's rival, Shingo Shoji, and his EG6 Civic. Takumi witnesses Shingo spin Iketani out by bumping into him during a corner. At the summit, Iketani demands Shingo to apologise for the incident, which Shingo agrees to if he races against Takumi in a "Gumtape Deathmatch": taping his right hand to the steering wheel. Shingo knows that if he beats Takumi, he can usurp Nakazato to become the leader of the Night Kids.

At first, Takumi nearly crashes due to the tape, but soon realises he is able to go faster with less steering. Increasingly frustrated that Takumi hasn't crashed, Shingo bumps into Takumi, causing him to spin-out, but Takumi manages to spin around completely and regain control. Now infuriated Shingo went to such lengths, Takumi barrels towards Shingo and regains the lead. Facing defeat, Shingo attempts to crash into Takumi, therefore tying the race, but Takumi narrowly avoids the crashing Civic.

The next day, Takumi receives a mysterious bundle of flowers at work, along with a card addressed to "Panda Trueno". It is revealed to be a formal challenge from Ryosuke Takahashi.

Voice cast

• Mamoru Miyano as Takumi Fujiwara
• Hiroaki Hirata as Bunta Fujiwara
• Yuichi Nakamura as Keisuke Takahashi
• Daisuke Ono as Ryosuke Takahashi
• Maaya Uchida as Natsuki Mogi
• Minoru Shiraishi as Itsuki Takeuchi
• Hiroshi Tsuchida as Koichiro Iketani
• Anri Katsu as Kenji
• Tomoyuki Shimura as Yuichi Tachibana
• Junichi Suwabe as Takeshi Nakazato
• Shūhei Sakaguchi as Shingo Shoji
• Yoshiya Naruke as Kenta Nakamura
• Kenji Fukuda as Hiroshi Fumihiro

External links

• Official website(Japanese)
• New Initial D the Movie (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia