Initial D Fifth Stage Episode 3 Discussion

What did you think of this episode?

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Dec 18, 2012 11:44 PM

paulp1988

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Aug 2010

THIS IS AN ANIME ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS THE MANGA BEYOND THIS EPISODE.
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I love that the action has started so early this time round. The part where they were side by side in the one car section actually gave me goosebumps!

I know it will come up sooner or later, but i want to find out what the other character has against Ryosuke, he mentioned having 'unfinished business'...

Dec 18, 2012 11:54 PM

dragoon20005

Offline

Feb 2012

154

Takumi switch off his headlights in order to reduce his car aero drag

but when he on the headlights, the opponent thought it was an incoming car and kept to the left lane which created an opening for takumi to drive beside

driving abreast on a narrow windy road is scary

Dec 19, 2012 1:20 AM

pxl

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Jun 2012

paulp1988 said:
THIS IS AN ANIME ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS THE MANGA BEYOND THIS EPISODE.
----------------------------------------
I love that the action has started so early this time round. The part where they were side by side in the one car section actually gave me goosebumps!

I know it will come up sooner or later, but i want to find out what the other character has against Ryosuke, he mentioned having 'unfinished business'...

spoiler about the unfinished business:

Dec 19, 2012 10:32 AM

paulp1988

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Aug 2010

Ahhh, it all makes sense now! thanks pxl :)

Dec 21, 2012 1:11 PM

bigchinchin

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Apr 2011

I'm very confused about the opponent's choice of car(the NB). Wings falling off from racing one round? A car that's easily affected by the wind resistance, on his HOME course? Everything just seems wtf

Not to mention Keisuke was saying something along the lines of him having perfected driving technique. Why is he driving a car that's seemingly full of flaws?

bigchinchinDec 21, 2012 2:06 PM

Dec 26, 2012 12:38 AM

deg

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Jan 2009

101803

pxl said:

holy shit, and damn Takumi shock the opponent with the head lights switching on XD

Jan 1, 2013 11:49 AM

Barion-Zara

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Aug 2010

10989

That was EPIC!!

Mar 11, 2013 11:32 AM

ToG25thBaam

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Jun 2011

14139

bigchinchin said:
I'm very confused about the opponent's choice of car(the NB). Wings falling off from racing one round? A car that's easily affected by the wind resistance, on his HOME course? Everything just seems wtf

Not to mention Keisuke was saying something along the lines of him having perfected driving technique. Why is he driving a car that's seemingly full of flaws?

Meh Takumi has been winning because of luck recently, though luck is part of strength too, but still seems pretty wtf-worthy

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Mar 14, 2013 12:05 AM

Zumzi

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Jul 2012

His wing fell off because it hit a road sign (not shown in the anime for some reason) due to being forced to take a extremely tight line to hold his position in front of the Hachi-Roku.

Mar 18, 2013 4:42 PM

#10

Ressamp

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Jan 2012

Pretty sure the GT wing was knocked off when he brushed against the wall or something. The NB isn't full of flaws at all, its just relatively unstable because of its shorter wheelbase.

Aug 5, 2013 5:12 PM

#11

Stark700

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Nov 2011

129185

At that final moment, I thought Takumi's vehicle was going to spin out of control lmao. Decent episode with the explanations. OST is eargasmic. Obviously.

Jan 31, 2014 5:03 PM

#12

Zumzi

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Jul 2012

http://mangafox.me/manga/initial_d/v35/c479/5.html

Here you can see NB's wing hitting the pole of a road sign. And like I said before, I'm very confused as to why they didn't show it in the anime as well.

Mar 4, 2015 10:37 PM

#13

Gmancam

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Aug 2014

299

Err getting tired of Takumi getting bullshit wins like that.

Apr 11, 2015 9:21 AM

#14

Avenger-senpai

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Mar 2012

5785

Yet again, another one of Takumi's opponents gets robbed of a win because of the convenient power of luck -_-

I'm starting to enjoy Keisuke's races more because his wins are due to his skill rather than his luck.

May 28, 2015 1:57 PM

#15

HapHazrD

Online

Jan 2015

1302

Zumzi said:
His wing fell off because it hit a road sign (not shown in the anime for some reason) due to being forced to take a extremely tight line to hold his position in front of the Hachi-Roku.

Thanks for the explanation. I also thought he had hit something because of the bumping sound, and it's way more logical than the wing just falling off for no reason. Can't understand why they didn't show it though.

When you're Takumi, you gotta be kinda scared at that point. That wing could've detached at any moment and impaled into his front, yet he still followed the car closely ^^"

Sep 17, 2015 6:24 AM

#16

Lararin

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Dec 2009

1526

Glad to see action so early on in the season!

Avenger-senpai said:
Yet again, another one of Takumi's opponents gets robbed of a win because of the convenient power of luck -_-

I'm starting to enjoy Keisuke's races more because his wins are due to his skill rather than his luck.

Someone should make a tally... ;)

May 23, 2016 4:22 AM

#17

RafaelDeJongh

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May 2012

25828

Oh boy that was intense! And that little romance development oh so cute :3 Up to the next episode!

Feb 4, 2017 11:46 PM

#18

Rayl1ght

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Oct 2012

7189

A girl in love just cute, I mean she's thinking about Takumi then quickly get embarrassed xD

Don't you hate it when your rear wing suddenly broke? xD

"Signature removed"

Feb 9, 2018 5:15 PM

#19

BurntJelly

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Feb 2013

6196

Kinda sucks to win because the opponent had car trouble.

Sep 13, 2018 5:06 PM

#20

Fayrin

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Sep 2011

2632

Okay, this wasn't really exciting, but it's nice that the blind attack can be used for increasing the speed too, even if it's just a little.

Jun 22, 2019 8:02 AM

#21

blank

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Apr 2016

13218

So, that girl is thinking about Takumi, like Takumi is thinking about her. Sweet. The races no longer feel exciting, that's sad. Takumi won, of course.

Jun 28, 2020 10:27 AM

#22

NiJaS

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Aug 2013

Any1 knows where the rock(electric guitar) song is from that plays at 14:10 in the episode? i cant find it anywhere. It only plays for 1:30 min in the episode.

Jul 29, 2020 1:48 PM

#23

Led_Wayline

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Feb 2008

2100

A busted spoiler? The race was decided by aerodynamics after all...

Good for Takumi, though. He won and has a girl pining for him.

Aug 11, 2020 10:27 PM

#24

HagePotPotato

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Oct 2019

4342

So annoying for Takumi to keep winning because of miracles. Either win or lose. But getting lucky EVERY race is stupid. Another "Takumi tie".

Nov 7, 2020 6:18 AM

#25

Adnash

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Oct 2013

8743

Takumi won again, what an unexpected result. xD

The battle was awesome. Too bad that the opponent's broken spoiler decided about Takumi's victory.

I wonder what kind of grudge one of the enemies have towards Ryousuke.

✨Saint Seiya Club🌠

Dec 9, 2020 12:34 PM

#26

Byniavo

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May 2018

5916

Ah I see. In the manga the spoiler hit a road sign. Takumi must feel like shit, winning by luck every match xD

Feb 8, 2021 8:34 PM

#27

Amatniki

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Aug 2018

41211

Very enjoyable race! And ofc... Takumi won again!!!

May 10, 2021 11:39 PM

#28

Figva

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Aug 2018

2487

Another questionable and based on luck race, but still great that Takumi won in the end

Jun 10, 2021 3:02 AM

#29

Hancock23

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Mar 2018

615

I am kind of disappointed. It's been a while since Takumi won a battle without relying on technicalities.

Dec 28, 2022 6:18 AM

#30

Kanezushi

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Jun 2020

1629

Been excited for new eurobeat songs in this season right after gas gas gas now I want to hear some new bangers hopefully in the near future

Takumi's been using his cards frequently now I wonder how he's going to improve in the long run without these tricks and learn some new skills or techniques probably this is where it's diminishing return.

Jan 26, 2023 9:27 PM

#31

ryzxgum

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Apr 2022

6477

takumi lowered his headlights to lessen the air resistance, i love the realism of this show. physics coming in clutch.

also, i can see why takumi like mika now. she literally looked like mogi during the bathtub scene lmao.

Nov 24, 2023 1:35 AM

#32

Hazamelis

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Oct 2017

354

Okay so I'm a bit half by half, at first I thought it was luck, but I saw the manga panel posted in and that makes me happy, I felt that cut was abrupt in the anime, maybe they ran out screen time or didn't have the budget/idea to animate it properly, which sucks a lot.

Now, Takumi did a skill based trick, the blind attack to confuse his opponent, it's his power move, and it did work, the guy got confused and gave space to Takumi, and since they were so close together, the wing hit the road sign, so if you were to ask me, I would say there is merit on this win, just like there was merit in the race with God hand.

Now, I still think there was a 50/50 with luck, Ryosuke already said that Takumi was really lucky, and it makes me think the anime wants us to think that, think about it, the only time Takumi has lost has been special occasions, when his car broke off and he burned the engine completely, so it wasn't because of skull issue, the other time he lost was with his dad, the only other person that is more mystified than him in the story, so it doesn't feel particularly bad.

I would like to see Takumi lose, seeing him win always obviously makes things a little predictable, but I feel that the writers might not be able to make him lose, I feel that it might be because of the shonen formula, and the idea of making Takumi a legend for the franchise.

When he raced the proracer? He lost, but the proracer did let him win, I still stand by that, you can see the proracer lying about the squirrel, but to the anime, Takumi won, and we the audience felt happy, then we saw that other race with God arm, where we are shown that he did lose in the battle even if he won by result, I feel the anime might address a win like this as well in the next episode.

So what I'm trying to say is that we are in a point where Takumi has unmatched skill and attacks to defeat his opponents, such as the blind attack, which gives merit to his win, the writer pushes back and gives an advantage to the opponent so it seems Takumi won by luck, I'm not sure myself about the reason for this choice, but it's what makes the battles unsatisfying to people. If I where to guess, it's to make Takumi feel more like a fictional character, instead of a real person, the message being, you can't win every time on a race, unless you are unbelievably lucky.

Takumi's skill felt real, so could that incentive people to push themselves to be like Takumi? Think about it, a crazy dude sees the anime and says, if I learn the blind attack, I will be unstoppable! And then boom, be dies, but if the battle is won by luck, the crazy dude says, pfft, what a bunch of crap, and they don't try the blind attack in real life. And not just in racing, but in any sort of battles and problems, you watch or read Intial D and say, I have to be like Takumi, I need to have his dedication and skill, wouldn't failures then make you feel bad rather than help you grow? Wouldn't that kind of risky moves like the blind attack ultimately hurt you in your own career/activity where you are competing to be the best as well?

That's why this is a point in the story where it feels the writer needs to play Schrödinger's victory where he both has the skill but also a lucky element in a point that could easily be changed in the story to keep the momentum of Project D and Takumi as the protagonist, this anime is giving very concrete ways for people to win in real life, ways that could be really dangerous, there is a disclaimer at the beginning sure, but after some episodes you start ignoring it, there has to be damage control. I feel that if he lost, it would be interesting and more thrilling, but he would have to go through rematch arcs, add some character growth, a bit of internal drama, and that would make the story longer, so maybe it is just a choice made out of convenience with a story like this.

In my opinion this victory has more merit than the one with God hand, once you see the manga panel, the wing didn't magically broke, it broke because they cars were really close together after Takumi pushed forward with his blind attack, Godhand just got dizzy all of the sudden.

Overall? I felt bad at first when Takumi was winning a bit with luck, but I think I am okay with this, the story wants Takumi to win, it knows how to make Takumi win feel genuine, but it also doesn't want to worry you if you do not match him in your own field, it loses realism, but it is healthier for the audience, probably. As long there is that moment where he gets a push based on his skill alone, I will consider it a win.

Oh and that romance won't most likely work, I was mad at first with the writer for making me go through so many heart break episodes (5 until now) but I think the message here is that you should focus in your dreams rather than looking for romance, because that's not where happiness is, it is in your goals, or at least that's what I feel, if it works for both of them, I will be happy, but I won't hype it, and I will feel fine if it doesn't work, that is part of life.

HazamelisNov 24, 2023 1:45 AM

Jun 18, 12:59 PM

#33

Matheus050

Offline

Apr 2021

1013

Takumi promised that he would not use this technique again. Well, at least it was different, another one for the list.

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