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Initial D Fourth Stage arguably has the weakest story out of any stage of Initial D, there feels to be a lacking of plot outside the races, and the racers don't have as much buildup and character as the previous stages have, the episodes are very formulaic and predictable.

However, on the other side, the races are still very entertaining, and introduce new techniques and moves to entertain the audiences. And there is still lots hype in the Eurobeat and racing, especially in the last 2 races in the stage, and there is a very exciting element added to this series that may or may ... not surprise you

this by no means a great season, but if you want to watch Initial D for some cool car races, this stage is sure to satisfy you

B

Initial D Third Stage ends off the original 86 of Akina arc with an invitation to Project D by Ryosuke Takahashi which will be a team composed of Takumi, Keisuke, and Ryosuke, in charge of the project. Project D will travel across all over the country in search of the best street racers and beat them, it does seem contradictory of the last 2 stages because the protagonists were the ones who were defending their towns pride, and now they will be the ones taking the pride of over towns racers, but I digress,

the story between Takumi and Natsuki is finally finished with what ... I believe to be a very satisfying conclusion, and the animation has upgraded a lot with the movie budget especially with the racing scenes, they still have the same energy that the first two stages had, if not even more. The Eurobeat soundtrack is amazing and gives so much more hype and excitement to the racing as usual.

In conclusion, Third Stage might aswell have been the ending to Initial D, as Takumi explores the idea of if he truly wants to race or not, and his romance story with Natsuki ends with the stage, you could pretend that the series ended here and there were no more stages after this if you really want to.

A

Second Stage continues off Takumi's journey, Takumi faces the emperors The emperors come in and invade the Gunma region and one of the racers, Seiji defeats Nakazato, Takumi then races Seiji, Takumi wins the race, however the victory does not feel as satisfactory as the others. After this Takumi finds out his girlfriend is going out with and older man, Takumi would then race Kyochi, the leader of the emperors, the infamous moment then happens where Takumi's pride is lost, as his 86's engine blows up and he loses, although Kyochi tells him he doesn't consider the race they had a real race. Takumi then ... gets his engine replaced with a new engine, but while this is happening, Ryosuke races Kyochi. Ryosuke analyses Kyochi's racing skills and then takes advantage of his biggest weakness and passes ahead of him, beating him with one of the most legendary overtakes in the series. After Takumi gets his new engine, he races Wataru, he drives an 86 just like Takumi (although he drives a Levin while Takumi drives a Trueno) Takumi beats him with again, a legendary overtake and second stage comes to close.

Overall, the first half of second stage goes for a more depressing and tone about loss and humiliation, but the loss Takumi has kind of doesn't mean much, as Kyochi does not consider it a "real race." But I digress. This stage is a great continuation of the legendary racing series, it has the same amount of hype and energy that the first stage has that made it so magical, If you loved the first stage of Initial D, then you'd love Second stage

A-

Initial D, you know, I don't think a single anime has impacted me and changed my life more than this Anime, Initial D is the main reason I love cars so much today. But where do I even begin with this masterpiece?

Our protagonist, Takumi Fujiwara is a spacey quiet boy who slowly learns the world of street racing, but he was never really into cars, this series is perfect for somebody who wants to get into cars but doesn't know all the details about them. The pacing and advancement of the story can feel slow but it just adds to the build up and ... characters and races that are so masterfully directed especially with the technology and budget they had at the time, The races have so much hype to them and they get you really excited, the inner monologue in our characters head explaining their thoughts, the blasting engines and Eurobeat and the characters screaming about something about some crazy thing that happened. The relationship between the character and his love interest is also done amazingly well. I won't give any spoilers but if you want to get into Cars or just watch a good anime, this is a must see

In conclusion, Initial D is a series about defending your hometown's pride no matter what it takes, whether your using the most powerful and best cornering car ever made or using your Dad's Corolla from the 80s, you need to do whatever it takes to win and keep your town's pride intact, and that is what makes it so invigorating.

A+