http://i.minus.com/iVL1t9hdrgSzq.jpg http://i.minus.com/ibpu3kpINlThe8.jpg

Damn I really hope there will be a stage 6 some time soon!

Okay this part got to me and I knew exactly what Mako is crying about, Ive felt this before watching the Pro's race at the track, amazing happy feeling. It was really cool seeing Shinji reaction seeing Mako cry and made him want to race.

I liked both episodes in that they didn't rush the uphill race. It actually took 2.5 episodes to conclude this race, even longer than the Shinigami deathmatch. The characters seem to move more and a little more flexible. I don't really have much to complain about for the last two episodes. It was nice to hear PROJECT.D III at the very beginning of Episode 14. It got the whole scene pumped up. It's obvious they had to squeeze the last 20 seconds or so animating Shinji's 86 and Takumi's 86 going at it because they were out of time.

There were no shaking hands, introducing opponents and Ryousuke giving advice etc. So that is indeed the last episode of the season because it would be very strange to go back to the start of the race again in Episode 15. However, we didn't see any "See you again" or "Hope to see you again" sign at the very end. I suppose the title card that the "Final battle begins now" is the substitute for that. So yes, more Initial D anime will come in due time. I just hope to God they don't use the same animation studio next time. Good lord.

Bullshit...but at the same time I can at least kinda believe it. I mean considering all the shit Keisuke's supposedly been able to do according to Ryousuke, once he goes into his high-tension pace someone would have to already be able to keep up with that pace to be able to follow the whole way. I mean, I've seen it myself before. You're following someone... and you feel totally pumped and you're keeping up and it's exciting... then all of a sudden you're so caught up in following that you don't notice your own limits.

I can accept that, I suppose. It's better than the bullshit Takumi pulls off.

Speaking of Takumi, in case people were wondering the last frame of episode 14 only says this:

FUJIWARA TAKUMI
VS
BLAHBLAHBLAH SHINJI
THE FINAL BATTLE NOW BEGINS

That's it. There's no information about another series or dates or any of that shit so shut the fuck up and sit the fuck down.

Personally I just don't care. Fifth Stage was garbage and if they're gonna do another one with the same level of quality then they're better of just not doing it at all.

when NSX spins, Go Hojo hairs
Shinji want to be Mako hero ant take her to the love hotel after crushing takumi

These final episodes made me realize just how piss poor the Kanagawa Arc really was. Hojo was a horrible opponent for Keisuke's final battle. I don't even consider him in the same league as Minagawa. Minagawa at least showed that as a driver he was far superior to Keisuke. Just his car was holding him back. But ya.. as a whole this whole stage was pretty lack luster besides the FC vs. R32 race.

Way too much talking and repetitive camera angles. I would've rather waited a year or two and watched 5th Stage with a better budget. The song selection was horrible too for pretty much every episode. The only episode I thought had a the right songs was during the FD vs. Supra race.

Also.. I hate the fact they bring back certain characters, but only to show them as a still and not actually moving or anything. We've seen enough of Mako & Sayuki and the Kanagawa bozos. Give the Night Kids and the Saitama guys some lines.

For example, let's look at First Stage. As far as accuracy is concerned, First Stage completely rearranged the order of races from the manga. If you remember from the manga, Takumi raced (in order) Keisuke, Nakazato, Shingo, Ryosuke, Mako and Sayuki, and finally Kenta. In First Stage, Takumi raced Keisuke, Nakazato, Shingo, Mako and Sayuki, Kenta, and finally Ryosuke. Sure, in the anime it flows a bit better, and builds up to a better climax, but it's inaccurate.

Not only that, but First Stage also had it's attention to detail slightly off. Let's not forget that Takumi drifted through a guardrail in the R32 race. That was a major blooper there. Then there's the straight line drifting as I call it. The best examples I could think of off the top of my head is the "Perfect Drift" in the first episode were the transitional drift was almost hilariously bad. During the Shingo race, there was also the scene after he uses the guardrail to change the direction of his drift, and he's going sideways on the entire straight.

As for Second Stage, I think we can all agree that it had the worst character animations. The race CGI was better than First Stage, but the characters just looked weird. As far as the storyline, everything was in order, but they left out some side stories, like the one with Takumi, Mogi, and Tsukamoto(sp?). Also, Iketani and Kenji weren't at the battle of the 86's in the manga.

I'd say Third Stage was tied for best (with Fourth Stage in my opinion) as far as character animation and CGI. Maybe it had to do with it being an OVA, I don't know. It was definitely a welcome change from Second Stage though. Still, they changed some parts of it, like not having Mogi work at the Gas Station with the guys. Or getting to see some interactions between Keisuke and Ryosuke regarding his training over the winter. Little details that you got from the manga but missed out in the anime.

Fourth Stage's major mess ups were leaving out Keisukes first two races. Those were enjoyable reads in the manga, especially since they were sort of the first races to break up the Takumi-only racing monotony. Yeah, we got to see the races in Battle Stage 2, but we had to wait for it, and you still didn't really get the involvement. They also didn't cover some side stories as well, such as when Itsuki took Kazumi to the zoo and had that awkward moment (which I got a good chuckle out of). There's more, but can't remember off the top of my head. I'd have to reread those chapters again sometime.

wait again? I hope the next stage will be a movie

The Takumi race is not even shown? I'm waiting for the subbed episodes to watch it.

I liked the part where they suddenly went batshit fast.
And the voice acting at the end from the one who plays Go Hojo

Man, I never thought I'd say this, but what is considered a "season finale" for Initial D was some absolute crap. I might even go as far to say it's the worst season finale I've seen in a TV show for a long time. The way that they rushed showing one scene between Takumi and Shinji seems so out of place, especially with no buildup or anything.

I will admit the race between Hojo Go and Keisuke was great and I'm glad they didn't rush that race. I do agree with what someone said earlier in the thread about Minagawa being a more difficult opponent than Go. He made Keisuke really struggle and showed that he was a more skilled driver. Aside from that, I will say that the fact that they let the battle draw out was more like classic Initial D.

Eurobeat — probably could have been much better. Not really amazed with what they chose.

But man ... that's it? What a very unfulfilling ending. Now we wait for who knows how long.

Worst stage ever...My rating is 3/10 overall.
- Very low quality 2D animation (Almost mediocre, I can do better).
- Some mistakes in the 3D animation and too many loops.
- Cutting off a lot of stuff from the original story.
- Bad soundtracks (Comparate with the other stages) Only 2 songs in the
whole stage can be considerate as good.

And finally it's incomplete, going at fast pace for nothing. It should be called ID Cheap Stage.

Reference about my ratings:

Initial D 2nd Stage rating 7/10 overall.
- Very good 3D desing, not the most realistic but cool looking.
- Good soundtrack selection.
- 2D animation is ok, the characters doesn't looks as they are supposed to
but still not bad.
- Too short, they could fit the races from 3rd stage in the 2nd stage with some
more story, including extra stage to fulfill 24 episodes...

Just my personal ratings...

There were a bunch of things missing in the stage, but altogether, I think it was pretty good. I mean, I still think leaving out how Takumi evaded that accident on the highway in the WRX when he took Mika to the beach in the beginning of the season was a cop out. There's so little side action in fifth stage to begin with, to actually leave out something pretty cool was just dumb. And the amount of people who come to the last race..quite literally cut in half. Emperor isn't there, Purple Shadow isn't there, Wateru isn't there, Yuichii!!!! isn't there. I'm surprised they got the Night Kids. And they don't even have as much to say as like, Purple Shadow, who just pretty much analyzed the Takumi/Shinji race Ryosuke style about 5 issues ago in the manga. But I guess they probably didn't see a point when they knew they were only gunna have 3 episodes of the final area. D Vs. Sidewinder has been going on for like 2 years now in the manga.

And I actually kinda dug the DBZ FX. I mean, it's kind of a normal progression for me, with the way they get better and better each stage, and well, this is japanese animation we're talking about. It's not too off to be seeing stuff like that going on. And, some of you are saying how you miss all the other seasons, cuz you could drive your own car like that. You might be able to pull some drift moves and immitate some stuff from the first couple, but you are -never- driving your car the way they do in the 4th Stage. I ain't even talking smack on anyone either. You could put a B18C5 and coilovers in my Integra and I'm not driving like Daiki/Sakai/Tachi.

What bugs me is just, wasn't this announced as 20 episodes? Maybe even 22 or something? I just feel like they could've wrapped it by 20. Another 3 episodes for Takumi's race, and then 3 episodes to finish things with Project D, Bunta, Gas Station guys, Mika, and then maybe end it off with them going pro? Or jump over the pro part, and show how they end up as adults. I dunno, like trophys from pro wins along the walls of Takumi's own tofu shop, Keisuke walking the beach at sunset with Kyoko.

But no. Now we don't even know WTF is gunna happen. Cuz all that kanji says is that the battle is about to begin, right? So who knows if/when they're going to make a movie, or some kind of extra stage, or stage as small or smaller than the second, and whether or not it's animation is as junky as this stage. But hey, even though it wasn't so great, at least the cars themselves looked great. Damn, Keisuke's final FD is the sickest looking car in the universe.. the FC wasn't too shabby either..

keisuke last accelerations, aren't like "fujiwara zone"?

The only part that actually grabbed my attention in this short series, was the final seconds of Shinji and Takumi taking off....

Where were Joushima Toushiya and Hoshino Kozo in the NSX VS FD race?! I was hoping they would appear. Toshiya-san even said:" Wanna follow them, in your GTR?" to Kozo-san!

Ryosuke really boasts a lot of Keisuke now I can't blame him since they are brothers but now, I can see that Keisuke is really amazing. When his opponents struggle, he just continues on so calmly just like Ryosuke during the Shinigami race. Now, I may think twice if Takumi is actually better than Keisuke.

I hate that stupid zone bs, its obviously nothing but a dumb magic trick for the protagonists to win. Its not even enjoyable watching any race with that involved because it cant even be considered fair in this fantasy racing world of knights and magic

the final episode is a cliffhanger

I just wanted to know if there was any missing translation fro 6:19-6:25?

Following the manga, the battle is already freaking amazing, and every chapter Fuji_Tak releases gets me on the edge of my seat

But damn, that was one hell of a cliffhanger. I seriously hope they're already planning the Takumi vs Shinji OVA / Stage.

if they didn't intend to make a movie stage to wrap things up, they wouldn't of put the cliffhanger at the end. Its going to be awhile as the race isn't over yet in the magna. The end of the race wont be the end either... Got to close it some how. I wonder if Takumi will take Shinji under his wing? sounds dumb but they are alot alike. I feel that Takumi and Keiskue is the real finally. One race at Akina one at Akagi... lol im talkin alot of what ifs... oh well ive enjoyed the ride so far.

Ok hei i just joined the forum but i've watched all episodes and the ending yes is a cliff hanger i liked the when NSX spins, Go Hojo hairs
Shinji want to be Mako hero ant take her to the love hotel after crushing takumi yes it would be logical cause he thought that she smells good and her legs ohhh
i think that this season is quite bad because of shinji i dont like taht guy of course i know he's kind of like takumi in the first stage, but because of shinji the end was a cliff hanger i think it would been a lot better if shinji were never crated what was Shuichi Shigeno thinking creating him and he can't make up his mind witch should win( i'd say of course takumi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
A lot better ending would've been if in place of shinji would be another character like eiji kubo and he would drive an impreza then takumi could use his one handed sterring
If i'm wrong or somebody doesn;t like my opinion please write a reply i'll be waitng even if you fell the same way as i write a reply to.

I'm not going to lie, I actually really enjoyed FD vs NSX. I really did have a blast watching this 5th stage. Maybe they could of toned down the FD's Zone effect a little. Thats probably my only complaint and its not even a big deal for me.

I JUST HATE THE CLIFFHANGER SO MUCH. SHOW ME WHAT HAPPENS NEXT UGH

And whoa, the most recent battle was pretty exciting. I was fooled, I really thought that 13 and 14 would be the end but now I'm properly psyched over 15 and 16. The battle of Takumi vs. Shinji should be amazing!

Best battle yet btw.

Though it might have been difficult to tell at times, due to the 360p quality of the video, I thought the production value for the race was upped by quite a bit. If anyone remembers the PS2 game Auto Modelista, a cell-shaded racer with amazing anime/2d style visuals that every Initial D fan would really appreciate, there were cool "wind" effects like how they used in the FD vs NSX race.

This little detail combined with the exciting music, and more in depth, and detailed view of the race made for a much more exhilarating event. I can only dream of the Initial D creators to go more into detail on the little things that brought more character development and a much bigger sense of intimacy with the characters/story like they did with the past Stages.

The whole "1 episode per race" style that they've given us for 5th stage really disconnected me from the plot and goals/motivation of the characters. I felt like they were just exhibition matches with no backstory. Today, we have a highly tuned cars, an FD, and an NSX. Tomorrow, we have a Ferrari Enzo vs. a Lamborghini Aventador. Sure, that's awesome that they're amazing and powerful cars, but why should I give a damn beyond the spec sheets of the cars when we aren't given anything else to care about?

The blur "Fujiwara Zone" thing doesn't do it for more. I think it would have been better if they showed a close-up of the cars nearly hitting the guardrail as the racers speed up, with the sound of the engines rumbling or tires squealing, like what they did in First Stage etc. But episodes 13-14 were still enjoyable and much better than early eps