Initial D: Third Stage

Takumi Fujiwara is close to graduating and does not know what he will do. His father's tofu shop, the night races on the mountain roads, and life after school all wait on a decision at once. Ryosuke Takahashi offers him a place on an elite racing team that will tour the mountain passes of Japan. Before accepting, Takumi wants to settle an old score. At the same time his relationship with Natsuki has reached a point. Noboru Mitsusawa's film is the first Initial D feature and follows the second season. The narrative focuses less on the races than on the moment of decision: the difference between who Takumi was before he got his licence and what happens after. The driving sequences combine computer animation with hand drawing, a method that drew attention in anime production of the period. Who it's for: Initial D viewers, and anyone who likes racing anime and the anime style of the late 1990s. Who it's not for: The character relationships are closed to newcomers. The emotional passages also stay thin between the races.