Initial D Fifth Stage
Initial D Fifth Stage

With his best friend Itsuki, Takumi Fujiwara works as a student attendant at a gas station. Itsuki has a strong desire to compete in street races. The Akina Speed Stars, whose team captain Koichiro Iketani also works at the same pump station, are the team he most identifies with and wishes to join. Unbeknownst to his coworkers, Takumi assists his father Bunta by driving the family's outdated Toyota Sprinter Trueno to carry tofu for his father's store each morning before sunrise. Takumi has been doing this for over five years (AE86). The Red Suns, a highly skilled racing team from Mount Akagi commanded by Ryosuke Takahashi, challenge the neighborhood Speed Stars team to a series of races on Mount Akina not long after the story begins. The Speed Stars are dejected after witnessing the Red Suns' superior performance in a practice game, and they anticipate losing. Later that evening, when driving a somewhat more potent Mazda RX-7 home after the last practice, Red Suns #2 driver Keisuke Takahashi is soundly defeated by an unidentified Sprinter Trueno (FD3S). Takumi's father, Bunta Fujiwara, is identified as the driver after an investigation. Iketani crashes his automobile and sustains injuries while striving to give his all for the team on Mount Akina. In order to represent his squad, he is unable to compete in the race. Bunta is urged by Iketani to assist the Speed Stars in defeating the Red Suns, but at first he rejects the request before finally agreeing to "maybe" attend the race. Takumi asks Bunta if he may use the car for a day so that he can go to the beach with a potential girlfriend (Natsuki Mogi), and Bunta seizes the opportunity by agreeing (plus giving Takumi a full tank of gas) in exchange for Takumi defeating Keisuke. The Trueno fails to show up the night of the race, so the Speed Stars hire Kenji as a backup driver for the opening lap. The AE86 shows up right before the race kicks off. The Speed Stars, who were anticipating Bunta, are puzzled as Takumi exits the vehicle. He easily defeats Keisuke by using the risky "gutter run" tactic on the hairpin turns of the mountain route, which involves putting both the left and right tires in the gutters to stop the car from being pushed outward by centrifugal force.