Bonus Chapter at 1200 PS
Support me at patreon.com/CulturedOne and read 50 Advanced Chapters
_______________________
Early in the morning, the bookstores were already densely packed with crowds. In Japan, you would be hard-pressed to find these fans waking up early for exercise or a proper breakfast, but if a new anime Blu-ray, a manga magazine, or a light novel volume is about to drop, they are more than capable of crawling out of bed at three in the morning to line up at the storefront.
Okimi was exactly that type of person.
Sometimes, a work simply finds its soulmate in a dedicated fan.
In the eyes of most manga readers, the current plot of Initial D was merely a solid hit, something they would follow, but not necessarily consider a masterpiece.
Okimi, however, felt differently. Even though the series had only been around for three short weeks, he loved it with an intensity that defied logic.
For him, the magnetic pull of this story already ranked in the top three of everything he had ever consumed. It was, quite literally, love at first sight.
Having spent twenty minutes waiting outside the bookstore, Okimi smiled as he finally clutched the latest issue of Weekly Prime.
He picked up breakfast on the way and strolled home along the quiet side streets. Once inside, he couldn't wait a second longer and immediately flipped open the magazine.
This week, the cover of Weekly Prime was once again graced by Initial D. It featured a striking illustration of the AE86 performing a sleek drift across a mountain curve. It was a humble, aging vehicle, but bolstered by the high-quality art style, the cover looked heavy with atmosphere and exquisitely detailed.
It was because of this manga that Okimi had spent the last week researching automotive terms, trying to understand the physics of what a drift actually was.
The title of this chapter.
The Exchange Race.
The story picked up from the previous week's cliffhanger. From the very first panel, the chapter focused heavily on building the atmosphere of the big event. Takumi was driving the 86 up from the foot of Mount Akina toward the summit. Along the way, every hairpin curve was lined with racing enthusiasts who had come to witness the clash between the RedSuns and the Akina SpeedStars.
The 86's journey up the mountain was scrutinized by every spectator on the pass.
At the summit, Keisuke Takahashi laughed with manic excitement upon hearing that an 86 was approaching, while Kenji tactfully backed his own car out of the starting grid. Thanks to Iketani's frantic explanations, the SpeedStars members finally knew that this 86 was the reinforcement they had been praying for.
Throughout the sequence of the 86 climbing the mountain, Takumi didn't say a single word. Yet, in Okimi's eyes, it was the ultimate cool move.
The sense of anticipation and the all eyes on him atmosphere created by the panels pushed his excitement to the breaking point.
It's safe to say that nine out of ten men have, at some point in their childhood, dreamed of being a race car driver. While adult life and the crushing weight of reality usually suppress those dreams, a work like Initial D has the uncanny ability to drag those buried emotions back to the surface. Perhaps that was why Okimi had become so hopelessly obsessed after just three chapters.
As he watched Takumi on the page, Okimi found himself fully identifying with the protagonist. He fantasized that he was the one behind the wheel, reaching the summit of Akina. And then came the moment Takumi stepped out of the car.
Ryosuke, Keisuke, Itsuki, Iketani, Kenji… The expressions of shock on the faces of everyone who knew, or didn't know, Takumi provided a surge of pure satisfaction for Okimi. The manga spent several panels detailing Takumi's arrival and his internal state of mind.
While the onlookers were reeling from the realization that the ghost of Akina was just a high school boy, Takumi himself was only concerned about one thing: the free tank of gas he was promised if he won.
After this setup, Takumi explained to Iketani and Itsuki why he was there and bluntly confirmed that he was indeed the one who had overtaken Keisuke a few nights prior.
Okimi found himself grinning ear to ear.
That was the magic of Initial D; if you projected yourself onto Takumi, the narrative became incredibly addictive. Aside from his somewhat messy romantic prospects, the protagonist's technical skill was the ultimate wish-fulfillment for any young man.
The race finally began.
The visual impact of the black-and-white panels gripped Okimi's heart.
The yellow FD and the black-and-white 86 seemed to tear through the pages at lightning speed, leaving vivid afterimages in his mind's eye.
A seasoned manga fan knows how to use their imagination to make the panels move, and combined with the masterful storyboarding, Okimi was absolutely mesmerized.
His reading speed slowed down as he lingered on each page, savoring the details and imagining the roar of the engines, how the cars slid through the hairpins and how they fought for every inch of the narrow mountain road at high velocity.
Throughout the first half of the race, Keisuke's FD maintained the lead, utilizing its superior performance.
However, every time Keisuke thought he had finally shaken off the 86, the white-and-black silhouette would reappear in his rearview mirror at the next corner like a persistent ghost.
The contrast was stark.
Keisuke was drenched in sweat, pushing himself to the absolute limit just to stay ahead. In the 86, Takumi was driving with one hand. He might not have had the money to drive a Ferrari with one hand, but he had the skill to keep pace with a high-end sports car using only one hand on the wheel of an AE86.
"This has to be an illusion! There's no way this is happening! That 86..." Keisuke was visibly panicking. The frustration of being unable to lose a garbage car was slowly turning into genuine fear.
'His mental fortitude is lacking,' Okimi thought.
Keisuke was so distracted by whether the 86 was behind him that he was losing his line.
He probably would have driven better if he had just ignored his mirrors.
Corner after corner, straightaway after straightaway, the chapter was almost entirely comprised of high-stakes racing action. Shizuru had clearly put an immense amount of effort into these panels. She had utilized every ounce of her ability, and even in the heat of the action, Okimi couldn't help but marvel at the craft.
The girl working with Shiori is a monster with a pen!
Over the walkie-talkies, the RedSuns members stationed along the road described the details of the battle. Back at the summit, Iketani and the others listened with their skin crawling in disbelief. They simply couldn't fathom that the quiet, unassuming Takumi they knew possessed such terrifying skill.
As a reader, Okimi was finally getting a clear picture of just how far beyond skilled the protagonist truly was. However, up to this point, the driving had only been portrayed as incredible, not yet supernatural.
Suddenly, the cars approached the famous Five Successive Hairpins of Mount Akina.
"I'm faster on the straights, but he's still glued to me. That means I'm losing in the corners. Losing to a low-horsepower car... I'd rather die than admit it!" Keisuke's frustration reached a boiling point as he drove. He simply couldn't accept being challenged by an 86 while behind the wheel of an FD.
'If I don't overtake that car, my old man definitely won't admit I won. A full tank of gas is on the line. I guess I have no choice... I'll have to use that move.'
As Takumi thought this, his eyes became sharp and predatory.
That move? What move?
Okimi's curiosity was piqued to a dangerous degree.
The two cars charged into the hairpins. The first corner, the second... the fourth. The initial turns weren't too extreme, allowing both drivers to maintain a pace of over a hundred kilometers per hour as they plummeted down the mountain.
But the fifth corner was the killer. It was incredibly sharp and steep; a single mistake would send a car through the guardrail and into the abyss.
In the panels, as they neared the apex, the 86 didn't just maintain speed, it accelerated.
"Is he insane? He's going to fly off the cliff!" Keisuke slammed on his brakes, instinctively slowing down. For the first time in the race, he allowed the 86 to take the inside line and pass him.
However, that overtake was permanent. Keisuke would never see the front of that 86 again.