The 2010s was a decade that I grew up in as a gen00 zoomer born in the earlymid 2000s. It was also in this decade where anime has started to gain more mainstream popularity growing outside its shell as simply a niche. One channel that managed to ride that wave in one way or another was Hero TV a local Filipino channel that aired dubbed anime shows in Tagalog. And it was this channel that facilitated the series that I would consider to be my first anime: Initial D. It was that thenactive channel rest in peace that introduced me to anime as a concept during a decade where the genre was riding a wave of rising popularity. Talk about a good timing. Growing up Ive always loved cars. And so having discovered Initial D I was immediately hooked. And while I was already familiar with Battle Stage watching it on YouTube through a Nokia phone it was Hero TV that facilitated the series itself save for Third and Fifth/Final Stage for a then 8 or so year old kid like me to watch back in the early 2010s. Its no surprise then that Initial D holds quite a special place in my heart as my first anime. While the series was never perfect its still something. That said I probably should be talking about First Stage where it all started. But instead here I am talking about the second season. Now why would I do that? Well a couple reasons. First of all there have already been reviews on this site about First Stage. I could probably write a review on that but I probably wont be able to add anything that mightve already been said. Second I feel like Second Stage is pretty underrated. It doesnt seem to get talked about too much. Needless to say there hasnt been a review of it here on AniList. So Ill be the first to fill that void. I have a lot to say about this season specifically. It just quite stands out to me as the series in its most mature and sombre form. Its where the slice of life elements outside the racing have a more serious tone to it which Id like to elaborate later on... And so lets take a spirited drive down this proverbial mountain road of changing seasons and growing up that is Second Stage... SPOILERS AHEAD. Make a Uturn sharp hairpin drift back if you havent seen Second Stage. Lets talk about the nicities in terms of presentation first. The opening theme is a banger performed by as the series tradition m.o.v.e. I still remember loving this opening as a kid and its still great to this day. Its loud indicated by the use of trumpets its catchy and gets you pumped up. Yuri Masudas beautiful voice MOTSUs energetic bar spitting and T. Kimuras catchy techno music composition all come together in creating such a banger of an opening song. The ending theme composed by Galla juxtaposes with a slower and more melancholic acoustic guitar track. And its this ending theme alone that indicates Second Stages vibe compared to the rest of the series a more sombre and somewhat sad kind of vibe. The Eurobeat selection as is the most indispensable part of the series musical score is fantastic. Youve got songs from good old legends in the genre like Dave Rodgers Mega NRG Man Bratt Sinclaire among others its this season that contains my favorite Initial D related Eurobeat song Grand Prix by Mega NRG Man. The OST outside the licensed songs itself is great as well. It has a lot more emphasis on darker and more melancholic tracks that you dont really hear in First Stage or even afterwards. Like for example the tracks that play when Takumi deals with the gravitas of blowing his EightSix really conveying that emotional moment. Or Tension which is a track containing chords that kinda sound like the XFiles theme song conveying an eerie atmosphere of somethings not right. This overall darker and melancholic tone in the soundtrack once again is indicative of Second Stages established vibe different from the rest. The visuals look more polished and refined. The lighting or lack thereof has been given more emphasis in race scenes set at night during interior shots of characters behind the wheel unlike First Stage wherein characters seems to break this logic by appearing illuminated despite the cars interior supposedly being dark. Characters also wear different clothes instead of sticking to just one set of them which makes more sense and is a nice display of their fashion. Takumi doesnt wear just the white shirt and jeans that were used to seeing in the first season. He wears a shirt with some blue stripes in another episode a yellow shirt covered by a denim jacket and in another a pink one with long sleeves. The CGI is pretty decent albeit nothing special as far as late 90s anime CGI is concerned. Its certainly an upgrade from First Stages CGI although theres still some visual flaws like not getting the Trueno logo on the back of the EightSix right. Cars still lack some real celshading that would later be seen in Third Stage and perfected in Fourth Stage but they do look more polished and overall look much nicer. One thing to note is how cars are no longer hand drawn in some shots like in the first season which I guess kinda sucks since they look kinda cool but it makes sense in terms of maintaining visual consistency. If cars are rendered as CGI might as well keep it that way. Now lets get onto the real meat of it all the story and themes. Second Stage starts off with a whole new threat: Team Emperor and their powerful rallybred machines the Lancer Evolution. Theres a clear escalation of threat here in which theyre out to conquer Gunma and the racers in the prefecture are out to protect their pride and turf but to no avail. This is different from First Stage where Takumi makes a name for himself provoking challenges from multiple racers culminating in a showdown with the downhill specialist Ryosuke Takahashi. In this season our protagonists alongside other characters like those of the RedSuns are defending their areas against a whole pack. For Ryosuke its a revenge challenge from Kyoichi Sudo Emperors top boss. Its a battle of philosophies the formers theory driven togue racing versus the latters tried and tested circuit racing applied to the winding mountain pass. For Takumi its facing a plateau and learning a fundamental lesson the hard way but will allow him to evolve as a racing driver. Theres an underlying theme of personal conflict and growth with almost every character in this particular season which hasnt really been emphasized in the first one. Or at least not to the extent that Second Stage has. They all seem to have something to deal with and come out as better people. You can see this underlying theme starting with the antagonists. Seiji has a problem with his ego which holds him back and causes him to lose the race against the EightSix which he himself volunteered to do over Kyoichi racing the tofu shitbox himself. He underestimates his opponent and jumps the gun against Kyoichis tactical orders costing him the race. The defeat slaps him in the face literally from Kyoichi and figuratively from having been defeated by a realwheel drive shitbox with far less power than his rally pedigree machine. He gets humbled and comes out having learned to put aside his ego and show more respect towards the EightSix and its driver. Kyoichi has a score to settle with his rival Ryosuke having been defeated by him two years ago. The two go on a showdown and Kyoichi gets taught about an oversight concerning an element intrinsic to street racing oncoming traffic. He gets humbled and learns to respect Ryosuke as a true street racer realizing that circuit racing techniques alone cant conquer the mountain pass. Continuing with the theme of growth and learning Bunta has got a new engine in store for the EightSix. But he doesnt want to just install this new engine just like that. He wants Takumi and the car to first reach breaking point and lose for that experience will teach him something as well see later. And soon enough after having encountered a heartbreakingly unpleasant truth about his love interest Takumi heads to Akagi to take up Kyoichis offer of racing him seeking to let off some steam. Kyoichi is probably the best character of Second Stage. Hes a pragmaticminded kind of racer who picks the most efficient way of winning races a pragmatic approach in both machine and technique. He comes equipped with a homologated rally machine containing 4WD a turbo and an antilag say it with me mishfiyaringu shishtemu or misfiring system. When it comes to strategy he doesnt waste his tire wear. He goes for the decisive overtake only when he is absolutely sure of it. In the race against the EightSix he makes sure to strike at the weakest point the flat section of the course where his opponents machine is the most disadvantaged. Hes like a fighter pilot who only fires rounds when his target is locked in sight making sure not to needlessly waste any ammo. The banging sound of his misfiring system and the Pyrenees black color of choice on his Evo III also add to this image of a hunter predator which is pretty much how Takumi describes him. He feels like being hunted down. Takumi blows his engine unable to keep up. And its in this race or as Kyoichi calls it a seminar where Takumi learns a valuable lesson the hard way. The reality of racing is that skill can only take you so far until you have to do something about your machine. This completely subverts the message established in First Stage where its not the car its the driver flipping it over its head. Now its 50 car 50 driver skill a less naive and far more realistic outlook in terms of motorsports. This race has to be one of the best races not just within Second Stage but arguably the whole series. It allowed Takumi to become more than just a plotarmor Mary Sue who kept winning in which he was able to learn a fundamental lesson and come out stronger. Its moments like these that are severely lacking in the new MF Ghost series. I really wish Kanata was able to be given this level of struggle and learning the way Takumi was here. Its characters like Kyoichi Ryosuke Wataru and Bunta that are indicative of Second Stages emphasis on the themes of personal growth and learning something. Kyoichi and Wataru in particular arent just there to take down Akinas downhill hero merely for the sake of personal pride or ego like most of the antagonists from First Stage. They come from a place of constructive criticism wanting to teach Takumi things that he lack as a racing driver the car is just as important as the skill thinking more like a racer in terms of technicalities as is Watarus point. This second season in contrast to seeing Takumi rise as an underdog in the first sees him go through a plateau and the process of escaping that plateau. He falls into a slump pushes his limits loses and learns a valuable lesson the hard way rises again and struggles with his cars new engine and it eventually culminates with him fully realizing and unlocking the full potential of that new engine. Its in tasting bitter defeat and struggling that makes the upgrade all the more rewarding having realized the value of the upgrade in power and what its like when youre unable to compete without that power. Only when accompanied by more power and speed does skill afford to compete with tougher opponents. Complacency with skill alone doesnt cut it. This is what Bunta wanted his son to learn all along. Finally I want to talk about the slice of life elements in this season and how it takes on a more serious and mature tone here. Once again theres a common theme of personal struggle and growth with many of our characters here. Weve gone over Seiji and Kyoichi already so I wanna focus on the others. Takumi has his own personal problems with his love interest Natsuki. Hes heartbroken by the fact that she prostituted herself to some middle aged man behind his back. This gives the relationship between them established in First Stage a dark turn that now has to be overcome eventually culminating in Third Stage. Natsuki herself wants to break away from being an objectified doll to some stranger for income and wants to work a more scrupulous job. Itsuki has his own love interest with Kazumi Watarus younger sister which ends in departure. Itsuki has to learn the painful reality of loving someone and having to let them go. Kazumi wants to be able to be independent instead of having to rely on his elder brother all the time illustrated by the metaphor of wanting to take the wheel instead of just being a passenger. Wataru has to deal with his own heated behavior when it comes to interacting with fellow street racers and his antisocial tendencies. Its story beats like these outside of just the racing that play a huge part in making Second Stage something quite special. It elevates Initial D into more than just adrenaline Eurobeat fueled drifting and showdowns. These people have their own lives outside of the cockpits of their JDM machines. They all have their own problems to deal with and learn from making them more human. And I love Second Stage for that. Whereas First Stage was about discovering your passion and dream indicated by that first seasons ending theme Rage Your Dream Second Stage is about working towards that dream learning and growing realizing the brutal realities of competition and the necessity to become stronger rather than complacency in ability alone. Takumi discovered his passion of wanting to be a racing driver. Now he has to tread the path of being a racing driver along with the realities that come with it learning growing evolving recognizing what he lacks and what he needs in order to truly compete as a racing driver. It gave Takumi some genuine character development graduating from being a nonchalant boy racer to a more serious racing driver who has to start thinking like a racing driver technicalities and all. A lot of people would consider First Stage to be peak Initial D but Id argue that Second Stage is close perhaps in some ways even better. The more serious and mature tone along with the underlying themes of personal struggle and growth really made it stick out among the rest. Its a close call between these three seasons preProject D in which the series eventually went stale. So yeah thats Initial D Second Stage. A rather short but well enjoyable ride of emotional heartbreaks struggle and growth. Packed with entertaining races great soundtrack kickass Eurobeat and just a great presentation overall. Worth rewatching every now and then. If you want Initial D in its most serious mature melancholic and somewhat dark tone this is it. Great racing action that also manages as a pretty decent slice of life anime. Whether youre a fan of the series cars in general or just like some sports anime and some slice of life thrown in this is a good watch right after First Stage. Theres meaning to be found here. :