When that iconic line from the 'Initial D' trailer appeared in the episode, countless viewers across Great Zhou felt their blood boil all at once.
Hearing that line after watching the actual story unfold was a completely different experience than when it first showed up in the trailer.
"The 86 is going up the mountain!"
"Damn! We're already deep into Episode 2 and only now does the 86 make its move — Teacher Jing Yu really knows how to drag things out!"
"Holy crap, I'm so pumped right now!"
"Takumi is so cool!"
"Never thought I'd get this excited watching a mountain racing drama!"
"Kei: Can you not? You're really gonna come up the mountain to humiliate me just for a tank of gas?"
"Hey, his dad offered a whole tank! Who could resist the temptation of a full tank of gas and a drive with the girl he likes?"
"It's just a tank of gas, and it's enough to make Takumi take it seriously!"
"A tragedy caused by one tank of gasoline! Damn it, I've watched two episodes of 'Initial D' and all I've seen is Kei acting cocky the whole time. Someone please crush him already!"
"Gasoline. I only care about gasoline!"
Gas is over 9 yuan per liter now. A full tank costs five to six hundred! It's not cheap! I'd be tempted too!"
"That guy Nakazato looks pretty strong. Serious presence. I bet he's a later antagonist — probably even stronger than Takahashi!"
"So Takumi is an LSP too, huh? He seems quiet on the outside, but he clearly fell for Natsuki's looks!"
"Come on, she did say she bought a sexy swimsuit! Out of ten men, nine wouldn't be able to resist that line — and the tenth probably likes guys!"
Once Nakazato, the "Black Lightning," appeared, he immediately stepped into his side job — 'Initial D's resident commentator.
He went on and on with his confusing analysis, only to come to one conclusion: even from just the silhouette of the slowly climbing 86, he could feel it — the driver was strong!
After an hour and a half of buildup, the race finally—
Began.
Takumi's friends were shocked to learn that the '86 driver was him — and even more stunned when they found out he had beaten Kei's FD last week!
Then came the line that shattered all doubts:
"Five years ago, I was the one delivering my family's tofu."
And just like that, everything made sense.
The gas station boss had always assumed it was his friend Bunta (Fujiwara Bunta) driving the tofu delivery car — but in reality, it was Takumi.
And with that, the race finally began.
Since the FD was being driven by a stunt double during filming, they couldn't get full driving shots for Kei's scenes — after all, actor Meng Jin didn't have the skill.
But for Jing Yu, who played Takumi, there was no such issue.
And since Takumi was the main character, it felt natural to give his perspective more screen time.
So...
Viewers across Great Zhou, watching this "fictional" scene, were actually witnessing a real race between Jing Yu and a professional stunt driver.
And the cars were tuned exactly to match their supposed in-story specs.
On the straightaways, the weaker AE86 was easily left behind by the FD, but then it would relentlessly catch up again through the corners — full throttle the entire time, never braking through turns!
Steering, cornering, exiting the curve—
How to drift.
How to choose a racing line.
All these techniques were fully demonstrated on screen.
Jing Yu didn't hide a thing. If you wanted, you could literally treat 'Initial D' as a drifting tutorial.
But for the average viewer?
They were mind-blown.
None of the HUDs were blurred or obscured, so they could clearly see that the AE86, driven by Jing Yu, was going over 120 km/h going downhill.
"Wait, this show is doing this for real?!"
"This is insane!"
"Teacher Jing Yu shot this race scene himself? No stunt double?"
"No way, this must be CGI, right?"
"Absolutely not. I work in VFX. I can say with confidence — this scene was shot on location, with real cars, and no digital compositing. I'm floored!"
"My god, this show is hardcore!"
"I'm not okay, guys. I'm getting carsick just watching. It's terrifying!"
"That drift — how did he even do that? So smooth! I can drift a little, but this... this is art!"
"I thought I was here to watch Takumi humiliate Kei — turns out Jing Yu humiliated me! How is this man even real? Did he come out of the womb already knowing how to drive like this?! This is insane!"
"Also, I heard the production hired real-life top mountain racers from the Modo City and the Capital. Judging from the driving style, the FD's stunt driver is probably one of them. But Jing Yu's AE86 is clearly underpowered compared to spec, and they're shooting on location — so does that mean Jing Yu is actually keeping up with pro racers using a car that weak?!"
The moment the AE86 and the FD started racing, the music blasted triumphantly through the speakers.
It instantly set the tone, amping up the audience's adrenaline and syncing with the racing rhythm on screen.
Turn after turn, drift after drift — the 86 was repeatedly left behind on the straightaways, only to claw its way back in the curves.
In the drama, Kei was already confused inside the FD — why couldn't he shake this car?
Meanwhile, the viewers were even more confused — 'Initial D' had just opened up an entirely new world of racing to them.
Especially the scene where Takumi, bored, yawned while single-handedly drifting through a curve.
That black-and-white car tracing an arc on the winding road—
Gu Ruo broke out in goosebumps.
Her pupils dilated with awe.
Too. Damn. Cool.
"I can't take this! After this episode, I'm driving to the mountain near my house to watch street races!"
"Me too. I used to think those racers were lame. I had no idea mountain racing could be this thrilling!"
"I'm jealous of you people who have races near your homes!"
"Teacher Jing Yu, I want to learn how to drift!"
Soon, the chase reached Mount Akina's legendary Five Consecutive Hairpin Turns!
The 86 was right on the FD's tail — never passing, but never falling behind either.
Now, the scene couldn't be shown in one continuous take like before.
They had to explain the difficulty of the five hairpins — and pinpoint where the victory or loss would be decided.
This was done mostly through narration from Takahashi and the show's gold-medal commentator, the legendary Nakazato, "Black Lightning."
First corner!
Second corner!
As the crowd analyzed and Takahashi and Nakazato provided commentary—
The AE86 entered the fifth hairpin.
Not only did it not brake, it accelerated into the turn!
Even characters in the show thought the brakes had failed — that the 86 was going to crash off a cliff!
But at that moment, Gu Ruo's eyes widened.
She clearly saw how Jing Yu handled that turn.
She understood his left-hand movement. She understood the right hand. She understood the footwork. But putting it all together—
How did he make that turn?
The screen showed the car shudder slightly — a clear sign it was struggling for grip. And yet…
The 86 made it. It even cut inside the corner!
"Kei's been overtaken! The 86 passed him on the inside! The 86 wins!"
As onlookers screamed—
Viewers across Great Zhou fell silent.
They realized… they didn't understand what they just saw.
But this wasn't anime or manga.
This was a live-action 'Initial D' filmed by Jing Yu himself — real-life driving techniques captured on camera.
Multiple angles were edited together, fully presenting the cornering scene.
Some people understood bits and pieces.
But most were just confused.
"How did he make that turn? Was that CGI?"
"Nope — 100% real. I swear!"
"This show is insane. I don't even know how to comment anymore."
"So hardcore! No editing tricks. Every driving move by Takumi was done by Jing Yu himself. So cool!"
"I'm tearing up. How can someone be this amazing? Not just good-looking, but drives like a king too!"
"I'm a dude, and even I am falling for him. Unreal!"
"I'm in love with this show! It's already the front-runner for Winter's top drama! If the rest of the series stays even 80% as good as these two episodes, it's definitely taking the crown!"
"Unbelievable. I never thought someone like me, who doesn't even know cars, would get this hyped over a racing drama!"
The fan groups exploded with excitement!!
In the show, after thinking it over, Nakazato gave a confident smile.
"I get it now! I know how he made that turn. I, Nakazato of the Night Kid, will be the one to defeat this downhill expert of Akina!"
Flag planted.
And with that—
Episode 2 of 'Initial D' ended with a shot of Nakazato's departing back.
At that moment, the ending theme 'Rage Your Dream' began to play.
Two hours of nonstop racing drama. A double-episode premiere.
Cliffhanger — late, but it came.
Though airing two episodes at once just meant combining what would've been two shorter chapters, the cliffhanger still had to come eventually.
Gu Ruo nearly spat out blood.
"Are you kidding me?! You're not going to explain how he did it? Ending the episode now? And Nakazato too — why even start to explain if you're not going to finish?!"
In the 'Initial D' fan groups, everyone was equally enraged!