Episode 8 of 'Initial D' was, overall, about Takumi chasing from behind and slowly adapting to the unfamiliar Usui pass.
Sato Mako and Sayuki, the female racer duo from Usui, turned out to be far more formidable than anyone had expected.
Even for Takumi, this was the first time in a race where he truly felt pressure.
An unfamiliar road, a rhythm he wasn't used to, and a lead car he couldn't afford to lose sight of—
Five minutes passed, and the battle still wasn't over.
The camera had shifted through multiple perspectives.
Takumi, though clearly not comfortable, was still glued to Mako's rear bumper.
Meanwhile, even with everything she had, Mako and Sayuki couldn't shake off the 86 behind them.
Watching this unfold, Hao Shuyu found himself growing more and more tense.
Three background tracks had already played in this single five-minute sequence.
And then—
Came the most breathtaking moment of the entire episode, possibly the entire series so far.
The Usui pass featured a long, narrow, semi-circular curve, which the show gave a name: C121.
Just like the iconic five hairpin turns of Mount Akina, this was Usui's signature corner.
Takumi had his famed gutter drift for Akina.
As for Mako and Sha Xue, this curve was their territory.
They were among the very few racers on Usui who could drift through C121 completely and cleanly—
And among those few, they were the fastest.
No one had ever cleared that corner flawlessly on their first try.
Which meant—
In a race like this, with the first-to-breakaway rules, C121 was likely where Takumi would fall behind—and lose.
Just as all the viewers were grasping that fact—
The blue car—SL180—shot into the curve at a speed that seemed like it would throw it right off the cliff.
And yet, Takumi's 86 didn't back off.
Then came the most visually stunning drift entry of 'Initial D' to date.
The blue SL180 and the black-and-white AE86 entered the sweeping curve in parallel drift,
Skimming the edge at top speed, side by side—
Like two glowing spirits, one blue and one white, tearing through the night-lit roads of Usui.
Spectators on the roadside were left speechless.
It was pure artistry, elevated by the thundering background music.
When Hao Shuyu saw it, his scalp tingled, and goosebumps rippled across his arms.
"That was insane...!"
Even though it was Takumi's first time taking on C121, he executed a perfect drift.
And Sayuki—who had been monitoring his driving closely—realized, to her shock, that his line was cleaner than even hers and Mako's.
In the fan chat group, people were going wild:
"I'm soaked from head to toe. THIS is racing! That curve has to be dozens—maybe hundreds—of meters. How the hell did he drift it in one smooth motion?!"
"I'm in love with Takumi. And Sato Mako too, damn! Mako and Sha Xue aren't just the fastest on Usui—they're better than Nakazato, Shingo Shoji, and Kei Takahashi put together!"
"I'm on my knees. Director Jing Yu is a genius. This is the art of driving! If I had even one-tenth his talent, I'd be in a relationship by now."
"Bro… maybe the reason you're single isn't your driving—it's your face. And your car's ugly too."
"...Wow. That was brutal. Kick this guy out of the group, admin."
"Let's go, Sato Mako!!"
"Yu Youqing and Xia Yining are absolute queens. Even if their drifts aren't as stylish as Jing Yu's, they're still stupidly cool."
"I want a badass racer girlfriend to take me for a drive…"
"Wait, when you say drive… do you mean actual cars?"
"Admin, can you kick this guy, too?"
No drama can make every single scene high-octane. That's just reality.
But in Episode 8, that one moment on the C121 curve—
Thanks to Jing Yu's planning, a stunt team that trained on this exact corner for over a month, and 40–50 takes to nail the shot—
It was flawless.
That one ten-second sequence completely pulled the audience in.
Sayuki was devastated.
Takumi had not only cleared C121 on his first attempt, but had done so better than they had, even after hundreds of thousands of practice runs.
The word "defeat" echoed endlessly in Sayuki's mind.
But Mako, refusing to give up, yelled at her partner—snapping her out of it.
Then, as the music reached a fever pitch—
One of 'Initial D's signature character themes kicked in:
"Wings of Fire", the duet by Sato Mako and Sayuki, has a localized Great Zhou language version.
It hit hard.
This episode had no melodrama, no love triangle, just pure racing.
The best of Mount Akina vs. the best of Usui.
Sato Mako's fiery will to win.
Takumi's determined, focused eyes.
The god-tier soundtrack behind it all.
Hao Shuyu was stunned.
From Episode 1 to now, 'Initial D' has already served up more legendary insert songs than he could count.
On the season's TV music charts, 'Initial D' already held five of the top ten slots.
Most famous among them was, of course, "Rage Your Dream!"
But Hao Shuyu was certain—after tonight, "Wings of Fire" would be in the Top 5 by tomorrow.
His feet tapped involuntarily in sync with the rhythm.
His heart felt like it was riding inside the 86 and SL180, part of this fierce race.
For five full minutes, the episode showed what peak 'Initial D' racing looked like.
He couldn't blink.
His heart only had one word left in it:
"HYPE."
"This is TOO good!"
Just when Hao Shuyu thought the race would go into a second round—
Where Takumi would lead and Mako/Sayuki would chase—
The script gave everyone who thought that a metaphorical slap in the face.
Because Mako still couldn't shake the 86, she grew frustrated.
She pushed the speed harder—
And harder—
Until they hit a sharp curve.
The 86 had already started to brake,
But Mako was still accelerating.
Then—
The car lost grip.
Hao Shuyu's heart stopped.
He forgot this was just a show.
"Crap—she's going to crash!"
The scene switched to slow motion.
Just as the two cars were about to collide,
Takumi yanked the wheel, slammed the accelerator, and pulled off a high-speed evasive maneuver,
Barely skimming past the SL180 as it spun in place.
"It… didn't crash!" Hao Shuyu swallowed hard.
The camerawork was so real—
He felt like he'd just had a brush with death.
Takumi won. Again.