Initial D Third Stage

Takumi Fujiwara is a skilled street racer, but he suffers a crushing loss against the team Emperor's leader Kyoichi Sudou due to his AE86 experiencing an engine failure. Doubting his abilities, the recent high school graduate is then approached by the Akagi RedSuns' team leader Ryousuke Takahashi, who proposes the formation of a professional street racing team. Although it would be the ideal way to improve as a street racer, Takumi remains undecided.

Does the young street racer have what it takes to become a professional? Perhaps Ryousuke and the RedSuns can help him reevaluate his own doubts and misconceptions concerning street racing. However, first and foremost, Takumi decides to settle the score with Kyoichi Sudou...

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Fujiwara, Takumi Main

Miki, Shinichiro Japanese

Fujiwara, Bunta Supporting

Ishizuka, Unshou Japanese

Takahashi, Ryousuke Supporting

Koyasu, Takehito Japanese

Takahashi, Keisuke Supporting

Seki, Tomokazu Japanese

Takeuchi, Itsuki Supporting

Iwata, Mitsuo Japanese

Satou, Mako Supporting

Neya, Michiko Japanese

Shouji, Shingo Supporting

Fujiwara, Keiji Japanese

Nakazato, Takeshi Supporting

Hiyama, Nobuyuki Japanese

Sudou, Kyouichi Supporting

Tanaka, Masahiko Japanese

Iketani, Kouichirou Supporting

Yao, Kazuki Japanese

Nagasawa, Takayuki Producer

Mima, Masafumi Sound Director

Kashiwakura, Tsutomu Sound Director

Watanabe, Hiroshi Episode Director

Reviews

Aug 11, 2026

TinyTony404

Recommended

this is PEAK

Initial D: Third Stage is easily one of my favourite parts of Initial D so far. The soundtrack is PEAK, especially the Eurobeat. The music fits the racing so well and makes every race feel even more hype.

Takumi also develops a lot in this movie. In the earlier stages, he was pretty quiet and just seemed like someone who was naturally good at driving. Here, we actually get to see more of him as a person. He's starting to think more about what he actually wants and where he wants to go in life.

The romance that has been building in the background finally ... goes somewhere, and I actually really liked it. It gives the movie a more personal side and adds another layer to Takumi's character.

Takumi is also starting to figure out what he actually wants from life. He's gone from just delivering tofu because it's his dad's job to realising that driving is something he genuinely loves and wants to pursue.

The cars and animation are better than ever. The races look great, and seeing all the different cars going head to head is still one of my favourite things about Initial D. The animation upgrade also makes the races feel much more intense.

I also liked that Third Stage feels like a proper step forward for the characters rather than just being another collection of races. There's more going on outside of the driving, and it gives Takumi and the other characters more room to develop.

Overall, I absolutely loved Initial D: Third Stage. The Eurobeat is incredible and holy, the races are great, the romance actually works, Takumi gets some really good character development and the cars look better than ever.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jun 23, 2026

fh1478

Recommended

It's Time To Leave The Mountain Nest

Initial D: Third Stage is the movie about a young adult that realizes, that delivering tofu is not the path for him in life, but instead making sick drifts.

Racing a man with a bandana, racing your dad's rival son, and love, all of these moments are included in the third stage, and they are interesting to watch. It also goes in an incredibly gross and uncomfortable place, but done in a way that it's believable.

The love story that has been in the background has finally bloomed into something memorable and it is the best part of the movie.

It looks ... amazing. This is the best that initial dual ever look, and it is glorious, the backgrounds are so detailed and brimming with atmosphere, and characters colouring looks good, so it almost looks like call animation.

This season is like autumn, It's about tying loose ends before winter comes, an a new spring will begin, for a new Horizon for racing.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jun 20, 2023

Bensonas

Mixed Feelings

So stage 3. It was ok. Probably shouldn't have been a film, maybe a smaller season like stage 2. Music was still great but quite a step down for me from stage 1 and 2. I'll expand.

Animation wise, as usual, is broken into two different parts; the driving, the non driving. I'll start with the driving as I believe this is the element that shines. Seemingly, with every season it gets better and better. It's now at a point where I'm not sure it can to be honest. Every race, with come thick and fast in this season, I'll touch on this later, is ... animated flawlessly. Sadly the investment and excitement for these races is lacking, again something I'll mention later. I cannot fault the animation on the driving at all however, which is not something I can say about the non driving animation.

I'm going to say it. It's poor. Really really poor. I'm watching this 20+ years after it was made so I don't know what happe ed studio wise, but it really is rubbish. From Stage 1 to 2 there was progress, progress I had to adjust too because I loved this animation in stage 1, but an adjustment that made me happy with the progress. Here in stage 3, you have to adjust quickly as otherwise, it will just be an annoyance throughout. Thank goodness for the driving quality. Without it, it would be very difficult to get through.

Another issue I had with this is the story. Stage 2 gets you really ready for this season for you to feel completely deflated by the end of Stage 3. It makes me think that Stage 3 is the real scene setter for the next (this what I thought stage 2 was to stage 3) Ultimately this season really under derlivers. It's rushed, poorly written and not a patch on 1 and 2. Races just happen, with no build up, the building up that allows you to get excited, that puts you on the edge of your seat before the racers are at the start line. They happen, then they're are done and that's it.

Maybe this season is about Takumi
'finding himself' or 'forgiving' so that he can truly move on. Sadly, I don't care. I just want to start Stage 4 knowing it doesn't get worse than this....I hope.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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