It's "birds and bees" for Tak and Mika, basking in the glow of new romance, while poor Iggy, Cole and Kenji are closing out the summer dateless. They'll just have to settle for fresh air and peaceful scenery as the team heads to the hot spring resort hills of Hakone in Kanagawa for their biggest challenge yet at the foot of the Fuji speedway. But a major storm is brewing intent on sending Tak and the gang back to the minor leagues!

Takumi Fujiwara
An 18-year-old with a passion for driving, Tak began his motoring career by delivering tofu every morning to a hotel. He was trained by his father.

Bunta Fujiwara
Owner of a tofu restaurant, Bunta is Tak's dad. He is the mysterious driver who holds the fastest downhill record in Akina.

Natalie Mogi
She is Tak's love interest and goes to the same school as Tak and Iggy.

Iggy Takeuchi
Iggy is Tak's best friend. He works with Tak at the gas station.

Shuichi Shigeno

Something magical happens when Shigeno-sensei touches pencil to paper and begins to render the street poetics of drifting, oversteering, powersliding, and studder cuts. His visual palette in Initial D is grace personified - characters, cars, and movement leap off the page with power ... and with an economy of stroke that is stunning.

A veteran manga-ka (manga artist), Shigeno-sensei is also known as the creator of an earlier series on motorbike racing called Bari Bari Densetsu.