A few days later, Episode 11 of 'Initial D' aired.
In Episode 10, after Ryosuke Takahashi was defeated by Fujiwara Takumi, a new challenger appeared in Episode 11:
Kyoichi Sudo, leader of the Emperor team.
A year ago, Kyoichi had lost to Ryosuke. Now, a year later, he returned to settle the score.
But before going after Ryosuke again, he decided to first challenge the man who had defeated him—Takumi.
So Kyoichi approached Takumi.
In this episode, Jing Yu clearly accelerated the pacing. He didn't follow the original manga's drawn-out narrative structure.
In the source material, the story had Takeshi Nakazato race the Emperor team first, followed by a string of taunts and buildup by Seiji Iwaki, their No. 2 driver—all of which had little to do with Takumi himself. Jing Yu cut all of that.
Instead, the episode skipped straight to Seiji Iwaki challenging Takumi to a race on Mount Akina.
Seiji lost, of course, because he jumped the gun and tried to overtake Takumi's AE86 too early, before the quintuple hairpin turns. He ended up suffering the same crushing defeat as Ryosuke.
Naturally, this episode was longer than usual, since Jing Yu wanted to flesh out this arc properly over the next few episodes.
But in this week's broadcast, one thing became crystal clear to the audience:
Natsuki Mogi, the female lead of 'Initial D'...
Was confirmed.
That "Mercedes guy" she talked about as her "dad"?
Yeah, that was her sugar daddy.
Even worse, from a line where she said:
"Thank you for taking care of my mom and me all this time…"
…It implied Natsuki's mother was also involved.
Jing Yu took two minutes to fully explain the sugar daddy's identity:
He was the biological father of Shiraishi, a classmate of Takumi and Natsuki.
Shiraishi had shown up a few times earlier in the story—and she'd always had a crush on Takumi.
So yeah, the plot officially became a tangled mess.
'Initial D' fans were on the brink of emotional collapse.
But the part that truly broke them came at the end of Episode 11:
Takumi received an anonymous note.
It listed the time and place of Natsuki's next rendezvous with her sugar daddy.
No need to guess—it was Shiraishi who wrote it.
A righteous act of revenge.
Natsuki, once seen as a best friend, had seduced Shiraishi's own father, wrecking her family.
And now, that same girl was flirting with the boy Shiraishi secretly loved?
Some best friend.
Natsuki had one foot on Shiraishi's dad and the other on her classmate crush.
Who wouldn't snap?
We don't know who the most tragic male character is in this story…
But the most tragic female?
Shiraishi wins that title, hands down.
So she snitched. Wrote that note.
And yet…
Despite everyone expecting the ratings to collapse from the chaos, Episode 11 went up.
It ended with a viewership of 8.96%.
Viewer Reactions Flooded In:
"Finally got some emotional payoff! Takumi, open your eyes—see Natsuki for who she really is!"
"Thank you, Jing Yu-sensei, for casting Yu Youqing and Xia Yining as the Usui sisters. I take back everything bad I said about you before!"
"I can't take it! This show's supposed to be about racing—why is the plot this insane?"
"Natsuki… what happened to you?"
"AE86 going downhill, Mercedes climbing trees!"
"No matter how fast the AE86 is, it still can't catch Natsuki in a Benz. That's real life for you."
"I watch dramas to escape reality… and Jing Yu-sensei just threw raw social commentary in my face. That's too cruel."
"The takeaway from this series? Make more money. Stop dreaming. Being good at driving doesn't matter—what matters is the car you drive."
"My final line in the sand is this: Takumi has to break up with Natsuki after learning the truth."
"Watch him forgive her."
"You think he's going to forgive that?!"
"I swear, if there's a forgiveness arc—I'm out."
"If that happens, I won't even finish the last episodes."
Fortunately, the show had already laid groundwork for tragic racing romances earlier on, so fans weren't completely blindsided or driven to rage-quit.
But truth be told—in the original manga…
Takumi did forgive Natsuki.
They continued dating.
Natsuki cut ties with the sugar daddy, stayed loyal to Takumi, and the relationship even got sweet again.
Then later on… they broke up amicably.
Talk about wild.
That's exactly why Jing Yu didn't plan to adapt the rest of the 'Initial D' manga.
The latter plotlines lacked impact and were full of questionable choices.
Not to mention, Takumi ends up breaking his leg and can't race anymore.
Jing Yu couldn't accept that.
So his plan was simple:
Let Takumi break up with Natsuki.
Then end the show with Jay Chou's movie theme, 'All the Way North', as the final send-off.
Whether in Great Zhou or in China, people just couldn't accept that "forgiveness culture" from Japan.
December 10 — Episode 12 Airs
Takumi, seething with fury and with nowhere to vent, accepted Kyoichi's racing challenge.
This time, they weren't racing on Mount Akina.
They hit the open roads.
The engines roared in agony.
Takumi's heart bled silently.
He pushed the AE86 to its limit, flying down unfamiliar tracks with reckless abandon.
Even viewers who didn't know anything about cars could feel something was off.
"I'd be like that too."
"My girlfriend sleeping with a classmate's dad? That's soul-crushing."
"I feel like Takumi's going to lose… the camera's been focusing on the AE86's engine a lot."
"Honestly, I can't even care about the race anymore. I'm just emotionally exhausted."
"Still… It's so damn cool. The car. The rage. The man."
"Oh shit, the engine blew!"
"NO WAY—The AE86's engine exploded?!"
Exactly.
Some people thought the whole "Natsuki betrayal" plotline was unnecessary.
But they were wrong.
From a pure racing perspective, sure—Natsuki had nothing to do with the story. Removing her wouldn't change the outcome of any race.
But even a racing show… is still about people.
And Takumi is the protagonist—not the AE86.
In any character-driven story, emotional growth matters just as much as plot.
Just like in Jing Yu's past life, Uncle Ben's death is what taught Spider-Man that "with great power comes great responsibility."
Without that death, would Spider-Man just become a vigilante for no reason?
Nobody would be moved by it.
They'd just think he had too much free time.
So Natsuki's betrayal, the AE86's blown engine, and the loss to Kyoichi—these three blows were vital for Takumi's emotional arc.
The AE86 would rise again with a new engine.
And Takumi, having walked through betrayal, failure, and heartbreak, would be reborn too.
The scene where Takumi and his father towed the AE86 home made the whole country tear up.
Takumi begged his father to fix the car.
Offered all his savings from part-time jobs.
Said he'd even borrow money if needed—he just wanted the AE86 back.
"It's not about the money," his father said.
"Some things… just can't be fixed."
He was talking about the car.
But to Takumi, it felt like he was talking about his relationship with Natsuki.
Episode 12 ended with Takumi sitting in the passenger seat of the tow truck…
Finally breaking down and crying.
Viewership:
Average rating: 9.22%
Peak rating: 9.75%
This performance had already surpassed all dramas on the Big Three networks.
The runner-up, 'Arrow', only hit 7.88% this week.
Winter season?
No suspense anymore.
The other shows on the Big Three networks were wrapping up next week.
But 'Initial D' still had two episodes left.
There was no chance of it being overtaken.
'Arrow', 'Passing the Torch', and 'You in Winter'—each had struggled to stay afloat.
But none had made any real impact.
In the early weeks, they'd competed with 'Initial D' for the top slot.
But once the hype and praise kicked in, they were left behind.
Even the infamous sugar daddy scandal didn't hurt the ratings.
The Next Day: News Exploded Across the Industry
The media all reported the same thing:
'Initial D' was set to dominate the winter season—and likely the entire year.
Now, everyone had their eyes on the final two episodes.
Could the series break the 10% mark in its finale?
That was the question.