Initial D Battle Stage 3

The lack of dialogue is an interesting stylistic choice for Battle Stage 3, but also perhaps a practical one. After all, there is a lot of background story to some of the final races that would otherwise detract from the point of the battle stage OVAs - which is to focus on the races themselves. So I think it was a necessary decision to cut the dialogue entirely and approach this stage from a different angle.

In a way, it makes you feel more immersed in the race. You get to focus more on the spectacular animation of the cars and the soundtrack as the drivers ... mentally and physically battle it out. It takes some getting used to but in the end, it almost has a hypnotising effect.

Ultimately, this is worth watching if only for the final 2 races, which are considerably extended, and as a result it feels like you're watching them in their entirety, instead of dashing back and forth between the characters and story like in the anime. I thought these races were especially cool and thrilling and actually benefited from the dialogue-less approach. While watching you get a sense that this is what the producers wanted to create all along - a battle with the viewer purely in the spectator seat. It's a pretty glorious send-off to be honest.

What a disappointment, in previous battle stages characters had dialogue, but in this battle stage it reminds me of an AMV that would be uploaded on youtube, just cars driving and eurobeat playing.

On the topic of eurobeat the music is top notch, my eurobeat playlist is pleased. The sounds are also good from what I've experienced.

Back to the fact there is no voice acting, it really confuses alot of races and yes you are expected to have atleast watched fifth and final stage to watch battle stage 3 but it still leaves me confused on a few things that I have to now recap, luckily ... I can use the Initial D wikipedia.

Not worth watching unless you want to watch 1 hour and 33 minutes of pure racing (which if you do I don't blame you, that's why I did it in the first place) or find some new eurobeat.

Initial D is now dead other than the arcade cab series, but it was since 2013.

Battle Stage 3 was really really bad actually...

I cannot believe such an atrocity ended the beloved Initial D series, though it is probably for the best.

Any Initial D outside of the main Stages are quite bad in my opinion.
Non-Canon events generally have no weightage to them.

People waited 7 years from Final Stage to Battle Stage... and for them to get this is frankly disappointing.

I am not even going to talk about the story, since some others talk about it. Why the story does not work? Well...
...
it was just so goddamn boring. Usually when you have a race between two people, it has some emotional baggage or weightage. Here? Nothing.

Doesnt help the fact that both of them are racing Corollas haha, so for the non-avid watcher it was hard to differentiate the cars.

All in all not a good time and you can skip this one for sure
3/10
Thanks!
-CyanCheetah