Initial D Extra Stage 2

Initial D: Extra Stage 2 is a Shounen, Sports OVA that I expected more from but instead I was disappointed with yet another failed attempt at a relationship.

Extra Stage 2 takes place sometime between the 1st & 2nd races of the Project D timeline. Remember those cool races during Project D, well you can forget them because this OVA focuses on Iketani Kouichirou, who’s still thinking about Mako (Impact Blue racer) from the time he couldn’t meet her 6 months ago (Extra Stage 1). Then by a stroke of luck, he gets another chance to meet her and from then on it’s a 40 min ... snore fest to the finish. Initial D has always been known for developing its characters through some awesome & exciting races but sadly this OVA is on the same level of a Naruto Filler. So naturally character development is basically absent here, since there was only 1 race and even that was lackluster compared to all the previous ones.

Thankfully I won’t be coming down hard on the animation and music, as they both were pretty good for this OVA. The animation is the same as always, poorly animated characters but nicely rendered cars, however it seems they followed the animation from the previous Extra Stage and not Project D, which drops a point in my book. At least the same old catchy soundtrack is back but with barely any opportunities, it just feels wasted.

Overall Initial D: Extra Stage 2 can be described simply as a stab at some romance in a racing anime but they should have known better from the first try that giving such unimportant characters the spotlight just spells disaster. It’s a shame that Takumi gets less screen time than Kenji (bet no one remembers him). In other words this is only worth watching if you have nothing better to do and I mean absolutely nothing.

Quick take: Extra Stage 2 is a great tie-up to the Iketani and Mako side love story. If you felt a little empty after the missed connection, you’ll find a nice little completion to that arc here.

Extra Stage 2 revolve around Iketani and Mako having a second chance at love. The story is fairly simple but is actually very well written and helps clear up the empty feeling after the missed connection between them earlier in the series. Everything is well paced and moves logically. You will not find anything deep in relation to the main Initial D story. Togue racing is limited in ... this series.

Both CGI and drawn art are well done in this short side story. Drawn art is treated to an overhaul of rich colors and generally looks much better than First and Second Stage.

Sound quality is good, acting is well done and comprehensible. OST music is better than in previous seasons as is the sound of the cars.

Iketani and Mako are the main focus of ES2 and undergo decent development as both grow.

You’re not going to find anything profound in Extra Stage 2, but it is a welcome conclusion to the Iketani and Mako subplot, so if you wanted more of that, you’ll really enjoy Extra Stage 2.

I really like the interpersonal parts in Initial D but Extra Stage 2 was really disappointing.
I had the hope that they would finally confess their feelings to each other because there was enough drama and pain in the story of their relationship but nope. I'm happy that they were able to talk about the failed last meeting but then they just recycled the 'I'm moving to [a distant city]' line for the 3rd time and this is the disappointing end of this relationship which got built up over many episodes. This outcome has no value for the story and they could have put this in ... a maximum of one episode of the 4th stage but this is nothing for a 50 minutes special.
This is really sad because until now I loved everything from Initial D :(

I gave these Characters only a 7 because they didn't make anything with them in this Episode. But I like Mako and Iketani.