Two things bothered me this episode:

The other drivers are actually better than Kanata, because when he sticks his car’s nose in the tiniest gap around their rear bumper, there’s somehow no terrible accident, and both cars emerge unscathed.

Godly 15 indeed!

And the way Kanata drifts his car around, and comes from far behind to catch up, those tires must also be godly to maintain their grip and not get flat spotted.

Mmkay…

They sort of skipped right over the whole “but his car’s so underpowered” thing and didn’t show how Kanata managed to catch up with all of those cars, even on long straightaway sections, so they could focus on the nifty passing moves.

And they’re still doing that thing where he drifts a corner to pass on the outside and the other driver can’t figure out what he’s doing, as if it’s some sort of magic.

And why are Nozomi and Yashio still paired up, and with him in front, when she demonstrated last season that’s she’s far and away the better driver? I was hoping this season would show her up closer to the front, by herself, battling with the supercars. But then that would sort of throw a wrench in the whole “but his car’s so underpowered” thing, since hers has even less power. Which wouldn’t actually make a difference, but we aren’t supposed to know that yet.

And as has been the case since Initial D First Stage, even with all of the things that can be criticized, it still entertains me.