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Throughout Initial D, we watch Bunta Fujiwara coach Takumi indirectly through little pointers here and there, often before Takumi goes out on tofu runs. In later seasons, we eventually see Bunta overtake Takumi using the Impreza, while Takumi was driving the AE86. From these examples throughout the anime, it is apparent that Bunta is a fantastic and experienced driver. However, to the extent of my knowledge, we do not actually get to see him race or learn much about his background.

Is there a point, in the manga or anime (I've only watched the anime), where we learn more about Bunta Fujiwara's driving background or see him race?

wcarhart
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  • I don't want to scare anyone away with the bounty message, I really do want to award this bounty to a good answer. – wcarhart Aug 15 '16 at 21:07
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    I've read the manga till the end. Apart from a few panels when he meets some old acquaintance to get a good racing engine for the Eight-Six, there isn't any back story about Bunta. There's a lot of talk about the Legendary driver 'Ghost of Akina'. It'd be an epic special though! – Sujith Sudarshan Aug 17 '16 at 15:36
  • @SujithSudarshan thanks for the input! If you are able to expand that into a full answer with sources, I'd love to take a look at it – wcarhart Aug 18 '16 at 04:42

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Throughout the anime there are a few scenes of Bunta racing solo, and as the other answer stated, there is one scene where Bunta "races" Takumi after getting his WRX, though it wasn't a proper race (more of an impromptu battle), and Takumi didn't know it was Bunta.

As far as I can remember, there were no actual races with Bunta in. I could be wrong, but I don't think there are.

VoidSixx
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I had a look on the internet and in this link, it apparently shows Bunta racing against Takumi, as the title suggests. I haven't watched Initial D, so I guess they show that the blue car belongs to Bunta later on in the series. If you also look at the comment section, there are no comments that say the blue car isn't Bunta, so I believe that it was Bunta who raced. Also, If you search up Bunta racing, the link and another video which is the exact same shows up. Therefore, I believe it's reliable. The clip is from Stage 4 Episode 7 and I believe the answer to your question is yes, we do see Bunta race.

wcarhart
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Dragon
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  • Technically, that is Bunta "racing," but that's the scene I already knew about from the anime (as I stated in the question). I was hoping for some more background on Bunta's racing career, not just this one scene, as @SujithSudarshan was alluding to. – wcarhart Aug 17 '16 at 17:08
  • @ThePickleTickler Sorry man, that's all i knew, like i said, i haven't watched initial D or read it so i don't know. – Dragon Aug 18 '16 at 09:02
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I think there is a few things we are not taking into account: 1) Bunta's past 2) Bunta's eyes (here me out)

1) Bunta used to go racing with his bodies back in the day (he wasn't limited to just Mount Akina). Bunta never lost a race as he was considered the "undisbuted, couldn't be beat" racer (Cf. Stage 1 Act 1 - he ultimate tofu store drift) only one person really giving him a run for his money (See Stage 3). I remember reading somewhere that in the manga Takumi's mother died while delivering Tofu, and the reason I bring that up is because in stage 1 act 24 when Keiichi Tsuchiya calls Bunta about the race between Takumi and Ryoske, Keiichi makes the comment about Bunta scarring him for life with his "monstrous drift" to which Bunta replies "that was a long time ago". Whether retired or perhaps with a vow never to race again, atleast not in a more active sense, this is why we do not see Bunta race.

2) There is a reason that Bunta is the only one in the series that has his eyes closed. Its more of a symbollism, a sort of literary device if you will. In essence, Bunta is the perfect driver. This does not mean he is the perfect human being, but rather that he is the "undisputed, couldn't be beat". For example, whenever anyone asks Bunta about the outcome of the race, he never says anything except "we'll see after the race", representing his calm, collectedness. During the battle between Takumi and Godhand Bunta never makes any calls on the race, but he remarks on how Takumi still has a lot to learn. In Stage 3 when Bunta is driving the 86 for the deliveries and passes by Takumi's challenger, Bunta remarks "there was some skill behind that wheel" demonstrating his sort of 6th sense in racing. Overall, Bunta's eyes, as a literary device are to show him as the only driver who hasn't been beat. Although there have been some who gave him a run for his money, i.e. that have come close to beating bunta - Bunta still comes out on top.

Also, just going to throw this in here since I mentioned it - but yes, Bunta would beat Godhand. Godhand admits that an 86 has the ability to beat his time on the mountain, and we even see Takumi getting close to defeating Godhand, Bunta also remarking that Takumi has a long way to go. the point here being that comparing the skill level of Godhand and Takumi and the result of the race, it is likely that Bunta would win, most-likely by not letting God hand over take him the same way he overtook Takumi.

Samuel Barrett
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