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    Red Bull releases video of "Initial D" collaborative run on Iwakisan Skyline

    Red Bull releases video of "Initial D" collaborative run on Iwakisan Skyline

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    On January 10th, Red Bull's official website released an "Initial D" collaboration video showing a car driving on the Tsugaru Iwaki Skyline.

    The video features 2022 and 2023 World Rally Championship (WRC) champion Kalle Rovanperä and eight racing drivers active around the world, as well as Takumi Fujiwara, the protagonist of the manga "Initial D," who drifts around the "Tsugaru Iwaki Skyline."

    As of January 19th, the video has been viewed over 1.8 million times, with praise not only from within Japan, but also from overseas, with comments such as "This is the best video we want to share with all car lovers, WRC fans, and Initial D fans" and "It's amazing that they would do something like this on Mt. Iwaki."

    The Tsugaru Iwaki Skyline is a toll road that takes you up to the 8th mountain of Mt. Iwaki, which is 1,625 meters above sea level, and has 69 hairpin curves along its 9.8 km length. Red Bull once held a long skateboard downhill race here in 2017.

    "Initial D" is a manga that was serialized in Weekly Young Magazine from 1995 to 2013. It has also been made into an anime and a live-action movie, and has fans both in Japan and overseas. The video was planned by Red Bull to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the start of the serialization. Kalle, who is an avowed fan of "Initial D", has a car number of 69, so the "Tsugaru Iwaki Skyline", which has 69 curves, was chosen as the setting.

    Filming took place in October 2024, and not only the drivers but also Shuichi Shigeno, the original author of "Initial D," visited the site. According to the official website, drones were used to shoot the video, and it took 120 hours of filming under strict safety management, with support from auto tuning manufacturers, mainly Yokohama Rubber (Hiratsuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture).

    One female "Initial D" fan living in Hirosaki who watched the video said with a smile, "I was surprised to see a Panda Trueno Hachiroku, which appears in the work and has the words "Fujiwara Tofu Shop" written on it, running around Mt. Iwaki. It was a video that showed respect for the manga and was filled with love not only for Aomori but for Japan as well."

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