List of Initial D Characters and Teams - Project D - Akagi RedSuns - Ryosuke Takahashi

Ryosuke Takahashi

Ryosuke Takahashi (高橋 涼介, Takahashi Ryōsuke?, "Ry") is one of the most skilled drivers in the series (he is the RedSuns' fastest member as well as their leader); he and his younger brother Keisuke (the Takahashi Brothers, also known as the Rotary Brothers because they both drive RX-7's, albeit different generations of the vehicle) have been featured in racing magazines and are regarded highly by other drivers. Ryosuke drives a second-generation Mazda RX-7 (FC3S) and was previously undefeated until he met Takumi Fujiwara. Ryosuke is very serious about racing; he pours over technical data just like any professional driver and he is one of the few drivers with skills as a mechanic to match those he possesses as a driver. He can usually be found in his room going over data on his laptop. He is known to be able to tell what kind of modifications have been made to a car just by hearing it, and what a driver is capable of just by watching the car drift. Ryosuke's fame is so widespread throughout Japan that he has been given the moniker, "Akagi's White Comet" (赤城の白い彗星, Akagi no Shiroi Suisei?). He is also referred to as "Akagi's Lone White Comet" in reference to his early racing days when he refused to join a local racing team at Akagi.

His only rival aside from Takumi would be Kyoichi Sudo. They argued about racing theories when Ryosuke ended Kyoichi's winning streak a year before the series began. Currently, he is enrolled in college studying medicine, and planning to become a doctor to work at his father's clinic. Before retiring from street racing, and with only one year of racing left, he estimates, and assembles a new team (named Project D) aimed at capturing all of the records in Japan. During the majority of the Project D storyline, he is the leader and primary coach for Project D and doesn't personally race, leaving the driving to Takumi and Keisuke. A manga-exclusive side story features Ryosuke quickly and methodically defeating a Porsche on the Akagi mountain road, although the driver of the Porsche was quite unskilled and was only trying to impress his girlfriend.

There is a rift in Ryosuke's past involving Rin "Shinigami" Hojo. An altercation between the two in medical school led to another student named Kaori (also another medical student and Rin's girlfriend) taking her life. Rin retreated from the racing scene for years, becoming a recluse, before making an abrupt return against Team Spiral's Leader, Ikeda. Ryosuke emerges from retirement and races against Rin at the Toyo Turnpike in Kanagawa with Ikeda spectating behind.

Ryosuke is modeled after the "Drift King" Keiichi Tsuchiya's mentor, retired race car driver Kunimitsu Takahashi.