Known originally as Mach GoGoGo, the anime series Speed Racer premiered in the late 1960s in Japan, and it really did not take long for an American localization and English dub to become available, from what I understand. Since I would not be born for roughly another 20 years, I was never around for that era, but I do fondly remember watching reruns of it, which I believe aired in the United States on Cartoon Network.

Even in the 90s, the animation was really showing its age, which I did not really mind because I watched a lot of stuff from the classic Hanna-Barbera era, and it is not that different in terms of animation quality. Funny enough, it also has a lot of similarities to Wacky Races, and even the pod racing scenes in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace have a very similar feel when watching them.

In English, Speed Racer’s full name is… Speed Racer. I know, not exactly the most inspired name. Still, he has a great design, and his car, the Mach 5, is pretty darn rad, especially with all the gizmos it is equipped with to help him win races.

One of the better characters in the series is actually Speed Racer’s girlfriend, Trixie, who provides a lot of support. I do not think she ever really had a damsel in distress moment, though there could have been an episode I do not remember. I also almost entirely forgot about his little brother Spritle, but who could forget his chimpanzee, Chim-Chim?

I also vaguely remember a bunch of characters who were either very generic race car drivers or very obvious villains, and the show did a good job of creating suspense and making you doubt whether Speed Racer could actually win, even though he almost always does.

Sometimes that is thanks to Racer X, who is easily revealed to be Speed Racer’s older brother, a man everybody thought had died. Instead, he had an argument with their father, faked his death, and became a cool, mysterious racing drifter. He is often very selfless, genuinely loves his little brother, and has a lot of great moments throughout the series.

Honestly, thinking about it now, I am pretty sure this was the first anime I genuinely enjoyed mostly as a whole. I think I watched bits and pieces of the original English dub of Dragon Ball that almost nobody remembers, the one put out by Harmony Gold, but Speed Racer was really the first anime series I watched in a mostly complete form. I was excited to watch the 2008 big screen adaptation, but almost 20 years later, the anime still carries far more weight in my heart than the big budget movie.