Speed Racer, also known as , is a Japanese anime television series produced by Tatsunoko Production, that aired on Fuji Television from April 1967 to March 1968. In the United States, the show aired in syndication at approximately the same time. A manga adaptation written and illustrated by Tatsuo Yoshida was originally serialized in print in Shueisha's 1966 Shōnen Book magazine. It was released in form by Sun Wide Comics and later re-released in Japan by Fusosha.

Selected chapters of the manga were released by NOW Comics in the 1990s under the title Speed Racer Classics. These were later released by Wildstorm Productions, a division of DC Comics, as Speed Racer: The Original Manga. In 2008, under its Americanized title, Speed Racer, Mach GoGoGo was republished in its entirety in the United States by Digital Manga Publishing and was released as a boxed set to commemorate the series' 40th anniversary, as well as serving as a tie-in with the 2008 film. The television series was very successful in the United States and defined anime in that country until the 1990s, being watched by a total estimated audience of viewers during the 1960s1970s.

Media Anime

The actual series was inspired by Yoshida's earlier and more popular automobile racing comics, Pilot Ace."Racers, Start Your Engines!" , Sci-Fi Japan 20 April 2008. Pilot Aces main storyline formed the structure for Mach GoGoGo, which followed the adventures of an ambitious young man who soon became a professional racer.

The characters' designs in Pilot Ace set the main ground for the character design in Mach GoGoGo. Yoshida got his idea for the story after seeing two films that were very popular in Japan at the time, Viva Las Vegas and Goldfinger. By combining the look of Elvis Presley's race-car driving image, complete with neckerchief and black pompadour, and James Bond's gadget-filled Aston Martin DB5, Yoshida had the inspiration for his creation. Soon enough, Mach GoGoGo hit shelves in the early 1960s. The central character in the anime and manga was a young race car driver named Gō Mifune (Mifune Gō).

Fifty-two episodes were produced from 1967 to 1968. In 1997, Tatsunoko produced a modernized version of Mach GoGoGo that aired on TV Tokyo, lasting for 34 episodes. An English-language adaptation of this remake was produced by DiC titled Speed Racer X, which aired in 2002 on Nickelodeon. Only the first 13 episodes were adapted due to licensing disputes between DiC and Speed Racer Enterprises. Mach Girl was a web-based series by Tatsunoko Productions, created by Tatsuo Yoshida's daughter, Suzuka.

The title sequence of Speed Racer shows an early anime example of Bullet time: at the end, as Speed leaps from the Mach 5, he freezes in mid-jump, and the "camera" does an arc shot from front to sideways.

English-language adaptation The English-language rights to Mach GoGoGo were acquired by syndicator Trans-Lux, and Speed Racer premiered on American television in the summer of 1967."Television", New York Times. (Sep 22, 1967) Page 95. In the series, Speed's full name was Go Mifune, in homage to Japanese film star Toshiro Mifune. His name, Americanized, became Speed Racer. His adventures centered on his powerful Mach 5 car, his girlfriend Trixie, his little brother Spritle, Spritle's pet chimpanzee Chim-Chim, his father "Pops" Racer, and his mysterious older brother, Racer X,CD liner notes: Saturday Mornings: Cartoons' Greatest Hits, 1995, MCA Records whose real name was Rex Racer.

For American consumption, major editing and dubbing efforts were undertaken by producer Peter Fernandez, who likewise not only wrote and directed the English-language dialogue but also provided the voices of many of the characters, most notably Racer X and Speed Racer himself. Fernandez was also responsible for a rearrangement of the theme song's melody, written and composed by Nobuyoshi Koshibe, and he subsequently also wrote its English lyrics.

A Speed Racer daily comic strip written and drawn by Mort Todd ran in the New York Post from 2000–2001.

At Otakon 2015, Funimation announced that it had acquired the license to Speed Racer from Tatsunoko and would release it on Blu-ray for the first time. Funimation gave Speed Racer two separate home video releases: a standard release for the English version on May 30, 2017, and a collector's edition for the Japanese version with English subtitles on November 7, 2017, the first such North American release.

On May 2, 2024, Shout! Studios took over the US distribution rights to Speed Racer from Crunchyroll (the successor to Funimation), which began with the digital release of the original television series of the same name and its Japanese-language version on June 1 of that year. Shout! will also re-release the series on Blu-ray August 25, 2026.

Reception of English language edition IGN ranked the original Speed Racer series at #29 on its "Best 100 Animated Series" list.

In a retrospective review in Issue 9 of the games magazine Gateways, Jape Trostle noted, "Although the animation was often shoddy and of assembly line quality, it was one of the first cartoons that had the distinctive 'Japanimation' look that was to have an incredible impact on the present-day look of all animation."

Manga adaptation

The manga adaptation (compiled into two deluxe volumes for Fusosha's re-release) has several storylines, such as "The Great Plan", "Challenge of the Masked Racer", "The Fire Race", "The Secret Engine", and "Race for Revenge", that were in the anime. However, minor changes occur between both the manga and the anime series, such as differences between the back stories of several characters and places, this was due to the anime being in production at that time and as a result, earlier drafts from the episodes were used.

Selected chapters of the original Mach GoGoGo manga series were reprinted by NOW Comics as two volumes of Speed Racer Classics (1988–1989), and by DC Comics/Wildstorm Productions as Speed Racer: The Original Manga (2000). In 2008, a hardcover boxed set of the complete manga series was released by Digital Manga Publishing as the two volume Speed Racer: Mach Go Go Go.

Development Names

The large red M on the hood of the Mach 5, as well as on Gō's helmet, is the emblem of Mifune Motors, the family business, and an homage to Japanese film star Toshiro Mifune. In North America, it was assumed to stand for Mach 5, and in the Latin American version for Meteoro. His given name, Gō, is a Japanese homophone for the number 5 (the number on his race car), which is also represented by the yellow letter G embroidered on his short-sleeve blue shirt. The tradition of symbolism on characters' shirts was also used on Michi (Trixie) and Sabu (Sparky), who had the letter "M" and "S" on their shirts, respectively.

Audience The overall purpose of the anime was to please a growing fan base worldwide with exciting stories that involved facing adversity on the race track and beyond."A Brief Description of the Racer Family/Go Team." The Speed Zone. 29 November 2002. 19 October 2007. Review of the episodes in the Speed Racer: Collector's Edition of Japanese and English-language episodes reveals frequent changes to the soundtrack (dialogue and the addition of an off-screen narrator) but very little editing of the image-track. Most significantly, the names of villains are often changed to be more cartoony, e.g. Professor Anarchy in episode 31 ("Lightning-Quick Ninja Cars" in Japanese, "Gang of Assassins" in English).

Characters

Racer family Speed Racer /

The protagonist of both the anime and the manga is Speed Racer, originally Gō Mifune. He is known for his love of racing and valuing his family. He drives the Mach 5 (as well as other cars, such as the Mach 6 in the movie) and always manages to wind up in extreme danger with either his younger brother or his girlfriend Trixie. Speed is shown to miss his older brother, Rex (secretly disguised as Racer X), in both versions. He is portrayed by Emile Hirsch in the 2008 film, while his younger self is portrayed by Nicholas Elia. Off the track, he wears a blue shirt with an orange "G" (standing for his Japanese first name, Gō) with a white collar, a red racing bandanna around his neck, white pants, red socks, brown loafers, and yellow gloves. He is 18 years old, has a brown, almost black pompadour, and his eyes are brown (in the anime version, they are blue). In racing, he sports a white open-face helmet with an M (representing Mifune Motors) on top. In the anime, on special occasions, Speed wears a red blazer with a yellow "G" embroidered on it. In the live-action film, he wears a white leather racing jacket unzipped over his classic outfit. He wears his classic outfit (without the embroidered "G") in the first half of the Casa Cristo 5000. To strengthen the character's back-story continuity between Speed and his older brother Rex, Speed's red socks were considered "lucky socks."

Spritle Racer / and

Speed Racer has a younger brother named Spritle (Kurio Mifune in the Japanese original). Spritle has a pet chimpanzee, who responded to the name of Chim-Chim in the American version (Sanpei in the Japanese original). Their rebellious attitudes often lead them to trouble. Often in Speed's way, their mischief somehow aids Speed away from danger. Spritle and Chim-Chim dress in identical jumpsuits and striped hats and often perform identical physical actions. They both have an extreme appetite for candy, and they are usually bribed with dessert or other presents. Spritle and Chim-Chim often use a slingshot to combat any threats that come to both themselves and/or Speed. According Peter Fernandez's introduction in the American release of the Mach GoGoGo manga, Spritle got his name for being an energetic "sprite." Chim-Chim got his name because he was considered a chimpanzee. In the live-action film, they are portrayed faithfully to their characterizations in both the anime and manga. Spritle was portrayed by Paulie Litt in the film.

Pops Racer /

Speed's father, Pops, (Daisuke Mifune) is a former wrestler-turned race car owner and builder. After quitting his job in a corporate car manufacturing company, he founded his own company, Mifune Motors. (In America, the company was changed to Racer Motors.) He is portrayed as a hothead who is overprotective of his family. His eldest son, Rex, ran away (although he would return as Racer X). In addition to Spritle and Chim-Chim, Pops' attitude is a running gag in the anime series as well as the live-action film. Overweight, he wears an athletic red shirt and a beige mechanic's cap. Despite his build, Pops is nearly unmatched in combat, as he was once a champion heavyweight wrestler. His design skills allow him to create powerful engines, especially his (in the film) prized "Mach" Series, giving the car the ability to travel at high speeds while sustaining maximum performance. He is portrayed by actor John Goodman in the 2008 film.

Mom Racer /

Speed's mother, Mom Racer (originally Aya Mifune), is a side character in the series. She rarely appears in the anime or manga, having limited dialogue, and many episodes of the anime did not feature her at all. In the live-action film, however, she is portrayed by Susan Sarandon as an encouraging parental figure.

/ Rex Racer /