Speed Racer: Difference between revisions

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English title of the anime series ''Mach Go Go Go!'', and one of the best remembered anime series for several generations of fans and detractors alike.

''Speed Racer'' was remade in 1997 with updated versions of the characters and vehicles ([[In Name Only|or at least one would think]]), but the most amusing appearance of Speed in the last few years had to have been in a series of tongue-in-cheek ESPN commercials. One of the ads featured real NASCAR drivers complaining about how hard it was to compete with Speed, and showed actual race footage with the Mach 5 matted in; another featured NASCAR officials trying to determine if the Mach 5 was suitable for competition. (The decision? No, it was too powerful. "NASA might accept it, but not NASCAR.")

 

 

The pun in the original title comes from the triple meaning of the sound "go" in Japanese -- the number "five", a denotation for the number or name of a machine (''Mach Go-Go'' means the Mach Type 5 -- the same can be seen in ''Tetsujin 28-go''), and the English "Ready, set, '''go'''". Speed's Japanese name is also "Go Mifune" (hence the "G" on his shirt).

 

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* [[Acrofatic]]: Pops, naturally.

* [[Action Girl]]: Michi/Trixie is far more Speed's equal than the helpless [[Damsel in Distress]] [[Values Dissonance|that one would expect from a series at this time.]] She flies her own helicopter and on the occasions where she was kidnapped she managed to be more trouble to her captors than she was worth.

* [[The Big Race]]

* [[Black Knight]]: Fukumen Racer [The Masked Racer]/Racer X.

* [[Bragging Theme Tune]]: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03aRiSGoykE Right here].

** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9VN2mxMnzE And it even kept the original Japanese melody!]

** It should be noted however, that while the English version is about Go/Speed himself, the Japanese one was more about the car.

** Or for ''"Meteoro"'', Speed's name in the Spanish dub.

* [[Bullet Time]]

** Every car in the Car Acrobatic Team sprouts little wings that let it stay airborne longer when making a jump.

** In "Mach 5 vs. Mach 5", the Mach 5's [[Evil Twin]] had full-sized rocket-propelled wings that allowed it to fly under its own power, and a [[Death Ray|Mismo Beam]].

* [[Chick Magnet]]: Speed

* [[Epic Race]]

* [[Mr. Fanservice]]: Again, Speed.

* [[Narrator]]: "One of the most secret, secret places in the world: the Secret National Science Institute."

** However, there were a few episodes where people die off-screen and they simply don't mention them dying or being smashed up. "The Fire Race" was possibly the worst, since over ''ninety racers'' die, some of them in onscreen accidents, too. They also mention people ''having'' died in the past, too.

* [[Ninja]]: The two-parter "Gang of Assassins" featured these. They even drove ninja ''cars''. (At the time the series was translated into English, most westerners had never heard of ninja, so the word was translated as "assassin.")

* [[Papa Wolf]]: Pops Racer. Mess with his kids? If they don't kick your ass, he will.

* [[Precision F-Strike]]: In an early episode, after Speed and Trixie figure out that the mob is onto them after the spycam (disguised as a bird) they sent after one of their cars returns with a fresh bullet hole:

'''Speed''': They sure did... ''damn!'' }}

* [[Punny Name]]: Particularly with the bad guys.

* [[Reasonable Authority Figure]]: Inspector Detector.

* [[Serious Business]]: Racing.

** By some miracle, they were able to get the late Peter Fernandez, the original English voice, into the recording booth as an adult Spritle, and eventually, Speed himself.

* [[Speed Stripes]]

* [[Spiked Wheels]]: Crop up from time to time, most notably on the cars used by Ace Deucey's gang in "The Great Plan"

** In "Mach 5 vs. Mach 5", the evil clone Mach 5 also sported full-sized flying wings (with rocket assist) and a [[Death Ray]] called the "Mismo Beam."

* [[Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?|Who Names Their Kid Speed?]]

 

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[[Category:Anime]]

[[Category:Sports Stories]]