At the anime convention in New York last December, I got to meet Peter Fernandez, the voice behind the legendary Speed Racer cartoon of the 1960s (he also directed and wrote every episode). As a child, I was a card-carrying member of the generation that thrilled to the ongoing adventures of Speed and his Mach 5, the car that could jump chasms, zoom at full speed through a thick forest thanks to retractable buzz cutters, and even drive along the bottom of the ocean. The show was originally broadcast as Mach Go Go Go! in Japan, the story of young race car driver Go Mifune — a multi-level name which represents both the English word “go!” and the number 5, which is go in Japanese — along with his former pro wrestler father Daisuke (Pops), his girlfriend Michi (Trixie), his michivious younger brother Kurio (Spridle), chimpanzee Senpei (Chim Chim), and who could forget the mysterious Mr. X (Racer X)? Speed Racer was unique in that it was more popular outside of Japan than at home, becoming a cult favorite in English and more or less enjoying a revival in Japan because of its international popularity. Although there are plenty of of snarky cultural references to Speed Racer in our culture, it’s far more common for Japanese fans of the era to profess a love of Chiki Chiki Machine Super Race, the Japanese version of the Hanna-Barbara classic Wacky Race, or show you their impression of that cute dog Ken-Ken (Muttley) laughing. As if to mark the occasion of the new Speed Racer film, our cat Su-chan just gave birth to a cute baby kitten that has an “M” on his forhead. I think I’ll name him “Mach.” Oh, this is the ONLY cultural reference to Mach GoGoGo! I was able to find, after 17 years of living in Japan, a commercial featuring Aya Ueto, It is pretty awesome ^_^
