You hear those first four notes and your foot presses down on a pedal that isn't there. This is the show that kicked the door open for anime in the West, and it did it with a white car, seven lettered buttons on a steering wheel, and a teenager who would not be told to stay off the track. Go Mifune drives the Mach 5 because his father Daisuke built it and then forbade him from touching it, which is the most honest teenage motivation ever animated. The Masked Racer shadows him through the whole run, and the reveal still lands even when you know it's coming. Yes, the dialogue is a machine-gun of terrible puns and the plot logic collapses if you breathe on it, and yes, the animation is 1967 hard. But Kurio and the monkey stowing away in the trunk is a bit that has outlived most of the shows that mocked it.

Speed Racer follows Gou Mifune, a teenager who wants to break into professional racing and become the greatest driver of all time. His father, Daisuke, built the Mach 5, a highly advanced race car loaded with special gadgets that let it cross any terrain, but he wants his son kept well away from the track. Undeterred, Gou gets behind the wheel and competes in races around the world. His girlfriend Michi, his younger brother Kurio and Kurio's monkey Sanpei are his most loyal supporters. The road to the top is hard: crooked businessmen and criminals try to rig races, unscrupulous drivers stand in his way, and the mysterious Racer X gives him serious competition. This action and sports adventure rewards quick thinking and fair play.