Bakusō Kyōdai Let's & Go!!

Bakusō Kyōdai Let's & Go!!

Cover of the first manga volume
爆走兄弟レッツ&ゴー!!
Genre Sports (Racing), Action
Manga
Written by Tetsuhiro Koshita
Published by Shogakukan
Demographic Shōnen
Magazine Coro Coro Comics
Original run July 1994 – October 1999
Volumes 20
Anime television series
Directed by Tetsurō Amino
Takao Kato
Written by Hiroyuki Hoshiyama
Music by Gouji Tsuno
Studio XEBEC
Original network TV Tokyo
Original run 8 January 1996 – 21 December 1998
Episodes 153 + 1 special
Anime film
Bakusō Kyōdai Let's & Go!! WGP Bōsō Mini Yonku Dai Tsuiseki!
Directed by Tetsurō Amino
Studio XEBEC
Released 5 July 1997
Runtime 80 minutes
Manga
Bakusō Kyōdai Let's & Go!! Return Racers!
Written by Tetsuhiro Koshita
Published by Shogakukan
Demographic Seinen
Magazine Coro Coro Aniki
Original run October 2014 – present
Volumes 1

Bakusō Kyōdai Let's & Go!! (Japanese: 爆走兄弟レッツ&ゴー!!, Hepburn: Bakusō Kyōdai Rettsu Endo Gō!!, lit. "The Racing Brothers Let's & Go!!") is a manga series created by Tetsuhiro Koshita, first serialized in Shogakukan's CoroCoro Comic magazine from July 1994 to October 1999. The manga centers on Retsu and Go Seiba, twin brothers who focus on the world of miniature car racing known as Mini 4WD. It is created as a tie-in to Tamiya's Mini 4WD franchise (Mainly Fully Cowled, Mechanical and Aero), and it is the second series to center on the franchise since Dash! Yonkuro.

Three anime Adaptations of the manga were produced by Xebec from 1996 to 1998, each of which consisting of three 51-episode series, and was also made into several games. The series also released various merchandise, including CDs, trading cards, stickers, and even die-cast cars. In 2015, a sequel series, Return Racers, began serialization in Shogakukan's CoroCoro Aniki magazine, 20 years after the original series' serialization.

Plot

Mini 4WD racing is an interesting hobby in where kids and adults compete using customized motorized miniature cars, called "Mini 4WD". Every year, competitions revolving around the hobby circulated around the world, with both kids and adults test out their spirit and passion in racing and companies developing new technologies and innovations for Mini 4WD. The story revolves around the competitive Seiba Brothers: Go and Retsu, who were once constantly arguing on each other to see who's the best racer. However one day after a community-sponsored race, they both met Dr. Tsuchiya, the head of the Tsuchiya Racing Factory who gave them two Mini 4WD Cars of the prototype Saber Series: Sonic Saber and Magnum Saber. With his advice on telling the twins to customize them for the upcoming race, they are now determined to win and race to victory and set off to their wildest race of their lives. While meeting both friends and enemies in the Mini 4WD Racing world.

Characters

TRF Victorys

Gō Seiba (星馬 豪, Seiba Gō)
Voiced by: Haruna Ikezawa (Original), Showtaro Morikubo (Return Racers Web Radio)
Go is the one of the two title characters, and the main protagonist of the series. He is Retsu's younger brother by one year, and he is in the fourth grade. Go is rash, impulsive, careless, impatient, and brash, but sometimes, he's calm, kind and gentle. He is usually seen wearing goggles, but they are more of a fashion accessory as they are on his forehead most of the time as opposed to covering his eyes. His primary color is blue, which is the color of his hair, eyes, gloves, and boots, as well as his cars. In Return Racers, Go has retired from Mini 4WD racing and is now a professional Formula-1 racer. In his private life, he drives a BMW Mini convertible. He met a boy named Tsubasa, who he decides to take care of as he intends to follow his legacy as a Mini 4WD racer.
Retsu Seiba (星馬 烈, Seiba Retsu)
Voiced by: Yuriko Fuchizaki
Retsu is the second of the two title characters. He is a fifth-grade student who is 11 years old, and Go's older brother. Although he is able to control his patience better than his brother, he still lets out his annoyance with someone once in a while. Retsu sports a green hat as his trademark. His primary color is red, which is the color of his hair, eyes, gloves, shirt, and Mini 4WD cars. Together with Go, they are known as the "Let's Go Brothers" (レッツゴー兄弟, Rettsu Gō Kyoudai). In WGP, he is the captain of the TRF Victorys. In Return Racers, he is now working in the Space Development project under the suggestion of Dr. Tsuchiya.
Ryo Takaba (鷹羽 リョウ, Takaba Ryō)
Voiced by: Urara Takano
Ryo is a wanderer who, with his brother Jiromaru, lives off the land. When he first meets the Seiba brothers, he quickly becomes their rival, particularly that of Go. Eventually however, he becomes a friend of the Seibas and as well as a member of the TRF Victorys. It later revealed that Jo from Astro Rangers had crush on him because Ryo saved her once. It was once shown when the Astro Rangers coach asked Dr. Tsuchiya where Ryo lives because one of them is seem have some feeling toward him.
Tokichi Mikuni (三国 藤吉, Mikuni Tōkichi)
Voiced by: Chie Koujiro
Tokichi is a spoiled rich boy, because his father is the owner of Mikuni Corporation. When he first meets the Seiba Brothers, Go takes an instant liking to him, most likely because of his money. His family owns an arcade (which instantly attracts Go), which is always the hot spot for kids. When speaking, he pronounces "desu" (です, meaning "is" or "to be") as "degesu" (でげす). His strength is making cars with emphasis on their technical cornering ability. Tokichi also likes to make his entrances in overly extravagant manners stereotypical of rich people, such as jumping out of a helicopter, arriving in a limousine, and surrounded with an entourage with great fanfare.
J (ジェイ, Jei)
Voiced by: Kumiko Watanabe
Initially a battle racer in the Ōgami Corps, trained under Dr. Ōgami, he later finds enjoyment in regular racing with the Seiba brothers. Because of this, he decides to leave Ōgami Labs, renouncing the anything-to-win attitude instilled by Dr. Ōgami, and goes to live with Dr. Tsuchiya in his laboratory as an assistant. As a result, he also gradually changes in his personality, turning from an introvert into a more cheerful boy. Of all the other team members, J is the most skilled technician/mechanic, having prior experience with computers and machines while under Ogami's training. These skills are proven on many occasions, namely when he repaired the damaged Tridagger X to repay Ryo for damaging it in a previous race, when he helped Go design and build the Cyclone Magnum and when he designed the Proto Saber EVO. He appears to be best friends with Go.
Jirōmaru Takaba (鷹羽 二郎丸, Takaba Jirōmaru)
Voiced by: Ikue Ōtani
Jirōmaru is Ryo Takaba's younger brother. He likes Ryo a lot, and follows him around everywhere. His cars, the customized Saber 600, are constantly damaged in races. In episode 10 of the WGP season, Jirōmaru substitutes Ryo after his leg is injured.
Dr. Tsuchiya (土屋博士, Tsuchiya-hakase)
Voiced by: Masashi Ebara
The head of the Tsuchiya Racing Factory, he is the owner and pioneer in the Mini 4WD development with half of his inspirations comes of being a jet pilot and engineer of jet planes, as shown in his lesser-seen parts of his labs. It is also where he found the inspiration to create the Super Avante; the prototype used for all the Saber series of Mini 4WD cars. But he has ongoing conflict in ideals against Dr. Ogami as the story progresses. He is named after Hirotsugu Tsuchiya, a Tamiya employee.

Ichimonji Brothers

Gouki Ichimonji (一文字豪樹, Ichimonji Gōki)
Voiced by: Kumiko Watanabe
One of the two main characters of MAX, he is the twin brother of Retsuya. He is a former Battle Racer at Borzoi School until he and his brother quit due to their conflicting ideals between him and the academy itself. He aims to become a true Mini 4WD racer with his brother to clear his reputation. He is currently living in a workshop owned by their uncle, who is working for GEN Manufacturing. Despite his rustic behavior, he has a good heart and values the spirit of Mini 4WD racing. He is also shown to be good on mechanics.
Retsuya Ichimonji (一文字烈矢, Ichimonji Retsuya)
Voiced by: Noriko Hidaka
One of the two main characters of MAX, he is the twin brother of Gouki. Like Gouki, he is also a Battle Racer at Borzoi School and is a good in racing. But like his brother, he also left the battle racing scene and decided to change for the better. He is currently living in a workshop owned by their uncle, who is working for GEN Manufacturing.

Ogami Corps

Dr. Ogami (大神博士, Ōgami-hakase)
Voiced by: Ryūzaburō Ōtomo
The head of Ogami Corps, Ogami is the rival scientist to Dr. Tsuchiya and advocated battle racing, where racers are encouraged to install weapons to their Mini 4WDs and destroy their opposition during races. He worked with Dr. Tsuchiya in the past, but split due to disagreements in their beliefs about what Mini 4WD racing should be. He owns a large laboratory hidden in a volcano, where his cars are developed. He has a daughter named Marina.
Marina Ogami (大神マリナ, Ōgami Marina)
Voiced by: Haruna Ikezawa
The Daughter of Dr. Ogami, appearing in MAX. A skilled Battle Racer and Mini 4WD racer, she owns the Fire Stinger, a successor to the Ray Stinger developed by his father. Though she usually lives in a private condominium with high expenses every month, her private life remains a mystery even to the Ichimonji Brothers. She is also a regular in the onsen house "Matsunoyu". She later joined the Borzoi School after being reunited with her father and her machine being upgraded to the Phoenix Stinger.
Kai Okita (沖田カイ, Okita Kai)
Voiced by: Yuka Imai
The first of the Ogami's battle racers to appear. His car, the Beak Spider, caused a mass scare where Mini 4WDs around city parks were secretly damaged, much to ire of the owners. Following the Summer Great Japan Cup, he is shown to develop rivalry with Ryo. In the WGP anime, he runs the Savanna Zebra team, where the team members (led by Juliana) uses a modified version of his car, called Beak Spider Zebra.
Gen Kondo (近藤ゲン, Kondo Gen)
Voiced by: Ayumi Kida
The second of the Ogami's battle racers to appear. He is the owner of Brocken Gigant, a front-motor Mini 4WD that possess the ability to perform a wheelie to stomp and destroy a rival car. He was the one who destroyed Go's Victory Magnum in the manga version.
Rei Hijikata (土方レイ, Hijikata Rei)
Voiced by: Satoko Kito
The third and the last of the Ogami's battle racers, and the only female member. Rei is the owner of the Ray Stinger, that could be controlled with laser and has a needle to attack her opponent cars. In the anime, she was the one who destroyed Go's Victory Magnum in a mid-air surprise attack. In the Power WGP2 game, she joined the Les Vainqueur team, under the disguise of Ame (アーム).

NA Astro Rangers

Brett Astaire (ブレット・アスティア)
Voiced by: Kentarō Itō
Born in Washington, D.C, Brett is the captain of the NA Astro Rangers. His hair color is blond and wears a black T-shirt, a red jacket, visor goggles and black pants with a belt. he seems to be cool, strict and snobbish, but later, he becomes caring, kind and nice.
Edge Blaze (エッジ・ブレイズ)
Voiced by: Hisayoshi Izaki
Born in Los Angeles, California, he's an out-going and cheerful guy, as well as a member of a Los Angeles football club. He is shown to be a very emotional person and sometimes he can control his anger.
Josephina "Joe" Goodwin (ジョセフィーヌ・グッドウィン)
Voiced by: Akiko Yajima
A young pony tail haired girl born in New York. She kind and friendly to everyone, except Rosso Strada. She doesn't like to be underestimate, and when that happens, her anger grew. Joe has a feeling for Ryo, for he save her form a jet ski accident and ask Daizo and Danise to talk each other.
Michael Miller (マイケル・ミラー)
Voiced by: Hidehiro Kikuchi
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, He is Brett's youngest member and it seems to be an elementary student, just like Restu and Go. He may be small, but he's smart and talent.
Horvy "Hammer D" David Grant (ハマー・デーヴィッド・グラント)
Voiced by: Takuma Suzuki
Born in San Francisco, Hammer D is the tallest and oldest member. Like Jun, he likes to play baseball and when bad things happened, he begins to worried a lot and can't focus, so he must concentrate himself.

Other racers

Jun Sagami (佐上 ジュン, Sagami Jun)
Voiced by: Chinami Nishimura
Jun has been a friend of the Seiba brothers since they were infants. She is an ace pitcher in baseball, and plays for a team named "Jun Chanzu" (ジュンちゃんず). At first, she is a novice at Mini 4WD racing, but improves in her skill through the influence of the Seiba brothers and others. In Return Racers, it's revealed she had migrated overseas to study and is now working in part of the Space development project alongside Retsu. Jun's name, combined with those of Retsu and Go, is a reference to Jun Retsugō (レツゴー じゅん, Retsugō Jun), the stage name of Japanese comedian Yoshiji Watanabe.
Makoto Kohiru (こひる まこと, Kohiru Makoto)
Voiced by: Motoko Kumai
A regular racer whose determination can nearly overcome the Seiba siblings in the Winter GJC qualifying cup. He's the first named rival of the protagonists and his friendly attitude allows him to be friends with the protagonists. His performances are not as shining as other racers, but his determination and luck allows him to win the Winter GJC. He doesn't appear much in races after the introduction of Kai Okita and Ōgami's battle racing rule. He is a part of the Super Great Japan Cup's 12 racers.
Futoshi Kurosawa (黒沢太, Kurosawa Futoshi)
Voiced by: Akio Suyama
A big and rowdy racer. Kurosawa is the owner of "Black Saber", another prototype Mini 4WD created by Dr. Tsuchiya, and specializes in modification of the machine and upgrade parts to be used in various situations. Kurosawa starts out as a cheater who puts weapons into his car, but he never wins a race that way. He flies to America and comes back even more vicious. However, with the appearance of Kai Okita and his Beak Spider, which possesses weapons more powerful than Kurosawa's, he decides to race normally and becomes a permanent ally of the protagonists. He is shown to have allies; three of them (as named in Summer GJC entry list in episode 26) are named Timota, Rokukawa, and Masa.
Chīko Mikuni (三国 チイコ, Mikuni Chīko)
Voiced by: Akiko Yajima
Chīko is Tokichi's younger sister. She has a crush on Retsu. She uses her own Mini 4WD called the "Flower Axe", which is a customized variant of the Spin Axe. In episode 18 of the WGP season, when Chiiko becomes jealous of the female WGP competitors, she imagines a scene where a group of female admirers crowds around Retsu. Oddly enough, the group includes Riichi, a male character.
R (アール, Āru)
Voiced by: Arisa Andō
J's older sister, who originally thought to have died in a plane accident on her way to America while she and J were still kids. She was first disappointed at J for defecting from Ogami but later understood why after the first race of the SGJC. She is last seen returning to America, saying that if J sees her there, she would show J what real racing is.

Supporting characters

Takeshi Sugiyama (杉山 闘士, Sugiyama Takeshi)
Voiced by: Showtaro Morikubo
Also known as "Mini 4 Fighter" (ミニ四ファイター, Mini Yon Faitā), he is the emcee, announcer, and commentator for most Mini 4WD races. Have a crush on Ms. Manami, Go's teacher. In the anime, he owns a legendary Mini 4WD called "Shining Scorpion" given to him by Dr. Tetshin before his retirement in racing. In the manga, he owns a star-and-striped machine that resembles Victory Magnum, the "Fighter Magnum VFX"
Tamotsu Sagami (佐上 保, Sagami Tamotsu)
Voiced by: Hidenari Ugaki
Tamotsu is Jun's father and the manager of the Sagami Model Shop that the Seiba brothers frequent. Despite running a business, he refuses to supply any Battle Racing Parts as he believes that racing is not about destroying other vehicles.
Kaizō Seiba (星馬 改造, Seiba Kaizō)
Voiced by: Hidenari Ugaki
He is the father of the Seiba brothers. Kaizō quickly developed an interest for Mini 4WD and likes to race together with his sons. His personal vehicle is a customized variant of the Saber series of mass-produced racers, which he personally calls "Godfather Special". If not for the rule saying that adults can't participate on Mini 4WD competitions, he'd enter them.
Yoshie Seiba (星馬 良江, Seiba Yoshie)
Voiced by: Shinobu Adachi
The mother of the Seiba brothers, she has a bighearted and courageous personality. At first, she dislikes Mini 4WD racing, mostly due to her annoyance with Retsu and Go constantly fighting about them, but she eventually grows used to it.

Media

Manga

The manga series originally ran serially in CoroCoro Comic starting in the June 1994 issue through the October 1999 issue, compiling into 20 tankōbon volumes. A sequel, titled Bakusō Kyōdai Let's & Go!! Return Racers!! (爆走兄弟レッツ&ゴー!! Return Racers!!, Bakusō Kyōdai Rettsu Endo Gō!! Return Racers!!), began serialization on Coro Coro Aniki in late 2014. The new series depicted Go's and Retsu's life 20 years following the end of the original series, as well as new flashback stories.

Anime

An anime adaptation of the series was produced by Xebec, directed by Tetsurō Amino (Macross 7) and written by Hiroyuki Hoshiyama. It first aired on TV Tokyo from January 8, 1996 through December 30, 1996, covering the first half of the manga. The sequel Bakusō Kyōdai Let's & Go!! WGP (爆走兄弟レッツ&ゴー!! WGP, Bakusō Kyōdai Rettsu Endo Gō!! WGP) aired from January 6, 1997 through December 22, 1997, covering the second half of the manga. The third series, titled Bakusō Kyōdai Let's & Go!! MAX (爆走兄弟レッツ&ゴー!! MAX, Bakusō Kyōdai Rettsu Endo Gō!! MAX), aired on from January 5, 1998 through December 21, 1998, covering the events of the sequel manga.

Film

A film based on the second series titled Bakusō Kyōdai Let's & Go!! WGP: Bousou Mini 4WD Daitsuiseki (爆走兄弟レッツ&ゴー!!WGP 暴走ミニ四駆大追跡!, Bakusō Kyōdai Let's & Go!! WGP Bōsō Miniyonku Dai Tsuiseki!), was released in theaters in Japan on July 5, 1997.

Games

See also

References

This article is based on a translation of an article from the Japanese Wikipedia.
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