Rimba Racer

I didn't know what to expect from Rimba Racer. I first discovered it in January of 2017, more than two years after it first premiered in Malaysia and India. The studio had uploaded promotional videos onto YouTube, but the episodes were so elusive that I began to question if it even existed at all. But, eventually, I found it, and I was very surprised by just how good it was.

The first season, which has thirteen episodes, starts off as you would expect any racing story to. Tag, our main character, gets his chance to enter the Rimba Grand Prix and compete against some of the best racers in the world. The show does a solid job of introducing his competition and showing his personal struggles. But halfway through the season, the plot changes focus and I really enjoyed the direction the show went in. The ending in particular left me floored.

I know the animation isn't upper shelf, but Glue Studios did a very good job and by all accounts, season two is going to be even better. I can only hope that the writing stays as good as it was, as I can't wait to see what they do with the story going forward.

Been a Speed Racer fan for a long time. It's hard to believe I like this more than that show!

It doesn't dumb down the adventure. It knows it's target audience, and it stays committed from start to finish.

The cars are awesome. The race tracks are varied and unusual. The interesting characters get good amount of screen time doing what they do. The challenges are relatable. The world is fleshed out with small details. The music adds to the tension and atmosphere. While the budget limitations show from time to time, if you get invested in it, it's easy to overlook and enjoy.

The series has some classic clichés aimed at a younger audience, but it still packs newer plot twists and turns, accompanied with sarcastic humor, staying for the most part one step ahead of the viewer. Every time you think you have it all figured out, something you overlooked suddenly hits you hard from the side.

Overall, the first couple of episodes should speak for themselves if it's worth you sitting all the way through.

Rimba Racer is probably one of the most intriguing foreign animated series I've ever seen, and I'm surprised it came from Malaysia. It's a very wild, slick, incredibly entertaining series that balances being dramatic and intense, with being ridiculous and funny. It has a great style, likable characters, and an interesting story that speaks for itself. One of my favorite characters from the series is Tamira, because she's like a mixture of Tigress and Shadow the hedgehog. Plus, I always want to see Tag and Tamira shipped together. The animation is good too, but it can go into overdrive during the racing scenes. All I'm saying is that Rimba Racer is so much fun. It has a good scenes of humor, a unique premise, and an atmosphere that's all its own. Every character in this show acts like they're having a ball, and the tone can flip-flop at the right time so much that you have no idea if you're gonna see something cool, funny, dramatic, relatable or all of the above around every corner. It's not often you get to see foreign animation that has a dedicated fanbase, especially for a cartoon series that isn't from Canada, France or Japan for once. If you want to see a narrative driven cartoon that knows how to combine suspense and laughs, and from Malaysia too, Rimba Racer is the show for you.

Been a Speed Racer fan for a long time. It's hard to believe I like this more than that show! Just give it until episode 3 that's when things get interesting! You won't regret it!