A little over 10 years ago, one of the most high-octane, adrenaline-pumping, flat-out fun anime films of all time raced onto the screen.

Set in a galaxy far, far away, “Redline” first roared its way into Japanese theaters on Oct. 9, 2010. It starred a cast of scrappy aliens competing in a series of anything-goes races in bizarre, over-the-top vehicles. Imagine if the pod race in “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace” were its own film, and you’ll start to get the idea.

Despite the vocal talents of stars Takuya Kimura, Yu Aoi and Tadanobu Asano, the film barely made a dent at the box office — I saw it opening weekend at a cinema outside Nagoya with about five other people in the theater. But through word of mouth and robust home video sales, in the intervening decade, “Redline” has become something of a cult classic. That was obvious during a series of screenings in Tokyo in late 2020 to celebrate the film’s 10th anniversary — fans braved the pandemic and packed theaters to see the film in all its glory on the big screen. The first of those screenings, held in Shinjuku, was attended by the film’s creator and co-screenwriter, Katsuhito Ishii, and its director, Takeshi Koike.