Episode 15

**"Keep Your Hands Off Sweets!"** is the 15th episode of **Chikkun Takkun**. It originally aired on Fuji TV on August 3, 1984.

## Synopsis

It's Fumiko Nanda's birthday, and the Nanda family is busily setting up her birthday party. Elsewhere in town, Dr. Bell eats a strawberry shortcake for the first time, and becomes obsessed with Earth sweets. Dr. Bell uses a magnet that attracts sugar instead of metal in order to create his own candy empire. When Fumiko's birthday cake is stolen by this magnet, Chikkun and Miko's crew declare war on Dr. Bell.

## Characters

* Mechatan
* Akira Nanda
* Miko Nanda
* Chikkun Duck
* Takkun Hat
* Fumiko Nanda
* Dr. Bell
* Giji-Giji
* Waruchin Encyclopedia

## Plot summary

It's a bright summer day, and Chikkun's group is helping Akira and Miko set up a birthday party. Chikkun and Takkun begin to goof around, but Miko scolds them for not taking the day seriously. She takes Chikkun to the kitchen doorway, showing him how hard Fumiko is working on her own birthday cake - the "Nanda Specialty Ultra Super Mega Miracle Special Cake", as she calls it. It's Fumiko's favourite kind of cake, but she restricts herself to eating it only once a year because of her strict self-imposed diet. Chikkun is confused by this, but he understands how important the day is to Miko's mother.

Elsewhere, Dr. Bell and Giji-Giji are researching Earth foods, particularly whipped cream cakes. Bell is adamant that he try some cake for himself. Giji-Giji is opposed to the "prince of darkness" eating a cake that he thinks is only for young girls, but begrudgingly, he gets a small cake for Dr. Bell to try. After one bite, the cake knocks Dr. Bell out for a moment - but only because he finds it so delicious. Giji-Giji comes around to Bell's sudden love of sweets when Bell decides to steal all the sweets from the town nearby.

Celebrations are underway at the Nanda house. Fumiko is called on to cut the birthday cake, but before she cuts it, she takes a moment to reflect on how hard she's worked all year to be able to "earn" her cake. Right as she goes to cut a slice, the cake begins to float through the air and right out through the window. All of the sweets in the area, including Fumiko's cake, are carried out to Dr. Bell's sugar magnet where the Waruchin can synthesize the sugar into something big and bizarre: a giant candy castle.

Dr. Bell's candy castle is fully furnished and equipped with candy-themed utilities. While Dr. Bell and Giji-Giji celebrate their victory, the rest of Miko's hometown are left reeling from the disappearance of all sweets. Miko and Chikkun go out to look for a replacement birthday cake, but witness a girl close to Miko's age reeling from the lack of cakes anywhere in town. Not wanting to leave Fumiko without her perfect birthday celebration, Miko tracks down the last bit of sugar in the whole city, and goes to buy it at the city pier. However, Dr. Bell tracks the sugar down, and attacks Mechatan, Chikkun, Takkun, and Miko with bullets and bombs made of hot mustard.

Fumiko is left bedridden with grief for her missing birthday cake. Akira dutifully stays by her side, helping her through her catatonia, in spite of how bizarre he finds the situation. Chikkun and Miko are so affected by Fumiko's feverish state that they vow revenge against Dr. Bell. Chikkun unveils a new invention of his own to track down the missing sugar: a metal homing device that, when activated, opens to unleash a colony of ants. The ants then begin to lead the group to the nearest source of sugar in town. If Chikkun can't find the final destination of all of the town's sweets, then they'll at least be able to catch Dr. Bell before he can steal again. However, the ants are distracted by a pretty girl ant and begin to walk in the other direction...fortunately, they brought Chikkun right up to Bell's candy castle, so not all hope is lost.

Inside the castle, Giji-Giji and Dr. Bell are in the middle of fighting over who can take the first bite of a celebratory cream cake. Chikkun's group bursts until the castle, however, and the villains pelt them with more hot mustard bullets. Fortunately, Miko is equipped with a machine gun that shoots freshly-grated wasabi. The group engages in condiment-themed warfare, with weapons that shoot pepper and curry powder.

As a last ditch effort, Dr. Bell decides to use a special piece of machinery that will permanently convert all the sweets on the premises into bitter condiments, thus rendering them irredeemable for the rest of the town. Fortunately, Mechatan bursts into the machine's room and destroys it. This causes the candy castle to fall apart and re-atomize as all the stolen sweets. These fly back into town and magically return to their original owners.

That evening, Fumiko's birthday party resumes. The Nanda family excitedly begins to dig into the cake. Fumiko is especially overjoyed by how good the cake tastes, and she joyfully eats the rest of her slice of cake. Akira assures her that she's welcome to have as much of the cake as she wants, but she declines; she explains to her husband that she tries to stay in shape for the special moments between just them. Miko's parents lovingly take each others' hands, and the birthday continues happily into the night.

Meanwhile, Giji-Giji and Dr. Bell realized what happens when they eat so many sweets - their teeth get affected by sugar and other additives. Their teeth crumble and fall out (although Dr. Bell has been shown as being able to regrow his own teeth, and Giji-Giji can have his teeth replaced.) For the meantime, both villains learn a valuable lesson in dental health and nutrition.

## Allusions

When Giji-Giji accuses Dr. Bell of becoming a "burikko", he is comparing Bell to girls from the Burikko subculture of the 1980s. Burikko are characterized by excessive cuteness and delicate, particular mannerisms. Moko of The Kyunkyuns is based on this trope.

When Chikkun strikes a pose at the pier, he is parodying a famous promotional shot for *Taiyō ni Hoero!*, a Japanese detective series that ran from 1972 to 1986. The character Chikkun is posed like is Jun "Jeans" Shibata, a junior detective played by Yuusaku Matsuda.

Fumiko's birthday cake has 45 candles, indicating she turned 45 years old in this episode. The episode's air date, August 3, could also be considered her birthday.