Episode 13

**"Let It Fly! Radical Auto Racing"** is the 13th episode of **Chikkun Takkun**. It originally aired on Fuji TV on July 20, 1984.

## Synopsis

Miko's father wants to enter a local car race, so Mechatan and Chikkun help him remodel the family car into a full-size wind-up buggy. Elsewhere, Andre and Dr. Bell enter the race...but Andre just wants to outdo Chikkun, and Dr. Bell wants the prize money.

## Characters

* Fumiko Nanda (voice only)
* Akira Nanda
* Chikkun Duck
* Mechatan
* Miko Nanda
* Dr. Bell
* Giji-Giji
* Waruchin Encyclopedia
* Andre Harrowchild
* Takkun Hat
* Mad Tiger

## Plot summary

One afternoon, Chikkun, Mechatan, and Akira Nanda are working in the Nanda house garage. Chikkun and Mechatan are determined and working hard, but far too rough on the car for Akira's liking. Miko visits the garage and is shocked, too. Chikkun reveals that Akira asked them to remodel it into a "supercar", which embarrasses Akira, but delights Miko. Behind a nearby tree, one of Andre Harrowchild's henchmen has been standing by and watching the whole time.

On a construction site downtown, its bustling crew is working a skyscraper...and among the workers are Dr. Bell and Giji-Giji. Dr. Bell struggles to move an aluminium girder, and Giji-Giji laments how Bell shouldn't be doing this work. It's not as if he thinks Bell is weak, he assures, but because he misses doing evil deeds with Bell. The duo have turned to legitimate employment as a last ditch attempt to make money, which sends Bell into a tearful midlife crisis. The construction crew breaks for lunch, and Giji-Giji gives Dr. Bell some homemade bento wrapped in newspaper. But, on this newspaper, Bell sees an advertisement for "No Rules Auto Racing": complete chaos is encouraged, and the winner will receive 500,000円 (roughly $5000 USD) in prize money. Dr. Bell's love of evil is reignited, all thanks to Giji-Giji's makeshift furoshiki.

At the Nanda house, Chikkun and Mechatan roll out the newly-renovated family car. They have turned Akira's yellow Volkswagen Beetle bright pink, given it heart emblems along the body, and most strikingly, made it mainspring-powered. This means Mechatan must put an enormous key into the back of the car and wind it up, like a giant toy. Akira learns this the hard way when he and Chikkun try to give it a test drive, but blaze down the hill at full speed. Meanwhile, on the Nazumar, the Waruchin gladly gives Dr. Bell and Giji-Giji blueprints for the ultimate hardy supercar.

On Andre's ship, Andre is informed by his staff about the upcoming race, and of Chikkun's rather creative automobile design. Andre decides to join the race simply to win against Chikkun. That night, Dr. Bell and Giji-Giji have finished building the Waruchin's "supercar", which has turned out to be an 18-wheeler truck. Dr. Bell is furious with Giji-Giji for not giving him the chick magnet sportscar he imagined, but Giji-Giji insists this truck is full of gadgets and re-enforcements. Dr. Bell celebrates this, while Giji0Giji sighs in exasperation.

The next day, the race is about to begin. A motley crew of vehicles are waiting by the starting line, getting ready. Akira, Takkun, and Chikkun are in the pink Beetle, as Mechatan winds up the mainspring. Much to their shock, Miko has been hiding in the back of the car the whole time. Akira is furious to see Miko has tagged along on the race, but his anger is short-lived, as an enormous trailer truck pulls into the parking lot. The group realizes Dr. Bell is in the truck, and Chikkun has Mechatan let go of the Beetle, sending them in hot pursuit. The rest of the racers hurriedly follow suit, much to the flagman's dismay...until a solid gold tank pulls up to the starting line. Andre emerges, asks about the race, and then asks politely for the flagman to wave the checkered flag after him.

The race is on, and so are Dr. Bell's dirty tricks. A enormous drill emerges from his truck and creates dozens of huge holes in the road, all meant to trap the racers behind him. In the Nanda Beetle, Akira is having a terrible panic attack that keeps him from driving properly. Takkun knocks Akira out with a mallet, and Chikkun takes over driving. In the distance is a patrolling police officer named Mad Tiger, hot in pursuit of the trailer truck making huge holes in the road. Andre is further behind, only just coming up on the holes in the road. He pulls over to talk to a dismayed driver having a smoke break at the side of the road. Through this man's eyewitness account, Andre learns Dr. Bell is in the race, and Andre speeds off in hopes of retrieving the Waruchin.

The Nanda Beetle begins to tail behind Dr. Bell's truck...until a giant gloved hand emerges from the truck and knocks the Beetle off the road. Dr. Bell's delight is short-lived, because Mad Tiger and dozens of police patroller cars have blocked off the road. However, Dr. Bell types into the Waruchin, and the truck suddenly has six legs similar to Giji-Giji's legs; it walks off the road and gives Mad Tiger a courteous goodbye wave. Moments later, Andre's tank accidentally mows down many of the police cars.

The Nanda Beetle may have been knocked off the road, but it landed onto the road *before* Dr. Bell's truck. The truck and Beetle fight for placement on the road, with Takkun using Princess Leah's message compact to motivate Chikkun. The Beetle is knocked off the road once more, but lands on top of Andre's tank. Chikkun is greatful while Andre is furious, and the two of them momentarily agree to a truce as long as Dr. Bell doesn't win the race.

Dr. Bell's truck is soon overtaken by Andre's truck and the Nanda beetle. Up ahead at the finish line, Mad Tiger and his fellow police cruisers are parked in preparation for Dr. Bell's arrival. Mad Tiger gets into a tank, counts down from 5, and then fires a missile. Dr. Bell and the other Star R citizens seem to have disappeared in the explosion, until the Nanda beetle slowly crosses the finish line, and then falls apart. Akira is crowned the winner of the race while Mad Tiger has a tantrum.

That night, Dr. Bell and Giji-Giji are sentenced to community service, fixing the holes in the road. Dr. Bell is stuck with merely a shovel while Giji-Giji uses a pile driver. Mad Tiger and Dr. Bell argue all through the night as to how to properly refill the road holes.

## Allusions

The newspaper that gives Dr. Bell details on the car race has two large headlines in English: "Strong V3 Lions!! Ha Ha Ha" and "Home Run King Tabuti Tabuti". This is a reference to how the Saitama Lions had just finished in 3rd place nation-wide, and to the success of their star player Koichi Tabuchi. "Tabuti" is an understandable mispelling of "Tabuchi": "chi" syllables in Japanese are sometimes pronounced as "ti".

The remodelled version of the Nanda family car closely resembles Herbie from the 1968 American film *The Love Bug*. Both cars are Volkswagen Beetles that enter a race, but the Nanda car is pink instead of white, and with heart emblems instead of "53" emblems.