This legendary work, which aired from 1996 to 1998 and sparked the second boom of Mini 4WD, is still loved by many fans today. On August 24, 2024, an event commemorating the release of the BD-BOX was held at Animate Ikebukuro Main Store in Tokyo.
Here we will bring you a report on the event, where the cast and staff from that time took to the stage for a live audio commentary and shared valuable behind-the-scenes stories.
Yuriko Fuchizaki (role of Retsu Hosoma)
, Haruna Ikezawa (role of Go Hosoma),
Director Tetsuro Amino (director of Let’s & Go!! and Let’s &
Go!! WGP: Runaway Mini 4WD Chase!), Akio Takami (character designer for Let’s & Go!! and Let’s & Go!! WGP)
As the event began, Fuchizaki, Ikezawa, Director Amino, and Takami all took to the stage. In their opening greetings, Fuchizaki and Ikezawa spoke of their joy at being able to participate in a Let’s & Go!! event with fans for the first time in a long time, and delivered the familiar chants of “Go, Sonic!!!” and “Go, Magnum!” in the same voices as back then, exciting the audience.
On the other hand, Takami-san confessed, “I drew the package illustration for the BD-BOX three times, but none of them were as good as the original.” At the line drawing stage, he felt it was close to the original, but once the colors were added, it gave off a completely different impression. In particular, J looks sexier than he did back then, which got Ikezawa-san and the others excited.
Afterwards, the main event took place: a live audio commentary by the cast and staff.
The episode that will be screened this time is the 25th episode of the first TV series, “Bakusou Kyodai Let’s & Go!!”, titled “Summer Race Held: A Hot Summer of Mini 4WD!”. The episode depicts the first round of the Great Japan Cup summer race, which decides the best Mini 4WD racer in Japan.
Before the screening, Ikezawa read out the synopsis of episode 25, and the audio commentary began with a fan service in which he ad-libbed words and expressions as if Go himself were reading out the prepared synopsis, exciting the audience.
As the screening began, the cast members got excited over the masterpiece of the first season’s opening song, “Winning Run! ~I Want to Become the Wind~,” while Director Amino commented on Jun Sakami, who is shown in the last cut of the opening. In this cut, Jun does not appear to be wearing his usual leggings, but it was revealed that this was actually something that had been forgotten to be drawn.
As Go and the others’ profiles were shown, the conversation turned to the distinctive nose shapes and large ears, with Takami revealing that they were designed with a mouse-like appearance in mind. This was the first time that Director Amino had heard of this.
There were also several references to Dr. Ogami, who could be called the mastermind behind the plot, questioning whether it was “right for an adult” to gleefully use dangerous machines like the Beak Spider just because vehicle inspections have been abolished. Director Amino himself also seemed to be puzzled as to where the research funding came from. During the talk, theories were raised that he may be the son of a wealthy businessman or that his family is quite wealthy.
At the end of the episode, Victory Magnum reaches the ship, which is the goal, but Go himself falls into the sea, which caused the audience to burst into laughter. Director Amino, who was watching the scene, said, “It’s great. Even if a child falls into the sea, it continues as if nothing happened,” looking back on those carefree times with nostalgia.
The ending of the second season, which Ikezawa and Fuchizaki said was their favorite, features a scene in which children from the viewing party can see a mini 4WD car running. According to Takami, this was digitally processed, which was rare for the time, and there were fans in the audience who had sent their drawings to the show since it was first aired.
コメント