Nervous Like Ning & Skun

Nervous Like Ning & Skun is the sixteenth episode of Ōban Star-Racers and the third episode of the Ōban Cycle.

Synopsis

Facing both internal and external conflicts, Molly races hard to win her team some points and it looks like she may actually pull it off. However, her hopes are short-lived when two dangerous sisters take it upon themselves to 'educate' the humans in true racing.

Full Recap

Molly and Jordan start to have some feelings for each other, and they are both sort of embarrassed. Later, the next race starts, and the Earth Team easily gets up to fourth place. That is, until Ning and Skun infiltrate the Whizzing Arrow III and cause Molly and Jordan to become too distracted from their racing. Ning and Skun fuse their two star-racers together and launch a heat-seeking plasma beam at the Arrow III. Molly must make a last-minute dive to deflect it. She performs the maneuver successfully, but no points were gained.

Later in the module, Don Wei scolds Molly for losing as usual, but her response reminds him of Maya. That evening Jordan feels that he must make his move on Molly now, but she's too distracted by the ceremonial singing of the native creatures and wants to see what they're doing. Aikka also notices their activity, and gives Molly and Jordan a ride to the ground level to check it out. They find the singing creatures are the same as those who saved Molly and Jordan from Lord Furter's underhanded tactics. They also witness the construction of a new temple, built by magically animated stones. Molly, Jordan, and Aikka are surprised by this civilization.

Meanwhily, Don Wei holes himself up in his room and has another flashback of his wife Maya. He recalls the day she successfully accomplished a dangerous flying stunt, the same stunt Molly performed in the race that day. He has a focus on his daughter Eva, and her attraction with the art of star-racing. For the first time, Don begins to suspect that Molly could possibly be Eva.

Gallery

Trivia

• Original French Title: Nerveuses comme Ning et Skun
• Original French Air Date: September 20, 2006
• Japanese Title: 神経質なニンとスクン (Shinkeishitsuna Nin to Sukun, Nervous Ning and Sukun)
• At the beginning of the episode, Molly sees a bright light shooting up into the sky while the Drudgers are singing. This light is really a freshly ejected planet seed.