Strike Witches - Road to Berlin - Episode 4 - Shirley Reads Bad News

Shirley learned something had been taken away from her back home. She was not happy.

Strike Witches decided to make Shirley a mash-up of Chuck Yeager and Burt Munro as they did their version of the The World's Fastest Indian. We never saw the motorcycle under the shell, but Shirley's Playboy Bunny logo absolutely fits her character. Shirley learned that her motorcycle land speed record had gone to someone else and she wanted to get it back. Thankfully, she brought her bike and aerodynamic shell with her to Nederland.

Somehow Shirley can get new mufflers from America even though the port at Antwerpen is still under repair. With Lucchini's help, she set about breaking the new record and then decided to go all out and hit 200 mph from 188 mph. Shirley has a need for speed, alright.

Unfortunately, the Neuroi of the Week won't let Shirley have that much fun before the Strike Witches continue their campaign to Berlin. By the rules of Neuroi of the Week, this new one is fast and appears to be designed specifically for Shirley to beat.

The eye catches feature Shirley and Lucchini, of course.

Strike Witches made sure you knew that Yoshika still struggles with her unstable magic pressure. Also, that the Americans, er, Liberions always get the good stuff fast, like Shirley receiving a new P-51H Mustang unit, the fastest ever, in terms of acceleration. She didn't want to change from her P-51D, but Minna insisted, in exchange for overlooking her motorcycle hobby using the runway. Oh, now Shirley adored her new P-51H flying boots.

Unfortunately, we came to the part of the story where Lucchini didn't fully understand Shirley's attachment to her motorcycle and what it meant to her identity. A motorcycle land speed record doesn't mean much if the vehicle is a cobbled together P-38 Lightning. Shirley got mad, and Lucchini got mad that Shirley was mad, and it was just all a big fight. Barkhorn gave the young Lucchini some perspective on how something cool for her might not be cool for someone else. All was forgiven, Shirley apologized for her emotional outburst, and they built an improved engine for the Rapid. Yoshika tried eating a lot of pie to stabilize her magic pressure. It might work, as long as she doesn't eat too much pie and gains too much weight.

On the morning of Shirley's 200 mph attempt, that annoying Neuroi of the Week showed up again. Lucchini scrambled quickly, using Shirley's fast Striker Units, which was not a good idea, since they were tuned for Shirley's magic power. Yoshika was still out of the fight. Shirley, without boots to fly in, used her motorcycle to launch in the air and rescue Lucchini. Barkhorn helped too.

As soon as Shirley got in the P-51H Striker Units, the fight was over. All's well that ends well. And as a nice epilogue, we saw that Shirley did beat 200 mph when she accelerated to save Lucchini. Yuri power conquers all, even speed records.