Why Chris Resents His Dad for Building a Killer Robot |

Flipper beats axe, that's just how it works.
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• How Chris Met The King...
Feat @AbroadinJapan
00:00 Chris' cobra nightmare
05:25 Clothing Mistakes in Japan
13:06 Gundam Statue on the move!
18:33 Secrets of "Robot Wars"
28:44 Kobe Beef Tips
31:54 Hanko Stamp Queries
[e-mail] for all your messages - and remember you can listen to the show in audio form wherever you get your podcasts - shows.acast.com/abroadinjapan

[@KatarupaYT]

Chris/his dad being a major part of Robot Wars is the craziest piece of Abroad In Japan lore that I did not expect

[@SatanSupimpa]

There's very low resolution footage from Robot Wars of Chris and his dad somewhere in youtube.

[@gamesfond]

​@SatanSupimpa I'm surprised chris didn't post a link. If I was on robot wars that's all I'd ever talk about.

[@gamesfond]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/fKCXl5mQf855hJIsi=b3TBKDQPuyggKQi5

[@omniglot]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/fKCXl5mQf855hJI

[@LuminalSpoon]

To be fair your robot was much better looking than Roadblock which is literally just a road sign and a circular saw, it won the first series as well. 😂

[@AbroadinJapan]

Damn those roadblock bastards with their boring ass design that always won!

[@sirBrouwer]

I can also remember one that was just a log with wheels. the weapon was the log (a batte ram) the only problem was the wheels and of course that was attacted

[@auberginebear]

For all his chaos energy, now I cannot help wanting to see Craig Charles on an episode of Abroad in Japan.

[@joeyb3721]

No wonder the king wanted to meet you with your robot warrior heritage

[@ZeroXSEED]

Chris Dad is literally just super robot scientist

[@fattiger6957]

He's a dad from a old super robot anime. Chris will someday have to pilot his dad's robot to fight invading aliens.

[@fattiger6957]

Chris was actually sent to Japan by his father as a spy. His mission was to steal Japan's technology for giant humanoid robots. But Chris got distracted by an annoying hawk and convenience store fried chicken. But I love the idea that Chris' dad was like a father from an old Super Robot anime. One day Chris will be summoned by his dad, only to be told to pilot a giant robot and fight against invading aliens. I think we all need to see Chris go full Shinji Ikari.

[@phritz114]

I think the love for fried chicken was the result of Chris killing the hawk, cooking it and getting a hunger and taste for wild fowl right after 😅

[@sirBrouwer]

but it's a British build robot so it will not be able to walk up a flight of stairs.

[@technosworld2]

Chris stared the cult of Famichiki...should be sponsored at this point.

[@hsbdarkit]

Your dad's robot was a major part of my childhood watching robot wars I wasn't very old but that was my favourite program ❤ I wanted to be on that show badly ❤

[@bitfreakazoid]

Wait what? His dad had a robot on Robot Wars? That's awesome. I loved watching that. Also I never realized Jeremy Clarkson hosted it. Must have been before the guy from Red Dwarf did it. Thinking back on it I think I remember his voice on it. Lol that's awesome. I'm pretty sure I didn't know about Top Gear at that time.

[@sanpedro1337]

Lister from Red Dwarf aka Craig Charles smeeeeeeeggggggg heeeeeeead

[@auberginebear]

Jeremy Clarkson only hosted the 1st series, Craig Charles took over from the 2nd to 7th series.

[@juanpabloperezgomez4349]

Not only was his dad in Robot Wars, there's footage of a young Chris featuring as part of the team! Enjoy! kzbin.info/www/bejne/fKCXl5mQf855hJI

[@cbrngrz6966]

I used to take Air China to Japan as well but they lost my bags on the connection flight when I was returning home. The bag was eventually found and returned to me but this honestly seems like it happens far too often -- the Beijing airport is pretty chaotic so I imagine it may be due to that. Needless to say, I wouldn't recommend taking them regardless of the cost savings if you're checking anything in, you could potentially lose the value of everything you checked in just to save a few hundo. Although these days I do all my travels with one bag even for 2-3 month trips. If you're taking more than that for a week-long vacation you're probably over-packing lol

[@cristinakennedy6962]

Cool Chris in black t-shirts for filming... also a wardrobe life hack by Sir David Attenborough, who always wears a blue shirt and khaki pants to help with continuity when filming months and sometimes thousands of miles apart.

[@spencerwall1]

thanks for the memories. killertron remembered that episode. cheers fella

[@letiziacastiglione2492]

I’m from Italy born in 1988 and we definitely watched Robot Wars!! When I started watching your channel I didn’t know your connection to the show. I found out after a few months and was SO excited!!

[@biggyboykarl]

This is some juicy lore. I remember that bot.

[@Ashley6100]

Robot Wars did hit a bit of a lull during Chaos 2's reign, where almost everything was a wedge-shaped flipper. But seriously, they were never ready for the absolute fury of the mighty Hypno-Disc. I'll never forget it's debut where absolutely nothing was prepared for the strength of the rotating desk weapon, armour was being shredded like paper. Even house robot Matilda was so badly damaged it set on fire. I will always regret that Hypno-Disc never quite became the champion it deserved to be due to unfortunate technical issues, and years later the competitors had much better armour and were ready for it.

[@justagerman140]

I zoned out reading comments for a moment and didn't catch that you fighting a cobra in your apartment was only in a dream and not an actual experience.

[@AbroadInJapanPodcast]

But it FELT so real it practically happened

[@sheilahgregg7879]

It’s called Battle Bots now… and hosted in Las Vegas. Big money and sponsors.

[@pwners4u]

Different show, that’s the American version the UK version still was robot wars until it ended

[@martinjjennings]

Robot Wars was legendary. Hosted by Jeremy Clarkson to start with then Craig Charles. Lots of crazy battles.

[@dizzyjessd]

In the pit, in the pit, in the pit 😂robot wars was amazing lol😂

[@HypaBumfuzzle]

10:09 human skillet, new level unlocked. Nice.

[@RichardTLDR]

‘Father! Give me legs! Father!’

[@wendiruppe9468]

Yay! Just what I needed!

[@feiryfella]

Me too!

[@jimbobur]

They brought back Robot Wars for a while much later on. Also Dead Metal was the name of robot that grabbed you and had the circular saw that came down.

[@andybeard3213]

Sounds like one of those dreams you get when you get off the college weed habit for the first time 😂

[@LtColShingSides]

Need to start lobbying for that Family Mart sponsorship!

[@alpconn223]

Holy shit! You were always destined to be a celebrity! I love that robot!

[@TheStanHill]

Forget books, the next autobiography thing Chris creates should a manga called My Rival Sibling is a Robot That Can Kill.

[@_heartunderblade2451]

Can confirm famichiki cult is in full effect. Went for the first time at the end of may and the FIRST thing i ate was famichiki classic. Shit is fire, had it over ten times during my trip

[@bogbupog]

Such a good show

[@suzysizzle]

Top Travel tip: ALWAYS bring a light change of clothes in your carry on or personal item in case of your baggage getting lost. This will save you until you can head to a clothing store to get some basics.

[@Stephen-up3sd]

Not in Japan if you are 6ft 5” tall with size 14 (UΚ) feet!😂

[@lemmingsplat5279]

Wowwww I can't believe you were on Robot Wars!!! You were living my childhood dream! Then you moved to Japan, and now living my adult dream. I hate you Chris! :)

[@stefaniehase2448]

Just to let you know, I would most definitely buy an Abroad in Japan hanko stamp!🤩

[@lafontainemediaproductions2176]

I JUST FOUND THE FOOTAGE ON KZbin, CHRISTOPHER LOOKS SO CUTEEEEE😂

[@Mesmancer]

Robot Wars that takes me back. Killertron was there in series 1 and was the most succesfull in the only series where it wasn't pink but painted orange by accident.

[@Segafishy]

When I first started watching I had that sort of feeling you get when you know a face but can't quite place it, thought maybe I'd bumped into Chris perhaps at somepoint or something as where I lived wasn't far from Croydon but then when Robot Wars came up it clicked (previously not this episode of the Podcast) I think Chris' Dad's robot even popped up in one of the games at one point, always wanted one of those Sir Killalot r/c toys but never got one, mind you I did get a RAD that I used to use to launch my little Sisters Furby with (couldn't shoot it as the Darts naturally went missing in about 5 minutes).

[@andyvpz]

I remember seeing some of the robots on display at lakeside in Thurrock way back in early 2000s

[@pf5723]

On my last full day in Tokyo, I went to see Gundam statue and just happen to walkin to Odaiba which I didn't know about and had a beautiful sunset from the beach and views from the mall behind. Recommend!

[@Reyain94]

BattleBots is still pretty big in the US

[@zavtparticles6828]

that's all i was thinking about was like, does chris know about battle bots??? it's huuuge

[@baeber]

yes my dose of this podcast

[@arlene13woohoo]

Robot Wars takes me back. Can't believe your Dads robot was Killatron!

[@KaitlynnUK]

Just had a look at a clip of Robot Wars with a young Chris in.... and he's wearing a Black T-Shirt :D

[@MrMBinder]

Summer this year in Denmark is rainy, cold, and generally rubbish. I'd trade it for a trip to Japan in a heartbeat if I didn't have other responsibilities. Robot Wars was pretty neat back in the day. Hypno-Disc was my favourite apart from the house robots 😅

[@russellwarren9595]

sounds like you guys are having a traditional British style summer! lol. usually here in the UK mother nature forgets it's summer until the end of August and then tries catching up by giving us a quite pleasant September and sometimes a bit of October aswell but will then go from shorts and tshirts to eans jumpers and thick coats over a weekend. lol

[@MrMBinder]

@@russellwarren9595 Just the other day my little region caught some record-smashing hails (40-80mm in odd shapes) 👀 Quite unusual, and I'm just glad I wasn't out driving in my car.

[@russellwarren9595]

@@MrMBinderthat could have been scary . I hope no one was hurt.

[@MrMBinder]

@@russellwarren9595 I'm sure it would have made the news if that were the case. The intense rain and thunder just before the hail probably caused everyone to seek shelter 😅

[@HazriHaili]

Killertron!!!! omg yup that was part of my childhood!

[@carolinelawrie7142]

Loved Robot Wars!!! 🤖🤖🤖

[@icychill105]

Mr.Broad sounds like a legendary dad for being part of robot wars

[@ScuzzySera]

The 1988 EXPO site in Brisbane Australia has turned into wonderful parkland for the city.

[@toni-kaku]

Seville expo was in 92. The same year as the Barcelona olympics. Pete was right 😮

[@sirBrouwer]

Robot Wars was also big in the Netherlands. (the BBC version) I remember one that was just a log with wheels. it was just a batter ram on wheels.

[@CoolCisco]

It's going to be interesting to see if the expo will be successful, they say it's behind schedule and a few countries have pulled out.

[@smileyfaceyourface]

According to robot wars wiki £300 was spent originally and an extra £200 was spent upgrading it for the next season

[@DoozyyTV]

I loved Robot Wars as a kid

[@Loroths]

Your dad's was Killatron!? Haha, I watched Robot Wars as a kid. Trashy but so entertaining for 20 minutes or so 😂 I think Americans had their own version of the show under a different name.

[@DangerousDac]

You can see a young Chris in one of the Robot Wars eps.

[@johnmcmanus7809]

Just watched the clip lol

[@technosworld2]

Yeah, we have Battlebots in the U.S. which has been happening on and off for decades (at least televised on and off, not sure if it ever actually completely stopped). Robot Wars was also aired here in the U.S. so I'm sort of familiar with it.

[@nowknow]

Not me watching all killertron fights now.

[@Chad_Thundernuts]

Okay.. Had to double take on that title lmao This should be interesting 🤣👍

[@Bergkatse2]

When I moved to Japan I had to open up a Japanese bank account so I rushed to get an inkan/Hanko stamp and when I turned up at the bank (SMBC) the lady said “are you sure you don’t want to just sign, inkans are a pain to use” and I was like “yes. I just paid $100 for this thing I’m using it”. I was able to close my account without it 🤷. I lived next to the Gundam. It’s soooooo boring. I took a time lapse video of it and it blew my Japanese friends minds 😅

[@WayneManifesto]

Damn im old, i remember all those robot wars

[@markbaker666]

I have a photo somewhere of your dad, my son at the kent county fair in detling with robot..... all amusingly sunburnt typically.

[@DC90]

Wasn't it Wheely Big Cheese?

[@lushfruit]

Podcast 16 of asking Christ to speedrun nearly every main temple in Tokyo !!

[@fattiger6957]

Upon hearing that Pete doesn't like giant robots, I will therefore have to give him a vigorous cancelling. So Pete, assume the position and await Mazinger Z's rocket fist.

[@davideriksen9086]

Chris. I'm shocked you didn't Gundam it. True about British engineering. It was the British Merlin engine that perfected America's P-51 Mustang.

[@sueKay]

I loved Robot Wars back in the day, was always sad my parents would never take me to see it live. I remember your dad's robot! I did stop watching towards the end but the first few series were pretty fun!

[@illusion27]

Snake nightmare usually means a foe or someone with evil intention. The dream can be interpreted as someone try to do harm to Sharla and Chris protects her but injured in the process

[@xey9535]

Yeah you definitely didn't just make that up on the spot

[@jb0258jr]

Battle Bots just ended a few years ago, at least over here in the west. The last couple of seasons they had were insane

[@zavtparticles6828]

it's not technially over, they just didn't have a season this year. They seemed to be focused on their live traveling shows. so maybe that will be cut up in to the next season.

[@jb0258jr]

@@zavtparticles6828 whoops, thank you for the correction my good sir. I thought it ended 😅

[@_nihongo_jouzu_]

'Wakkoqu' - name of the Kobe beef restaurant

[@amlannanda4023]

Based dad

[@TashapeshapeTah]

In my culture, being bitten by snake in your dreams = getting married 😅😅😅

[@benjaminmealer2618]

Chicago world’s fair has a lot of the buildings still in Chicago but moved around.

[@ricdavid]

Ha, that's great. I loved Robot Wars as a kid. Woulda killed for my dad to be into that sort of thing! Sgt. Bash was such a dumb name for a robot with a gripper claw and a flamethrower. I thought maybe he'd had a hammer in his first appearances... nope, circular saw.

[@nicholausbuthmann1421]

Inokashira Park featured in PERSONNA 5 for those nice people from Dallas/Ft. Worth just now & other's.

[@Mesmancer]

Wheely Big Cheese, made by Roger Plant. The entered Big Cheese and the Mule in earlier series.

[@T0DD]

12:25 spectacles - that's pretty normal I suppose fake mustache - oh that'd be silly long black wig, slicked back - wait red military top - oh my GOD pete what are you doing!?

[@silis_pap8473]

Ofc the Gundam factory closes as I'm about to visit... 😢

[@mfaizsyahmi]

Tfw Chris could've been in the makersphere. He could've been in the Safety Third podcast instead of this one, and be at Open Sauce instead of Buckingham Palace.

[@Chris-ut6eq]

Does the jellyfish aquarium have cute mascot? and merch?

[@noisehippo1561]

I loved robotwars! Wasnt Adam Savage from Mythbusters at this show?

[@fattiger6957]

I think Grant (RIP) was a competitor.

[@GHAMVs]

Suprised Chris didn't hear about the modern BBC Robot Wars reboot!

[@fauzirahman3285]

As with everything, the British version of this robot fighting arena is better than what the Americans made a lot more recently.

[@robh8814]

There was only one reason to watch Robot Wars & it wasnt the robots! It was Julia Reed. I never watched it once she left🤣

[@aussieinosaka7204]

Anyone seen the Osaka Expo 2025 Mascot? Its nightmare fuel ☠️

[@willemgroenewegen5934]

This makes me wonder: is there an rc-car scene in Japan? I had a Tamiya one back in the day that you could mod out in all sorts of ways. Think Tamiya has a flagship store in Tokyo? Or maybe this question is more up @PremierTwo 's alley?

[@fattiger6957]

Based on the fact that Japanese love model kits, cars and tiny things, I would assume they like RC cars.

[@bitfreakazoid]

I hope they never get rid of them. They are something uniquely Japanese and to get rid of them would just be another checkmark in the loss of the Japanese identity and making it just like any other country.

[@elementneon]

"Once people realized the optimal way to win was to build a flipper on it." Oh dear, who wants to tell Chris? ... See, Robot Wars continued on in the United States as BattleBots, and we have some pretty great engineers ourselves. Nowadays, the flipper is no longer considered the top weapon type, not even close actually. Turns out, the robotics engineers here designed a weapon that consists of a heavily weighted ultra high-speed spinning blade, which at first was used like a flipper to toss up bots, but once used horizontally by a robot named Tombstone it became the most feared weapon of all time.

[@lankyGigantic]

They brought back Robot Wars back a few years ago and it got really boring, because every single robot had that high speed circular hammer thing

[@Crazt]

I was introduced to an Iaido Dojo during my last 4 years living in Japan. I was encouraged to get the proper uniform and have name embroidered on it too. One of the instructors met me at a store out in town and was gracious enough to help me get everything on order. He and the proprietor spent a good 30 minutes going through different ways of putting my last name into Katakana, trying to make it fit on the patch. I was nearly in tears, begging them in English and my shit excuse for Japanese to just use my first name, which is also Chris. For 30 minutes these guys tried making my last name as Japanese as possible, before they lamented and decided I was right, and Chris would be fine.

[@zDToddy]

Autumn if the nuclear winter doesn't start first

[@Crossingt]

Famichicki unfortunately didn't do it for me.

[@kaleeyed]

Just like Pete, I have another life hack to avoid paying your student loan. After you graduate, just be really poor for 20 years. Then you can defer the loan and they'll cancel it off when you're in your 40s and they realise they're never going to get any money back from your broke arse. Works a treat 👍

[@Diehydro]

Why does this question sound so familiar, have they accidentally repeated a viewer question ?

[@Jude74]

Is the unicorn gundham still there?

[@fattiger6957]

I think the Unicorn Gundam is still in Divers City. I think the Nu Gundam statue also still stands in Fukuoka. I'm not sure if the first life-sized Gundam statue (what the MG 3.0 is based on) is still standing.

[@klm20079]

robot wars is now called battlebots and the shit they have now is 100% worse. from flame drones to heat rod pins

[@kleinj2001]

Pete is mistaken. The giant Gundam statue, in Kyushu that he saw, is in Fukuoka, not Kumamoto. Located in front of the Lalaport Mall in Fukuoka city. Shame on you Pete for not knowing the difference between Fukuoka and Kumamoto. That's like saying Big Ben is located in Portsmouth.

[@AbroadInJapanPodcast]

Oh yeah, you're quite right! I was off my face on suncream😂

[@AbroadInJapanPodcast]

There's no possible way you're having Big Ben in this analogy mind😂

[@kleinj2001]

@@AbroadInJapanPodcast Sorry Pete, I was trying to think of something tall and famous in London and move it 100km to the south. 😄

[@miguelinemag5486]

17:42 R2-D2? WALL-E? and many other robots from media aren't lovable?

[@Aeonshield]

Unless you watched the whole debate, ya can please shush, alliteration Pete

[@cbrown182]

The important question is does your Dad still have Killertron?

[@kirkschwarz]

I’m sorry. Your dad was king of robots and now you’re a big fancy KZbin ruler of Japan? When will the rise of the Nepo ever end!!

[@lyndylou752]

OMG that is so funny Japan crying foul over too many tourists so let’s add to the issue and hold an expo😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@user-vv7pz7hf1j]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/fKCXl5mQf855hJI we got our eggs stuck in with the killer tron

[@SatanSupimpa]

Chris and his dad in Robot Wars /watch?v=Fo4ffZJiFN0

[@texasburbs4380]

I feel like Chris fighting a cobra is more realistic than Donald Trump beating Pete in a race to the top of a mountain....or any race anywhere doing anything.

[@-sollarz]

Ah yes Robot wars... if you weren't watching Men behaving badly or 2.4 children in the 90's 😁

[@Loroths]

@@-sollarz or Gladiators. My god 90s Gladiators was the sh*t. Or Crystal Maze. The original series once again was faaaar supeeior to the reboot. Never to be done as well again.

[@-sollarz]

@@Loroths The crystal maze was great i liked it best with the bald host.