Kikaida

Jiro and his true robotic form Kikaider. (From the 2001 anime.).

Kikaider or Kikaida (キカイダー) is a Japanese superhero created by Shotaro Ishinomori. The character has appeared in manga, tokusatsu, and anime.

Paying tribute to Astro Boy, created by his mentor Osamu Tezuka, Ishinomori used the stories of Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio (which was also the basis for Astro Boy) along with Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's Frankenstein as the basis for his science fiction action masterpiece hailed to this day by fans in Japan.

The tokusatsu series from 1972 has also become a phenomenon in Hawaii to this very day. The complete DVD series is available in the west with English subtitles through JN Productions.

Kikaider, the main character, is a humanoid robot, built by Dr. Komyoji to protect himself and his children from the DARK Android commanded by the evil Professor Gill.

Contents

1 General Characters

1.1 Androids
1.2 Humans

2 Adaptations

2.1 Manga
2.2 Tokusatsu
2.3 Anime
2.4 Books

3 Superhero Safety
4 Trivia
5 See also
6 External links

General Characters

Androids

Jiro/Kikaider: An android created by Dr. Komyoji to stop DARK. Unlike the first two Kikaider models (00 and 01) created before him, Jiro, the third model, has emotions due to his GEMINI Conscience Circuit, and he acts to protect Mitsuko and Masaru Komyoji. However, since GEMINI is incomplete, he can be taken over by Professor Gill's hypnotic flute until he was able to overpower its influence (even rely on a high-pitched sound to drown it out). Jiro also has a guitar and motorcycle, which is called Sidemachine
*NOTE: Kikaider's name is a cross between kikai (Japanese for "machine") and the English word "rider" (for he rides a motorcycle). Hakaider, Bijinder, Waruder and Gattaider share the same name game (look in each character bio).
*"Jiro" - Japanese given name meaning "second son"
*The reason Kikaider is half-blue and half-red is due to his incomplete GEMINI Conscience Circuit (he would be blue if it were complete). Blue represents good and red represents evil. It is that latter side, the dark side, that Professor Gill tries to exploit in him.
*GEMINI is a reference to Jiminy Cricket from Walt Disney's version of Pinocchio.

Ichiro/Kikaider 01 ("Zero One"): Jiro's "older brother", the second Kikaider built by Komyoji in case of dire emergencies. Named after the scientist's late first son Taro (who was a fireman killed by a fire started by DARK). Ichiro/01 was solar-powered, and was weak in the dark. While the weakness in the dark was removed from the anime and manga, his solar-power charge was kept, although never directly mentioned. Ichiro also lacked a conscience circuit, thus lacks the same type of compassion Jiro has (a possible reason Komyoji instead strived to create the "perfected" Jiro). Ichiro seemed to act like a little kid at first, with a passion for a good fight, but he matured eventually and decides to help Jiro in the fight against Shadow. His weapons are his machinegun arm & the sunlight beam. He plays a trumpet & rides the motorcycle and sidecar DoubleMachine.
*NOTE: "Ichiro" - Japanese given name meaning "first son"

Rei/Kikaider 00 (pronounced "double-oh"): The very first (and failed) Kikaider prototype. He was deemed a failure before his completion, and was left unfinished in Komyoji's lab, until he was completed by the priest whom was taking care of Ichiro. Like Ichiro, Rei lacks a conscious circuit, although while Ichiro tends to act childish, Rei simply does not show emotion towards anything whatsoever. He has blades in his hands and can "Blow Up" causing guns to pop out of parts of his body (similar to another Ishinomori superhero, Robot Detective K from the series Robotto Keiji), and he also uses an attack where he says "Shoot All" bombarding the enemy with missiles. Unlike his brothers, he neither drives a motorcycle nor has a musical instrument due to his late completion. He wears a yellow suit in his human form. He never appeared in the live-action series. (Although, in 1989, he did unofficially appear in a fan film video series produced by Nakajima Productions, entitled Android Double-O).
*NOTE: "Rei" - Japanese for "zero"

Saburo/Hakaider: Another android, considered as Jiro's "younger brother" as he was also made by Professor Komyoji . . . and, ironically, is Professor Komyoji! While Jiro was made by Dr. Komyoji voluntarily, Saburo was one of the Hakaider androids Komyoji was forced to make under the dominance of DARK to "correct" his mistake...by destroying Kikaider. Unlike the other Hakaiders made, Saburo is a cyborg. Since Gill had Dr. Komyoji's brain transplanted into the very android he created, it was his trump card against Jiro. Hakaider almost succeeded in killing Kikaider, when Komyoji's brain override Saburo's systems momentarily and helped get Kikaider and the others into DARK HQ. By the time Saburo resumed control, Gil no longer needed him & had the other Hakaiders blast the cyborg's head off (Kikaider, however, saved Komyoji's brain for Mitsuko). But Saburo, headless, was still active & grabbed Gil by the throat as DARK HQ exploded.

However, later on, Professor Gill's own brain somehow wound up in Hakaider, thus known as Gill-Hakaider.

(In 1995, Hakaider got to star in his own movie as an anti-hero in a post-apocalyptic world. The film was a box-office flop, failing to retain the appeal from Kikaider.)

*NOTE: Hakaider's name basis is the same as Kikaider's except replace kikai with hakai ("destruction").
*"Saburo" - Japanese given name meaning "third son"
*In 1971, Kamen Rider, another one of Ishinomori's creations, featured a Hakaider in which Hongo Takeshi, the first Kamen Rider, was killed and his brain implanted into an android body.

ShadowKnight: Big, clunky, one-eyed leader in SHADOW's ranks. Works directly under "Gill Hakaider".

Mariko/Bijinder: An agent of SHADOW, but joined up with the Kikaiders to fight at their side. She played a harp & rides the Bjinder Machine motorcycle in the live action version, but not the anime or manga. Her human form was constructed in a highly sensual fasion, which causes her to often make remarks towards her beauty in combat. She unknowingly shares a mental link with Rieko, and feels whatever she feels when her emotions are at their highest.
*NOTE: Her name is based on bijin ("beautiful person).
*NOTE:Mariko/Bijinder's human form in the manga and the anime is Mieko.

Rieko: Although she has no alternate name, Rieko is definitely an android, though it's never revealed straight off in the live action version, nor the anime. The only real difference appears to be that in the live action and manga, Rieko knew she was an android. Rieko in the anime truly thought she was human, due to Prof. Gill installing her memories. Rieko plays no musical instrument. She is Akira's caretaker, treating him as if he were her own child instead. Her android form is basically made of two shades of gold with her 'hair' modeled into a sort of swept up bun. She has a green jewel in the center of her forehead with which to shoot a laser at her enemies. At the moment, live action pictures of Rieko cannot be found, so her appearance may be different in the live action, much like Bijinder's appearance in the 70's version differs from the anime.

Waruder: Another Kikaider-like android, an agent of SHADOW. Appeared in the manga and live-action versions (did not have a robot form in the former). Did not appear in the anime version.
*NOTE: His name is based on warui (Japanese for "bad" or "evil")

Zaddam:

The Hakaider Squad: When Hakaider returned from the dead as "Gill Hakaider" (with Professor Gill's brain, instead of Komyoji's), he created three other Hakaiders from three DARK scientists to serve as his aides; Red, Blue and Silver Hakaiders. All four Hakaiders combine into a singular robot monster Gattaider. The Three Hakaiders sacrificed themselves so their leader can escape. In the live-action version, all four Hakaiders also transformed into separate robot monsters; Gill, Red, Blue and Silver Hakaiders transformed into Black Dragon (which looks like King Ghidorah), Red Centipede, Blue Alligator and Silver Shrimp, respectively.
*NOTE: Gattaider is based on gattai ("combine").

Humans

Dr. Den Komyoji: The creator of the three Kikaiders (Jiro was the almost-perfected model). A top robotics expert, he was captured by DARK to help them build an army of murderous robot monsters. Secretly built the Kikaiders to not only protect his two children Mitsuko and Masaru, but to save the world.

Mitsuko Komyoji: The daughter of Dr. Komyoji, the scientist who created Jiro. She seemed to despise robots since they caused her so much suffering yet she develops feelings for Jiro. Feeling guilty for driving him away, had to track a lost and confused Jiro all over town, with the help of Detective Hattori and his assistant. By the end of the series, it is unknown whether Mitsuko feels sibling or compassionate love for Jiro by the end of the anime and manga.

Masaru Komyoji: The spunky younger brother of Mitsuko.

Hanpei "Hanpen" Hattori: A hysterically comical private investigator who befriends and helps Kikaider and his companions. He is a descendant of the famous real-life ninja Hattori Hanzō. Reminiscent of Shaggy from the Scooby-Doo TV shows (but dressed up in Sherlock Holmes-styled attire). Drives a volkswagen that constantly breaks down, and he has to use ninja "magic" and techniques to keep it holding together! In the manga and anime version, Hanpei has an assistant - a bespectacled girl named Etsuko Sarutobi (who does not appear in the live-action version). Is seemingly more laid-back and restrained in the anime version. Both Hanpei and Etsuko appeared briefly in the wreckage of Tokyo in the final episode of the OVA series.

Hanpei is derisively nicknamed "Hanpen" by his companions (hanpen is Japanese for "pounded fish cake").

Professor Gill: The leader of a terrorist organization called DARK. He once funded Dr. Komyoji's research, and he even introduced Mitsuko's and Masaru's mother to Dr. Komyoji. Gill hates Kikaider, seeing him as an abombnation of robots due to his Gemini System (not to mention a threat to his ambition), and wants to destroy him as a result. Gill used a flute that can control his Dark Androids (and partially affecting Kikaider as well). When DARK was desmolished, Gill was mortally injured & his brain was transferred into the body of a restored Hakaider, minus Saburo's AI. After that, Gill became the cyborg Gill-Hakaider, leader of the Hakaider Squad and the terrorist group SHADOW, who must retrieve his son Akira, the core of the project he worked on before Kikaider destroyed DARK, the Armageddon Lord.

Akira: This poor boy is the son of Prof. Gill, and definitely not without misfortune. This little boy was 'made' in order to be some sort of tool for Gill's Armageddon Lord (in fact, he appears to be the power source). In the anime, Kikaider 01, Akira is very quiet and very uncomfortable without the presence of Rieko at first, since she was the only one to truly take care of him.

Adaptations

Manga

The manga series was serialized in Shonen Sunday at the same time as the live action television series.

Tokusatsu

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Android Kikaider (1972) TV Series + 1 Movie
Kikaider 01 (1973) TV Series
Mechanical Violator Hakaider (1995) Movie

Anime

Android Kikaider: The Animation (2000)-(2001) TV Series
Kikaider 01: The Animation (2001) 4-Part OVA
The Boy Who Carried a Guitar: Kikaider Vs. Inazuman (2002) OVA Special

Books

Starting in October of 2005, DC Comics has begun the prodution of English translations of a Japanese Manga of Kikaider. These books are intended as another, more recent and visually updated, version of the story. Two of the manga's have been released as of yet with another appearing later in March of 2006.

Superhero Safety

In the past, the Super Giant movie series and shows like Moonlight Mask (the first TV superhero in Japan) became controversial, when children imitated the stunts performed by the featured superheroes, usually by jumping out of a window (this was also a major issue with TV and adaptations of Superman).

The original Android Kikaider series was one of the first tokusatsu superhero TV shows that added safety bumpers (seen at the end of each episode) which warned children not to imitate the dangerous and impossible stunts performed by the title superhero.

Trivia

Hakaider is perhaps one of the first villains to have his own theme song. It was sung by Mizuki Ichiro (also affectionately known as 'Aniki') and entitled "Ore wa Hakaider" (I am Hakaider). It basically tells of Hakaider's thoughts and what drives him, best summed up in the chorus "Tsubuse, kowase, hakaise yo!" (Crush, break/ruin, destroy!)

Kikaider was occasionally shown in posters teamed up with Kamen Rider. However, the two never actually met on-screen.

In the JAKQ Dengeki Tai movie, Kikaider is mentioned in passing as having slain one of the four great generals of the villain. Two others were killed by Himitsu Sentai Goranger and Kamen Rider V3.

Kikaider and much of the cast appear in the Banpresto strategy game Super Tokusatsu Taisen 2001, a version of their famous Super Robot Wars series of games using live action heroes. In it, Kikaider is helped by Kamen Rider 1, who uses his 600+ IQ to modify him so he would be more able to resist Professor Gill's attempts to control him.

External links

[Website for the anime series]
[Generation Kikaida] The Complete Kikaida Series (live-action) on Region 1 DVD
[JN Productions] Producers of the Kikaida DVD Series (live-action).
[TVTome show details]

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