Kikaider
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Kikaida-mugshot.jpg
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 bases 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.
Kikaider, the main character, is a humanoid robot, built by Dr. Komyoji to protect himself and his children from the DARK Android commanded by Professor Gill.
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Cast
Androids
- Jiro/Kikaider: An android created by Dr. Komyoji to stop DARK. Unlike the other robots created before him, Jiro has emotions due to his GEMINI Conscience Circuit, & 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 it's 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." 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. 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. Simply a machine, Rei/00 has no emotions. 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 Robot Detective), and he also uses an attack were he says "Shoot All" bombarding the enemy with missiles. Unlike his brothers, he does not drive a motorcycle or has a musical instrument. He never appeared in the live-action series.
- NOTE: "Rei" - Japanese for "zero"
- Saburo/Hakaider: Another android, consideed as Jiro's "younger brother" as he was also made by Dr. 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 Saburo's 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. But Saburo, headless, was still active & grabbed Gil by the throat as DARK HQ exploded. (In 1995, Hakaider even got to star in his own movie as an anti-hero in a post-apocalyptic world.)
- NOTE: Hakaider's name basis is the same as Kikaider's except replace kikai with hakai ("destruction").
- "Saburo" - Japanese given name meaning "third son"
- ShadowKnight: A leader in SHADOW's ranks.
- Mariko/Bijinder: A agent of SHADOW, but joined up with the Kikaiders to fight at their side. She played a harp & rides the Bjinder Machine motorcycle.
- NOTE: Her name is based on bijin ("beautiful person).
- 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 dispise robots since they caused her much suffering yet she develops feelings for Jiro. Felling guilty for driving him away, had to track a lost and confused Jiro all over town, with the help of Detective Hattori Hanpei & his assistant.
- Masaru Komyouji: 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 Hanzo Hattori. 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.
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 Mom 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 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.
- Reiko
- Akira
Manga
The manga series was serialized in Shonen Sunday at the same time as the live action television series.
Tokusatsu (Live action)
The live action tokusatsu series was broadcast on NET (now TV Asahi) from July 8, 1972 to May 5, 1973. It was followed by a sequel, Kikaider 01. The show has also been a phenomenal success in Hawaii, where the show has broadcast since 1974.
Cast
- Jiro/Kikaider: Daisuke Ban
- Ichiro/Kikaider 01: Shunsuke Ikeda
- Mitsuko Komyoji: Jun Mizunoe
- Masaru Komyoji: Masahiro Kamiya
- Hanpei "Hanpen" Hattori: Shun Ueda
- Professor Komyoji: Hajime Izu
- Professor Gill: Mitsuo Ando
- Saburo/Hakaider: Kenji Mayama
- Kikaider (Principal Suit Actor): Toshiaki Kikuchi
- Hakaider: Shozo Iizuka (Voice)
Anime
The Anime followed more of the manga, with a darker nature of Jiro's reason to exist. It was followed by a 4-episode OVA finale. There was also an OVA special which teamed Kikaider with Inazuman, another classic manga/tokusatsu superhero created by Shotaro Ishinomori (This latter special has yet to be seen in America).
Cast
- Jiro/Kikaider: Tomokazu Seki
- Ichiro/Kikaider-01: Shotaro Morikubo
- Rei/Kikaider-00: Kazuhiko Inoue
- Mitsuko Komyoji: Yui Horie
- Masaru Komyoji: Yumiko Kobayashi
- Dr. Den Komyoji: Shozo Iizuka
- Etsuko Sarutobi: Etsuko Kozakura
- Reiko: Sayaka Ohara
- Futen: Ichiro Nagai
- Saburo/Hakaider: Juurouta Kosugi
- Chigusa Sakamoto: Minami Takayama
Dub-Cast
- Jiro/Kikaider: Dave Wittenberg
- Masaru Komyoji: Barbara Goodson
- Ichiro/Kikaider-01: Derek Stephen Prince
- Etsuko Sarutobi: Melissa Fahn
- Saburo/Hakaider: Steven Blum
Episodes
- Lonely Puppet (Originally Aired 6/9/2003)
- Mad Machine (Originally Aired 6/10/2003)
- Stray Sheep (Originally Aired 6/11/2003)
- Mirror (Originally Aired 6/12/2003)
- City Of Rain (Originally Aired 6/16/2003)
- Negative Fragments (Originally Aired 6/17/2003)
- Afterglow Of Regret (Originally Aired 6/18/2003)
- Blue Moon, Red Dreams (Originally Aired 6/19/2003)
- Friends (Originally Aired 6/23/2003)
- Frozen Bonds (Originally Aired 6/24/2003)
- Destroyer (Originally Aired 6/25/2003)
- Machine That Dreams (Originally Aired 6/26/2003)
- Jiro Meets Ichiro (Originally Aired 6/30/2003)
- Beautiful Enemy (Originally Aired 7/1/2003)
- Gil Rises Again (Originally Aired 7/2/2003)
- The Fate Of Pinocchio (Originally Aired 7/3/2003)
- OVA SPECIAL The Boy Who Carried a Guitar: Kikaider Vs. Inazuman (not seen in America)
The Hakaider/Darth Vader Connection?
Producer Toru Hirayama said in an interview that George Lucas technically based his famous Star Wars villain Darth Vader on the shogun-like villain Warrior Mask (Musha Kamen) from the first 5 episodes of Shotaro Ishinomori's Himitsu Sentai Goranger (the first Sentai Series), but it's not impossible that Lucas may also have seen the live-action Kikaider show as well! (Both shows aired in San Francisco upon their immense successes in Hawaii.) The similarities between Kikaider and Star Wars are uncanny.
Whereas Darth Vader was Luke Skywalker's father, Saburo/Hakaider had the brain of Jiro/Kikaider's creator, Professor Komyoji! And there was also a certain "emperor" (Professor Gill, not Palpatine!) who tried to turn robots to the "dark side" by playing his flute, but Kikaider, like Luke, struggles with that dark side, despite his incomplete GEMINI Conscience Circuit.
See also
External links
- Website for the series (http://www.kikaideranimation.com/)
- Official Hawaiian website for the classic tokusatsu (live-action) series (http://www.generationkikaida.com/)
- TVTome show details (http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/ShowMainServlet/showid-19385/)
Categories: Tokusatsu | Manga | Anime | Superheroes