Series REVIEW: Android Kikaider

Having dived through a fairly extensive array of both Kamen Rider and Super Sentai shows but still having plenty left to watch, I decided it would be good to take a little break from the "big two" franchises and take a look at some of the lesser known tokusatsu heroes Japan has to offer. And having just received a reboot movie and guest appearance on Kamen Rider Gaim the Kikaider franchise seemed like the perfect place to start. Despite probably not being quite the household name Rider and Sentai are, Kikaider (again created by the the late great Shotaro Ishinomori) is still an incredibly popular hero and actually one of the more successful non-adapted heroes outside of his home country. Due to his huge popularity in Hawaii both live-action series have received an official DVD release, while the anime adaptations were also aired on Adult Swim.

Anyway there's no better place to start than the beginning, so my journey through the Kikaider franchise starts with the 43-episode series Android Kikaider (Jinzō Ningen Kikaidā), which aired between 1972 and 1973 (making it the oldest Toei series I've watched so far).

Jiro - the man with the red guitar

Kept prisoner by the evil organisation DARK, robotics expert Dr. Kohmyoji is forced to help build an army of evil robots that serve the organisations leader, Professor Gill. However unbeknownst to Gill Kohmyoji has created his own android in secret to protect his children from DARK - Jiro, a near perfect mechanical man. When Gill discovers this, he sends his androids to destroy them. Jiro is able to save Kohmyoji's daughter Mitsuko in the commotion, but the two are separated from her father.

Learning that Kohmyoji is wandering Japan with amnesia, Jiro, Mitsuko and her younger brother Masaru begin a frantic search to find him ("aided" by ninja descendant and private eye Hatori Hanpei). Along the way Jiro must battle against DARK and Gill's army of Destructoids, transforming himself into the two-tone superhero Kikaider. But Gill is also on the hunt for Kohmyoji, and after numerous defeats at the hands of Kikaider plans to use him to finish DARK's ultimate weapon - the ultimate robot Hakaider!

Kikaider as a hero has always been appealing to me because his backstory is a little different to the usual costumed hero. Rather than be a human with the ability to transform into a masked hero, this is a humanoid robot with the ability to transform into a more robot-looking robot. Jiro isn't human, so there's also an element of him trying to fit in with humanity. The manga gives this more of a Pinnochio/Frankenstein vibe, but here its played pretty safely. Jiro fits the template of your standard Showa era tokusatsu hero nicely in terms of personality - instantly likeable and with a strong sense of justice despite supposedly lacking the emotions of human being. Thanks to an incomplete conscience circuit his one weakness is the sound of Professor Gill's flute, which has the hypnotic power to turn DARK-built robots under his control. Jiro's insistence to not get it fixed so he's more like a "flawed human" makes for a nice character trait, but it can get a little frustrating when he's weakened by the flute every single episode and each one has to come up with a new and inventive (i.e. often ridiculous) way to drown the sound out.

Mitsuko, Masaru and Japan's own ninja Sherlock -Hattori Hanpei

On the side characters side of things we have Doctor Kohmyoji, who spends the majority of the series wandering about without his memory. So there isn't a whole lot to say about him as character, other than those few episodes you get at the beginning and end where his memory is intact. Jiro himself is backed up by his children Mitsuko and Masaru - both of whom are surprisingly proactive throughout the course of the show. Masaru also scores points for being one of the best child characters I've seen in Toei superhero show. Rounding off the side characters is ninja detective Hatori Hanpei, who serves as the comic relief for the show. But for all his bumbling, Hanpei actually is surprisingly useful to have around. So despite Kikaider's side cast pretty much ticking every box for generic stereotypes, they aren't quite what you'd expect and prove very likeable all around.

Old man plays flute. And does very little else for 43 episodes

Admittedly things a little more mixed with DARK. While Professor Gill certainly has the swagger expected of a classic tokusatsu villain, he isn't the most active evil organisation leader around - mostly sitting around making evil faces, shouting and playing his flute. Arrogant, merciless and completely self-serving, there isn't a remotely humane trait about it - seeing robots merely as slaves and Kohmyoji's research as a means for domination. It is interesting however to watch his repeated failures push him close and closer to the brink of insanity - something especially apparent as the show approaches its endgame. The Destructoids themselves are varied yet constantly enjoyable, even if some of the costumes look as though they were made on a shoestring budget and progressively look less like animals as the series goes along (look up 'Green Sponge' sometime). There's even quite a few interesting monster of the week arcs that you don't usually see in these type of shows either, including ones that appear for multiple episodes and even one Destructoid who has a daughter!

The real gem of the villains though is Hakaider, who appears in the final few episodes of the series swearing to destroy his older brother. Not only does Hakaider have an iconic design that has absolutely stood the test of time, but is an exceptionally cool character and honourable villain. Despite only being not being in the series for as long as you'd expect him to be, he certainly leaves an impression as the standout character and, if you know about him before entering the show, is the one thing your constantly waiting for while watching.

It doesn't get much more awesome than Hakaider

As a 42 year old show Kikaider naturally somewhat dated when it comes to special effects, but that doesn't stop the show from being pretty exhilarating when it comes to fight scenes. That said, our hero's fighting repertoire is slightly limited - consisting of only a handful of poses and special attacks. But even in the repetitiveness of Kiakider's fight scenes, you still get that special sense of exhilaration you can only find in classic tokusatsu. Even with limited resources and an even more limited budget, those cast and crews still delivered something infinitely charming. Even when the overarching story hits a bit of an episodic slump in the middle, you can't argue with the insanity of Kikaider's flying bike or the sheer brutality he shows in destroying DARK's Destructoids. They may only be robots, but seeing him throw them off cliffs to their deaths episode after episode is a lot more brutal than you'd expect.

Comparatively Kikaider has quite a lot in common with Kamen Rider Black, which aired around 15 years later and is arguably much more renowned in the tokusatsu fandom. Both stories heavily focus on a missing family member thanks to an evil organisation and a desperate attempt to find them, and both also include a key villain that only appears for the show's last handful of episodes but still manages to make a huge impression. But while being made much later means Black has better technology and costume design on its side, I would argue that Kikaider manages to handle the core theme far better. While Kotaro spent a lot of the time simply standing around and cursing Golgom rather than actively looking for them (based on what happened onscreen of course), every episode of Kikaider had Jiro and friends looking for Doctor Kohmyoji. The extent of his amnesia was stretched to the point of extremity (especially when he regained his memory, only to lose it again and start taking a different job each episode), but the fact the plot was never dropped even for a second works exceptionally well. 

Destructoid Red Condor, Jetman Black Condor's second cousin twice removed

Even though he may be most fondly remembered for giving the world Kamen Rider and Super Sentai, Shotaro Ishinomori also created so many other wonderful superheroes - and Android Kikaider is undoubtedly among his very best. Old age and some episodic storytelling isn't enough to detract from its interesting premise - with those strands of continuity running throughout the series and eventually culminating in an endgame which introduces one of the coolest rival characters you'll find in the genre. A classic superhero show through and through, and a must-see for anyone with even passing interest of tokusatsu and the henshin hero boom of the 1970s.