Android Kikaider
| Android Kikaider | |
|---|---|
Title card.
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| Also known as | Jinzô Ningen Kikaidâ |
| Genre |
Action Adventure |
| Created by | Shotaro Ishinomori |
| Written by | Shotaro Ishinomori |
| Directed by | Yasutada Nagano Toyohko Okayama |
| Starring |
Daisuke Ban Hajime Izu Jun Mizunoe Masahiro Kamiya Shun Ueda |
| Narrated by | Masaki Okabe |
| Theme music composer | Michiaki Watanabe |
| Composer(s) | Michiaki Watanabe |
| Country of origin | Japan |
| Original language(s) | Japanese |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 43 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Tôru Hirayama |
| Production company(s) | Toei Company |
| Release | |
| Original network | TV Asahi |
| Original release | 8 July 1972 – 5 May 1973 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | Kikaider 01 |
Android Kikaider (人造人間キカイダー Jinzō Ningen Kikaidā?), also known as Kikaida, is a tokusatsu superhero TV series and the first to feature the superhero Kikaider. Created by Japanese manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori, the show was produced by Toei Company Ltd., and was broadcast on NET (now TV Asahi) from July 8, 1972 to May 5, 1973, with a total of 43 episodes.
This series was also one of the first tokusatsu to air in the United States, as Kikaider, Android of Justice.
Dr. Kohmyoji is a scientist and an expert in robotics, who is being kept prisoner by the evil organization, DARK. Dr. Kohmyoji creates Kikaider in order to protect his children from Professor Gill, the head of DARK. When Gill learns about this, he sends his androids to deal with Dr. Kohmyoji. Jiro (Kikaider) is able to rescue Dr. Kohmyoji's daughter, Mitsuko, but a fire separates him from Dr. Kohmyoji. Jiro is able to destroy Gray Rhino King, but is unable to locate Dr. Kohmyoji, who is wandering away with amnesia.
The series mainly deals with the constant battle between Kikaider and the Destructroids. DARK pursues Dr. Kohmyoji and his children, Mitsuko and Masuru. Hanpei Hattori, a detective who provides comedy relief, helps them. During some battles, Professor Gill uses his evil flute to stop Jiro from becoming Kikaider. Jiro manages to find a way to drown out or block the sound of the flute. Dr. Kohmyoji (wandering with amnesia) is usually a figure in the background. Mitsuko and Masuru often talk to people who have encountered him, but never manage to catch up with him. On occasion, when Kikaider is damaged, Dr. Kohmyoji manages to fix him, without quite knowing what he is doing.
Later in the series, Jiro is nearly overcome by Professor Gill's flute, and he attacks Dr. Kohmyoji. DARK captures Dr. Kohmyoji and makes it seem that Jiro killed him. Jiro is damaged and unable to speak and unable to defend himself. He is also pursued by the police. A new character appears, Hakaider. DARK forced Dr. Kohmyoji to build him and to place his own brain in the machine, under control of an evil circuit, the opposite of Kikaider's conscience circuit. Kikaider fights the robot and is almost destroyed, when Hakaider leaves suddenly. When Jiro finds out that Dr. Kohmyoji's brain is in Hakaider's body, he realizes that he will not be able to fight Hakaider.
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Wikipedia