"I was right. You're nothing more than some mad machine."
— Mitsuko Komyoji
Androidnote Kikaider: The Animation is the anime adaptation of the Japanese superhero Kikaider, produced by Aniplex note and animated Radix & Studio OX. The series was broadcast on Kids Station from October 16, 2000, to January 8, 2001, with a total of 13 episodes. The anime followed more of the manga, with a darker nature of Jiro's reason to exist.
It was followed by the OVA 4-episode sequel called entitled Kikaider 01: The Animation. An OVA special came with the Kikaider 01 DVD called The boy with the Guitar: Kikaider vs Inazuman which teamed Kikaider with Inazuman, another superhero created by Shotaro Ishinomori. It was based on the manga chapter of Inazuman called The boy with the Guitar (ギターを持った少年, Gitā o motta shōnen).
The anime was licensed in North America by Bandai Entertainment with an English dub produced by Animaze, said English dubbed version of the anime and OVA aired on Cartoon Network's [adult swim] programming block in the United States, with the exception of episode 8, which was a Recap Episode. The final OVA special (Kikaider vs Inazuman) was never dubbed or released outside of Japan.
Tropes
- The Abridged Series: Two, one by Chicken monkey studios
, and one version by Black bug brutha. - Adapted Out: Big Shadow and Waruder doesn't appear at all in the Kikaider 01 anime.
- A Real Man Is a Killer: A variant occurs at the end of the first anime. Jiro, who has spent most of the series longing to be human, realizes as he kills Gill that humans are flawed creatures who have the potential for both good and evil. However good Jiro might have been, he needed the capacity to be evil in order to become human.
- Artifact Title: The OVA series is entitled "Kikaider 01" in homage to the title of the tokutsatsu series' sequel. This despite Jiro remaining the protagonist, not Kikaider 01/Ichiro.
- Back for the Finale: The little girl who lost her cat in the beginning of the series shows up again in one of the last scenes of the OVA finale. Along with Hattori and Etsuko, though you'd have to keep an eye out for them in the background to spot them.
- Batman Gambit: Professor Gil arranged the death of Dr. Komyoji's older son, and later second marriage to convince him to make his robots.
- Becoming the Mask: Mitsuko's mother, who was just a mole doing her job. She claimed to Mitsuko that she never wasn't the mask but reveals that she really does love her children.
- Bittersweet Ending: Both anime series, although Kikaider 01 ends on a far less optimistic note than its predecessor. The closing narration in the OVA sums it up well: "And yet I wonder... in becoming human, did Pinocchio truly find happiness?"
- Bookends:
- The first episode opens with the story of Pinocchio, and the last scene of the OVA episodes reads the ending to it.
- One episode begins and ends with a shot of a flower vase as a woman says, "I will wait for you."
- Brain in a Jar: By Kikaider 01, Professor Gill has undergone an Emergency Transformation placing his brain inside Hakaider's body.
- Break Them by Talking: Mitsuko gets one such speech, with the Monster of the Week asking her if she's thought out her feelings for Jiro and how she'd react if Jiro fell in love with her. Jiro gets the "you'll never be human" one throughout the anime. In the OVA he turns this on Gill, explaining that with the newly implanted submission circuit, Jiro now has the evil heart that Gill wanted him to have. Jiro utilizes this new ability to kill him, saying that Gill gave him the means to finally become human.
- Brown Note: Gill's flute, which controls all of DARK's robots and can drive Jiro Brainwashed and Crazy. As the page quote indicates, this didn't make a good impression on Mitsuko in the anime.
- Saburo's whistling can do the same thing.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Hattori is cheap, and slightly stupid, but he and Etsuko managed to find Jiro well enough when hired to locate him. This is a step up from the Toku, where he was a bumbling and greedy buffoon.
- Composite Character: Professor Gill's twin children, Akira and Rumi, are reduced to just one character in the OVA.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: The Hakaider Force.
- Corrupt the Cutie: As the OVA shows, to become truly human, you have to learn the good and the bad parts of humanity. If he only learned about love and peace and forgiveness he wouldn't be a real man, he'd be a saint. To become truly human, he has to give in to darkness too.
- Credits Montage: [adult swim] cut out the opening credits when they aired the show, but instead of showing the normal closing credits, they instead played a series of video clips from throughout the series to the tune of the opening credits theme, probably because they really wanted to use that song.
- Crossover: The 2003 had an OVA episode where Jiro met another Ishinomori hero, Inazuman; this episode wasn't included in international releases likely due to it being a separate license.
- Darker and Edgier: Being an adaptation of the manga, the anime is this compared to the tokusatsu version from the 1970's. And the OVA manages to be Darker and Edgier than that.
- Deconstruction: The anime, along with the manga, is one to the original live action series. The live action series was more of a straight up Henshin Hero vs the bad guys affair with Jiro acting more like The Cape and everything being lighthearted in spite of the darker implications of certain aspects of the show. The manga and anime use some of these implications to present a more realistic take on Kikaider. To wit:
- Even with a conscience circuit, Jiro is literally only days old, and months old at best by the end of the first series. Computer brain, accelerated learning, and conscience circuit or not, there is no way he could get a handle on being human in such a short time, considering some people spend their entire lives trying to get a handle on being human and still haven't gotten the hang of it, which often leaves him confused, stressed, shaken, angry, and generally at a loss when it comes to handling his situation or dealing with other people. The anime shows how someone only a short time into their existence yet possessing an adult's ability to learn and understand would deal with the situation. Hint: not well.
- With Dark and Professor Gill, it shows just how evil and depraved a secret underworld organization with super-tech would be if world conquest was their goal. While the silliness of the robot's designs and abilities remains, along with Gill's silly robes and robot-controlling flute, there is absolutely no humor in what Gill and his minions are doing: murder, destruction, extortion, and terrorism. Sure, the giant robot praying mantis seems funny, until it charges up vibro-blade arms and bisects someone.
- The end of the series shows just what it means to be human and it's a stark commentary on the human condition. While Jiro wanted to be human, being human isn't all about love, compassion, honor, and bravery, because if it were, then evil wouldn't exist. Jiro learns with his act of killing Gill with his own hands that being human is about having flaws and limitations, and being able to rise above them, which also means that sometimes kind men must do terrible things in order to help a greater good or prevent a terrible evil. To be truly human is to have flaws and make mistakes.
- Deep Cover Agent: In the anime, Mitsuko — Dr. Komyoji's daughter — learns that her mother was actually an agent of Professor Gill sent to keep the Doctor "in line".
- Defeat Means Friendship: Inverted. Bijinder decides to join Kikaider 01 after her side pummels them.
- Did They or Didn't They?: The infamous "arm repair" scene from "The Machine That Dreams" is close to the type 4 variety.
- Downer Ending: The Kikaider 01 OVA ends on a very bleak note, with every android dead and Gil finally defeated, but the events have emotionally scarred Jiro, and he's still suffering from the submission chip's effects that, even after Gill's demise, are still active. The crossover with Inazuman fixes this somehow.
- Driven to Suicide: Soon after the characters meet Mitsuko's mother, she commits suicide, right in front of them.
- The Dulcinea Effect: When asked in the OVA why Jiro is bent on protecting Rieko, whose backstory is pretty suspiciously vague, Jiro just says it's the right thing to do.
- "Everybody Dies" Ending: In the OVA, Every single android, good or evil, is annihilated by Jiro's hands, as the city lies in complete destruction with only a handful of survivors.
- The Evils of Free Will: Discussed by Golden Bat in the anime series. One of the ongoing themes is that robots obey orders without question, no matter what — except for Jiro. Golden Bat explains to Mitsuko that Professor Gill was angered by the mere concept of the Gemini circuit allowing robots to choose whether or not to obey. He goes on to mention that Kikaider's existence is a tragedy because his conscience forces him to fight his robotic 'family' serving DARK, while he can never fit in with humanity. As a DARK robot with a Flawed Prototype of the Gemini, Golden Bat has the worst of both worlds; unable to disobey orders, but still forced to live with and placate his own synthetic conscience.
- Fairytale Motifs: The story of Pinocchio is referenced throughout the series numerous times. The plot parallels are fairly obvious.
- Fake Memories: Rieko, in the 4-part OVA.
- The Hero Dies: The trope is pointed out in one episode by a man who saves an entire city, only to be fatally wounded shortly after. "I thought the good guys always lived..."
- Humanity Is Infectious:
- In the beginning of the OVA series, Bijinder is just another robot goon working for the Big Bad. But after encountering Jiro and the others, she starts to grow empathy and feelings for other people. When she asks Kikaider 00 about this, he simply rejects the notion that they can possibly have feelings and tells her it is nothing more than simple malfunctions, not love.
- Golden Bat seems to slowly be affected by his interactions with Mitsuko.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: At the end of the Kikaider 01 OVA, the android Kikaider "takes the final step to humanity" by becoming capable of performing evil acts despite his conscience.
- Humongous Mecha: The Doomsday Device.
- I Am a Monster: Jiro spends a few episodes hating himself because people think he's a monster, and Gill makes him do terrible things. For a while he even refused to willingly transform in front of Mitsuko because he didn't want her to think he was ugly.
- Idiot Ball: One of the reasons why the anime has so many problems with it's story is how it's characters constantly hold the ball for the most idiotic of reasons, or none at all.
- Kikaider himself claims to have no knowledge of basic concepts like a "guitar" or a "story" and yet for some reason knows what a reflection is. It's like the anime picks and chooses what things he knows and what he doesn't.
- Professor Gill has a flue which can be used to cause Kikaider to go crazy. He uses it sometimes, but he eventually just stops using it for no reason whatsoever. It's a clear weakness Kikaider has and... he just doesn't use it.
- Mitsuko is told to her face that her mother was working for Professfor Gill just to use her dad and didn't care about them one bit. And Mitsuko STILL insists on wanting to talk to her more. It ends up coming off like the anime needed to deliberately waste time to fill in the full episode.
- If It's You, It's Okay: Played straight, but not the way you think. Mitsuko hates all robots. All except Jiro.
- Instant Expert: Jiro knows how to operate The Sidemachine (his motorcycle) immediately after finding it, and can play his guitar at a virtuoso level after watching a guy play scales a single time.
- Instrument of Murder: Jiro in the OVA "The Boy Who Carried a Guitar: Kikaider Vs. Inazuman" has a guitar that acts as a machine gun. He can also play it as an instrument and incapacitate people.
- I Will Wait for You: Mitsuko after Jiro runs away at the end of the anime. Jiro does eventually try to return to her in the OVAs, only for her and her family to have left the country by then.
- The woman in one episode who is waiting for the man she cared for to return to her. Not realizing he died that night to save the entire city.
- Journey to Find Oneself
- Just a Machine: Mitsuko lays it all out by bluntly stating the page's quote up there. And then again, and again. And then they play flashbacks of that quote a lot of times in the show. If you don't learn to laugh about it, it'd drive you insane.
- Most of the robots built by DARK tell Jiro that they do not have sympathy or goodness or even evil in their hearts, because they are just machines fulfilling what they were programmed to do.
- Large Ham: Golden Bat, who seems to be as melodramatic as it gets. It helps that he's voiced by Norio Wakamoto in the japanese dub.
- Magic Pants: Jiro transforms into his robot form by his hair, skin and clothes literally being ripped off of him. Somehow when he's done fighting, he's back to normal.
- Mecha-Mooks: All of the monsters Jiro fights are only robots. Though he still has trouble finding it morally acceptable to fight them, as he considers them to be his family.
- Ms Fan Service: Ofcourse every girl wears a mini skirt in the show, but Bijinder seems to be the only character explicitly meant to be sexy.
- The Mole: Ichiro/01 accuses Bijinder of being a spy when she decides to go with them. But it turns out the real mole was Rieko, who helped Gill track them down. Though she herself didn't know it.
- Monster of the Week
- My Significance Sense Is Tingling: Bijinder and Rieko's emotions are connected, and Bijinder can feel what she's feeling if intense enough. This is because Rieko's actually a similar-model android, making the two akin to twins and playing off of the myth of twins having ESP... only with robots.
Best not to think too hard about it. - Mysterious Parent: Apparently Mitsuko and Masaru had no idea what their father was up to in his free time in their backyard castle. It turns out he is involved in a complex conspiracy. And let's not even start with their mother.
- Not Worth Killing
- Oh, Crap!: A few with Dr.Gill, one in particular is when Jiro sheds a tear despite being impossible for a robot to do. Gill Literally recoils back from the screen questioning what the Gemini Circuit is doing to him.
- Offing the Offspring: Mitsuko's mom holds a gun up against her head and threatens to kill Mitsuko. But ultimately can't go through with it.
- Only Six Faces: Bijinder seems to be Mitsuko in a different outfit, and Rieko looks and dresses exactly like Mitsuko only with long hair.
- Powered by a Forsaken Child: Akira and the doomsday device.
- Put on a Bus: In the OVA series the Komyoji's home is completely empty, because they apparently went overseas for their father's recovery. This very quick offhand mention is all we ever see of them.
- This is actually foreshadowed at the end of the first series when Hattori and Etsuko visit Mitsuko she mentions that her father's doctor suggests going overseas for his rehab.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Every evil robot has red eyes, and whenever Jiro is under control his eyes turn red.
- Gil seems to have red eyes normally.
- Remember the New Guy?: Ichiro and Rei (aka Kikaider 01 and Kikaider 00) from the OVA are both Komyoji-made androids like Jiro is; Ichiro being an android created as a prototype for Jiro and Rei being an incomplete android Komiyoji made just before getting kidnapped. Neither of them are eluded to in the previous series.
- Replacement Goldfish: Jiro (literally "next son") was modelled after the likeness of his creator's dead son Ichiro ("first son"). Hakaider's human name, Saburo ("third son") continues the theme.
- Robo Family: All androids refer to each other as siblings.
- Robot Girl: Bijinder, and as it turns out, Rieko is one too.
- Stealth Pun: Gemini Circuit = Jiminy Cricket
- The Stoic: Kikaider 00, who spends his time in the OVA leaning angstily, and discussing how love and feelings are dumb.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: In the OVA series Rieko and Akira have an uncanny resemblance to Mitsuko and Masaru. Dr. Gill in one instance slightly lampshades this by mentioning their resemblance may have been what attracted Jiro to them.
- Then in the manga/OVA there is the evil organization SHADOW to original villains DARK. In the manga they no way connected, and Gil!Hakaider even teams up with the Kikaider trio to oppose them. The OVA changes this somewhat to imply that SHADOW is something of a successor organisation to DARK, and Gil is even in charge of it.
- Tears from a Stone: In one episode, Jiro sheds a tear, and everyone around him is astounded at how impossible that is, Gill in particular is terrified at the implications of what Jiro's conscience circuit could be evolving into. Does it actually make that much sense? Well, no, but it's just so dramatic we let it slide.
- The Omniscient Council of Vagueness: SHADOW, the follow up/replacement villain organisation from the OVA once DARK is dealt with.
- Token Minority: The black android toting a lovely afro in the fourth episode of the anime is one of the few black people seen in anime these days.
- Torpedo Tits: Bijinder, who can fire lasers out of her boobs.
- 12-Episode Anime: Thirteen, actually, though one episode was skipped in the Adult Swim run for an even twelve.
- Was It Really Worth It?: The ending of the OVA poses this question of Jiro's quest to Become a Real Boy. He's truly gained the spectrum of emotions necessary, but he's tormented by the fact that he had to kill Gill. Because this question is posed at the very end, we never get an answer.
- What Have I Done: Jiro in the second episode, after being controlled by Gil's flute
- And in the first episode when he accidentally breaks a bunch of eggs in a bird's nest.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: After Dr. Komiyoji takes over his body, we never see Saburo/Hakaider again for the rest of the series, and was never given a suitable defeat as once he returns, he is then immediately killed by Gill and thus never got a proper final fight with Kikaider. In the OVA Gill returns in a Hakaider-style body, but that's not quite the same.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: In the OVA series Akira is used as the important component of a weapon of mass destruction.
- Yamato Nadeshiko: Mitsuko and Reiko both fit this trope very well. Mitsuko sort of subverts it initially with her hatred of machines and therefore temporary hatred of Jiro, but she eventually breaks out of that and plays the trope quite straight.
