SUMMARY
Jiro is on the
run because of his repeated battles with Dark androids, and the destruction
they cause. Seeking shelter, he encounters a young woman who has a sad
story of her own to tell.
At the same time, Mitsuko Komyoji and her brother Masaru have asked
private detective Hanpei Hattori to find the missing android.
Mistsuko is worried about Jiro and concerned about the strong feelings she has towards him.
While on a mission to destroy the city, the minions of Professor Gill run up against
Kikaider. Angered at the androids repeated interference, Gill decides to use Mitsuko as
bait and destroy Jiro.
Now, Kikaider must rescue his love Mitsuko from another android with a conscience
circuit like his. Can the human heart overcome the ridged world of
the machine?
DVD
VISION TEST
VIDEO: The quality is excellent.
There are no pixels or errors noted. The colors are solid, and the motion,
fluid.
AUDIO: There is very little difference between the Japanese and English 2.0 audio
tracks. It
will depend on your equipment on which one sounds better.
EDITS: No edits. Everything is exactly as it was
in Japan.
EXTRAS: The only extras you get is a character gallery.
WIDESCREEN
REVIEW
STORY: Welcome to "Robotsville". Don't let the
"Sentai" trappings fool you,
this is a very heavy drama. Based off the works of Shotaro Ishinomori,
Series Supervisor Akemi Omode has give us a very character based anime.
It does have it's slow moments, and it gets a little preachy
at times. However, Kikaider is usually able to blend the human drama with some awesome
action.
ACTING: The cast is excellent. As Jiro/Kikider,
Both David Wittenberg and Tomokazu Seki share the same spirit, but each
has a different reading. Tomakazu Seki plays Jiro as a man who hides
his emotions, until he is enraged by the events around him. Then, the
emotions start to flow. For David Whittenberg, his Jiro is ashamed
to be a robot. He also acts as if Jiro has a big chip on his
shoulder. When a Dark android attacks, watch that chip becomes a
photon beam! I feel his rage.
While I enjoy David Lucas, I don't
think his cool, Spike Spegel voice really fits the dark android Hakaider.
FAN SERVICE: The fact that it's based of the live action series by the
same name will delight fans. Same goes for those who have seen
Mechanical Violator Hakaider.
While the women are pretty curvy, and you
almost see up Mitsuko's skirt, there isn't anything to get excited about.
CONCLUSION:
I was a little surprised when they decided to make Kikaider an animated
series. Considered one of the classics of the "Tokutatsu"
(live action) genre, I wondered how smooth the transition would be.
Pretty darn smooth, if you ask me.
This is very much the same show. The human drama
that was the original series is back with a vengeance.
Each episode is jammed packed with deep emotions. It's all here;
loss, sense of despair, a
desire to find your own truth, and love, the strongest of all emotions.
The episodes begin to reveal more about the Komyoji's past
relationship with Professor Gill. Mitsuko, who already had been
investigating her fathers disappearance, learns more than she
wanted. She begins to realize that her happy home was not so
happy. In fact, it was a down right sham.
Jiro
starts to figure out his place in a world full of heroes and villains.
It's not his Gemini conscience
circuit that makes him who he is. While it gives him an "artifical"
soul, it's the soul of a true hero
that defines him. No mater what the danger, he charges in, thinking
of others before himself. Thank goodness he has a titanium shell to go with
his hero's heart.
One nice thing that animation does is give Kikaider a much needed
makeover. The original series, made in the 70's, was pretty low
budget. While it still retains its 70's vibe (i.e. Jiro's bell
bottoms), the androids look better and have more impressive
abilities. It also makes the action more dynamic.
Creator
Ishinomori must have had some demons to exorcise. This series is darker than
his similar themed "Cyborg
009". Despite being animated by the same folks, these two shows are
as different as night and day. Cyborg 009 takes place in big, bright, open
spaces with a rocking "Globe" ending theme. Kikaider is a
very gloomy, wet, claustrophobic world, full of dangers, and a sad ending
song.
Would it
have killed Bandai to release this as a two volume set?
With only 16 episodes, four volumes seems excessive, considering the price
tag.
If you are just looking for a light hearted
robot anime, don't look at Android Kikaider. This is for serious
fans of human drama. Once in a while, a series like this is needed
to remind us how serious anime can be.
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