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SUMMARY

The past isn't the past when the truth comes out.

Years ago, Mitsuko's mother left her and her brother Masaru under mysterious circumstances.  Now, it seems that they have found out where she is.

Masaru, eager to help Jiro and Mistsuko track her down, takes off on his own.  He encounters two young men, who too are on a journey to find someone.  Little does Masaru knows who they are looking for directly relates to his own search.

An accidental meeting results in Mitsuko finding her mother.  Now she can find out the truth.  Yet her truth and her mothers truth can be two different things.  Can Jiro be the one to figure the real reason behind Mitsuko's parents and Dark?

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/Kikaider, 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 Spiegel 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:

The dramatic journey of Kikaider hits the half way point with this volume.  The events that occur here will determine the course of the rest of the series.  It isn't going to be pretty!

It's flash back time!  The honorable anime tradition of explaining the events up to the half way point.  This is very good, especially if you don't have a copy of volume 1.  Told in seemingly random flashbacks, we get to learn more about the emotional events in the characters lives.

The next episode is a Masaru episode, showing the consequences of what happens when a precocious brat strikes out on his own.

The last episode on this volume is a pretty intense one.  As you already know, we find mom.  You can pretty well figure out the mysterious truth between her and Dark.  Of all the plot contrivances, this one is one of the oldest.

So, why watch it? 

As I have said before, it is the human drama that keeps things going, and this one has plenty.  This is the chance for the voice actors really have a chance to stretch those acting muscles.  While all episodes are good, this one is a stand out.

Now, things have gone from dark to pitch black.  By then end of the episode, we know that Kikaider doesn't have much time left.  The next episode more than likely will start to resolve the conflict between Mitsuko and Jrio's feelings for each other.  From there, the spirit of vengeance will make a visit.   I also can't wait for what I hope will be a booty shaking fight between Kikaider and Hakaider!

I like the combination of old school new school animation.  While the style is very old, much like "Cyborg 009", the use the latest animation techniques.  This gives Android Kikaider a very energetic, slick style.  I am also impressed with the quality of the transfer.  Nary a pixel or wrinkle out of place.

If "Cyborg 009" was a high tech make over of Frankenstein, then Kikaider is Shotaro Ishinomori's tribute to Pinocchio.  The writing team takes this analogy all the way, by recounting that venerable tale in the flashback episode.  While Pinocchio had Jiminy Cricket as his conscience, Jrio/Kikaider has his Gemini conscience circuit.  Get the joke?  It's too bad that Jiminy Cricket wasn't a cyborg.  Then Pinocchio would have been really cool!

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.  A box set will be the way to go.

Only one more volume to go before the final battle.  While I didn't think I would like Android Kikaider, turns out my Gemini circuit does.  So, I am ready to for the final volume!

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