Kikaida

Publisher
JNProductions
Director
Tensai Okamura
Production
RADIX, Sony, Studio OX
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
25 episodes
Year
2000

Kikaida DVD V. 3

By David Rasmussen
22nd Oct 06

Just because a DVD comes out now or in the recent years it doesn’t mean that the series is new.
Several recent series coming out now or previously all fall into this category, a bit of retro for your collection depending on what your taste runs. Be it classic untouched live action cult classic fare or the mecha series you should have known way back in the day (for starters), a little retro goes a long way… and yes, that was a terrible pun. Sorry.

Well, except here. How about a little retro released from a company that seems to lack the ability to grasp the reason why they released the damn series on DVD in the first place… once again it is time to say hi to the series that you’ve only known from BANDAI’s animes or the recent manga releases, aka Kikaida.

Once again let’s recap.
Kikaida (Kikaider in Anime/Manga releases) is to Japanese actor Ban Daisuke what classic Batman the TV Series was to Adam West, a memorable cult classic that fans will remember forever (though in Kikaida‘s case at least that is more than I can say for it‘s immediate sequel Kikaida-01 which drags the series from cult classic live action costumed monster basher into hokey cult status live action ridiculous monster basher, but more on that the day (heaven forbid) I end up reviewing Kikaida-01).

However the moment JNProductions got it hands on it this series seemed rather… well… doomed. Despite the fact that this series was released by JNProductions they never planned anything past the islands of Hawaii, which even shows on the jewel cases where it’s clearly marked “Not for sales outside the State of Hawaii. Exporting of this product is prohibited”…. uh, yeah, brilliant “Holmes”, absolutely brilliant. I guess they will sell you it over their website, though, since… well… anyway they’re just full of it it seems.

Yes, this is still far better than the endless butchery of all things “Power Rangers” (which is presently up to it‘s umpteenth reincarnation as Power Rangers Zombie Franchise That Refuses To Stay In It‘s Grave Force or whatever) but still… what the heck is with JNProductions anyway!

Yes, the whole JNProduction thing still doesn’t make sense (even after the time that passed between my review of the last DVD to now). I know that lots of Hawaiians (who regard Kikaida in a great sense as Hawaii’s own “super hero” despite Kikaida is not a native created character) moved away from Hawaii to live on the mainland and elsewhere (yes), and yet JNProductions seems to have forgotten THAT fact as they seem to have the most limited viewpoint of their “target” audience (and beyond) which is seemingly NOT exploited here. What the?

Anyway nuff said, we’re here to review, not psychoanalyze JNP’s reasoning (or lack thereoft).
(Sorry for the DVD jump, I still need to get ahold of Kikaida DVD V. 2)

Episode 11 - Gold Wolf : Tormented Howls from Hell
As it stands it’s more like Bloviated Emoting from Midtown. But before that… a recap.

Abit has happened between Episode 5 and now, but the biggest thing you need to know about is that between the time of the first DVD and here it seems that reports of Dr. Komyoji’s death have been kinda exaggerated. Somehow managing to get out of DARK HQ alive, the good Doctor now wanders the land all amnesiac while Jiro and company hunt for him. From this point forward we’re doing the Fugitive thing, where Dr. Komyoji randomly pops up to help somebody while being “pursued” by Ban Daisuke (Jiro) and company while continuing to fight Professor Gil and company (who also are looking for the doctor).

This time out, however, it looks like the bad Professor may have finally (bleep)ed out a defective product in one overtly emoting Gold Wolf (who becomes partial basis for the character in the Kikaider Animated series who has the whole Dracula motif going for him) who seems to have too much regrets and too much emoting going on for someone who is supposed to be evil (which only happens when the full moon shines from on high and transforms him into the evil Gold Wolf). Obviously no matter how much he struggles it’ll end with him fighting Kikaida when the full moon turns him into a Destructoid and he kidnaps Mitsuko and Masaru which is nearly death for Kikaida as Gold Wolf does manage to seriously incapacitate him. However, speaking of the good Doctor above, it looks like a passing amnesiac Dr. Komyoji is Kikaida’s only hope as he manages to somehow save him only to be comically chased down the street by a raving mad Gold Wolf… how, I‘m not sure how he fixed Kikaida but apparently his amnesia only goes so far.

Once Jiro/Kikaida is back on his feet no matter how much his adversary affected him this episode (the whiney emoting Gold Wolf), and no matter how he might stick on viewers (like an e-coli outbreak from spinach or lettuce) nothing will stop him from being destroyed. Oh, and Kikaida totally cries at the end for Mr. Emoting Destructoid despite the fact that the guy nearly destroyed him. What the…? You’ll see why later when I talk about Episode 13 about that.

Episode 12 - Silver Cat : Ruthless Sorceress
One of the few female Destructions in the series, note that Silver Cat does NOT make the cut in the Kikaider Animated Series (though she is used as part of an inspiration for one Destructoid).
This time out the bad Professor is having his newest tin metal kitty steal the valuable Crown of Munga, which may hold the key to creating stronger Destructoids (yes, really), only to run afoul of Kikaida which puts the gang in trouble and gets Jiro injured during a fight with her.

NOTE - I got your Guitar Hero right here, boyo! Today Jiro (in his first attempt to fight Silver Cat) uses his guitar in vain as he uses it to hit his female Destructoid opponent (instead of usually just strumming sad tunes on it for his intro). She tires of it almost immediately, grabs the guitar out of Jiro’s hands, and proceeds to clock him one good one with it. Note, however, that later on (next DVD) a drone enemy unit will get ahold of Jiro’s guitar and try to bash him with it, only to not meet the same success as Silver Cat did in hitting Jiro with his own guitar.

Episode 13 - Pink Tiger : Terror at the Amusement Park
Two episodes after (bleep)ing out the defective Gold Wolf, the bad Professor throws out the worst color coordinated Destructoid in history (until the next worst color Destructoid in the near future). Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you… Pink Tiger. Didn’t it survive this episode only to later form an old musical group called Pink Tiger or Pink Lilies or whatever?

Anyway the bad Professor sends Pink Tiger to jack a kindly old android working at an amusement park (made by the Doctor) of a special circuit inside of it, which you just know things will not go well.
Now why is it Kikaida can go off and cry for a homicidal whiney emoter like Gold Wolf but can’t spare the time to cry over an actual victim like the kindly old android in this episode. Why!

Episode 14 - Silver Tortoise : Destructoids Reborn
Holy Italian Plumbers, Batman! Because DARK has built a brand new Destructoid (and I’m guessing this episode is the beginning of a new batch of episodes) DARK has gone through the trouble of “resurrecting” the last 13 Destructoids in order to test them against DARK’s newest creation, the Silver Tortoise… why Silver Tortoise? Because apparently DARK thinks slow and steady will win the “race” (which seemingly holds true as Silver Tortoise does manage to wipe out all 13 rebuilt and stronger Destructoids).
Somehow, though, Silver Tortoise still ends up losing to Kikaida. Go figure.

Episode 15 - Golden Bat : Cursed Shadow from the Past
Professor Gil uses a new Destructoid (impersonating Dr. Komyoji’s dead son) to try and lure Mitsuko and Masaru into a trap… Jiro, obviously, will need to unmask this imposter and finish it off before its’ too late.
Breakdown time.

Kikaida Breakdown the 3rd
What’s Hot?
Tell me, does Power Rangers make you wonder what the hell was so darn appealing about this show that there’s a seemingly ENDLESS array of spinoffs with people in the same color coded outfits riding lord knows what in mechanical mecha form depending on what version your watching? I don’t.
Hated that brief bastardization of Kamen Rider which tried to make it hip (for it’s time) by cutting “fresh” new scenes of some brat and old Kamen Rider footage with bad voice acting together into something evil? I did, oh yes… yes I did.

Ever think there’d never be anything out of Japan starring either Godzilla or Gamera the turtle that tastes like victory… or chicken… or Victory Garden Chicken… that’ll actually be watchable? (Or that one updated short lasting English version of Ultraman filmed in Australia which was actually worth watching)? Here you go, change your mind now.

Not dubbed into bad Engrish, not slapped together with horrible live action of teen angst ridden people looking to make a buck on kids (and yet kids still watch Kikaida here in Hawaii), and not made to sell out by trying to make it “relevant” or “hip”, Kikaida still has a fanbase over 30 years after it’s original conception way back in 1973 by sticking to the source material and staying true to it.
If this series isn’t broken then there’s really no need to attempt to fix it, now is there.

As for Kikaida? Kikaida still makes appearances in Hawaii (not as much as when this DVD series was being released and the live action shows were still going on but he still comes out from time to time), and still has a Kikaida themed live show that shows on KIKU called Generation Kikaida.
Basically Kikaida still has life, which continues to flow and grow even now (it might not be the big 4-0 like Star Trek but it’s still pretty old). Now if only it’d have life OUTSIDE of the Hawaii islands then things will be even better for the franchise.

What’s Not?
What’s not is that if you are a live action Japanese costumed hero fan you’re being deprived of one of the iconic series of the genre (unless you’re actually buying these from JNProductions directly) as this series cannot be sold legally outside of Hawaii anywhere. Not your local Costco (though Costco Hawaii does have the right to sell this), not your local Blockbuster (unless you are in Hawaii), not your local… well, you get the point. Unless said franchise is set in Hawaii it’s not selling this.

That’s still stupid, time hasn‘t changed my mind that JNProductions did everyone a disservice by limiting it‘s sales outside of the State. Considering lots of Hawaiian residence (a lot of who are still fans of the franchise) are out there, and some NON Hawaiian residents out there are still fans, the lack of worldwide distribution sucks. You’ll never know what you’re missing if you’re not given the chance to know what you’re missing.

Moments to Remember?
For a show that’s over 30 years old (only a few in terms of DVD release though) this one is memorable, really.

What to Ignore?
That one day we have to talk about the campy Kikaida-01 (unless JNProductions has given up the ghost and stopped releasing classic Japanese series on DVD). Oh, and there’s no real scene select system on this DVD but I guess that’s a minor thing to the overall content (sadly they‘ll never fix this problem no matter how far along the series is).

Overall?
With a nice solid set of episodes, a ton of extra content from interviews to original promos and profiles, this one also has a nice setup that will appeal to fans of series like Kikaida. A series by the fans, for the fans, sold by people who the fans need to put over their knees and spank hard until they stop being stupid.

Next Time
In awhile we’ll continue with Kikaida V. 4... Which, yes, I do have! Yes!
Two plots involving water, two involving theft gone wrong, and one concerning a flying bug Destructoid with a unforgivable personality… oh, and Kikaida gets so pissed off at a Destructoid that he hauls off and kicks it in the groin! Yes! Why? Well… find out next week. Same Kikaida groin kicking time, same Kikaida groin kicking channel.

R1 DVD Notes
Japanese Dolby Digital Audio, English Subtitles, DARK Destructoid monsters with sound, Cast and crew profiles, KIKU-TV promotional spot, Kikaida Karaoke (opening and ending credit song), Kikaida Trivia Game, Selectable English and Japanese menu systems, Digitally remastered episodes.

-- David Rasmussen 22nd Oct 06

Kikaida Images