is a tokusatsu television series based on the superhero manga Kikaider by Shotaro Ishinomori. The show was produced by Toei Company and Ishimori Productions, and was broadcast in Japan 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 tokusatsus to air in the United States (notably Hawaii), as Kikaida: Android of Justice, on KIKU-TV.
Story 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 the 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.
Mitsuko and Masaru see a leather-clad man walking down the side of the building. This man is actually an android, Saburo. He says that he is the creation of Dr. Kohmyoji and that his job is to destroy Jiro, who he believes is now evil. Masaru allies himself with Saburo. Out of sight of Mitsuko and Masaru, Saburo reveals that he is actually Hakaider. He and Masaru pursue Jiro but realize he's still good when he surrenders.
The DARK androids capture Dr. Kohmyoji's children. Red Mine Toad destroys Kikaider, using a mine that is built into his body. Hattori collects the pieces of Kikaider's body. Hakaider goes crazy, because without Kikaider to fight, he has no reason to live. He destroys Red Mine Toad and attacks DARK. Hattori has found Mitsuko and Masaru and gives them the pieces of Kikaider. Mitsuko reassembles Kikaider. Gill convinces Hakaider to kill Dr. Kohmyoji, instead of attacking DARK. Hakaider locates Dr. Kohmyoji's body and finds the partially reassembled Kikaider. Hakaider refuses to fight a helpless enemy and allows Mitsuko to finish reassembling him. A rebuilt Jiro is unable to change into Kikaider, but he decides to lure Hakaider away to protect Dr. Kohmyoji and Kohmyoji's children.
Professor Gill sends White Bone Flying Squirrel against Hakaider and Hakaider loses the battle. Jiro gives the body of Hakaider to Mitsuko, who puts Dr. Kohmyoji's brain back into his body. Dr. Kohmyoji recovers, and is able to fix Jiro's change circuit. The Kohmyojis are again captured by DARK, but are rescued by Kikaider. Kikaider destroys White Bone Flying Squirrel, while Professor Gill, rather than be captured, destroys himself and the DARK base.
Dr. Kohmyoji leaves Japan and takes his kids with him, while Jiro decides to stay in Japan to work on improving himself.
Characters
Heroes Jiro/Kikaider: An android created by Dr. Kohmyoji to stop DARK. He acts to protect Dr. Kohmyoji's children Mitsuko and Masaru. Since his conscience circuit is incomplete, Professor Gill's hypnotic flute causes him pain and is ultimately able to control him. He defends himself by overpowering its influence (for example, using a louder sound to drown it out). Jiro has a guitar, which he uses to announce his presence, and a motorcycle, which is called Sidemachine. He often defeats Destructoids by using his special attack called Denji Endo (Electro End). Jiro is played by Daisuke Ban in his human form while Toshiaki Kikuchi plays his robot form. Dr. Nobuhiko Kohmyoji: The creator of Kikaider. A top robotics expert, he was captured by DARK to help them build an army of murderous robot monsters. Secretly built Kikaider to not only protect his two children Mitsuko and Masaru, but to save the world. Dr. Kohmyoji is played by Hajime Izu. Mitsuko Kohmyoji: The daughter of Dr. Kohmyoji, the scientist who created Jiro. She develops feelings for Jiro and helps to repair him when he is damaged. Jiro tries to keep away from her to protect her feelings. Mitsuko Kohmyoji is played by Jun Mizunoe. Masaru Kohmyoji: The spunky younger brother of Mitsuko. Masaru Kohmyoji is played by Masahiro Kamiya. Hanpei "Hanpen" Hattori: A hysterically comical private investigator who befriends and helps Kikaider and his companions. He is a descendant of the famous real-life ninja Hanzō Hattori. Hanpei is derisively nicknamed "Hanpen" by his companions (hanpen is Japanese for "pounded fish cake"). Even the usually very polite Jiro will sometimes use the name Hanpen. He has a green Subaru 360.Kikaider blog (in Japanese)Yahoo! Japan "Chiebukuro" (in Japanese) Hanpei "Hanpen" Hattori is played by Shun Ueda.
Villains Professor Gill: The leader of a terrorist organization called DARK. He kept Dr. Kohmyoji prisoner, and forced him to make destructive robots. Gill hates Kikaider, seeing him as a threat to his ambition, and wants to destroy him as a result. Gill used a flute that can control his DARK Destructoids (and causes pain to Jiro which prevents him from changing to Kikaider). Professor Gill is played by Mitsuo Ando. Saburo/Hakaider: Another android, considered as Jiro's "younger brother" as he was also made by Gill. While Jiro was made by Dr. Kohmyoji voluntarily, Saburo was one of the androids Kohmyoji was forced to make under the dominance of DARK to "correct" his mistake by destroying Kikaider. Unlike the other DARK Destructoids, Saburo is a cyborg. Gill had Dr. Kohmyoji's brain transplanted into the very android he created as his trump card against Jiro. Hakaider almost succeeded in killing Kikaider, but he was forced to stop fighting because he needs periodic blood transfusions from Dr. Kohmyoji's body. When White Bone Flying Squirrel defeated Hakaider, Mitsuko was able to return Kohmyoji's brain to his body. In the sequel show, Kikaider 01, Professor Gill's brain somehow wound up in Hakaider. Saburo often announces his presence by whistling. Saburo is played by Jouji Mayama for his human form but is voiced by Shōzō Iizuka in his robot form. Not to be confused with Saburo Yatsude, one of the pseudonyms used by Toei's production stuff. Android Men: Professor Gill's loyal android henchmen. Although vastly inferior to Destructoids they are capable of fighting and are often equipped with a naginata. Android Women: Professor Gill's 2nd loyal android henchmen. Although vastly inferior to Destructoids they are capable of fighting and are often equipped with a 2nd naginata.
Destructoids Gray Rhino King: Appears in episodes 1 & 14 and the Movie. Its Powers include strength, a retractable drill-like nasal horn, burrowing, can run up to 900 kilometers per hour, and can disguise itself as a human. Green Mantis: Appears in episodes 1, 2, and 14. Powers include a pair of launchable tentacle-like mantis arms called the Mantis Cut, a human disguise, and a chain in the left arm. Orange Ant: Appears in episodes 1, 3, and 14. Powers include purple formic acid spray from the arms called the Formic Acid Guns, telekinetic burrowing called the Ant Death Trap, and needle grenades in the right arm. Blue Buffalo: Appears in episodes 1, 4, & 14 and the Movie. Powers include swimming, explosive spikes from the back called the Buffalo Missiles, resistance to fire, projectiles, and electricity, a thick skull that can easily withstand 500 tons of force, and mouth flames. Yellow Jaguar: Appears in episodes 1, 5 and 14. Powers include a tail flamethrower called the Tail Fire that can fly if severed, a human disguise, and torso guns called the Body Gun. Black Horse: Appears in episodes 1, 6, & 14 and the Movie. Powers include a hot magnet that emits fire called the Electro-Disintegrator, speed, high jumping, fangs, and nasal winds called the Horse Hurricane. Blue Kong: Appears in episodes 1, 7, & 14 and the Movie. Powers include a launchable right wrist collar on a chain, body part separation, missiles from the neck collar, and mouth wind gusts and suction. Carmine Spider: Appears in episodes 1, 8 and 14. Powers include body webs called the Spider Threads, remotely controlling his hands if severed, tooth venom, and a web net called the Spider Net. Red Condor: Appears in episodes 1, 9 and 14. Powers include flight, a sharp beak, a red beak energy draining heat beam called the Condor Beam, shurikens from the wing tips called the Condor Shuriken, and launchable wings called the Condor Boomerangs. Scorpion Brown: Appears in episodes 1, 10, and 14. Powers include a drill on right hand scorpion claw, a Thermo-Luminescent Death Beam in the stinger tail, a human disguise, and a gun for the left hand called the Armstrong Gun. Gold Wolf: Appears in episodes 1, 11, 14 and 24. Powers include a human disguise named Moon Dew, launchable mace hands called the Wolf Bazooka, and a mouth heat beam called the Wolf Beam. Silver Cat: Appears in episodes 1, 12, 14 & 25 and the Movie. Powers include a human disguise, possession, launchable venomous claws, high jumping, and mouth flames called the Cat Fire. Pink Tiger: Appears in episodes 1, 13, 14 and 24. Powers include a gun each arm called the Tiger Gun, a remote controlled flying spiked bracelet called the Tiger Ring, mouth smokescreen called the Tiger Smoke Shield, and a wielding staff. Silver Tortoise: Appears in episode 14 and the Movie. Powers include flight when retracted into his shell, toxic white mist from the torso called the Tortoise Gas Bomb, hand claws called the Silver Turtle Claws, fifteen times the strength of his predecessors, bombs from the limb retraction sockets called the Pineapple Bombs and a retracted shell rolling mode called the Bowling Ball. Test Kikaider: Appears in episode 15. It has no real powers. Golden Bat: Appears in episode 15. Powers include a talon on each foot, flight, a human disguise, teleportation, and bright flashes from the head called the Bat Flash. Rouge Jellyfish: Appears in episode 16. Powers include swimming, spawning flying white jellyfish called Mini Poison Jellyfish, a remote controlled flying sword called the Jellyfish Sword, and a red smokescreen from the Head called the Jellyfish Smoke. Red Hornet: Appears in episode 17 and the Movie. Powers include flight, red toxic mist from the mouth, and a delusion venom stinger for each hand. Black Chameleon: Appears in episodes 18 & 25 and the Movie. Powers include invisibility, a missile launcher in each palm, a human disguise, and a constricting tail. King Crab Maroon: Appears in episodes 19 & 33. Powers include a human disguise, launchable daggers from the right arm called the King Crab Death Daggers, adhesive mouth foam called the King Crab Foam, and burrowing. His reconstructed form is armed with an electric Death Ray from the antennae.