Jinzo Ningen Kikaida 11-15
By Jmaruyama

Episodes/Villains

#11 “Gold Wolf – Jikoku Ni Hoeru” (Gold Wolf – Howls To Hell/Gold Wolf: Tormented          Howls From Hell) – Gold Wolf
#12 “Zankoku Majou – Silver Cat” (Silver Cat: Ruthless Sorceress) - Silver Cat
#13 “Pink Tiger No Yuenchi Shutsugeki” (Pink Tiger’s Amusement Park Attack/Pink          Tiger: Terror At The Amusement Park) – Pink Tiger
#14 “Daimajin Gin Game Ga San Kaibutsu O Yobu” (Great Demon Silver Tortoise Calls          Forth Three Beasts/Silver Tortoise: Destructoid Reborn) – Silver Tortoise
#15 “Kin Iro Komori – Noroi No Kage” (Golden Bat: Cursed Shadow From The Past) –          Golden Bat

Summary (From Box Cover)

"A sinister organization launches a wave of audacious attacks in an attempt to gain world domination. Commanded by the evil Professor Gill, masked androids and fearsome DARK Destructoid monsters terrorize innocent victims and wreck havoc throughout Japan.

A solitary figure emerges to combat the menace.

Whenever DARK attcks, a denim-clad road warrior appears, strumming a haunting refrain on his guitar. His name is Jiro, and a cret lies at the heart of his lonely existence. Jiro is a mechanical man.

Vulnerable to Professor Gill’s shrill flute wooing him to the DARK side, Jiro battles the evil menace by transforming into the mighty red-and-blue android known as …Kikaida."

The Review

There really isn’t much to comment on JN’s third volume of the Kikaida DVD series. It basically repeats the standards that have been previously set. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it would have been nice if the various volumes were a bit more distinguished from each other.

Volume Three’s strong point lies in its featured Kikaida episodes.

Episode 11 “Gold Wolf – Howls To Hell” has always been a fan favorite. It’s one of the few times in which Jiro/Kikaida actually encounters a compassionate villain. Gold Wolf like Kikaida has a “conscious circuit” which allowed the android villain to feel some degree of emotion (his Jekyll/Hyde personality shifts were triggered by the light of the moon). Incidentally, for those who watched the recent Kikaider – The Animation series on CartoonNetwork, you may have noticed that in the original Ishinomori Manga Series, it was “Golden Bat” that had the conscious circuit and not Gold Wolf.

Another standout episode “Pink Tiger’s Amusement Park Attack” (Episode 13) dealt with the life of one of Dr. Komyoji’s older antiquated creations, Jinbei. Jinbei was a robot clown whom Dr. Komyoji had created years before Jiro/Kikaida and which had since been utilized by an amusement park (the now closed Yokohama Dreamland).

“Great Demon Silver Tortoise Calls Forth Three Beasts” (Episode 14) features a team-up of various resurrected monsters including Orange Ant, Black Horse and Green Mantis who together with new Dark Android, Silver Turtle launch an all-out assault on Kikaida. It’s pure eye-candy but enjoyable as spectacle.

On the whole Volume Three features some of the better episodes of the Kikaida series but unfortunately the DVD itself, doesn’t offer anything great in the way of extras or special features.

Menus

The changeable menus system is an interesting highlight of this disc set (you can either display DVD menu text in English or if you want Japanese).

The Menus are supported by scenes from the Kikaida TV series (you can also hear the haunting refrain of Jiro’s guitar solo in the background).

Languages

The original Japanese soundtrack is available with or without subtitles. The subtitles are fairly easy to read and aren’t overly distracting.

Video

Given that the series originally aired in 1973, the picture quality of the TV episodes here is quite good. While there are some instances where the age of the film print shows some wear (especially in the opening credits) colors are generally very sharp and bright. Images are clear for the most part and special effect animation shots are very clean. For this DVD release, the episodes are presented in a 1.33:1 full-frame aspect ratio, just as they were originally broadcast on television. This is probably the best print one could hope for.

Audio

The DVD features a Dolby Digital audio track. The audio is clear and audible, rendering the dialogue and action sound effects perfectly clear. The BGM, OP and ED songs all sound great and definitely benefit from the improved sound. Other than that, the audio here is nothing special but quite sufficient.

Extras

The Kikaida DVD - Vol. 3 offers a few extras. In addition to the standard Cast and Crew Profiles, the DVD includes the following DVD features:

DARK Destructoid Monsters with Sound – A fun little encyclopedia of all the “Dark Robots” whom Kikaida battled in the series. The encyclopedia features a brief bit on each enemy, punctuated by neat sound bites of the monsters. This is basically a carryover from the two previous DVDs.

KIKU-TV Promotional Spot – A brief commercial plug for the Kikaida Show Revival (the series is periodically airing on KIKU TV in Hawaii). This is also another carryover from the two previous DVDs.

Kikaida Trivia Game – A multiple-choice trivia game, which you can play for points. Most of the questions are fairly easy and do not require any special knowledge of the show. Based on your score you are graded and labeled accordingly (low scores mark you as a “Dark Android” while high scores mark you as being “Jiro”, a perfect score yields you the ultimate “Kikaida” label). This is yet another carryover from the previous DVD.

There are two new features introduced with this DVD:

“Kikaida Karaoke” - More of a novelty than anything else, one can sing-a-along with the song amidst images from the show. You can chose to sing either the Opening Theme or the Ending Theme, with or without accompaniment.

“Kikaida Personality Test” - Similar to the Trivia Game, viewers answer a battery of simple (and sometimes corny) behavioral and personality-gauging questions. Once all the questions have been answered, you are designated a personality type (like “Jiro” ), that best suits your particular behavior traits. A cute idea, but mostly played for laughs.

Easter Eggs

A list of three “Easter Eggs” have been reported by Henshin Online Tokusatsu Authority, August Ragone on the GenerationKikaider Message Board:

First:
1. Go to the Special Features section.
2. Select "Cast & Crew."
3. Click your cursor to the right. Then click your cursor down.
4. A yellow Kikaida head will appear on the right of the screen -- Click on it.

Second:
1. Play the Trivia Game and get a Zero score.
2. Select Exit Game and push your cursor to the left and then up.
3. A red Kikaida head will appear in the lower right-hand corner -- Click on it.

Third:
1. Go to Setup, and select English DVD menu.
2. Move your cursor to the right and then down.
3. A blue Kikaida head will appear in the lower right-hand corner -- Click on it.

Jmaruyama

Information

For more information on the Kikaida series, please visit August Ragone’s informative series overview at Henshin Online.

The Kikaida Collector’s Editions can be purchased via independent sellers on E-Bay and through select specialty stores like Amazon and Tower Records.

Inquiries can also be made to JN Production’s Kikaida DVD website at www.generationkikaida.com

DVD Specs

Episodes 11-15
Color
Running Time: 2 hrs. 5 min.
NTSC/Region 1
4:3 - Full Screen
Dual-Layer Format
Dolby Digital Sound
Digitally Remastered Picture and Sound
Original Japanese Track with English Subtitles (White)

Cast

Ban Daisuke – Jiro
Kikuchi Toshiaki – Kikaida/Kikaider
Izu Hajime – Dr. Komyoji
Mizuno Jun- Komyoji Mitsuko
Kamiya Masahiro – Komyoji Masaru
Ueda Shun – Hattori Hanpei (Hanpen)
Ando Mitsuo – Professor Gill

DVD Credits

Executive Producer: Joanne Ninomiya
Kikaida Series Translation: Roy Mashime
DVD Cover Design: Erwin Baracao, Brian Onaga
Acknowledgements: Ban Daisuke, Ikeda Shunsuke, Hiroshi Miura, Greg Chang, Marc Miyake, August Ragone
DVD Production Team:
Robby Gaskall
Robert Furukawa
Sereny Suzuki
Karen Corpuz
Ruby Nagao
Chance Gusukuma
Yuko Manatad
Steven Chung
Kristine Yoza
Devin Sakai
Lillian Masamitsu Kam