Jinzo Ningen Kikaida 16-20
By Jmaruyama

Episodes/Villains

#16 “Onna Beni Kurage Ga Sanzu No Kawa E Maneku” (Rouge Jellyfish: Invitation To          The River Styx) – Rouge Jellyfish
#17 “Aka Kuma Bachi Kyofu No Hitojichi Keikaku” (Red Hornet’s Terrifying Hostage          Scheme/Red Hornet: Hostage Of Terror) – Red Hornet
#18 “Kuro Chameleon Maboroshi No Dai Go Datsu Sakusen” (Black Chameleon’s Grand          Illusionary Plunder Scheme/Black Chameleon: The Grand Heist) – Black Chameleon
#19 “Shinegami Jyu Kabuto Gani Enji Tanjo” (Enter the Death God Beast King Crab          Maroon/King Crab Maroon: Keeper Of The Death Ray) – King Crab Maroon
#20 “Reikoku Ao Takame No Dokuro Keikaku”(The Cruel Blue Water Scorpion’s Skull          Plan/Blue Water Scorpion: The Skull Weed Conspiracy) – Blue Water Scorpion

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

If Volume Three contained the best of the earlier Kikaider Episodes, then Volume Four must have some of the worst in the series. With possibly the exception of Episode 18 (Black Chameleon), this collection of episodes was fairly painful to watch. The quality of the episodes became much more campy on the whole and the effects also seemed to become more cruder (one can actually see some of the support strings used to hold up some of the floating effects). The costumes of the DARK robots seemed also to balloon in size as the series went along (I often wondered how it was possible for the stuntmen to work effectively in those suits). It’s almost comically to see DARK robots like Red Hornet and Blue Water Scorpion lumber about like so much dead weight.

Episode quality issues aside, another weak point with the DVD is the repetition of Special Features. While consistency is appreciated, the continual carrying over of features from the first three discs is a bit much. As we approach the half way mark of the DVD series, it would be nice to see the inclusion of some newer and more robust features that would distinguish the different DVD sets apart from each other. This is particularly helpful as an incentive to keep purchasing the future releases.

Some suggestions for possible features could be clips from some of the Live Kikaider Shows in Hawaii like the recent “Gill’s Gala”, interviews with Kikaider fans across the Nation, or perhaps even clips of the old Nishimoto Trading Company commercial that used to air along with Kikaider. These would be nice additions.

The promise of more Kikaida Trivia (compliments of August Ragone) has yet to materialize, as have more DVD standard features as Commentary Tracks and/or Episode Specific Linear Notes. Granted KIKU is still doing a much better job than Toei with its DVD packages but compared to other American DVD Series releases, the Kikaider DVDs are a bit barebones in general.

Perhaps these are nitpicking complaints but I’m sure there are others who feel similarly.

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. 4 offers a few extras (most of which have been carried over from the previous installments of the series):

Standard Cast, Staff Bios.

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.

KIKU-TV Promotional Spot – A brief commercial plug for the Kikaida Show Revival (the series is currently airing on KIKU TV in Hawaii).

“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.

There is only one new DVD feature included in this installment but unfortunately it’s not that great of an extra.

Ban Daisuke Interview – Part 1 – Conducted by KIKU TV President Joanne Ninomiya, this 12 minute interview (which was originally part of an hour long KIKU TV Special called “Kikaida In Hawaii”) touches upon a few interesting trivia regarding the series but is mainly a retrospective session with Ban Daisuke. During the interview Ban answers such questions as “Which DARK villain did you most like?”, “Why do you think Kikaider is so popular in Hawaii?” and “What were your impressions during your first visit to Hawaii (promoting Kikaider)?”. Not incredibly deep questions but serviceable I guess for the general fanboy. The interview became a bit somber towards the end as Ban and Ninomiya recollected their final meetings with Hawaii Kikaider fan Gaylord Cambra, who had recently passed away in 2001. While I’ve heard that Gaylord Cambra was one of the main people responsible for convincing KIKU TV to bring back Kikaider to TV, it would have helped to have gotten a bit more information about him, so as to see why his contributions and friendship to Ninomiya and Ban meant so much (especially for those who aren’t part of the inner circle of Kikaider Fans in Hawaii).

Easter Eggs

None reported thus far.

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