Jiro (Anime)

"Wh wah..my..my voi- is this my voice?, This reflection..this is me?.... What's going on here? Who am I? Where am I? I don't know!"

―Jiro's first words

"Switch On!"

―Jiro's Transformation Call in the Kikaider TV series

"Change, Kikaider!"

―Jiro's Transformation Call in the Kikaider OVA series

Jiro is the main protagonist of the series Kikiader: The Animation.

Personality[]

While considerably naive and having little to no understanding of anything when he was first born, Jiro eventually became to understand more and matured as he fought Destructoids and met people. Despite showing himself to be a sensitive person, Jiro managed to cope with all the tragedies he witnessed and experienced throughout the series. He also quickly harbored feelings for Mitsuko, which she eventually felt towards Jiro as well.

Although mostly showing caring nature towards others, Jiro also had a dark side, which he showed when Gill or Saburo tried to control him. This side was especially relevant when he thought Komyoji had died, causing him to turn all his enemies that surrounded him into scrap metal.

Despite this side however, Jiro does deeply care for others, even towards all his evil siblings, to the point of stating that he feels sorry for them at one point. He also cares very much towards innocent humans, and tries to protect them with his power.

Although he cares for humans, he had a serious hatred towards Gill, with the mad scientist having a severe hatred for the robot as well. This made Gill the only human Jiro was more than willing to kill, which is quite understandable considering the madman's actions.

He also showed his care towards Ichiro, Rei and Mieko, who were among the only siblings that cared for him. This was to the point of being openly concerned for their safety, with Ichiro showing genuine concern as well. This ended tragically however, when Gill added a Submission Chip inside each of them. This led to Jiro destroying them, with said action haunting him heavily afterwards. The Submission Chip inside Jiro heavily corrupted him, causing his dark side to intensify. This also caused him to lose his former self, becoming a confused and violent being that was willing to kill an innocent human. Despite this however, it was revealed that Jiro still had some of his humanity left, which he fully regained when Inazuman helped him.

Biography[]

Created by Dr. Komyoji to fight against the evil forces of DARK, Jiro was ejected from Dr. Komyoji's lab when members of DARK came after the scientist. When first activated, Jiro had the mind of a naive child who didn't know about the outside world and was curious about the surrounding area. Wandering aimlessly in a remote area, he slightly learns more about himself, especially his own strength. He then gets attacked by one of DARK's Destructoid, which he manages to escape from. Another Destructoid attacks Komyoji's children, whom Jiro manage fight equally against. Instructed by Mitsuko to activate his switches, Jiro transforms into Kikaider and easily defeats the monster.

Following these events, Jiro follows his creator's children to their house, where Mitsuko tells Jiro about his origins. Although Masaru notes that Jiro is technically their sibling, Mitsuko heavily denies it, despite Jiro seemingly being happy at being noted as so. At night time, Jiro is told about the story of Pinocchio from Masaru, who falls asleep half way through the story. Being told from Mitsuko about his Conscience Circuit (also known as GEMINI) the two get attacked by Green Mantis, who bursts into the house. Fighting him in a forest, Jiro finds the Side Machine, using it in his battle with the Destructoid. Despite his victory against the Destructoid, Jiro falls prey to GIll's flute and nearly murders Mitsuko, causing her distrust towards him to intensify. Despite being ordered to stop from Mitsuko, Jiro quietly walks away from her.

This led to Mitsuko hiring Hanpei to find him, claiming Jiro was their older brother. When Hanpei did find Jiro, it would lead to them being attacked by Carmine Spider, another Destructoid sent to destroy Jiro. Defeating the Destructoid while revealing his true identity to Hanpei, Jiro walks away again. It was then that Hanpei learns the situation is even more grave than he had thought, causing him and his assistant to continue helping Mitsuko, provided she tells Jiro true nature.

As time went on, Jiro learns more about the world as he meets and parts with people, causing him to mature and have trouble dealing with being an android and living in a world that at times, hated and feared him. While he is a machine, he develops emotions such as love towards Mitsuko, which the latter rejected at first, but starts to learn more about her feelings towards him as the series progressed. He does eventually decide to stay with his family and friends, who were glad he came back. Due to all the other Destructoids being created by Dr. Komyoji, Jiro had trouble fighting his own siblings, due to his reluctance to do so.

Battle against Saburo[]

Among his siblings from DARK, Jiro encounters a cyborg known as Saburo, who along with his hypnotic whistling powers, seemingly outclassed Jiro in overall power as well as having Komyoji's brain inside of him. This made Saburo a formidable opponent, with most encounters ending with Jiro's loss.

Deciding to end DARK once and for all, Jiro goes to DARK's base by himself, not wanting his friends to be in danger. Despite this however, Mitsuko eventually catches up with him afterwards, which would actually turn out to be a good thing. While riding his Side Machine along the way, Saburo catches up with him, causing the two siblings to fight again. During their battle, Jiro questions Saburo's purpose, noting how many times Saburo had a chance at defeating him. After hearing Saburo's words, Jiro states his pity for Saburo and the rest of his siblings from DARK for their sad purposes. Angered at Jiro's words as well as his unwillingness to fight against him seriously, Saburo tries to shoot Komyoji's brain, despite Jiro and Mitsuko's pleads not to.

Before that could happen, Komyoji takes over Saburo's body, allowing him to assist Jiro, while knowing that Saburo could retake control any second. Encountering all of DARK's Destructoids, as well as multiple Hakaider units, who were all as powerful as the original, Jiro and Komyoji were outmatched, with things getting even worse for them when Saburo regained control of his body. Telling Jiro that time is up, Saburo in his Hakaider form tells Gill he can destroy Kikaider by himself. One of the Hakaider units then shoots off the original's arm, with Gill telling Saburo that he doesn't require him anymore, followed with Hakaider's head being shot off as well. Horrified at Hakaider's supposed death, which could potentially mean Komyoji's own, Jiro goes berserk and destroys all the Destructoids and Hakaider units in a fit of rage. After this happens, Mistuko and Hanpei find him among the scrapped pile of DARK's robots, with Jiro nearly attacking Mitsuko before regaining his sense. Giving Hakaider's head to Mitsuko and telling her to return the brain back into Komyoji's body, Jiro tries to assure her that things will be okay. Realizing her emotion towards Jiro, Mitsuko fully embraces him by kissing him.

Destruction of DARK's base[]

Jiro then confronts Gill, who tries to control the robot through his flute, before learning that he is not effected by it. Coldly stating that he has grown up, Jiro strangles Gill and nearly kills him, before remembering the time he lost control when he fought Hakaider, causing him to stop in hesitation. Taking advantage of the situation, Gill taunts Jiro by stating that he is still a machine in the end, and tries to destroy him using DARK's new weapon. before he can do so however, Hakaider (minus an arm and his head) appears and strangles Gill, with both Jiro and Gill surprised that he still functioned. The base then explodes, with both Hakaider and Gill falling down the crumbling floor, the latter cursing Komyoji's robots for getting in his way. Despite seemingly getting destroyed in the base, Jiro would later reveal himself to be alive.

Kikaider 01[]

Some time later, Jiro encounters a person named Reiko who is protecting a boy named Akira. He then receives a signal causing him to visit an old temple. He then sees a statue, which was revealed to have Ichiro inside it. They both learn that they are brothers, with that being followed with Futen coming in and berating Jiro for leaving Rieko and Akira by themselves. Learning about Komyoji's history from Futen, Jiro and Ichiro fight off Shadow's members, who attacked them. He then learns that Ichiro does not have a Conscience Circuit, thus having no care for humans, making him a questionable ally. During the battle, Jiro and Ichiro spot the Hakaider Squad, causing Jiro to question Saburo's survival. Being the simple being that he is, Ichiro attacks them, only to be overwhelmed by their attacks.

The next day, Jiro and Ichiro learn about Akira and Rieko's situation. Also learning about Gill's evil scheme, the two brothers become disgusted at the man. It was then that Ichiro decides to abandon the two, suggesting the same to his brother. Despite Jiro's objection, Ichiro leaves aloofly. Later sensing that Ichiro was in danger, Jiro rescues him from Bijinder, only to learn that it was part of the plot to leave Akira unguarded. Despite putting up a better fight than Ichiro did, Jiro becomes overwhelmed by Bijinder's hypnotic abilities, and nearly gets destroyed. Luckily though, his brother saves him from getting destroyed only, to be defeated as well. When Bijinder attacked Jiro from the behind, Rieko warned him at the last minute, allowing him to land a punch on her. Angered at Rieko, Bijinder tries to attack her, only to sense a bond with her and cause her to retreat.

The Hakaider Squad[]

Later as they were camping at night, Jiro talked with Rieko and Akira about his memories, before hearing Ichiro play his trumpet far way from their location. When Jiro went to warn Ichiro about giving away their location, the two brothers argued about humans and whether Rieko can be trusted or not. They then hear Rieko's scream, causing them to rush towards her. They then encounter the Hakaider Squad, with Jiro learning that Gill implanted his brain inside a Hakaider body to survive. Telling Rieko and Akira to run, Jiro faces Gill and Blue Hakaider, the latter of whom he manages to severe an arm off. The Hakaider's then combine into Gattaider, who easily overwhelms Jiro and Ichiro with their combined power. Teaming up, Ichiro acts as a decoy, while Jiro attacks the head. Attacking Blue Hakaider's brain, Jiro manages to kill him, earning the rest of the Hakaider Squad's wrath. Nearly getting crushed by Gattaider, Jiro was saved when Ichiro used his "Sunrise Beam" attack, defeating Gattaider with the only survivor being Gill himself. Told by Ichiro that they need more firepower if they're going to protect Akira, Jiro learns that his brother is now willing to help, making him glad that Ichiro was maturing.

KIkaider 00[]

When Jiro and Ichiro were fighting more of SHADOW's members, they encounter another robot that looks similar to them, who to their surprise, was helping them. Explained by Futen that the robot in question was Rei, the prototype Kikaider that Komyoji left unfinished until Futen himself completed. As night time came, Jiro gave Rieko the book left in Komyoji's house, the story of Pinocchio, the very same story Masaru told him. The next day, Rieko told them about her hometown, which led to the Kikaider brothers falling for a trap. They then learn from Gill that Rieko was actually a robot, which was confirmed when Rieko turned into her robotic form. Seeing Rieko suffer caused Bijinder to betray SHADOW, with Jiro and the others escaping from the trap. Despite Bijinder's assistance, Akira got captured and Rieko got destroyed, causing them to grieve for her loss.

SHADOW's destruction[]

Despite their valiant efforts to stop the Armageddon weapon, Jiro's allies were defeated and were captured. Going after them, Jiro saw Ichiro and learned about Akira as well as the Armageddon weapon's true natures from GIll, causing his anger to intensify. Trying to attack Gill, Jiro was stopped by Ichiro and later by Rei, causing him to question their actions. Asking Gill what he has done to to his brothers, Gill taunted him and told Rei and Ichiro to stop but not destroy Jiro, despite Jiro yelling Gill's name in anger. Asking his brothers to stop but to no avail, Jiro was defeated and captured. Learning from Gill that he added a Submission chip inside them as well as inside himself, Jiro cursed Gill in anger. While Gill installed a Submission chip inside Jiro to make him into a slave, the chip only conflicted with the GEMINI Circuit and Jiro ends up temporarily losing his morality. He then tricks Bijinder into releasing him as he destroyed his enslaved brothers without remorse then Gill as well. The Armageddon generator then explodes bringing an end to SHADOW's organization. With Akira being sent to Futen by Bijinder (who was seemingly influenced by Rieko's spirit) before she died, the day has been saved, but at a high cost. Jiro soon becomes overun with guilt from killing his brothers.

Inazuman vs Kikaider[]

Jiro then decided to avoid any human contact out of fear that he might kill a loved one again. He also seemingly stopped transforming into his true form presumably to not cause further damage. This eventually led him to being manipulated by mutants into battling Saburo Kazeda, the mutant superhero also known as Inazuman. As Inazuman fries his Submission chip from his electric attack Jiro had a telepathic dream. In said dream, he had to confront his sins and talked with his deceased brother Ichiro, who initially tried convincing him to throw away his GEMINI Circuit. Claiming that he couldn't lose his memories of the ones he cares about, Jiro learned to come to terms with his actions and regained control of himself. Soon after helping Inazuman defeat their common enemy, Jiro takes his leave while believing that he will see Mitsuko and Masaru again when he is ready.

Abilities[]

Due to being created as a warrior meant to fight the Destructoids, it is not surprising that Jiro surpasses them in strength. Aside from being able to overpower most opponents with ease, Jiro's GEMINI Circuit gave him a stronger will that several characters noted upon. Although considered to be physically weaker than Ichiro, Saburo and Rei, Jiro often used his skills to keep up with them. It was shown more than once that his full potential actually far surpasses them, if he becomes absolutely serious about destroying someone or something.

Electro End: His main attack, Jiro crosses his arms as they get charged with electricity, allowing him to slice his opponents with severe damage done to them.
Blaster: His most powerful attack, Jiro launches a powerful beam from his eyes that could easily destroy his brothers. Due to this power, Jiro did not use this attack until he momentarily became a destructive machine.

Quotes[]

"And so now...with this act I shall at last become fully human. But the price I must pay for it... is eternal torment. As the good and the evil inside of me..struggle in my heart forever..."-Jiro sorrowfully lamenting his supposed newfound ability to choose between good and evil as he kills Professor Gil.

Notes[]

In the original Japanese version of the series, Jiro was portrayed by voice actor Tomokazu Seki. In 2011, Seki reprised his role as the android hero in live action form in the Kamen Rider 40th anniversary film, Let's Go Kamen Rider.
Jiro explains that the contradictions of his Gemini Circuit (pure conscience) and the Submission Chip (evil) gave him the balance of humanity that eluded him.