Kikaider (キカイダー, Kikaidā) is a Japanese franchise about the titular character Kikaider created by Shotaro Ishinomori. It was originally a tokusatsu and has since been adapted into manga and anime.
Paying tribute to Astro Boy, created by his mentor Osamu Tezuka, Ishinomori used the stories of Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio (which was also the basis for Astro Boy) along with Mary Shelley's Frankenstein as the basis for his science fiction action story.
The tokusatsu series from 1972 was especially popular in Hawaii. The complete DVD series is available in the United States and Region 1 countries with English subtitles through JN Productions.
The series was originally a live-action tokusatsu series, as was its sequel Kikaider 01. A manga drawn in a style reminiscent of Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy was eventually published, introducing Kikaider 00. A 13-episode anime and 4-episode OVA based on the manga were created in 2001.
Media[]
Tokusatsu[]
- Android Kikaider (1972) TV Series + one movie
- Kikaider 01 (1973) TV series
- Mechanical Violator Hakaider (1995) movie
- Kikaider REBOOT (2014) movie
Manga[]
The manga series was serialized in Bessatsu Shōnen Sunday at the same time as the live action television series and was later published by Ishimori Productions in the US via digital licensing in 2012 through Comixology.
A second Kikaider manga, Kikaider Code 02 was published in 2005 by MEIMU and Kadokawa Comics A and licensed for publishing in the US by CMX, a subsidiary of the Wildstorm imprint owned by DC Comics.
Anime[]
- Android Kikaider: The Animation (2000)-(2001) TV Series
- Kikaider 01: The Animation (2001) 4-Part OVA
- The Boy Who Carried a Guitar: Kikaider Vs. Inazuman (2002) OVA Special
Superhero Safety[]
In the past, the Super Giant movie series and shows like Moonlight Mask
(the first TV superhero in Japan) became controversial, when kids imitated the stunts performed by the featured superheroes, usually by jumping out of a window (this was also a major issue with TV and movie adaptations of Superman).
The original Android Kikaider series was one of the first tokusatsu superhero TV shows that added safety bumpers (seen at the end of each episode) which warned kids not to imitate the dangerous and impossible stunts often performed by the title superhero Kikaida.