In late 1970′s Hawaii, TWIRFMR could be found running home from school as not to miss a moment of Kikaida, a Japanese live-action program (or “tokukatsu” in Japanese, Godzilla and Ultraman being the most famous examples of this genre) broadcast on Honolulu’s KIKU, a local station known for it’s Asian-friendly programming. As the story goes, a KIKU station executive caught a few episodes of Kikaida during its original run in Japan (1972-1973) and knew the show would be a perfect fit for Hawaii. Kikaida’s 68 episodes (43 plus 25 of its sequel) were first broadcast in Hawaii in 1974. The show was an immediate sensation and over the next several years, additional tokukatsu shows, all produced by the Toei Company, including Rainbowman, Inazuman, The Five Rangers, and Kamen Rider, joined Kikaida on KIKU’s programming roster.
Despite many production similarities between Kikaida and its tokukatsu peers, Kikaida had a distinct charm that the others shows lacked. Kikaida and its sequel, the confusingly titled Kikaida 01, were about a brilliant robotics expert, Dr. Komyoji, who is held captive by the evil Professor Gill for the purposes of creating, you guessed it, evil robots. Komyoji instead creates “good” robots however, his androids, Kikaida and Kikaida 01, are susceptible to the call of evil forces (in this case, the playing of a flute [an evil flute?] by Professor Gill) due to a conscience malfunction during their creation.
When not transforming into latex clad super-heroes, Kikaida and Kikaida 01 are portrayed in human form. Jiro plays the guitar and rides a motorcycle called “Sidecar”. His “brother”, Ichiro, plays the trumpet and runs strictly on solar-power.
Sure, there’s more. More characters, more sub-plot, but in all honesty, the show can be boiled down to this: super-cool costumes, tons of ass-kicking, and a musical score that was way better than it needed to be. In other words, cheesy entertainment at its finest. Exhibit A:
Since its 1974 debut on KIKU, Kikaida has remained a cult icon throughout the islands. The blue and red android has met with at least two sitting govenors (hey, who invited Kamen Rider?)….
….continues to thrill new generations of fans (largely due to the efforts of this site ,who help keep the Kikaida phenomenon alive)….
…and what do you know, recently celebrated its 35th Anniversary in Hawaii. You go-go-go Kikaida!
NOTES:
*According to Wikipedia, the creator of Kikaida, Shotaro Ishinomori, was, “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 AstroBoy) along with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as the basis for his science fiction action story.”
*Kikaida is sometimes referred to as “Kikaider”—this is a transliteration issue which has never fully been resolved however, the preferred translation in Hawaii is “Kikaida”.
*The actor who played “Jiro” (the guitar slinger), Ban Daisuke, was “Dr. Ikuma” in the Japanese version of The Ring (Ringu). Daisuke is, of course, very popular in Hawaii and occasionally visits the islands to attend Kikaida fan events.
*Speaking of, there is an interesting article here about the guys who don the sacred suits at those fan events.
