Kikaider was a Japanese television franchise, created by Shotaro Ishinomori, featuring the main character Kikaider. It aired for the first time in July 1972 and ran for 43 episodes.
The series was originally a live-action tokusatsu series, as was its sequel, Kikaider 01. A manga drawn by Ishinomori was eventually published, introducing Kikaider 00. A 13-episode anime and 4-episode OVA based on the manga were created in 2001.
Ishinomori used the stories of Carlo Collodi’s Pinocchio, the basis for Astro Boy, as a tribute to its creator, Osamu Tezuka, Ishinomori’s mentor. Cyborg 009 is an influence for this franchise. Other bases for Kikaider included Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, as the inspiration for his science fiction action story.
Kikaida assumes the human form of Jiro, he is an android built by Dr. Kohmyoji to stop DARK while protecting his creator’s children Mitsuko and Masaru Kohmyoji. Unlike other robots, Kikaider possesses morality from being installed with the GEMINI Conscience Circuit. But the circuit is incomplete and he is initially prone to suffer the effects of Professor Gill’s hypnotic flute until he is able to overpower its influence. Jiro also has a guitar and motorcycle called “Side Machine.”
Kikaider is half-blue and half-red is due to his incomplete GEMINI Conscience Circuit (he would be blue if it were complete since blue represents good and red represents evil). It is that later side, the dark side, that Professor Gill tries to exploit in him. In the OVA special The Boy with the Guitar: Kikaider vs Inazuman, Kikaider becomes completely red due to the submission chip installed by Professor Gill. In Kikaider Code 02, he was initially blue but his left side becomes red with transparent parts. When Hakaider ripped out some of the GEMINI system, Kikaider turned completely red.
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