Kikaider

Kikaider was one of my favorite anime as a kid.
It didn't hold up super well but I still like it quite a bit.
I still need to watch the toku series and read the manga.

>>15615250
Manga is pretty good, save for that typical Ishinomori ending

>>15615261
So it just stops?
That has been my experience with Ishinomori works.

>>15615261
It's a bit rushed but I like the bittersweetness of it. It's a befitting melancholy.
>>15615259
The manga is similar to the anime. I haven't seen the anime in years, so I don't know how its pacing or animation hold up with a more critical eye, but the core is the same.

>>15615261
i think that the anime did it better
it was still a downer but felt a lot more poignant

>>15615271
Just
>well, got to wrap this up, so let's make it even more of a downer than it was up until this point

>>15615250
I like the tokusatsu more than the manga solely because ginga hurricane was the most badass special attack.

>>15615250
One of my favorites. Manga is the best overall. Anime is pretty good. Both live action shows are great in the last few episodes, but 01 ending sucks. I liked Reboot well enough, it's much better than the usual Toei crap these days.

>>15615433
It just looked like awkward wirework to me.

Too old to be interesting.

>>15615474
That's part of what made it awesome. Dangerous as fuck. They essentially just swung the stuntman around while he tried to land any punches or kicks he could. The effect worked though, it looks like he's orbiting (ginga) the baddie and spinning (hurricane) aound them landing roundhouse punches and kicks.

>>15615476
Elaborate.

>>15615472
I enjoyed it, but it lacked the melancholic vision that made Ishinomori's manga (and the anime) interesting. It was typical tokusatsu stuff, and felt a bit like Terminator 2 with more punching.

But maybe I'm just weird. I like most of Ishinomori's manga over their live-action counterparts.

>>15616586
>I like most of Ishinomori's manga over their live-action counterparts.

Me too. What's so weird about that? Also, I think both Kamen Rider and Goranger are awfully mediocre shows and there's much better stuff even for Ishinomori tokusatsu standards. But they're popular for reasons I cannot understand. Maybe most people just want to stay in their comfort zones rather than being challenged with something different.

All Toei shows that tried to do something closer to Ishinomori's vision were later revamped into silly tokusatsu antics due to low rantings or toy sales. Sticking to very basic formulas was the best bet. At least Ishinomori had freedom to do as he pleased in the manga versions, even if they would never last for very long, it was a lot more satisfying experience.

>>15617103
Zubat was the show closest to the spirit of his manga works, methinks. It gets downright brutal at times when you think about it.

Also, Robot Detective is the only one he apparently recommended as a companion to the manga.

>>15617275
Yeah, K is a lot closer to the manga counterpart than Kamen Rider, Arashi, Kikaider or Inazuman.

The toku is a classic.

The anime is pretty good, though the 01 OVA is a step down.

Both the Hakaider movie and Reboot sucked, though the designs were good.

I haven't read the manga yet.

>>15617285
>Inazuman
Too bad the sequel to that isn't getting subbed anytime soon, since it's said to be superior.

>>15617286
You watch Hakaider the same way you watch something like Commando or M.D. Geist; you enjoy the ride and don't mind any logical fallacies.

>>15617297
Inazuman Flash is a much better show and very avant-garde for a 70s tokusatsu show. It feels a lot like those few tokusatsu episodes Ishinomori directed like Kamen Rider 84 and Inazuman 11. The first show was ok, but it sure suffered from an identity crisis. You can tell right away when they completely dropped concepts very early on like the Shonen Domei and Inazuman pulling out crazy powers every episode.

>>15617103
>What's so weird about that?
Maybe nothing, but the Kamen Rider manga are rarely ever mentioned despite the huge popularity of the tokusatsu shows.

>>15617436
Well, these days the Showa era series are already a niche, let alone the original manga. I don't think even Kamen Rider Spirits is in such high demand for many people, even if it was being over-hyped a few years ago. Toei is always referencing the manga in one way or another, but there was never a straight adaptation. Still, the manga is always in print, unlike many other Ishinomori's series.

File: Sad Jiro is Sad.png (791KB, 1440x900px) Image search: [Google]

791KB, 1440x900px

>>15615250
I'm a tokusatsu fan who lives in Hawaii, so... I like it a lot. When I was really young I used to rent the DVDs of Kikaida from the Blockbuster in Kailua all the time, although I don't remember much of what I saw. And now that I'm an adult I actually own all of them.

I really liked the parts of Android Kikaider: The Animation that I saw, and I'll probably re-watch it soon (I watched the 01 OVA when I was very young and my body was not ready for it). From what I caught when it re-aired on TV about 14 years back 01 was pretty fun, but I'm going to have to buy the DVDs to see what I think. I haven't seen Hakaider or read much of the manga. Finally, I really loved REBOOT and I own it on DVD, so I plan on showing it to my friends who know nothing about Kikaida/Kikaider, but I hate the fact that it's never going to get a sequel.

>>15617343
>You can tell right away when they completely dropped concepts very early on like the Shonen Domei and Inazuman pulling out crazy powers every episode.

Honestly, I thought the show got A LOT better once they completely got rid of those things, especially the Shonen Domei.

I also think that, in a way, episode 11 set the tone for how the rest of the show was going to play out.

>>15617503
>I hate the fact that it's never going to get a sequel.
It didn't do very well? I assumed it fared alright given the competent production. Seems like an odd blunder unless Japan isn't all that big on Kikaider either, but that doesn't seem right.
>>15617496
That's a good point. I've never read Spirits, is it any good? My experience with Kamen Rider is the original manga which I like and just enough of the TV series to know it's not for me.

>>15617518
I thought it did well, too, at least initially, but I keep hearing that it did about as badly as the Gavan movie, not to mention they would have at least announced a sequel by now since it's been four years since REBOOT came out in theaters. I hope they do, though.

>>15617518
It's good, but it's also knee-deep in early Kamen Rider continuity.

>>15617518
Quite honestly, I don't like Spirits myself. There's a few nods to the manga like Hayato being closer in personality to the manga and even having the manga scars. But it's all style and no substance. I like the original manga much better, Spirits is mostly a fanfic trying to tie loose ends in the Showa era shows. It also uses a lot of typical battle shonen stuff. ZX is the star and there's some obvious Hokuto no Ken influences. It's not really my thing. Have you read Kamen Rider Black yet? I like that one better and it's by Ishinomori too.

>>15617576
>Have you read Kamen Rider Black yet? I like that one better and it's by Ishinomori too.
I have, and it's excellent. I don't know what the fuck to make of that ending, though.

>>15617503
We're probably the last generations to say they're into Kikaider because they live in hawaii. Not only don't they play it on channel 9 any more, now they barely do any events any more.

>>15618086
This text helped me:

Somewhere in the future, there will be a demon king of Golgom, or the Creation King who would rule the post-apocalyptic Earth and drive what little there is left of humanity to extinction. We see this doomed future in all the Australia chapters.

The people of the future, whom we’ve met in those chapters, in desperation summoned Minami Kotaro to the future world as a last resort. Minami Kotaro by this point was still trying to fight Golgom with Nobuhiko, now also a modified human and a very possible candidate for future Creation King.

In the future world however, when Kotaro encounters the Creation King, he claims to be future Kotaro, now in his full power and invincible to any efforts by past Kotaro.

So instead, to save past-Kotaro from the encounter, he was zapped back into “present day“, but instead 7 years later (in the comic’s time, 1999) than where he was originally from. In that seven years, the world has gone worse, steadily heading towards the ruined world we saw in the future. Nobuhiko has meanwhile seemingly and finally lost himself and fully intends to claim the throne of the Creation King.

To save Kotaro once again from this encounter, the future people sent Kotaro slightly further but still in the year 1999. Now, Japan and all other civilization is on the brink of destruction, all nations and cities becoming a wasteland. Here, Kotaro encounters Nobuhiko once again, and engage in a final battle. Kotaro wins, but Nobuhiko in his last breath tells that now Kotaro will become Creation King instead,, as it was ordained by Golgom from the beginning.

Now, Kotaro is left all alone standing on the ruins of the old world (its why he is literally standing on a sinking ship called “Nippon Maru”). Whether he actually stopped humanity’s eventual extinction or will he be destined to become Creation King as prophesized in the future is left uncertain, while Kotaro asks what will become of him.

>>15618110
I emailed KIKU back in December to see if they'd be interested in airing it again, and while they said they didn't have any plans if they could get a good deal then they might show it in the future. But yeah, hopefully they do something a couple of years from now in honor of the 45th anniversary of its airing in Hawaii. On the bright side, there's always the DVDs...

>>15615250
>sad karate Pinocchio
I feel like you don't need to say sad if you're already using Pinocchio as an advective.
"Karate Pinocchio" is a perfect way to describe Kikaider, and I will remember it.

I kind of enjoy the old live-action stuff, warts and all. The animated version take themselves a bit too seriously.

>>15618739
There's also Metalder, which is Kikaider but on 'roids.

>>15618386
I think it has to do with the relationship between JN (and KIKU) and GK. Apparently JN and GK somehow split years ago, so there's some sorta rate increase in or something for airing it.
At least I was able to go to that V3 event some years ago, at least I ended my GK event experience on a high note.

>>15618232
Definitely a cool series. Ishinomori loves his sad endings.

>>15617286
My biggest problem with the 01 OVA's was the change in soundtrack and atmosphere. It's been a while since I watched it so it's hard to explain exactly why it bothered me so much, it just felt like I was watching a different show entirely.

>>15620664
Yeah, a bit too much

>>15617503
It's nice to see another Reboot fan. As far as darker and edgier toku remakes go it's definitely on the better side. It was a little slow at times but it was well acted and really well shot, never lost my interest.

>>15617509
It doesn't help the show was rushed into production when it was originally planned as a anime adaptation of some old Ishinomori manga.

>>15620713
I love his endings, though. "Where do you want to fall?" is such a classic it's kind of a shame 009 kept going after it.

>>15615250
I felt like fucking shit watching the anime
No one deserved it, especially Jiro
At least that arm-replacing scene means he didn't go into the sunset a virgin

>>15622839
Same here. The only one I thought was a bit weak was Inazuman, since he had used that same twist quite a few times before.

I don't mind 009 had to keep going since my favorite era was the late 70s up to the middle 80s. Those stories really helped to flesh out the characters for the later adaptations like the 2001 series. In the original run, the focus was more in the action, you barely had any space to breathe. Even fan favorite 004 only started showing more of his personality in the very last story. I don't think 009 really needed an ending, though. The manga stands out just fine as it is.

Second half of Kikaider Toku was really good, especially for its time.
01, on the other hand, wasn't good at all.

I kinda forgot what the hell even happened in Metalder movie and Reboot was...
Well, I honestly wish it was better, mostly because it's the most beatiful looking Tokusatsu movie ever. Its cinematography was really really good.

>>15622839
Bit too samey for my tastes, but it's not like most all people don't reuse similar/same story elements they have before

>>15622945
>the director is Ten Shimoyama
I wonder if the reason why he was there is because Kento might have been related to him.

>>15622970
Oh his behalf, Ishinomori had stories in multiple genres. It's only stories with similar themes that share similar traits. There's not too much in common between 009 or Sabu and Ichi, for example.

>>15623023
Yeah, I guess. Also
>on his behalf

>>15622945
>01, on the other hand, wasn't good at all.
I appreciate the lack of a formula, especially after they gave up in adapting the manga plot. Also, Waruder and Bijinder were great.

>>15623023
On the bright side, at least Sabu and Ichi gets the attention it deserves on the translation front. Even the anime might get finished some day.

>>15623041
There's still a few chapters left to be translated. The scanlations used a fairly outdated edition of the manga.

>>15623029
My bad. I meant "In his defense".

>>15623031
It never managed to capture the story same way OG TV did.