[ZeoRangerV]

After spending ages with it thanks to things getting in the way, I've finally finished Kikaider 01. I REALLY enjoyed the original series despite its flaws, but sadly the sequel doesn't quite live up to that greatness.

Kikaider 01 is a show that can easily be split into three parts - the first third is all about the Hakaider Squad, the second third is the debut of SHADOW and the third is the arrival of Bijinder, Waruder and 01's continuing battle against SHADOW. The series pretty much progresses in quality as it goes along - the first part isn't that great at all, the second is an improvement and then the final third is the best.

The Hakaider Squad section sucks because the show is just a painful copy of the original. Each episode plays out in exactly the same way with the characters all serving the same purposes (albeit switched around a bit) and they all feature some ridiculous bit where the monster exploits 01's weakness (which in this case is that he's solar powered...making him utterly useless in the dark). 01 doesn't really get much of an introduction at all either - he just shows up out of a statue and starts fighting bad guys. Took me a while to realise he's actually the OLDER Kikaider brother, not the younger one. It wasn't all that clear.

The other problem with the first third is that Jiro appears in pretty much every episode, which is great if you want to see the original Kikaider but otherwise makes 01 seem really inept at his job. Of course when SHADOW start showing up Kikaider's actor goes off to be in Inazuman, so the focus shifts more to be on the titular character. Once it does, 01 becomes a lot more likeable. While Jiro always had a loner type quality to him, Ichiro is like everyone's big brother.

Fast-forwarding to the final third, the emergence of Bijinder and Waruder really make the show a lot more enjoyable. They add that "conflicted robot" element that the original had, but in different ways. Both designs take a little bit of getting used to, but development wise are probably the strongest characters in the entire series. Waruder especially, I NEED a Figuart of him after watching this.

The biggest disappointment of 01 for me though was Hakaider. Since I started getting into the Kikaider franchise, my love for Hakaider has grown to the point where I'd rank him as one of my all-time favourite toku characters. But unfortunately 01's Hakaider (who now has the brain of original series villain Professor Gill) is a very different beast to the original Saburo Hakaider. This Hakaider is more of a cliche thug, causing trouble for anything and everything around him before settling into a pretty standard henchmen role. He still has his moments and can be quite fun to watch, but is nowhere near as engaging as he once was.

Anyway, next up - Mechanical Violator Hakaider!