Original subtitles

Switch on! 1-2-3!

Electric sparks rush through his body

Jiro, change! Become Kikaider!

Stand against the robots of DARK!

Android Kikaider!

Change, change!

Go, go, go, go!

Go, go, go!

Making of Kikaider

Go, go, go!

Making of Kikaider

Hello, everyone.

Kikaider/Jiro: Daisuke Ban

Hello, everyone.

Kikaider/Jiro: Daisuke Ban

I'm Daisuke Ban, playing Kikaider and Jiro.

Kikaider/Jiro: Daisuke Ban

It's nice to see you again.

Kikaider/Jiro:

Daisuke Ban

Today I'd like to look back on my memories of filming Kikaider with you

and mix in some testimony from other staff members.

Hey, I'm Toru Hirayama, producer of Kikaider.

Producers Toru Hirayama Susumu Yoshikawa

Hey, I'm Toru Hirayama, producer of Kikaider.

Producers Toru Hirayama Susumu Yoshikawa

Thanks for having me.

Producers Toru Hirayama Susumu Yoshikawa

And I'm also a producer of Kikaider, Susumu Yoshikawa.

And I'm also a producer of Kikaider, Susumu Yoshikawa.

Kamen Rider had new

monsters every episode,

and we had Ishinomori-san

drawing the monsters every time,

so we'd meet up once a week or so for him to draw monsters.

It wasn't much time, but Ishinomori-san had this mysterious ability

to talk about things while he was drawing.

We'd be talking about what the next monster would be, and he'd be drawing,

and | said, "You know, Kamen Rider was a great idea,

but I'd like a show with a

more tearjerking premise."

And he said, "Hey, that sounds good."

And he starts drawing, and in minutes he's got the red and blue design.

And minutes later, he'd also drawn the yellow Sidecar

and put Mitsuko in it.

He just worked so fast.

| did so much work with Ishinomori-san,

but he finished all that just while we were talking about Kamen Rider.

And luckily, around that time, Shinichi Miyazaki was asking me

"Have you got anything like Kamen Rider?" and | said "We just came up with something.

| showed it to him and he said

"This looks cool, let's go with that."

But we didn't know what to call it.

We used "Kikaider" ("it's a machine") as a placeholder name.

And when we used that name in the end,

the higher-ups got really mad about it.

"That's such a lazy name."

But I'm so glad we went with "Kikaider."

It meant you could bring in Bijinder ("It's beautiful") and Waruder ("It's evil").

You could just do anything as long as you put -der at the end.

| think it made the whole

environment more relaxed.

When the environment is

relaxed, you can do good work.

So that's about how the

planning phase went.

Yoshikawa-san, remember what you said...

The lockout.

That needs a little buildup.

I've heard stories from other people

The main stations that aired

Kamen Rider originally

were Osaka's Mainichi Broadcasting System

and TV Asahi... well, it was NET at the time.

Oh, NET, that's right.

They wanted me to work on a show like Kamen Rider so they could compete.

So their thought was, 7:30, Kamen Rider.

8:00, Kikaider, then 8:30, Devilman. A very powerful block.

And we gave the concept concrete form based on that request.

They said, you can't make something just like Kamen Rider.

They wanted contrast. A show that was 180 degrees reversed.

That was the original request.

That's how we approached it, anyway.

And Hirayama-san was the king of shows like this.

Before that, I'd only worked on shows for adults.

I'd done a lot of different genres, of course.

But to create a really contrasting show,

Ryotoku Watanabe said, "Hey, you do it."

He just threw me into it.

It was my first time working on a show like this.

| had absolutely no idea how to do it

so to make it better than Kamen

Rider, we came up with a grand theme and all these details,

and approached it that way.

That's how we went about it.

And | overlapped with it from that point.

See, the stuff that I'd come up working on...

Sumiko Fuji's stuff... like the Josei Bunkei Rosen films from Toei, about women's dramatic lives.

The samurai drama series

Nihon Kenkyakuden.

| tried to integrate what I'd learned there to a children's show.

It was always someone all alone, getting assaulted on all sides.

It felt like, “what am | making?"

But | still remember, Ishinomori-sensei really liked it.

He said he really liked my work.

| remember that gave me the confidence to go on.

And really, an android... that's a robot.

It's a robot that looks just like a human.

An android, you know.

He has a deep desire to be human, to be more human.

Ishinomori-sensei talked a lot

about it while he was drawing.

The conscience circuit.

Robots don't have a conscience

without a conscience circuit.

He's an unusual robot who's

been given one of those.

You see a lot of works based off of

Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics.

But you didn't have movies like that back then.

And as | said earlier, | didn't have much knowledge or knowhow about robots.

Ishinomori-sensei really emphasized the rivalry, the gap between humans and robots,

very specifically and carefully.

And within that, elements of human drama.

But | think we ended up focusing mostly on that part.

Still, that's the part people seem to really like.

So the ratings... we were against The Drifters’ variety show

that got about 50%.

At ten-something percent, it was a constant struggle. It really didn't do all that well.

But little by little... and you especially see it nowadays.

I get people telling me, "Kikaider was so great."

That makes me happy.

But it makes sense. Having it be about a robot makes it more interesting.

And Hirayama-san mentioned it earlier...

Just after it aired, the Toei TV Pro labor dispute started.

There was a lockout.

So we had to work at this studio in

Chitose-Karasuyama called Sakae Pro.

We spent a lot of time filming there.

How many episodes?

Something like ten episodes, | think.

Something like that.

That was quite a place.

It was falling apart.

Really improvised.

We really couldn't have done it without you, Yoshikawa-san.

Because there was nobody else there.

And they'd shoot it, and nobody knew where the film was.

The director, Hatakeyama-san, constantly had me searching for film.

I'd open the editor room. "Anything from Toei?” "Haven't seen it."

| had to stop by a few different places.

That's so irresponsible!

Of course they don't know where it is.

There were a small number

of TV professionals.

Sasaki-san and Naraba-chan.

A few of them were there.

We worked there together. Working so hard.

And when the lockout was lifted,

we resumed with the

location shoot in Tamagawa.

Then suddenly the Toei Union burst in.

And they kidnapped me.

They told us to stop filming right away.

And a main figure in the union at the time was Juzo Yamazaki.

And there was some kind of party...

Juzo was there?

Yeah. He was an assistant

director or something.

But they took me away to this strange place,

and said "Call Ryotoku and tell him to stop filming." There were five or six people.

You were a hostage.

Yeah. They abducted me and locked me up.

Really?

And he was the guy from that time,

and at this party he says, "Remember me?" and I say, "I sure do."

He'd gotten huge off of writing Tsuribaka Nisshi. This hugely respected author.

But on Kikaider, when we were filming at Sakae Pro,

the work we were doing during the lockout...

It really makes you gutsy.

Seriously. We couldn't have done it without you.

You did everything yourself.

The director even said, "He's the only one there."

There was no one there.

But for TV, you really just needed five or six people.

You could always work it out.

And you find the guts to do it.

Yeah, it's basically pure guts.

We did.

It's amazing we made something people like under those conditions.

| think people are tired of hearing about this.

Just give it a rest. That's not what they're here for.

| mean...

But it really was hard.

And the higher-ups in the company were always there.

We were able to ask them about some stuff,

but back then, it was hard to get in touch with them.

That was really hard.

But looking back on it, it's very nostalgic.

When he uses that finisher at the end...

The machine blasts apart and its parts scattered all over the ground.

But it was all the same stuff.

Just all these metal gears.

All gears...

And every so often I'd say, can't we take apart a more complicated machine for this?

And they went to an ironworks

and picked up some parts from some scrap.

And maybe because | said that, they made it a little less bad.

But nowadays, if you took a robot apart, it sure wouldn't look like that.

Robots don't have screws and gears.

You'd have to have semiconductors

and computer boards.

But it was pretty amazing.

They were all these pretty lousy gears.

Yeah, just gears scattered around.

It was really something.

A masterpiece.

But | actually think that made it easier to follow.

You're right.

The gears.

For the kids, especially.

If you used semiconductors, they wouldn't know what they were looking at.

You don't see that anymore.

Yeah. They'd always say,

"What, do Kikaider's robots work on gears and pulleys?"

One other fun memory | have of Kikaider is the location shoots,

when all the bigwigs would bring their kids along

to watch the filming.

Ishinomori-sensei brought Joe-kun and Akira-kun.

Ryotoku Watanabe brought Hajime-kun.

And all the big star actors would bring their kids. The kids didn't appear in the show,

but they came to watch it, and it was so funny. | still have the pictures.

| look and | think, we were all so young.

Thirty years ago.

That's pretty amusing too.

It was all about saying, "Hey, Papa's doing a great job."

If they all go they can see how cool their fathers are.

And back then, Toei didn't do proper live shows.

The companies would agree to the location shoots right away.

All the hotels and such

would offer their services.

So we had about two

location shoots every month.

That's right. It was so popular.

It was in high demand.

And you had Jiro on his endless wandering journey after their father...

The show ends with that

narration every time, | think.

I think it ends like that every time.

So the question is, "Where will he be next time?"

And nowadays production's getting really big,

and we have so many people on the team,

so location shoots are hard to do.

But back then, having the small teams made it easy.

And it suited the nature of the program. The wandering journey. Which was great.

It really was.

Ban-san... at NLT.

Yeah, | remember.

His manager, Akita.

| was close to him. I'm still

close to him, through family.

So we went out to drink, and went to the NLT agency,

and he got a call and had to run an errand,

and there were all these

pictures of NLT's young actors.

And while he was gone, | looked through them.

And | thought, "this guy looks good."

| asked Akita if | could keep it, and put the picture in my pocket.

And there were various twists and turns,

and we were at our wits’ end...

And he might remember this. Ryotoku Watanabe was at some hotel party.

| brought Ban-san there,

and asked, "what do you think?" and he said "looks good" and decided it on the spot.

That's how it went down.

But I think Mr. Ban wrote somewhere

that | showed my wife a bunch of pictures and she chose him. That's not how it happened.

You know...

It's true that later, we might look and...

Maybe.

Confirm, but the idea that we picked him based on a picture is wrong.

And Jun Mizunoe, | wasn't too involved in that.

| remembered this NHK

children's show, Kappa-chan.

She had the kind of face kids would like.

So we found her...

I think you're the one who recommended her.

She was Yuri Kayama, right?

As a singer, she was Yuri Kayama, not Jun Mizunoe.

That's right.

We really had a lot of performers.

There was also... | think | read

something else that was wrong...

but Shu Ueda, who played Hanpei Hattori.

We got him because | was working with Yusuke Watanabe on another show.

He's passed away now, but we were having a discussion,

and he asked me to bring him on for that show.

And | was so impressed by him.

And he was so funny, | understood why Director Yusuke spoke so highly of him.

And that's why we got him on Kikaider.

Yeah, seriously.

He was such a hard worker on Kikaider.

And Ando-san, right here.

Ando-san was a standby for Hirayama-san.

“Ankoku Butoh" - a type of dance performance art.

Ishinomori-sensei... Tatsumi Hijikata's Ankoku Butoh was going on at the time.

| thought Hijikata-san had the perfect image.

- We negotiated with Hijikata-san... - That's right, it really was Hijikata-san.

It definitely died at the negotiation stage. With his manager.

Ando-san was a friend of mine.

He was always great to have around.

| think the most normal

actor there was Izu-san.

But | think he was really enjoying the role.

Yeah. He was a veteran actor.

| met Masahiro Kamiya when he was an adult.

He's quite up there now, age-wise.

| think | met him on Barom-7.

All the child actors at the

time were close in age.

Was that the first actor you started using regularly?

Well...

Daitetsujin-17...

Oh, 17.

- But that was later.

- Much later.

| think that's where he made

his name as a child actor.

| don't drive, so Subaru was your idea, | think.

It was.

For the motorcycle, the stuntman was Kenzo Muromachi.

We wanted a good motorcycle with a sidecar.

Kawasaki Motorcycles had this built as a prototype.

So we went to Kawasaki's main office

and said we'd like to borrow

it, and they let us have it.

Muromachi said he'd never

used anything that cool.

Yeah, he's the one who told me about it.

It was a ten-speed. You could switch it between the two.

He loved it. He was so happy.

We asked and he OKed it immediately.

And we said, you don't have to alter it at all, just change the color.

And we borrowed it just like that.

Until then, Kamen Rider's motorcycles were more like...

They were Suzuki.

So Kawasaki didn't have much

to do with shows before or after.

There was that scene, and it was so cool.

But they really made such a great design.

It was really sturdy, too.

It really was... I've seen plenty of bikes,

and that really felt like the best one I've ever seen.

Well, for the rest,

Ban-san, take it over.

Make it good.

Stick cards into the Kikaider Belt!

Design Registration Application Completed

Stick cards into the Kikaider Belt!

Buy Nissin Kikaider Snacks to win a cool Kikaider belt!

Each one contains a Kikaider Card!

Nissin's Kikaider Snack Series!

Stick cards into the Kikaider Belt!

Design Registration Application Completed

Stick cards into the Kikaider Belt!

Stick cards into the Kikaider Belt!

Buy Nissin Kikaider Snacks for two chances of winning a Kikaider Belt!

If you find a Lucky Card, you win the prize!

And even if they're not a winner, send in eight proofs of purchase

and 50,000 kids will receive a Kikaider Belt!

Nissin's Kikaider Snack Series!

These commercials apply to the period when Android Kikaider was airing. The product is no longer sold and the presents are no longer awarded.

CM Assistance:

Nissin Confectionery Co., Ltd. JAC

Producers Hirayama and Yoshikawa.

Thank you for those wonderful stories.

Now I, Jiro, will guide you through Kikaider's world.

To begin, I'll show you the transformation pose I've been keeping up my sleeve.

Change! Switch on!

1-2-3!

| worked really hard when | was first cast.

Q: Creating the Role

| worked really hard when | was first cast.

Q: Creating the Role

At the time, | was studying as part of a theater troupe.

At the time, | was studying as part of a theater troupe.

It was my first time on-screen.

| thought a lot about how to approach it.

Kikaider. A robot.

| thought a lot about how to approach it at the time.

My first idea was that if I'm going to be a robot, he should actually feel extra human.

Approaching it that way is what made the role, | think.

Q: Troubles

Q: Troubles

Troubles... for the acting, | just had to think earnestly about how to express the story.

Troubles... for the acting, | just had to think earnestly about how to express the story.

The action was much harder.

It was my first time doing action.

So before shooting, | remember having practice at Mishima-san's place.

It was my first time doing on-screen action.

I think that was the hardest part.

It was really difficult.

At Ogouchi Dam. They told me to stand on the top of the dam.

And the wind was really blowing around me.

How was it blowing?

It was blowing down, like it was trying to pull me off.

And Oka-kun, an assistant director then, was there.

And he's behind me, holding the cuffs of my jeans to hold me on.

But that actually made me feel more unstable.

| remember telling him to stop it.

Thinking back on the transformation pose...

Q: Transformation Pose

Thinking back on the transformation pose...

Q: Transformation Pose

In the staff room at Oizumi,

the thing | remember was Director Kitamura. He directed the first episode.

He was there, and Mishima-san was there.

We were discussing how to do it and threw around ideas.

We tried "Change, switch on, 1-2-3."

Or "Switch on, 1-2-3," maybe.

And Kitamura-san said "Wouldn't ‘Change!’ be better?” | remember him saying that.

And we tried a few poses integrating that.

| think Producer Yoshikawa was there, too.

My memory's not great, unfortunately.

Kitamura-san gave all this instruction.

"Do it like this, do it like that."

| remember him suggesting a lot of ideas.

And the eventual transformation

pose came out of that.

And we agreed the final one was pretty good.

Q: ADR

Q: ADR

It was my first time doing ADR.

Q: ADR

I didn't have an issue with it. | was voicing my own character.

| didn't have an issue with it. |

was voicing my own character.

It's Jiro and the powered-up version of Jiro, transformed.

It's kind of an extension of the character.

So it wasn't that hard.

And the suit actor at the time

was, | think, Kikuchi-kun?

He did the action scenes.

And it was easy, because everyone was playing their roles so well, with so much emotion.

So | always knew just what to do.

It wasn't hard at all.

| mainly remember thinking everyone was perfect in their roles.

Q: Co-stars

| mainly remember thinking everyone was perfect in their roles.

Q: Co-stars

| felt like it was a real masterpiece.

| felt like it was a real masterpiece.

Mitsuko, she had this real sweet, lovely quality to her.

She played the part perfectly. The part was just like her.

That's how I'd like to put it,

but | think everyone, rather than "playing a part,"

they were all putting their emotion into it. The character's qualities.

The genuine qualities of the character.

So Mitsuko already had what Mitsuko needed.

And Masaru had his actor's childlike quality.

But at the same time, really mature.

That came out genuinely.

And Hanpen, Ue-chan, he's not playing the comic relief.

He's putting his emotions into the role straightforwardly.

It's strange to say it, but it's not forced.

He's not trying to make you laugh.

There's none of that. It's not on purpose.

He's just giving it his all.

That's just the amazing quality that he has.

And Izu-san. His character seems so normal.

That's also just a natural quality Izu-san has. So it just comes out.

And Saburo. Mayama-kun.

Mayama-kun is incredible.

| love him, but he's a bit sulky and quiet.

That's just who he is. That's why he was perfect as Hakaider.

And Ando-san.

Ando-san was working so hard in his own way.

It felt like he was really forming this evil character inside him to play.

He really put his heart into asking the question, what makes evil "evil"?

That's why the whole thing had this great balance.

Everyone was perfect for their roles.

I've been an actor for a few decades now

and this is the only one in all that time that was this perfect.

It honestly feels like a miracle to me.

There's the scene where | jump into the ocean with a bomb.

Q: Injuries

There's the scene where | jump into the ocean with a bomb.

Q: Injuries

I'm supposed to hold the bomb and jump in, and | was trying to show off while | did it.

I'm supposed to hold the bomb and jump in, and | was trying to show off while | did it.

The bomb was like this canister thing.

And | hit my head on that, | think.

And | cut my head open.

And it was bleeding a lot, and the doctor put something on it.

And shooting was done after that and they sent me home.

But starting the next day, they gave me the helmet.

Because we just had to keep filming.

So they had me wear the helmet.

And | think | just wore the helmet from then on.

Before then, | wore the sunglasses a lot.

I think that was the only major injury.

Lots of scratches and cuts, of course.

| did some of the outdoor action myself.

Q: Action

| did some of the outdoor action myself.

Q: Action

But the stunts and stuff, back handsprings and such,

But the stunts and stuff, back handsprings and such,

Ken-chan... Kenji Takahashi, Kenji Ohba did them for me. I'm so grateful.

Speaking of Ohba-kun, he was still so young then.

He was in his teens. Sixteen or so, | think.

And he was my stuntman.

He really watched me closely, my good and bad qualities.

And it was the way he approached the role.

| think he was studying me. "| shouldn't do it that way.”

"| should do it this way."

He watched me very closely, learning.

And | thought, "This guy's going to go a long way."

He really watched me closely when we were together.

And a lot of it was because of the action,

and that is part of it, of course.

But more than that, he really wanted to be an actor.

So he was looking at me, both my good and bad points.

"| should do it like this, | shouldn't do it like that."

I think he learned a lot that way.

Well... regarding the action, | think

at the start, Mishima-san told me...

“"Whoever's in Kikaider, whether it's Kikuchi or someone else, it's all you."

"So you have to watch them."

"You have to stay close and watch, like it's you doing it."

He told me that, and so | watched them every time.

| think Mishima-san really trained me well that way.

And... how to put it. | don't remember him telling me to do too much.

| thought a lot about how to approach the action myself.

So by the end, I was pretty used to doing action.

Looking back now...

This is sort of connected

to what | said earlier.

When | tried bringing my own quality into the character...

How to put it...

When | started out, | was so green.

| was going on instinct. | didn't think about it too much.

| just approached it earnestly.

More generally, | didn't want to give an unnatural performance.

Children are watching, and you can't fool them.

If you put in a dishonest performance, the children will see right through you.

So | consciously tried to avoid doing that.

But, how to put it... what episode was it?

Playing it so I'm not lying.

Putting my own qualities into it.

| kept trying to find the natural approach for Jiro while | went through.

I think it was episode 9 or 10 when | found that approach.

Until then, | was kind of feeling around in the dark.

But | was determined that | wouldn't

lie, | wouldn't give a bad performance.

| was trying to play the character of Jiro in a way | could accept for myself.

And | finally found the character.

| was really glad about that.

That's right. For the robots... Mishima-san often said

Q: Lovable Characters

That's right. For the robots... Mishima-san often said

That's right. For the robots... Mishima-san often said

"Kikaider's monsters

are all pretty cute, huh?"

I still remember him saying it.

I think that's a great expression.

The whole show is lovable, even the monsters.

I think that's part of what makes the show so memorable.

And him saying the monsters are cute really stuck in my head.

It's like that finally explained it.

By cute, | mean... well...

Obviously, they're scary too.

"Grr, I'm a monster."

But there's a part of them... how to put it.

They're not all scary all the time, so you can rest easy around them.

Yeah. | think they're lovable.

Yeah. They're lovable.

Mishima-san saying that they're cute, that they're lovable.

| thought about a lot of things while making Kikaider.

It's just that kind of show.

Honestly, the music was amazing, too.

| don't mention it much, but Chumei-san did great with the music.

That's another part that made it so great.

It's miraculous in so many ways.

Everything was so perfect. That's why people love it.

I've been an actor for decades now

and I've never had a show so perfect.

| don't think I ever have.

That's how good it is.

Q: Hakaider

Q: Hakaider

| love the character of Hakaider.

| love the character of Hakaider.

| loved it so much, | wished | could play it myself.

Being able to play a character so cool. | love that kind of thing.

| sometimes wish | could

have played that role instead.

Though | doubt | could handle it.

I think it's completely natural that Hakaider was so popular.

In the show.

Because that's how it was written.

It's the best role. As an actor.

It's the best role.

So | think it's totally natural that he became popular.

And it's odd to say this for myself,

but at least the role of Jiro, of Kikaider,

is what made the role of Hakaider possible.

Q: The Appeal of Kikaider

Q: The Appeal of Kikaider

Thirty-something years ago, in Hawaii,

Thirty-something years ago, in Hawaii,

| think about a year after Kikaider first aired,

it aired over there.

It was Joanne Ninomiya then, I think.

She wanted to hold an event there, and | had never done that before.

She said the Kikaider character

was popular over there.

They thought Kikaider was so cool.

I didn't know why they liked him so much.

Honestly, they had so many TV shows over there.

Obviously, various tokusatsu stuff, too.

For some reason, Kikaider caught on.

And as | said before, Kikaider is like a miraculous show to me,

so | think it's natural that it would catch on.

My thought is that it comes off the same way to everyone.

The people of Japan and the people of Hawaii felt the exact same way about Kikaider.

| think Spielberg's movies are the same way.

You can watch them whether

you're a child or an adult.

| don't think of movies as something only children or adults should watch.

Of course, sometimes a thing really is more adult-oriented.

But | think it's good to have a wide range of appreciation

and not box yourself in so much.

| think it's good to approach with an open mind,

and appreciate when something's just good.

I think even tokusatsu programs should be viewed that way.

The video you're about to see is from 30 years ago.

From an event that took place in Hawaii.

The thing people in Hawaii saw on TV was about to unfold in front of them,

and they were so excited about it.

It was my first time in Hawaii, too, so | was very excited, too.

It's a familiar format in Japan,

but the host here and all the

announcers are speaking in English.

It feels a little odd in that way.

But his comments really got the audience revved up.

The atmosphere was electric.

It was very easy for me, because the atmosphere was so similar to Japan.

And the members of Mishima

Kenyukai came along.

They showed off Japanese swordplay.

I'm not sure if this is common,

but in addition to being a Kikaider event, it's also an introduction to Japanese culture.

| thought that was just great.

Kikuchi-kun's the one in white.

The guy who plays Kikaider in the suit.

On-screen, he does most of the action scenes.

Kikuchi-kun, who can do this kind of Japanese-style action, is also in the Kikaider suit.

The kaiju are also so memorable.

The people of Hawaii were so happy to see them.

| don't think they get to take center stage in Japan as often.

And here's my own appearance.

I'm answering in English,

and | think what I'm saying

is complimenting the people of Hawaii.

It's rare to see me speak English like this.

We discussed what to talk about in advance.

"I'll say this, and you respond with this." We worked it out.

I think I really listened and spoke from the heart.

And here's the "Haru ga Kureba" song.

Please listen to it.

They really liked that one.

It really is a great song.

| hear them clapping in time. It feels like we're all performing together.

You can tell how much

the kids are enjoying it.

And here, we have the kids do the transformation pose.

Change! Switch on! 1-2-3!

Yeah!

The kids are all taking it so seriously.

Change! Switch on! 1-2-3!

The kids are all taking it so seriously.

Change! Switch on! 1-2-3!

Change! Switch on!

1-2-3!

I'm sure you can tell from watching them,

I'm sure you can tell from watching them,

but you've got a kid of Japanese descent, then this girl, who's white.

Change! Switch on! 1-2-3!

but you've got a kid of Japanese descent, then this girl, who's white.

Change! Switch on! 1-2-3!

You can see what a diverse place Hawaii is.

And regardless of race, they all love Kikaider.

| think that shows how amazing the show is.

Now Hakaider appears.

The audience knows the story very well,

so you Can really see a great response.

They made the stage up specially.

It really looks great.

Even in Japan, it's pretty rare to have a show this great.

When you watch it, you can see that kids in Hawaii and Japan both

really get excited about this kind of action.

And those children... the kids from that era.

They're in their 30s and 40s now.

I think they get something special from it.

Now 01 shows up.

The one in the costume is the

one who was in it in the show.

Mitsuashi-kun is in the 01 costume.

I think the action is pretty easy to follow.

His punches really land.

I'd love to do a show

like this in Hawaii again,

but sadly, they don't do this kind of thing so much anymore.

That makes this video really precious.

| wish | could show something like this to kids today.

I think it would be hard to do nowadays.

But watching it now, I| really do feel glad we got to do it for the kids of Hawaii.

Watching them get so fired up...

It's just... how to put it...

Wherever they're from...

The children of Japan and the children of Hawaii, the way they get excited...

No matter when they were born...

It really makes you feel like children are the same everywhere.

Children's hearts are all the same.

In Japan, too, if we keep making great TV shows

and putting on performances like this...

Maybe you don't see it watching this video of Hawaii,

but | hope we keep getting those chances.

That's something | feel watching this.

Looking back now, I'd love to say thank you to the people of Hawaii.

And there's a few Kikaider

props that you can't forget.

First, the red guitar.

Red Guitar

This always has to appear in the show.

Red Guitar

The guitar melody goes dun-dun-dun-dun-dun, then it appears.

You have to choose the length and placement of the strap.

We needed to know where to put it to provide the best balance.

Normally with a guitar, the neck points down.

That's typical.

But it doesn't look as cool if it points down.

We had to figure out what looked best during standing poses.

So the strap location, when it's on my back,

it has to be here.

We had to attach it here.

Normally it'd be here.

But when we do that, it makes it harder to move.

So during action scenes

we change the strap placement to here.

That's the first thing the red guitar makes me think of.

And there's one other item.

This.

Helmet

This.

Helmet

Helmet

This helmet. This white helmet.

Helmet

Helmet

This became absolutely indispensable.

This became absolutely indispensable.

Starting halfway through.

So, you know...

At the shoot at Izu, | dove into the ocean and cut my head open.

And ever since, | had to wear this helmet.

So the final silhouette was me

all in denim, wearing the guitar

with the helmet on.

| think the sunglasses were great, too,

but since I've got the Sidemachine, I think the helmet version

makes sense, and it's cool.

Even in Hawaii, the children...

They would dress up like Jiro.

They'd come up to me.

They'd come with the helmet on

in the jean jacket and the guitar on their back.

So | think that's part of why "Jiro in the helmet" is such a powerful image.

Yeah.

In San Diego, too.

There were cosplayers. These white men in their 20s.

There were two of them, cosplaying.

They had the helmet on.

| was so surprised.

This was mainland USA. Not Hawaii.

That really surprised me.

Kikaider really transcends its era.

Even though it's from thirty years ago, it reaches Hawaii, and even the American mainland.

It transcends region and time

| really feel like it's alive, now and forever.

| don't know what it is about the

show. I've said it a few times,

but it really feels like a miraculous show.

In the 21th century, will humans and robots be in conflict,

or will they learn to live in peace?

This is a show that makes

you think about that.

It's a show that makes you afraid,

and also presents it as a step forward.

These are becoming things humans need to think about more.

I think this is a theme of the 21st century.

And | think Kikaider is

an important part of that.

x "Making of Kikaider" has been reproduced from the video extras of the 2004 DVD release.