From the first episode we see Jiro and two other people being
chased by a squad of flying manta rays. We don't know names of the girl or boy,
nor why Jiro has them with him. Jiro soon finds his "older brother"
named Ichido, or Kikaider 01. Then without warning, or an explanation of why he’s
alive, Hakaider and his pose attack… It only gets weirder from there.
Apparently
taking place after the events of the TV series, Kikaider 01 has a decisively
different mood than its predecessor. Whereas the TV series mood was slow and melodramatic,
fast paced action takes precedence in this 4-part OAV.
The
main problem is that the story takes a back seat to all the action. While the
action scenes are great, it leaves little time to tell the story. And if you haven’t
seen the TV series, you won’t know what’s going on. We don’t get
any real plot development until the last two episodes.
The
animation and style used is the same as the series. However, the colors seem brighter.
The music is faster paced and even a little menacing when compared to the series.
Although very different in execution than the TV
series, this is a pretty good OAV. If you like Kikaider, then you’ll
probably like this. Just make sure you watch the TV series first.
