OVA
Description
Ichiro, designated Kikaider 01, is an android created by Dr. Komyoji as the prototype and older brother to Jiro (Kikaider). Built to combat threats like SHADOW, he sports a blue and red color scheme inverted from Jiro's, featuring more pronounced optical lenses in robot form. His human guise often includes a trumpet and typically presents him in a white jacket, red shirt, jeans, and dark shoes.
Lacking Jiro's Conscience Circuit (sometimes called the GEMINI Circuit), Ichiro initially displays a hot-blooded, impulsive, and selfish personality. He views robots as tools, considers emotional attachment a weakness, and shows little regard for human life. This mindset makes him vulnerable to manipulation by figures like Professor Gill/Hakaider and SHADOW. He harbors jealousy toward Jiro's popularity and clashes with him over philosophical differences. Across narratives, he matures gradually. In the anime, he evolves from indifference to actively protecting humans, influenced by Jiro. He demonstrates genuine concern for his android "family," including Rei (Kikaider 00) and Bijinder, risking himself to shield others. Despite progress, he retains distrust and holds grudges. After his death, a spectral manifestation advises Jiro, indicating understanding and absence of resentment toward his brother's actions.
Functionally, as a prototype, Ichiro possesses greater raw strength than Jiro but less combat finesse. His primary weapon is a machine gun concealed in his right forearm, deployed when the hand detaches. He wields the "Sunrise Beam," a solar-energy blast fired from his chest after charging. This powerful attack inflicts significant damage but depletes his energy reserves, weakening him afterward, particularly at night. Unlike his tokusatsu version, the anime Ichiro is not solar-dependent and can transform in darkness. He travels using the DoubleMachine motorcycle with a sidecar.
His history includes periods of deactivation. Dr. Komyoji stored him in a temple (manga) or a statue (anime) due to violent tendencies. Reactivated to aid Jiro against SHADOW and the Hakaider Squad, he joins forces to protect Akira, Professor Gill's son. Key events involve forming a tense alliance with Gill-Hakaider, leading to betrayal. During SHADOW's final assault, he, along with Rei and Mieko/Bijinder, is captured and implanted with a Submission Circuit. Reprogrammed, he fights Jiro under SHADOW's control and is ultimately destroyed by his brother to stop the threat. In the OVA *The Boy with the Guitar: Kikaider vs. Inazuman*, Ichiro appears as a mental projection within Jiro's psyche. He acknowledges Jiro's emotional pain and suggests discarding the Conscience Circuit to alleviate guilt, accepting Jiro's choice to retain it.
Lacking Jiro's Conscience Circuit (sometimes called the GEMINI Circuit), Ichiro initially displays a hot-blooded, impulsive, and selfish personality. He views robots as tools, considers emotional attachment a weakness, and shows little regard for human life. This mindset makes him vulnerable to manipulation by figures like Professor Gill/Hakaider and SHADOW. He harbors jealousy toward Jiro's popularity and clashes with him over philosophical differences. Across narratives, he matures gradually. In the anime, he evolves from indifference to actively protecting humans, influenced by Jiro. He demonstrates genuine concern for his android "family," including Rei (Kikaider 00) and Bijinder, risking himself to shield others. Despite progress, he retains distrust and holds grudges. After his death, a spectral manifestation advises Jiro, indicating understanding and absence of resentment toward his brother's actions.
Functionally, as a prototype, Ichiro possesses greater raw strength than Jiro but less combat finesse. His primary weapon is a machine gun concealed in his right forearm, deployed when the hand detaches. He wields the "Sunrise Beam," a solar-energy blast fired from his chest after charging. This powerful attack inflicts significant damage but depletes his energy reserves, weakening him afterward, particularly at night. Unlike his tokusatsu version, the anime Ichiro is not solar-dependent and can transform in darkness. He travels using the DoubleMachine motorcycle with a sidecar.
His history includes periods of deactivation. Dr. Komyoji stored him in a temple (manga) or a statue (anime) due to violent tendencies. Reactivated to aid Jiro against SHADOW and the Hakaider Squad, he joins forces to protect Akira, Professor Gill's son. Key events involve forming a tense alliance with Gill-Hakaider, leading to betrayal. During SHADOW's final assault, he, along with Rei and Mieko/Bijinder, is captured and implanted with a Submission Circuit. Reprogrammed, he fights Jiro under SHADOW's control and is ultimately destroyed by his brother to stop the threat. In the OVA *The Boy with the Guitar: Kikaider vs. Inazuman*, Ichiro appears as a mental projection within Jiro's psyche. He acknowledges Jiro's emotional pain and suggests discarding the Conscience Circuit to alleviate guilt, accepting Jiro's choice to retain it.