"Kikaida" may have made an indelible mark in the hearts of Hawaii's children decades ago, but recent visits by the stars to the islands and the reprise of the Japanese superhero TV series here have sprung a new generation of loyal followers.
Past and present generations
"switch on" at a Moiliili fan fairBy Lisa Asato
lasato@starbulletin.com"I want to dress like Kikaida, I want to be like Kikaida ... because he's the best," said 4-year-old Destine Gabalis, who was dressed in a Kikaida costume his aunt made.
"Once he saw (the) picture of Kikaida in the newspaper, that was it," said mom Roxanne. "Ever since then it was Kikaida everything. He talks like them too."
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The Gabalises were among an estimated crowd of 1,200 fans on hand for the start of yesterday's Kikaida Fan Fair at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii, where children competed in a costume contest and karaoke contest of the theme songs stemming from "Kikaida" and the "Kikaida 01" sequel series of the 1970s.Actors Daisuke Ban, who played Jiro, the human form of mechanical man Kikaida, and Shunsuke Ikeda, who played his brother Ichiro, Kikaida 01, treated onlookers to faux-fighting performances against the bad guys. Some of the older generation, now in their 30s, watched with wide eyes and mouths open; some of the youngsters sang along: "Jiro, change-ee ... Kikaidaa!"
New fan Arnold Takenaka, 55, has "been following all the episodes" on KIKU-TV with his 3-and-a-half-year-old grandson Bryce, and recently started a collection of Kikaida shirts and toy figures.
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"Now I wish I caught on to it at the time," Takenaka said. Noticing a fan getting a 10-inch Kikaida figurine autographed by Ban, Takenaka said: "Those dolls he's signing now, they don't make them any more. I think they're hundred (dollars) easy, 100 plus."In an hour, Ban signed an estimated 150 autographs at a cost of about $5 an item. Later, speaking through an interpreter, Ban said he was "very happy" to see a new generation of fans.
"It's over three generations because the older audience in Hawaii, they remember because they were the parents of the (now) 28-year-olds," he said.
KIKU-TV started showing the classic Kikaida series in November and plans to start episodes of "Kikaida 01" episodes over 48 weeks starting in May.
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Keith Kwan, who recalls "playing in the yard and jumping off the car" trying to imitate the superhero's moves, was wearing his third grade Kikaida coin purse around his neck.Kwan's Kikaida-clad 2-and-a-half-year-old son Christopher has taken up where his dad's generation has left off.
"It's pretty amazing," Keith Kwan said. "He just took to it at such a young age. I was about 7; he took on to it from about 2. I guess it's in the blood ... the Hawaii blood."
KIKU-TV Kikaida fan site
