Kikaider REBOOT Trailer Revealed - Story & Cast Info Plus An Appearance In Kamen Rider Gaim?!

A brief shot at the end of Super Hero Taisen Z had teased that Android Kikaider, another of Shotaro Ishinomori’s tokusatsu creations, was getting some form of reboot. The newest trailer for the film followed, along with story and full cast details.

The film is set in the near future, where Dr. Nobuhiko Komyoji heads a robot engineering project called ARK Project, created to build robots that peacefully resolve problems beyond human control. When Komyoji discovers the project’s true goal differs from what he believed, he turns against the organization; ARK Project attempts to kill him using his own creation, Android Mary, but he escapes. Believing him dead, the organization spreads word that his death was an accident during an experiment. A year later, ARK Project falls under the direction of his rival Kanzaki and the Minister of Defense Tsubakiya, who redirect it toward their own personal benefit rather than its original purpose. When ARK Project learns Komyoji may still be alive, it attacks his children to force his surrender. In their defense, a robot carrying Komyoji’s Conscience Circuit appears: Android Jiro, or Kikaider, who reveals his mission is to protect Komyoji’s son and daughter, as well as humanity at large.

Casting details released alongside the trailer include Jingi Irie of the group MEN ON STYLE in the role of Kikaider; other MEN ON STYLE members with tokusatsu credits include Sota Fukushi (Gentaro Kisaragi / Kamen Rider Fourze), Tasuku Nagase (Kosuke Nitoh / Kamen Rider Beast), and Ryo Ryusei (Daigo Kiryu / Kyoryu Red). Aimi Satsukawa was cast as Mitsuko Komyoji, Dr. Komyoji’s daughter, and Yuta Ikeda as her younger brother Masaru. Hirotaro Honda, who previously played Strategist Raider in Kamen Rider x Super Sentai x Space Sheriff: Super Hero Taisen Z, was cast as Dr. Komyoji, the creator of Kikaider, Hakaider, and Android Mary, taken captive by ARK Project and forced to keep developing robots for it.

Model Maryjun Takahashi, also cast as Yumi Komagata in the upcoming Rurouni Kenshin film, was set to play Android Mary; in the original 1970s series the character was Jinzo Ningen Bijinder, but since she does not “switch on” in the new film, she appears only as Android Mary. Shingo Tsurumi, previously Mitsuaki Gamou (Sagittarius Zodiarts) in Kamen Rider Fourze, was cast as a developer of Hakaider, alongside Ryuji Harada as a news reporter investigating Komyoji’s disappearance and baseball player Kazushige Nagashima as a scientist consulting on overriding the Kikaider system.

Both the reboot and original actors behind Jiro were set to appear on screen together: Jingi Irie as the reboot version and Daisuke Ban, the original series’ Jiro, in a cameo as a separate character named Kyujiro Maneo, with his exact role left unclear. Ban is also known for playing Inazuman. The reveal additionally teased a mysterious warrior appearing in a Rider Battle whose silhouette resembled Kikaider, though it was not clear whether that figure was the original Kikaider or the reboot version, suggesting a crossover was in the works.

Sources for the story and cast details included the film’s official site and Facebook page.