I'm a huge, huge fan of the 1970's Jinzo Ningen Kikidaa series, and regard the 43 chaptered story of the Mechanical Man built to vanquish the Corps of Darkness as one of the finest, right up there with the Kamen Rider series (From Kamen Rider #1 through to V3), but the ONE sticking point that I've ALWAYS had with the Kikaida series is that very,very silly 3-D movie that came out right before the incredible (and final) story arc of Kikaidaa VS Hakaidaa.
As I've gotten older, the Kikaidaa series just keeps getting better and better, and as I analyze it more and more, I keep finding more and more reasons to love it. The 3-D movie, on the other hand, is something that I thought was just ridiculous from the first moment I watched it and it's been downhill ever since! Even as a seven year old kid, I knew I was watching a dumbed-down story that had NOTHING to do with the actual TV series.
I know there are those out there that DO regard this as part of the actual Kikaidaa canon, but really folks, Professor Gill breaking the fourth wall and arguing with the kids in the theatre audience? Uh-Uh.
You can tell me you think the movie is part of the linear story, but not once did I see any Dark Monster tell me to put on 3-D glasses before any battles I watched on TV.
Of course, as a kid, the thing that BUGGED the HECK out of me MOST was the zany ways Kikaidaa was destroying the monsters. You had just about every effin' one of them from Gray Rhino to Black Mole, but instead of an epic battle you had monsters politely lining up to be knocked down like dominoes! AHAHAHAHA, WTF!!!
I took my little Imovie program and edited together a short but sweet little digested version of what you could have expected to see if you'd gone into the theaters to check this one one all those years ago... Just the highlights, of course! AHAHAHAHA!
