| “ | Change, 01! | „ |
| ~ Ichiro's Transformation Call |
Personality[]
Ichiro is often stated to be violent, rough and simple. As he lacks a GEMINI Circuit like Jiro, he was at first not completely willing to help out humans from evil, until he matured as the series progresses and became influenced by Jiro. Although he genuinely respects and cares for Jiro as a brother, Ichiro often saw him as too emotional and has even advised Jiro to remove his Conscience Circuit on one occasion.
His care towards his family later gets extended to Rei and Mieko, whom he showed worry for when they got captured. He also does care for others as he put himself in harm`s way to save Jiro and other innocent people on a few occasions. Despite not having a GEMINI Circuit like Jiro, Ichiro is good in nature and may actually be one of the most kind robots in the anime. He can also be somewhat distrusting towards others however, as well as hold a grudge towards others for any misdoings.
Despite this however, when he supposedly appeared as a ghost in Jiro`s mind he didn`t seem mad or upset towards Jiro for killing him and Rei, possibly because he understood the reasons for doing so and instead may have saved Jiro from the guilt that he was feeling.
History[]
Ichiro first appeared as a statue that Jiro activated before greeting one another and realizing each other as brothers. They later met Komyoji`s teacher as he filled in the details. They were soon attacked by Shadow`s robots and fought them in retaliation. Ichiro seemed to have fun fighting them before seeing Jiro protect the humans as he shielded them with his body. Ichiro then shocked Jiro and the humans by offering Jiro to kill the humans himself so they don`t get in the way. They later managed to escape their enemies and filled in on the details. Ichiro then refused to protect the humans as he walked away to lay down on a grassy field. As he angrily cut a butterfly and realized it to be mechanical, he met a female robot named Bijinder.
Formidable enemies[]
Learning that she`s a member of SHADOW, Ichiro fought her and was soon overpowered. Even when Jiro came to help him, they were both overwhelmed by her mental attacks. Reiko and Akira came to them as Reiko and Bijinder had some kind of connection which drove her off. As time passed Ichiro became more annoyed by Jiro`s willingness to protect the humans and teased him of having a crush on Rieko (which Jiro denied). They later fought the Hakaider squad and faced off their combined form. Ichiro decided distracted them while Jiro attacked and defeated one.
Angered that one of their own was destroyed, the remaining members of the Hakaider Squad stepped on Jiro, intending to crush him. Not willing to let that happen, Ichiro activated his "Sunrise Beam" attack that delivered a devastating blow to the Hakaider squad. With the only survivor Gill retreating, the two brothers rested on a grassy plain.
Rieko's death[]
As they rested from their fight Ichiro told Jiro that if they`re to protect the humans they need to get stronger. Jiro was genuinely pleased at Ichiro for having a change of heart (Ichiro being bashful about it) and rested for the next day as well. Later as they fought more of SHADOW`s robots they encountered Rei and Komyoji`s teacher who told them who Rei was. Rei then easily destroyed their enemies and joined their team. When they went to the place Reiko remembered as her home town they were ambushed by SHADOW's members. Ichiro immediately accused Reiko of being a traitor before he learned of Reiko`s tragic origin and asked Jiro to apologize for him when he caught up with her. After seeing what happened to Reiko, Ichiro was frustrated with the situation and started screaming about the situation, to which Jiro quickly silenced.
Final Battle[]
As the final battle against SHADOW started, Ichiro initially tried using his Sunrise Beam against Giant Devil only to see it have no effect. As they later tried infiltrating it, Rei and Mieko were captured forcing Ichiro and Jiro to try and save them only to get captured as well. Ichiro, Rei and Mieko were implanted with a Submission Circuit, reprogramming them and forcing Ichiro and Rei to fight Jiro, instantly defeating him (as Jiro was too confused with the situation to fight properly) and causing him to get a Submission Circuit implanted as well. Jiro managed to not get controlled by the Submission Circuit as he tricked Bijinder into releasing him so he can defeat Gill. Gill realized the situation as he summoned Ichiro and Rei to finish Jiro off. Jiro then mercilessly destroyed both of them with his Blaster.
Kikaider vs. Inazuman[]
While Ichiro died, that would not be his last appearance in the anime. In the sequel he supposedly appeared as a ghost to speak with Jiro in his mind. After fighting Inazuman, Jiro went deeper inside his mind and saw what seemed to be Ichiro. Ichiro advised Jiro to throw away the Conscience Circuit to relieve him from the guilt that he was suffering. Jiro emotionally replied that he doesn`t want to lose his humanity despite the pain it was causing and tearfully asked Ichiro what he should do. Ichiro said nothing as a bright flash soon awoke Jiro from his mind regaining his sanity.
Abilities and Arsenal.[]
Due to his rough nature, Ichiro is physically more stronger than Jiro, but also being less skilled due to his simpleness. He also had a weaker will than Jiro, likely due to not having a GEMINI Circuit installed. Despite this however, Ichiro had the second most firepower out of all his siblings, only surpassed by Rei himself.
- Machine Gun Arm: Ichiro's right arm carries a machine gun concealed in his wrist that deploys when his right hand detaches from his arm.
- Sunrise Beam: A powerful burst of solar energy fired from Ichiro's chest. The weapon is activated by Ichiro crossing his arms and focusing his power, the energy is then drawn from Ichiro's power cells and released, causing a devastating amount of damage. The drawbacks to this weapon is that it takes a few seconds to charge up and leaves Ichiro in a weakened state from the energy depletion afterward when it is night.
Notes[]
- Unlike the live-action version of 01, the Anime version is not solar-powered. As such, he can transform in the dark and doesn't lose power in darkness.