Story: A solitary, denim clad road warrior known as Jiro battles the sinister Professor Gill and his squadron of fearsome DARK Destructoid monsters. Vulnerable to Gill’s shrill flute wooing him to the DARK side, Jiro transforms into the mighty red-and-blue android—KIKAIDA.

Review: Volume six packs in five more episodes of explosive Henshin excitement, knocking out episodes 26-30 in typical classic Kikaida fashion. The feel of this volume is a little different from those prior. It focuses a bit more on the overall story of Kikaida as opposed to keeping everything concise and episodic.

This change in pace comes in the form of a three-part cliffhanger saga that spans episodes 27-29. It's sort of refreshing to see episodes ending in a different manner, without everyone cheering or waving, ending with uncertainty for once. This doesn't mean that the two-tone tiger has gone serious on us though. Each chapter is still chock full of short shorts, rocky Japanese valleys perfect for driving cars off of or throwing dummy bodies down with explosive results and enough foam rubber and latex to drive the porn industry out of business (whatever that means).

Volume six only falters in that it doesn't quite chalk up to the mighty force of the previous volume. Since the majority of the disc focuses on the 3-part Conscience Circuit Schematic saga (I made that up, it should rightfully have a cooler name than that), there isn't the usual robust and insane variety of plots and enemies. Green Sponge is one of my favorite Destructoids, but even I got a bit tired of him resurrecting himself for the hundredth time.

This is all nitpicking, though. Truth be told, the cast is getting better volume by volume, the enemies are getting goofier and the action is more spaced out and well placed than it was at the series beginning. All I ask now is for an episode that centers on Professor Gill, one of the coolest villains of all time. It seems like he hasn't been focused on as much as everyone else, and that's a shame. I'll end this portion of the review with the grand question popped at the end of almost every Kikaida episode, When will everyone find happiness? For me...when volume 7 comes in the post!

-Episode Review Breakdown-
**May contain spoilers**

Episode 26-"Green Mammoth: The Next Ice Age Project"
The first episode on this disc falls into the category of episodes where Kikaida gets wounded to the point that everyone has to work together and repair him. This time, Green Mammoth freezes him with his noxious icy rusting gas, making it impossible to ever turn back to Jiro again. Luckily for him (and the viewer) Kikaida gets a sexy 5 person oil bath and is back to his giant-flipping, double-chopping self. The villainous scheme of this episode has something to do with Green Mammoth slowly freezing the world into a new ice age while Jiro is out of commission. I say slowly, because Green Mammoth is just walking around with his single arm hose icing everything over and yelling in his daddy voice. Dr. Komyoji is still wandering around amnesia stricken, and remains one step ahead of his kids.

Episode 27-"Violet Turbo: Sinister Love"
Bringing the story focus back to Jiro's conscience circuit, this episode kicks off what is essentially an as yet unheard of Kikaida 3-parter. In this opening chapter, we discover that a Dr. Araki has successfully completed the schematics for a complete conscience circuit. For those scratching their heads, Jiro already has one of these, but it is unfinished. It is because of this that Jiro is susceptible to Professor Gill's hypnotic flute. Naturally, DARK will have none of this nonsense, so Violet Turbo and Green Sponge are sent after Dr. Araki.

After flubbing things up beyond repair, Violet Turbo is injured and reverts to her foxy female form and conveniently collapses within Kikaida's grasp. He kindly repairs her and cares for her, reinforcing my belief that robots are hot and that robots also find other robots hot. This sends Mitsuko into a jealous fit, as she recklessly runs out to retrieve the schematics herself, hoping to prove to Jiro that humans need computer love too.

Episode 28-"Red Devil Stinger: Making Little Boys Cry"
Picking up right where the last episode left us hanging, Red Devil Stinger takes on the job that Violet Turbo flubbed. Professor Gill reemphasizes the importance of obtaining the schematics, for not doing so will result in Kikaida becoming an invincible force and ultimately the eradication of DARK.

The title of the episode alone may be the best ever. "Making Little Boys Cry"; why is that so funny? At any rate, DARK does just that, as Masaru remains split from Jiro and Mitsuko, hating them because he believes they left him alone to go make out. Now Kikaida has to find Masaru, beat up Red Devil Stinger and Green Sponge, all the while still searching for the schematics as well as Dr. Komyoji. An android's work is never done.

Episode 29-"Green Sponge: Third Self-Resurrection"
The finale of this epic Kikaida three parter features the final of the three DARK Destructoids fighting for the schematics, Green Sponge. During these last few episodes alone, he's resurrected himself 4 or 5 times, and continues to do so every time he gets split into a dozen pieces.

As young Masaru continues to flee from everyone, Green Sponge is hot on his trail. Jiro puts a stop to this and initiates a final showdown with the super absorbent villain, and puts an end to this great mini-saga of the Conscience Circuit schematics.

Episode 30-"Crimson Squid: Stalker of Pretty Coeds"
This is the standout episode of the disc, mostly because of the colorful and hilarious DARK Destructoid, Crimson Squid. Professor Gill designed this android to capture pretty coeds with exceptional abilities. First he nabs the brain of a young karate champ, then a violin player, followed by an electrics genius and a chemical prodigy. With these powers combined, he is almost at the full potential to defeat Kikaida.

But something is missing. He spends the duration of the show chasing after a young robotics expert to add the Jiro-smashing finishing touches to his powers. The exchanges between Crimson Squid and the young scientist hottie are priceless, and the episode as a whole rounds out the disc nicely.

Below is an extra bonus I whipped up for the henshin fans who may dabble in some bubbly from time to time...
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Joseph's Kikaida Volume Six Drinking Game!

Drink...
Every time Green Sponge dies and resurrects himself.
Every time Hattori Hanpei ends up in drag.
Every time you spot Masaru in short shorts and knee socks.
Every time Kikaida instantly appears out of nowhere on his bike.
Every time you can't guess what kind of animal a Destructoid is supposed to be.
Every time Dr. Komyoji slips between the cracks less than 10 feet away from his son and daughter.

With the exception of the first on the list, this game can also apply to every other volume in the series. Cheers