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87-554: Mazinger Z has since spawned a media franchise . It was adapted into an anime television series by Toei Animation , which aired on Fuji TV from December 1972 to September 1974. A second manga series was released alongside the TV show, this one drawn by Gosaku Ota , which started and ended almost at the same time as the TV show. The series was followed by several sequels and spin-off , among them being Great Mazinger , UFO Robot Grendizer and Mazinkaiser . Mazinger Z: Infinity ,

174-498: A ronin . With the help of his brother Yasutaka, he created his first manga works. Despite the fact that his mother opposed his manga aspirations, he submitted his works for publication, accumulating many rejections. It is said that when the young Nagai submitted his tables to publishers, his mother secretly convinced publishers to reject them. However, his work was noticed by Weekly Shōnen Sunday , which contacted Shotaro Ishinomori . Thanks to some trial manga he created with

261-724: A "personal appearance" (a 10' electronic model) at the Pearlridge Shopping Center , as promoted in the Honolulu Advertiser . The first package of episodes debuted at the Pearlridge 4-Plex Theaters on Saturday, December 4, 1976 (according to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin ). Unlike other English adaptations of various anime series at the time, Mazinger Z was left with its plot and character names unaltered. This English dub also aired in

348-625: A Japanese edition of the Divine Comedy ) and Osamu Tezuka (Nagai's brother Yasutaka gave him a copy of Lost World ). He graduated from the Metropolitan Itabashi High School of Tokyo. While passing his ronin year in a prep school in order to earn placement at Waseda University , he suffered a severe case of diarrhea for three weeks. Aware of his own mortality, he wanted to leave some evidence that he had lived, by doing something that he liked as

435-674: A big influence on him, in an interview which was included as an extra in the fourth volume of the North American DVD release by Media Blasters in 2002. Movie director Yoshihiro Nishimura ( Tokyo Gore Police ) claimed that he's a fan of Go Nagai's works in an interview with Sancho Asia and said that he wants to re-adapt Devilman into a live action movie since he did not like the 2004 live action Devilman adaptation by Hiroyuki Nasu . In another interview by Screen Anarchy , he also said that he wanted to adapt Violence Jack into live action. Scriptwriter Kazuki Nakashima

522-416: A child and wanted to make his own robot anime. However, for the longest time he was unable to produce a concept that he felt did not borrow too heavily from those two shows. One day, Nagai observed a traffic jam and mused to himself that the drivers in the back of the traffic jam would love a way to bypass the cars in front of them. From that thought came the idea of a giant robot that could be controlled from

609-406: A child: working on manga. He was determined to create one work of manga in what he thought were his last months. As Nagai prepared for the task, he went to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with catarrh of the colon , and soon healed. But this was the turning point in his life. Convinced that he would continue working on manga, he stopped attending school after three months and started living as

696-526: A conversation between him and Go Nagai published in Devilman Tabulae Anatomicae . In an interview in the booklet that comes in the premium Blu-ray edition of Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera , the animation director Takahiro Kimura claims to be a Go Nagai fan since he was a child and that Dororon Enma-kun was his favourite. Manga artist Kentaro Miura ( Berserk ) claims that he likes Go Nagai's dynamic style and that Nagai had

783-500: A detachable device that allows him to face aerial monsters. This machine also had razor-sharp wings that could be used to cut enemies while in flight. Great Mazinger has an incorporated Scramble Dash, that can retract itself when not needed. However, he is also given Great Booster, a very powerful device that attached itself to Great's body pretty much the same way Jet Scrander did to Z's and allowed him to fly at higher speeds. Mazinkaiser has Kaiser Scrander (or "Kaiser Scrambler"), which

870-684: A helmet) because he controls Mazinger Z from its head. Mazinger Z is written and illustrated by Go Nagai . It began serialization in Weekly Shōnen Jump in October 1972. While the manga was being published in Weekly Shōnen Jump , Go Nagai made an agreement with Kodansha to have Mazinger Z also be published in TV Magazine  [ ja ] , in an effort to reach a younger audience. After Tadasu Nagano  [ ja ] ,

957-406: A long-running series instead of the auto-conclusive short stories that he had been developing until that point. He accepted and the series became a big success, being the first for Nagai and making Shōnen Jump sell more than one million copies. With Harenchi Gakuen , Nagai was the first to introduce eroticism in modern manga and became the creator of modern erotic manga, opened the door to

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1044-404: A lower class) and the human beings. After this, in 1971 came the horror one-shot Susumu-chan Dai Shock about a violent collapse of the parent-child relationships. A series of horror one-shots would follow, in the series called Gensou Kyofu e Hanashi (幻想恐怖絵噺), which comprehends Africa no Chi (an original story of Yasutaka Tsutsui ), Schalken Gahaku (based in the famous story Strange Event in

1131-406: A new era in manga and also became the symbol of an entire generation. This work has influenced Japanese society radically, completely changing the common perceptions of manga. Until Harenchi Gakuen , Japanese manga had been relatively tame affairs, but things soon changed. The manga became so popular that several live-action films and TV series based on the manga were developed. Harenchi Gakuen

1218-543: A play on the Japanese words ma ( 魔 , demon) and jin ( 神 , god) . The motif of the Hover Pilder docking itself into Mazinger's head also borrows from Nagai's 1971 manga Demon Lord Dante (the prototype for his more popular Devilman ), in which the titular giant demon has a human head (of Ryo Utsugi, the young man who merged with him) in his forehead. Koji Kabuto takes his surname (the Japanese word for

1305-465: A poster and website as part of the advertising for Devilman Crybaby . This list includes titles such as Parasyte , Tokyo Ghoul , and Attack on Titan alongside the afformentioned Neon Genesis Evangelion and Berserk . This list does not include a number of other series whose creators have attributed the series as an inspiration or featured clear visual homages. (For example, Yu-Gi-Oh! ' s creator Kazuki Takahashi has stated that Devilman

1392-451: A protagonist of televised debates and journalistic investigations. In 1968, while Shueisha was getting prepared to launch its first manga publication, Shōnen Jump , in order to compete with other magazines from rival companies (like Shōnen Magazine from Kodansha and Shōnen Sunday from Shogakukan ), Nagai was invited to be one of the first manga artists publishing in the new magazine. He contemplated this, since he had to design

1479-414: A sequel to it called Violence Jack (ヴァイオレンス ジャック), another long-running series that spanned multiple volumes and dealt with a giant brute of a man fighting for justice in a post- apocalyptic setting where Japan has been devastated by a massive earthquake and isolated from the rest of the world. Years later Nagai revamped Devilman featuring versions of the protagonists as young adult women and altering

1566-428: A small aircraft, instead the robot itself is fitted inside a larger ship called the spazer for aerial attacks and the robot can launch from it when ever there is a need for a ground battle. Some times Grendizer can stand on top of the spaizer and use it to fly so it can have more freedom in aerial battles. Mazinger Z wasn't conceived as a flying robot, and hence he is later equipped with Jet Scrander (or "Jet Scrambler"),

1653-535: A special berserker mode, the "Sirene Mode", in which she takes a form similar to that of Silene, a character from Nagai's Devilman . Many characters appear in different points of each plot; Mazinger villains tend to be bizarre, having a dual nature or bodies that are made of disparate parts: One of the main attributes of the Mazinger series is the existence of a large amount of evil mechas, which are incredibly varied in shape and weapons and serve as monsters of

1740-538: A theatrical film sequel, taking place ten years after the Great Mazinger series, was animated by Toei Animation and released in theaters on January 13, 2018. Although not exactly the first Mecha anime in history, the series has often been cited as being the first modern one. Mazinger Z is an enormous super robot, constructed with a fictional metal called Super-Alloy Z ( 超合金Z , Chōgokin Zetto ) , which

1827-567: A user from within a cockpit with Mazinger Z ; as well as helping pioneer the magical girl genre with Cutie Honey; the post-apocalyptic manga/anime genre with Violence Jack ; and the ecchi genre with Harenchi Gakuen . In 2005, he became a Character Design professor at the Osaka University of Arts . He has been a member of the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize 's nominating committee since 2009. Go Nagai

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1914-402: Is a Japanese manga artist and a prolific author of science fiction , fantasy, horror , and erotica. He made his professional debut in 1967 with Meakashi Polikichi , but is best known for creating popular 1970s manga and anime series such as Cutie Honey , Devilman , and Mazinger Z . He is credited with creating the super robot genre; designing the first mecha robots piloted by

2001-406: Is also familiar with his works. "In particular, I read everything by Go Nagai, from his debut works and then when I was in middle school his work Devilman really struck me. I felt like I was maturing along with the development of the writer himself." Japanese novelist, visual novel writer, and anime screenwriter Gen Urobuchi explained that Devilman made him realize that bittersweet endings are

2088-418: Is considered as probably the work that has had the most influence in the world of manga at the end of the 1960s, leading the newly born Shōnen Jump magazine to sell millions of copies per week. A scandalous manga in its time, it is a very innocent series by today's standards. At the time of its original publication, however, it met with severe criticism by some parts of the Japanese society. Harenchi Gakuen

2175-542: Is currently being more prolific in manga production than ever. Much of Nagai's work has been adapted into anime and tokusatsu . Nagai has made cameo appearances in some live-action films, including The Toxic Avenger Part II , the Cutie Honey 2004 live action film, and in a special DVD-only episode of Cutie Honey: The Live as Dr. Koshiro Kisaragi. In Italy, France, and the Middle East, Grendizer

2262-588: Is forged from a new element ( Japanium ) mined from a reservoir found only in the sediment of Mt. Fuji , in Japan. Professor Juzo Kabuto built the mecha as a secret weapon against the forces of evil, represented in the series by the Mechanical Beasts of Dr. Hell. The latter was the German member of a Japanese archeological team that discovered ruins of a lost pre-Grecian civilization on an island named Bardos,

2349-496: Is noteworthy for introducing many of the accepted stock features of super robot anime genres, including the first occurrence of mecha robots being piloted by a user from within a cockpit. In 2001, the Japanese magazine Animage elected Mazinger Z TV series the eleventh best anime production of all time. TV Asahi ran a series of four polls in 2005 and 2006 to determine Japan's 100 favorite anime, in which Mazinger Z placed 91st twice and 98th once. Guillermo del Toro has cited

2436-569: Is related by name only and Mazinkaiser is an OVA retelling of earlier Mazinger stories, based partly on designs created by Nagai for the Super Robot Wars series of video games and also on Nagai's original Mazinger manga stories. Mazinger-Z also featured in a video game for the Genesis/Mega Drive. It went by several names like MazinWars and MazinSaga . Throughout the storylines, common characters and traits tie

2523-517: Is very similar to Jet Scrander in its colour scheme (red and yellow) and the fact that it's not part of the mecha but connects to it when required. Notably, since Kaiser can't use his chest plate as boomerang (a Great Mazinger gimmick) he uses Kaiser Scrander in a similar fashion, due to its sharp wings. The Shin Mazinger incarnation presents the God Scrander ("God Scrambler"), which appears on

2610-591: The Philippines ; it proved so popular there that additional episodes were locally dubbed. The series partially aired in Spain on TVE 1 at the same time. Rumors emerged that the series was pulled from broadcast because it reportedly induced violance to an underage viewer, but according to Claudio Biern Boyd in a 2021 interview, nothing happened at all. Discotek Media acquired the American home video rights to

2697-535: The editor-in-chief of Weekly Shōnen Jump , heard of this agreement, it was announced that the serialization of Mazinger Z in Weekly Shōnen Jump would be discontinued, as Shueisha thought it unacceptable to serialize the same manga as a rival company. The serialization of the manga in Weekly Shōnen Jump ended in August 1973, and it was serialized in TV Magazine from October 1973 to September 1974. The manga

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2784-761: The Ghastly. Only 65 out of the 92 episodes were dubbed into English, as 65 was the minimum number of episodes required for syndication. The final episode was not dubbed in English, instead the series ended with the defeat of Dr. Demon. The fate of Genghis was left up in the air. The shows spawned so-called "team-up movies" early on, which were like longer episodes that teamed up Mazinger Z with one of Go Nagai 's other creations, as in Mazinger Z vs. Devilman in 1973 as well as Mazinger Z Vs. Dr. Hell and Mazinger Z Vs. The Great General of Darkness both released in 1974. On

2871-589: The Kaiser Pilder, which resembles Brain Condor more closely due to its sharp shape (in contrast to Mazinger Z's Pilder, that had a more bulbous shape) and the way it rests on Kaiser's head, leaving one of its fins standing vertically like the crest of a rooster. These aircraft are always red, except in the Mazinkaiser OVA version of Mazinger Z , where the Hover Pilder is white. Grendizer doesn't have

2958-550: The Life of Schalken the Painter by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu ) and Kuzureru . A little before that, Nagai would be given the chance to write a full serial of an occult horror story called Demon Lord Dante , which would in turn mark the beginning of his most famous horror work, Devilman . Nagai stated in his autobiographical manga Gekiman! that his aspirations had always been to write more serious science fiction stories, and after

3045-552: The Mycéne Empire. One of their findings was that the Mycene used an army of steel titans about 20 meters in height. Finding prototypes of those titans underground that could be remote-controlled and realizing their immense power on the battlefield, Dr. Hell goes insane and kills all the other scientists on his research team except for Professor Kabuto, who manages to escape. The lone survivor goes back to Japan and attempts to warn

3132-620: The Spaizer, Double Spaizer, Drill Spaizer, Marine Spaizer and other related machines. (These are also called "Spacer") Traditionally, Mazingers are controlled thanks to a flying vehicle that docks on the mecha's head and activates it. The first one, built for Mazinger Z, was the Hover Pilder, a small hovercraft, later replaced by the Jet Pilder. In Great Mazinger, this device takes the form of Brain Condor, and in Mazinkaiser it's called

3219-597: The animation of Mazinger was only theirs and that they did not tolerate a Mazinger animated by others. As a consequence, the Daimajinga project was blocked. This wasn't helped by the fact that Nagai was in the middle of a court battle with Toei, suing them for not properly crediting him and not paying him royalties over the creation of Gaiking in 1976. However, since then, the relationship between Nagai and Toei has steadily improved. In 1976, Honolulu -based entertainment concern, Consolidated Amusement Co. , licensed

3306-411: The animation. The series ran for a total of 92 episodes from December 3, 1972 to September 1, 1974. In the 1980s, on behalf of Dynamic Planning , Masami Ōbari and other independent animators ( Toshiki Hirano ) not part of Toei Animation began work on a miniseries of Mazinger Z . The OVA (Original Video Animation) would have been called Dai-Mazinger (or Daimajinga , 大魔神我) and would have presented

3393-632: The basis of verbal agreements). It would start as a yugen kaisha (limited company) and would change to a kabushiki kaisha (stock company) in 1970. The same year of the foundation of Dynamic Pro, Ken Ishikawa joined the company. He would become Nagai's second assistant after Mitsuru Hiruta, who had been working with Nagai since the beginnings of Harenchi Gakuen . He would become one of Nagai's regular partners and his best friend. Ken Ishikawa participated as assistant in Harenchi Gakuen , Abashiri Ikka and Gakuen Taikutsu Otoko , particularly in

3480-489: The best ones. According to an interview between an Italian gaming website, geekgamer.it and Shadow Hearts video game series creator Matsuzo Machida, the latter was inspired by the works of Go Nagai and Keisuke Fujikawa ( Mazinger Z screenplay). Videogame designer, writer, and director Goichi Suda cites two works of Go Nagai, Violence Jack and Susano Oh as his favorite manga. Approximately seventy-five other series inspired by Devilman were also featured on

3567-450: The changes in Harenchi Gakuen and other series, Nagai remained writing mostly gag comedies, varying only in the thematic. With the success of Harenchi Gakuen and Abashiri Ikka , most editors expected this kind of story from Nagai. This would start to change in 1970, with the one-shot Oni -2889 Nen no Hanran- , which tells a science fiction story set in the year 2889 about a war between the race of Onis (who in this story are treated as

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3654-552: The concept of mecha as robots which are ridden by humans and controlled like vehicles to Japanese science fiction (previous depictions of human-controlled giant robots in Japan, such as in Tetsujin 28-go , depicted the robot as remote-controlled, rather than vehicle-like); it would thereby be a primary source of inspiration for the Super Robot sub-genre, particularly throughout the 1970s. The series in order: God Mazinger

3741-448: The concept of giant mecha . Mazinger was the first manga where a giant robot was piloted by the hero, thus creating one of the biggest staples of the industry. Mazinger is considered the first successful " Super Robot " anime show, and has spawned numerous imitations. Simultaneously to Mazinger , he created one of his most popular manga, Debiruman (デビルマン, Devilman ), about a demonic hero fighting against hordes of demons. This manga

3828-509: The content of Demon Lord Dante . Go Nagai considers the Devilman and Mazinger series to be his life's work due to their massive popularity all over the world. In 1972, Nagai managed the very difficult feat of both drawing and writing five weekly manga publications at the same time, an accomplishment only equalled by other manga artists Shinji Mizushima and George Akiyama . A month later after finishing Devilman , Nagai would create

3915-504: The design was too chunky and he should improve it a little. Two or three days later, Nagai was invited to become an assistant to Ishinomori and this work was forgotten until 2007, when it was published in the magazine Comic Ran Twins Sengoku Busho Retsuden (コミック乱 TWINS 戦国武将列伝) by LEED under the name Satsujinsha (殺刃者(さつじんしゃ)). His professional career began in 1967, despite the opposition of his mother. After working as assistant of Shotaro Ishinomori, his very first professional manga work

4002-442: The discontinuation of Demon Lord Dante saw Devilman as his chance to break out of the gag manga expectations publishers had of him. In his series Harenchi Gakuen (ハレンチ学園, Shameless School , 1968–1972, Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine) Nagai used eroticism and extreme, graphic violence in kid's manga for the first time in Japan, thus breaking taboos and becoming quite controversial. His use of violence and gross humour

4089-498: The distribution of the magazine in some parts of Japan. As a result of the protests, when the series was about to be cancelled because of the PTA, Nagai changed the theme in Harenchi Gakuen into a more mature and serious matter, from nonsense gags with sexy touches, to a full-scale war where murder was depicted in the bloody way for which many know him. This led to the famous ending of Harenchi Gakuen , symbol of freedom and of rejection of

4176-558: The eyes are yellow with the exception of Mazinkaiser SKL which has blue eyes. The face is completed with a mouthplate with several narrow apertures on it. Even though Grendizer strays a bit from these guidelines, the resemblance to the other Mazingers is obvious. Each Mazinger builds on the previous one by enhancing the power of an attack that already existed, plus adding some new ones. Weapons like Rust Hurricane (or "Booster Hurricane"), Rocket Punch, and Breast Fire are shared by Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger and MazinKaiser; Mazinkaiser comprises

4263-515: The first 52 episodes of the series from Toei, as reported by the Honolulu Star-Bulletin , and commissioned M&M Communications , a local sound studio, to produce an English language dub. Consolidated, which ran four of the biggest theater chains in Hawaii , packaged the episodes of Mazinger Z for weekend kiddie matinee screenings in their venues, starting with a big promotional push over Thanksgiving weekend (November 27 & 28) that same year with

4350-547: The first chapters and in the latter part of the series. It also allows Mazinger to use a new attack, the Big Bang Punch, which consists in Shin combining with the God Scrander and transforming into a gigantic hand, and later making a fist that immediately turns golden-coloured, and is used as a scaled-up Rocket Punch. During the transformation, the God Scrander would compose three of the "fingers", and Mazinger uses his arms as

4437-647: The franchise's 45th anniversary, a sequel film titled Mazinger Z: Infinity was announced, taking place ten years after the events of the original series. It was released theatrically in Japan on January 13, 2018. Mazinger has also been successful in the video game area (at least in Japan) as one of the main stars in the acclaimed battle simulation game series Super Robot Wars , released by Banpresto , featuring characters and units from almost all Mazinger -related shows, alongside other anime franchises. In 1994, Banpresto released an arcade game called Mazinger Z which

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4524-402: The genre (in particular Sailor Moon ). Nagai had less success a few years later with Majokko Tickle , a more traditional magical-girl series for younger children, although the accompanying anime was popular on TV in some European countries. In 1980, he received the 4th Kodansha Manga Award for shōnen for Susano OH . Nagai has worked with Shotaro Ishinomori and Ken Ishikawa . He

4611-432: The help of Yasutaka, Nagai was finally accepted into the studio of Ishinomori in 1965. The trial manga was about a science fiction ninja , and was a prototype for a different story, Kuro no Shishi . Nagai was 19 years old when he made this work; it started at 15 or 16 pages and ended up being 88 pages long after a year, and was untitled at that time. Ishinomori saw this work and praised Nagai for it, but commented that

4698-524: The hypocrisy, where all students and teachers, while defending their freedom of expression, are killed by the PTA and other parental forces. This was the ironic answer that Nagai gave to the PTA. (In the end, this was not the actual ending of Harenchi Gakuen , as the title would subsequently return to publication for several years.) It was also around that time that he created Gakuen Taikutsu Otoko (ガクエン退屈男), also known as Guerrilla High , another school-themed manga, but this time war between youths and adults

4785-529: The inside, like a car. In its original concept, the Mazinger Z robot was named Energer Z and was controlled by a motorcycle that was driven up its back and into its head, an idea which was recycled for the Diana A robot. However, the recent popularity of Kamen Rider , in which the main characters frequently drive motorcycles, led to Nagai replacing the motorcycle with a hovercraft to make Mazinger Z stand out. Nagai later redesigned Energer Z, renaming it Mazinger Z as

4872-425: The last one. In parallel with those activities as assistant, he co-produces with Go Nagai what would be in fact his professional debut in manga, Gakuen Bangaichi (1969-09-08 ~ 1970-09-22), and also his second manga, Sasurai Gakuto (1970-01 ~ 1970-05). He temporarily quit Dynamic Productions in 1970. This prompted Nagai to end Gakuen Taikutsu Otoko and the story of this series would be left inconclusive. Even with

4959-411: The manga regularly showed male genitals throughout its run, including a castration scene. His fans supported him throughout the PTA protests. They sent him letters where they expressed how they were aware that the adults cracking down on them were reading raunchier stuff than what Nagai was producing. The protests were not only against the manga, but also against the TV series. The PTA managed to prevent

5046-669: The mecha's chest. Again, Minerva doesn't follow this canon completely since her breast fire is identical to the male Mazingers, and she wasn't controlled by a human being (until her appearance in the Mazinger Angels series). No female mechas were included in Grendizer , but characters like Hikaru and Maria prove to be helpful and brave in battle. They are (in order of appearance): Aphrodite A , Minerva X, Diana A , and Venus A. Notably, in Mazinger Angels , Minerva has

5133-416: The mid-1990s. In 1970, Go Nagai started a company, Dynamic Productions , to fund his manga and anime ventures. Dynamic Productions' first titles were Getter Robo and Abashiri Ikka (あばしり一家, Abashiri Family ). After Harenchi Gakuen Nagai created the Mazinger Z (マジンガーZ) series, later expanded into Great Mazinger , Grendizer , and - many years later - Mazinkaiser , where he developed

5220-463: The other two. Mazinger pioneered the concept of female mechas that, while not nearly as powerful as the main robot (with the probable exception of Minerva X, as she was designed to be a direct counterpart to Mazinger Z), play a significant role in the battle against the enemy. Their most noticeable characteristic is their main weapon, the Oppai Missiles , missiles posing as breasts placed on

5307-527: The realm of merchandising, model kits, plastic and die-cast metal toys (the now famous Soul of Chogokin line), action figures and other collectibles. A 40-foot tall statue of Mazinger Z was built in a suburb called "Mas del Plata" in Tarragona ( Catalonia , Spain ) in the early 1980s, to serve as the suburb's entrance, yet the suburb was never completed and the statue remains there. The Mazinger Z anime consistently achieved high audience ratings while it

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5394-563: The robot and its use. Koji becomes the robot's pilot and, from that point on, battles both the continuous mechanical monsters and the sinister henchmen sent by Doctor Hell. The anime culminated in the destruction of the original robot by new enemies (after Doctor Hell's final defeat in the penultimate episode) and the immediate introduction of its successor, Great Mazinger , an improved version of Mazinger, along with its pilot, Tetsuya Tsurugi. In his Manga Works series, Go Nagai reveals that he had always loved Astro Boy and Tetsujin-28 as

5481-402: The same characters known to the general public, starting with the main protagonist Koji. The robot would be more realistic: for example, it would have exhaust pipes, and its rocket fists would not be able to return to its arms automatically. The news, initially protected by tight secrecy, managed to leak and was spread by the specialized press. Toei protested, saying to Dynamic that the rights of

5568-399: The series together. Except God Mazinger, the other mazingers share a very distinctive physiognomy , though the proportions and overall presence is modified in each one. Mazinger Z usually looks shorter and wider compared to Great Mazinger, who has a more slender physique. This is mainly due to the "helmets", which is how one can tell them apart. The helmet of Great Mazinger is pointed while

5655-634: The show. The result was a release of all 92 episodes of the original series in 2 volumes: Mazinger Z TV Series Vol 1, Ep. 1–46 and Mazinger Z TV Series Vol 2, Ep. 47–92. Discotek Media later released a double feature DVD on April 29, 2014. In the United States, Three B. Productions Ltd., a production company headed by Bunker Jenkins, developed Mazinger Z for American television by producing an English-dubbed version, which Jenkins retitled Tranzor Z . This adaptation aired in 1985 and was, like many English-dubbed anime shows that were on American TV at

5742-404: The show—which was a huge success in his native Mexico during the 1980s—as an important influence on Pacific Rim . As of July 2023, Mazinger Z has reached a total of 20 million copies in circulation worldwide. Mazinger Mazinger ( マジンガー , Majingā ) is a long-running series of manga and anime featuring giant robots or mecha created by Go Nagai in 1972. It introduced

5829-458: The storyline, which eventually became another sequel story to the original. This series is called Devilman Lady (デビルマンレディー, Devil Lady in the US ). It was first released as a manga and later animated with some changes. One of Nagai's most popular works outside of his fanbase has been Cutey Honey , considered to be one of the first " magical girl " comics and a major influence on future series in

5916-400: The time, re-edited for American audiences. Many of the Japanese names used in Mazinger Z were changed for its adaptation into Tranzor Z; for example, Koji Kabuto became Tommy Davis, Sayaka Yumi became Jessica Wells, Shiro became Toad, Professor Yumi became Dr. Wells, Dr. Hell became Dr. Demon, Baron Ashura became Devleen, Count Brocken became Count DeCapito, and Archduke Gorgon became Genghis

6003-505: The top of Mazinger Z's is "flat-topped". MazinKaiser looks more heavily built than either of them, and sports the typical over-detailed (more ornate) style of more modern mechas (consider there's a 30-year gap between the first two and him). MazinKaiser is also the bigger/taller of the three. The main colours are always black ( torso , hips , shoulders , sometimes limbs), white ("steel colored") (waist and limbs, with slight variations towards light shades of yellow and blue tones depending on

6090-402: The version), very dark blue or almost black, depending on the depiction (face, limbs) and red (chest plate and flying devices). The head is usually steel/grey, with a cavity for the ship that controls the mecha. This cavity becomes increasingly complex in each incarnation. Mazingers have characteristic horns at each side of the head where the ears would go on a human head, always coloured yellow,

6177-523: The weapons of the two previous Mazingers and adds a factor of uncontrollable energy associated to them (for example, sometimes it's hard for Koji to keep the mecha stable when using the two attacks previously mentioned). All Mazingers, except God Mazinger, have "Rocket Punch" attacks, in which they launch their arms as projectiles, which return after being shot towards the enemy. Grendizer has few similar weapons, but it even expands its arsenal with several large ships that give him different capabilities, such as

6264-591: The week . Dr. Hell's Mechanical Beasts, the Mikene Empire Warrior Beasts and the Vegan Empire Spacial Monsters usually have nightmarish appearances, and though they are never as powerful as the hero robot, they are quite capable of putting him against the ropes. Go Nagai Kiyoshi Nagai ( 永井潔 , Nagai Kiyoshi , born September 6, 1945) , better known by the pen name Go Nagai ( 永井 豪 , Nagai Gō ) ,

6351-539: The world of its imminent danger. Meanwhile, Dr. Hell establishes his headquarters on a mobile island, forms the new Underground Empire, and plans to use the Mechanical Monsters to become the new ruler of the world. To counter this, Kabuto constructs Mazinger Z and manages to finish it just before being killed by a bomb planted by Hell's right-hand person, Baron Ashura, a half-man, half-woman. As he lies dying, he manages to inform his grandson Koji Kabuto about

6438-479: Was Meakashi Polikichi (目明しポリ吉 also 目明かしポリ吉), a very short gag comedy one-shot , published in November 1967 in the magazine Bokura by Kodansha . Almost at the same time, this was followed by the manga adaptation of Tomio Sagisu's TV anime Chibikko Kaiju Yadamon (ちびっこ怪獣ヤダモン, "Little Monster Yadamon"), also published in 1967 in the same magazine. A common misconception is that Kuro no Shishi ("Black Lion")

6525-527: Was a vertical shoot 'em up with three selectable characters: Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger and Grendizer . Announced on December 3, 2022 by Hamster Corporation , Mazinger Z was eventually included in the Arcade Archives series on May 11, 2023 for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 . Mazinger remains one of Go Nagai 's most enduring success stories, spawning many products in

6612-399: Was airing. Its period of greatest popularity lasted from roughly October 1973 to March 1974, during which time it regularly scored audience ratings in the high twenties. Episode 68, broadcast March 17, 1974, achieved the series' highest rating of 30.4%, making Mazinger Z one of the highest-rated anime series of all time. Mazinger Z helped to create the 1970s boom in mecha anime. The series

6699-497: Was born on September 6, 1945 in the Ishikawa Prefecture city of Wajima . He is the son of Yoshio and Fujiko Nagai (永井芳雄・冨士子), and the fourth of five brothers. His family had just returned from Shanghai . While he was still in his early childhood, he along with his mother and his four brothers moved to Tokyo after the death of his father. As a child, he was influenced by the work of Gustave Doré (specifically,

6786-444: Was branded a "nuisance" and even an "enemy of society". He, however, had a clear sense of what things he could or could not do with the manga. At first, Nagai did not think that the opposition was against him, since he was aware of the standards that applied with movies and similar things for an audience below 18 years old. At that time, he never drew sex scenes, avoided pictures of genitals and made nudes cute rather than sexy, though

6873-438: Was collected into four tankōbon volumes by Shueisha in 1973 and five tankōbon volumes by Kodansha in 1975 and 1976. The manga was also collected into five tankōbon volumes by Asahi Sonorama in 1974, four volumes by Chuokoron-Shinsha in 1994 and 1995, and three volumes by Daitosha  [ ja ] in 1996. An anime adaption of Mazinger Z was produced by Dynamic Planning and Toei Animation , with Toei handling

6960-477: Was criticized as vulgar because it introduced overt eroticism to children. Male students and teachers were depicted as being preoccupied with catching glimpses of girls' panties or naked bodies. Many parents, women's associations, and PTAs protested. In particular, the PTA protests over Harenchi Gakuen were notorious. Nagai was bombarded with interview requests from newspapers, magazines and TV. Whenever he flew outside of Tokyo, TV cameras were waiting for him. He

7047-529: Was founded by Go Nagai with his brothers in April 1969. Meant to be a group to help him with his works, as a consequence Harenchi Gakuen , where he derived almost no royalties from the TV series, films, or related merchandise, Dynamic Productions became a company established to manage Nagai's relations and contractual rights of his work. Dynamic became one of the first companies to require publishers sign contracts (even today many manga are created and published only on

7134-448: Was his first manga work; while not entirely false, what Nagai really made two years earlier than Meakashi Polikichi , was only a draft for what would later be Kuro no Shishi , which would not be actually published until 1978. His first works consisted entirely of short gag comedy manga. This would change with Harenchi Gakuen . In less than a year after debuting, he met with a big success. After being an unknown manga artist, he became

7221-452: Was published simultaneously alongside an original TV anime under the same name, but due to the difference in age demographics became very different stories. The concepts were initially conceived for the TV series, which would be directed at elementary school age children, and were altered for the manga, which would be published in a shōnen magazine with teenage readers. This allowed Nagai to include violence, nudity, and darker themes closer to

7308-526: Was similar to, and may have influenced, the desert wasteland settings of later post-apocalyptic franchises such as the Australian film series Mad Max (1979 debut) and the Japanese manga and anime series Fist of the North Star ( Hokuto no Ken , 1983 debut). Anime director Hideaki Anno ( Evangelion ) cited Devilman and Mazinger as a source of inspiration for Evangelion during

7395-455: Was the main theme. Shortly before that, in 1969, Abashiri Ikka (あばしり一家) was created. Both titles are a direct result of the PTA protests, both being a form of parody of what happened. Abashiri Ikka became a big success, and along with Harenchi Gakuen , the most popular series of Nagai's juvenile period. Thanks to the success of Harenchi Gakuen , Dynamic Productions (ダイナミックプロダクション, also known as Dynamic Production or Dynamic Pro, ダイナミックプロ),

7482-460: Was very popular when it aired. In Spain, a Mazinger Z statue has been erected in Tarragona . Nagai is credited with pioneering the super robot genre with Mazinger Z and the magical girl genre with Cutie Honey . Violence Jack also created the post-apocalyptic manga and anime genre. Its desert wasteland setting had biker gangs , anarchic violence, ruined buildings, innocent civilians, tribal chiefs, and small abandoned villages. This

7569-519: Was widely loathed in many corners of Japan's society and became a concern for many PTAs at the time. The series temporary ended dramatically when all the characters died during a massacre. This type of content would be a trend in most of Nagai's later work and in those of other directors such as Yoshiyuki Tomino . A Harenchi Gakuen live-action TV series followed in the early 1970s, as well as several other live-action movies and an OVA version ( Heisei Harenchi Gakuen , or "Modern-Day Shameless School") in

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