Mazinger Z
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| Mazinger Z | |
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| マジンガー・ゼット (Mazinger Z) |
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| Genre | Mecha |
| TV anime | |
| Directed by | Bonjin Nagaki Nobuo Onuki Tomoharu Katsumata Yugo Serikawa |
| Studio | Toei Animation |
| Network | Fuji Television |
| Original run | 3 December 1972 – 1 September 1974 |
| No. of episodes | 92 |
| Movie: Mazinger Z Vs. Devilman | |
| Directed by | Hiroshi Meguro |
| Studio | Toei Animation |
| Released | 18 July 1973 |
| Runtime | 25 min |
Mazinger Z (マジンガーZ or マジンガー・ゼット), also known as Tranzor Z, and the variant spelling Mazinga (a japanese pun on "Demon-God"), is the name of a manga by artist Go Nagai, first published in Japan in 1972, and turned into a long-running anime television series later in the same year. The series lasted for 92 episodes, making it the longest running anime mecha series in the genre. It remains the stepping stone of the Super Robot anime genre and its influence is still felt today. The opening theme, also titled Mazinger Z, is sung by Ichiro Mizuki.
Contents |
Plot
Mazinger Z is a gigantic Super Robot, constructed with a fictitious metal called Chogokin Z (in the American translation, Super-Alloy Z), which is forged from a new element mined from a reservoir found only in the sediment of Japan's Mt. Fuji. The mecha was built by Professor Juzo Kabuto as a secret weapon against the forces of evil, represented in the series by the Mechanical Beasts (mecha used for evil purposes) of Dr Hell. The latter was the German member of a Japanese archeological team, which discovered ruins of a lost pre-Grecian civilization on an island named Bardos; the civilization was loosely based on the ancient Mycenae, and was called the Mikenese Empire in the series. One of their findings was that the Mikenese used an army of steel golems about 60 to 65 feet in height (compare with the Greek legend of Talos). Finding prototypes of those golems underground which could be remote-controlled and realizing their immense power on the battlefield, Dr. Hell goes insane and has all the other scientists of his research team killed. Except for Kabuto; the lone survivor escapes to Japan and attempts to warn the world of its imminent danger. Meanwhile, Dr. Hell establishes his headquarters on a mobile island which he sails around on, and plans to use the Mechanical Beasts 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 man, Baron Ashura. As he is dying, he manages to inform his grandson Koji Kabuto about 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 in every episode.
Origins
In his Manga Works series, Go Nagai reveals that he had always loved Astro Boy and Gigantor as 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 didn't borrow too heavily from those two shows. One day, Nagai observed a traffic jam and mused to himself that the drivers in back would surely love a way to bypass the ones in front. From that thought came his ultimate inspiration: a giant robot that could be controlled from the inside, like a car. In his original concepts, the titular robot was Energer Z, which was controlled by a motorcycle that was driven up its back and into its head. However, with the sudden popularity of Kamen Rider, Nagai replaced the motorcycle with a hovercraft. He later redesigned Energer Z, renaming it Mazinger Z to evoke the image of a demon god (Ma, 魔, meaning demon and Jin, 神, meaning 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. Interestingly, Koji Kabuto takes his surname (the Japanese word for a helmet) from the fact that he controls Mazinger Z from its head.
Influence in the anime genre
The series is noteworthy for introducing many of the accepted stock features of giant robot anime: The mechanical marvel that is the world's only hope, forgotten civilizations, power-hungry mad scientists, incompetent henchmen, lovable supporting characters (usually younger siblings, love interests, or friends of the hero), the scientist father or grandfather who loses his life heroically, and strangely clothed, eccentric or physically deformed villains (the intersex Baron Ashura as one example). Mazinger Z was also the first show to feature a female robot (Aphrodite A, which was piloted by Sayaka Yumi and is remembered for its missile-launching breasts), and a comic-relief robot made of spare parts and garbage named Boss Borot (which ended up suffering severe damage in nearly all of his appearances), after its pilot, brash yet simpleminded gang leader, Boss.
The peculiarity about this Super Robot, differing from the ones in earlier robot manga, is that Koji has to fly a small red hover-vehicle up to the head of the humanoid armor. The hover-vehicle, named Pilder, lands in the head of the robot and activates it (shouting PAIRUDAA ON!). Go Nagai originally wanted this vehicle to be the hero's motorcycle, but decided against it to avoid a similarity to another popular Japanese action hero at that time, Kamen Rider (although the linking motorcycle gimmick was used with Sayaka's second robot, Diana A). Manga and anime historians see the Pilder-Robot combination as the origin of the “transforming robot” genre, because it marks one of the first published examples in a manga of two distinctive vehicles forming a specific entity. This is often interpreted as the root of later series like Go-Lion (Voltron – Defender of the Universe), the Transformers, and the giant robots in the Super Sentai Series (the basis for Power Rangers). It should be noted though, that a similar concept was used earlier by Nagai in his own Getter Robo. Mazinger Z is not a vehicle that transforms into another shape, yet it requires the smaller, non-combative vehicle to get going. This idea may have inspired the Core Fighter in Gundam and the entry-plug in Evangelion.
Another characteristic is seen in the unusual use of Mazinger's formidable weaponry: Koji would always announce with a shout the name of the super-power or attack he was about to use, including eye-fired laser beams (Koshiryoku Beaamu!), melting rays (Bureesto Fiyaa!), gale-force winds (Ruusto Hurricane!), and the famous and oft-copied “Rocket Punch” (Roketto Paanchi!) attack. Most of these simple gimmicks were later incorporated in most of Nagai’s robot series, and widely imitated in many other mecha shows.
However, the most notable characteristic that the show brought to the Super Robot genre was the relationship between machines and humans; Go Nagai established from the start the premise that machines and humans could act as one, and interact between each other. Since Koji piloted the robot from the head, he acted as the robot's "brain", and almost every time Koji would move, laugh, or suffer inside its cockpit, the robot would act the same, mimicking its pilot. Additionally, some minor characters included were cyborgs, that could act like humans, showing feelings and emotions (even crying). These ideas were used repeatedly in many similar shows (Grendizer, another Nagai work, would have the pilot injured in his own body where the robot was attacked)
In terms of plot, despite being all too simplistic in its portrait of good and evil characters, the show was able to stay fresh with young audiences with an irresistible mix of action, horror, comedy, and drama, sometimes all in one single episode. Some of them (specially after the introduction of the Boss Borot), were heavy on slapstick and jokes, even to the point of making fun of the hero and the villains; others carried strong melodramatic touches (this characteristics of heavy satire humor and melodrama were in fact staples of almost all of Go Nagai's creations in manga, even before their adaptations to the small screen). We also have a change in the concept of main female characters (already seen in Harenchi Gakuen, later re-inforced in Cutie Honey), who were until then modeled after the "quiet, sweet, compliant" Japanese ideal: Koji's partner and love interest Sayaka Yumi is tomboyish, loud and stubborn, very unlike the traditional heroines.
Later sequels of the franchise share many characteristics of the Japanese tokusatsu heroes as well as 1970s kaiju films. The team-up anime Grendizer & Getter Robo G & Great Mazinger vs. The Giant Sea Monster is very similar to tokusatsu films like Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster.
Sequels
The Mazinger Z anime ran to a total of 92 TV episodes from 1972 to 1974, and 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. The idea of replacing the first robot with Great Mazinger (sometimes called Shin Mazinger Z) is a variation of a death-rebirth myth found in most Japanese action series: The title character, even if it is only a robot, is never truly defeated or destroyed, only improved upon, and replaced by the next version. Koji and Mazinger Z come back in the last episodes of Great Mazinger to help their successors defeat the forces of evil.
Another sequel, albeit in a different line, was introduced in 1975, with the appearance of Grendizer, set in the Mazinger and Great Mazinger story continuity that included Koji Kabuto as a supporting character.
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 (MAJINGAA Z TAI DEBIRUMAN) in 1973, Mazinger Z vs. The General of Darkness (MAJINGAA Z TAI ANKOKU DAISHOGUN) in 1974. Thirty years after the start of the original programme, Nagai’s company Dynamic Planning released a remake as an OVA, named Mazinkaiser (MAJINKAIZAA) in 2002.
Mazinger Z around the world
Aside from Japan and most countries in the Far East, Mazinger found an audience in many parts of the world, as it was translated to many languages. In Europe, Mazinger was televised in Spain and Italy, with astounding success. Oddly enough, it was not shown in France until the late eighties, and was perceived as a Grendizer imitation, even though it was actually the original. The inconsistent distribution of the Mazinger series outside of Japan lead to similar confusion in other western markets.
Mazinger was also shown in Central and South American countries (with a Spanish dub made in Mexico) in its entirety and without editing (The Spain edition was edited to 30 episodes). The show has kept a large cult following since its initial airing.
Then, in 1984, the show was aired in the United States under the title Tranzor Z. Unlike other countries that brought on the Mazinger show, Tranzor Z was heavily edited and shortened to 65 episodes, with the storyline changed along with most of the characters' names. And in the US, the credits went to producer and owner, Bunker Jenkins (although credit was given to the Toei company). The rescripting and re-editing of the show for the United States audiences was done because the content of the show was deemed too violent, and was not permitted (and still isn't) in a show that was aimed mostly at little kids and teenagers. The content in the original Mazinger series was, in fact, highly explicit and graphical in terms of violence, sometimes showing (along with the obvious giant robot battles) violent deaths of background characters, people running and screaming while cities are destroyed by beast machines and gruesome accident scenes (one scene showed a commercial aircraft full of people flying through a cloud, to later crash against a giant air fortress built by the "bad guys", killing all passengers). This and other content was considered too violent for a show that was considered a "kids' cartoon" (though it must be noted that Baron Ashura/Devleen's nature as a she-man was not elided over in Tranzor Z). However, many anime fans argue that the editing of the series caused the show's poor rating during its stint in the States.
Alternatively, there was another English dub of the show that was far more faithhful to the Japanese original; to the extent of keeping the same names for all the characters, the title of the show and even an English-language version of the original Japanese theme song. It is unclear as to how many episodes were given this dub, or when it was produced (although it was likely before the Tranzor Z version). This more accurate dub was produced in Hawaii. The Hawaii dubs were later aired in the Philippines, where dubbing was continued by the local broadcaster prior to the show's cancellation by order of Ferdinand Marcos.
An Arabic dub, titled "Mazinjer", was made in an attempt to cash in on the Super Robot craze created in Arabic speaking countries by UFO Robot Grendizer. Although it didn't do as well as Grendizer, it still found popularity and earned a huge fanbase in Arabic speaking countries, including Egypt. However, only the first 27 episodes were translated (There's a possibility that it was an Arabic dub of the 27 episode English dub produced in Hawaii).
Merchandise
Mazinger remains one of Go Nagai’s most enduring success stories, spawning many products in the realm of merchandising, model kits, plastic and die-cast metal toys (the now famous Soul of Chogokin line), action figures and other collectibles. 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 such as Gundam, et al.
In 1994, Banpresto released an arcade game called Mazinger Z which was a vertical shoot'em up with three selectable characters : Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger and Grendizer.[1]
Trivia
- The election of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI prompted puns with "Ratzinger Z" by his critics.
- In Italy "Ratzinger" was a chapter of Ratman, a superhero parody comic (the name is a pun on Batman). The robot Ratzinger though was more based on Grendizer, which was more popular in Italy, than Mazinger.
- Mazinger tributes can also be found in games. In the Mr. Driller series, one of the characters is a multi-purpose drilling robot named Horinger Z. One of the enemies in Mega Man 6 is "Metonger Z", a Metool (the hard-hatted enemies common to the Mega Man series) riding a mechanical tank with elements of Mazinger Z's design. Similarly, in Marvel vs Capcom and its sequel, one of Megaman's hyper combos has him transforming into a large battle mode obviously inspired by Mazinger Z, while Megaman's sister Roll has a similar move that changes her into a form highly similar to Aphrodite A. In Makai Senki Disgaea, during one of Etna's imaginative 'Next time on Disgaea' segments the Prinnies merge into a powerful Mazinger-like super robot. Episode 13 of Sonic X had Sonic the Hedgehog fight "Gearhead", a Mazinger-like robot of Dr. Eggman's that also included a Pilder slot on the head for Eggman's hovercraft.
- Go Nagai is often considered the father of giant robot anime because of Mazinger, but he himself has said that while he is honoured, he believes the name should go to his own inspirations, the creator of Tetsuwan Atom (Astro Boy) Osamu Tezuka and the creator of Tetsujin-28 (Gigantor), Mitsuteru Yokoyama.
- The reason Mazinger's enemies looked so strange was because when Go Nagai and his crew were coming up with them, they would think about the fight first, then design the robot.
- Go Nagai is said to have been highly shocked that Mazinger, which he originally did not take very seriously, far surpassed Devilman in popularity. The reason was that he had worked especially hard on Devilman and only made Mazinger as a way to blow off steam.
- Mazinger parodies also appear on television. In an episode of the American cartoon Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, teenagers staged arena battles with their imaginary friends. The Mazinger Z pastiche was rusted into immobility by the tears of Eduardo. Also, in one episode of Robot Chicken, N'Sync singer Joey Fatone took part in a Celebrity Deathmatch style battle where Great Mazinger was one of his opponents. A sentient robot strongly resembling Mazinger Z also appeared in the originally unaired season one episode of Megas XLR, Coop D'Etat.
- Mazinger Z is the only robot to show up in all the franchised based versions of the Super Robot Wars games (This does not include the Lord of Elemental sidestory or the Original Generation games). If one does not conisder the original Gameboy SRW to be part of the series, one can say that Koji Kabuto and Sayaka Yumi are also the only characters to show up in all the franchised series.
- Boss Borot is the only robot character to appear in all three of the Mazinger trilogy series: Mazinger Z (during the second half of the series), Great Mazinger (as a regular), and Grendizer (in a pair of cameos).
Machine Specifications
- Height: 18.0 meters
- Weight: 20 metric tons
- Energy Source: Photonic Energy (Japanese: 光子力エネルギー Koushiryoku Energy)
- Construction: Super Alloy Z (Japanese: 超合金Ｚ cho-gokin Z)
- Neck Circumference: 5.6 meters
- Chest Circumference: 13.6 meters
- Arm Circumference: 5.3 meters
- Leg Circumference: 6.2 meters
- Arm Length: 7 meters
- Leg Length: 9 meters
- Walking Speed: 50 kilometers/hour
- Running Speed: 360 kilometers/hour
- Swimming Speed: 20 knots
- Flight Velocity: Mach 3
- Jump Height: 20 meters
- Maximum Lift: 150 metric tons
- Output: 65000 horsepower
- Maximum Elevation: 20 kilometers above sea level
Weapons
- Drill Missile: A series of small missile launchers contained within Mazinger Z's elbow joints.
- Missile Punch: A large missile housed within the stomach of Mazinger Z.
- Photon Beam: Mazinger Z can fire a blast of Photonic Energy from its eyes.
- Rocket Punch: Mazinger Z launches its forearm as a projectile. Sometimes the arm is connected to a chain to grab onto and reel in enemies. This is arguably the most famous attack in mecha history, having been copied by mechs as varied as Gaiking and GaoGaiGar and even non-mecha anime such as Elfen Lied and Negima.
- Iron Cutter: Similar to the above -- however, with this, Mazinger Z extends a pair of axe blades from either side of its forearm to cut.
- Breast Fire: Using the heat sinks in its chest, Mazinger Z can fire a burst of high-temperature energy to melt away its enemies. This is often used as a finishing move.
- Rust Hurricane: Coming from its face plate, Mazinger Z can blow a gust of wind that degenerates its enemies' armor.
- Freezing Beam: Although it is rarely used, Mazinger Z can fire a beam of freezing energy to freeze its opponents, either from its 'mouth' or the horns on its head.
Jet Scrander and Jet Scrander Weapons
Jet Scrander: With the Jet Scrander, Mazinger Z is given the ability to fly, giving it a defense against aerial enemies. In order to dock with the Scrander, it is launched from a catapult in the Photonic Research Lab that Mazinger Z docks with in mid-air, with a command of "Scrander Cross!"
- Wingspan: 12.8 meters
- Weight: 1 metric ton
- Maximum Velocity: Mach 3
- Maximum Altitude: 20,000 meters
Jet Scrander's Weapons:
- Scrander Cutter: The wings of the Jet Scrander are strong and sharp enough to be used as blades.
- Southern Cross Knives: Contained Within the Jet Scrander's wings are shuriken which can be fired as missiles.
Hover Pilder
Hover Pilder: The control center of Mazinger Z, the Hover Pilder is a small, lightly armed hovercraft that lands inside the head of Mazinger Z. When it makes a link with the giant robot, its pilot yells, "Pilder On!" It is later upgraded with jet engines and renamed the Jet Pilder.
- Length: 5.6 meters
- Width: 3.2 meters
- Height: 3 meters
- Weight: 260 kilograms
- Maximum Altitude: 10,500 meters
- Ascent Speed: 120 kilometers/hour
- Maximum Speed: Mach 3
- Output: 20,000 horsepower
