UFO Robo Grendizer TV Cover circa 1975

The 6th super robot TV production creation by Go Nagai.   Again, it’s helmed as one of his great super robot anime works since produced for television in those days.  I really loved it.

Though I remembered watching it on a different production crew ie the American version.  They renamed it as the Force Five Series and this is one of the series that came out from this.  I’d better check this one up before I give everybody the full story.

Here’s excerpt from the Wikipedia.org and MyAnimeList.

UFO Robot Grendizer (UFOロボ·グレンダイザー, sometimes romanized as UFO Robo Grendizer) is a super robot TV anime and manga created by manga artist Go Nagai. It was broadcast on Japanese television from October 5, 1975, to February 27, 1977, and lasted 74 episodes. The robot’s first appearance in the United States was as a part of the Shogun Warriors line of super robot toys imported in the late 1970s by Mattel, then in Jim Terry’s Force Five series, both under the title Grandizer. It is still widely popular in the Middle East and was especially popular in continental Europe and in the province of Quebec under the title, “Goldorak.”

Synopsis

The Vega homeworld has become unstable due to the exploiting of Vegatron, a powerful radioactive ore. Seeking to expand his militaristic empire and find a substitute planet to settle upon, the ruthless King Vega unleashes his armies — composed of flying saucers and giant robotic monsters — and turns first against neighbors such as Fleed, a highly advanced but peaceful world. In a tragically ironic twist, the invaders’ blitzkrieg turns against them: the once verdant, idyllic Fleed is turned into a radioactive wasteland. Too late, the only known survivor of the royal family, Prince Duke Fleed, manages to steal the Grendizer, the robotic embodiment of the Fleedian God of War, from the Vegan invaders who plan to use it to spearhead their invasion fleet. Grendizer is a giant robot that interfaces with Spazer, a flying saucer that enables the robot to fly.

Fleeing Vegan space by flying at faster than light speed, Duke enters our solar system and switches course to Earth, making a rough landing in Japan, on the slopes of Mount Fuji. He is befriended by Doctor Umon, a noted scientist who oversees a research laboratory called the Space Science Lab near a small ranch. The kindly Umon takes in the young humanoid alien as his son, under the assumed name of Daisuke, and assists him in hiding Grendizer. Taking the name Daisuke Umon, Duke Fleed works at the ranch run by Danbei Makiba (based on Abashiri Daemon of Go Nagai’s manga Abashiri Ikka).

Roughly two years later, Kouji Kabuto returns to Japan after studying abroad in a flying saucer he personally designed and built (called the TFO). He heads to the Space Science Lab after hearing of multiple sightings of “flying saucers”. He plans to contact the aliens if possible and make peace with them. Daisuke, however, scoffs at the notion and fears that these aliens, the Vegans, led by generals Blaki and Gandal, are preparing to attack Earth. Kouji ignores his warnings and flies out to meet the incoming saucers, only to discover the horrible truth. In order to save Kouji and protect his adoptive homeworld from destruction, Daisuke is forced to return to his true identity as Duke Fleed. He unearths Grendizer from its hiding place under the lab and sets off to fight his enemies.

The Vegans establish a base on the dark side of the moon and start to attack Earth from there. Kouji discovers Duke Fleed’s true identity and their bitter rivalry soon turns to friendship. The daughter of Danbei Makiba, Hikaru, also discovers Daisuke’s secret and becomes a pilot in order to assist him despite his objections. Later on, it is revealed that there were two more survivors from planet Fleed: Duke’s younger sister Maria Grace Fleed and a man who had rescued her and fled to Earth, raising her under the guise of her grandfather. Caught in a crossfire between Grendizer and a Vegan beast, he reveals to Maria that she is the last survivor of the royal family of Fleed (under the belief that Duke was killed) before dying from his wounds. Maria swears revenge on Grendizer and its pilot. She tries to ambush Duke, Kouji and Hikaru at the Space Science Lab, but the fight is short lived. Maria’s attacks brings Duke’s necklace (which is the same as the one she wore) into view and the truth is revealed. The lost siblings are reunited at last and Maria becomes the last addition to the team.

As the conflict nears the end, it is shown that Duke Fleed was engaged to King Vega’s daughter, Princess Rubina, prior to the attack on Fleed. When Rubina discovers that planet Fleed is no longer polluted with Vegatron radiation and that her fiancé is alive and well, she rushes to Earth to bring him the good news. Unfortunately, one of King Vega’s generals uses this opportunity to ambush Duke Fleed, and Rubina is killed when she takes a shot aimed at Duke. This makes Duke even more determined to wipe out the Vegan menace once and for all.

King Vega decides to gather his remaining forces and make an all-out attack on Earth, destroying the Moon Base to coax his troops into fighting to the end and finally succeed in invading Earth and taking it as their new home planet. Duke and company go out to intercept them in Grendizer and the newly-designed space combat Spazers. After a fierce battle, they finally manage to destroy the Vegan mothership along with King Vega himself. Soon afterwards, Duke and Maria bid a tearful farewell to Earth and their friends and return to help reconstruct planet Fleed.

TV Opening Theme – Grendizer

Production

The original concept was shown in a 1975 30-minute pilot movie War of the Flying Saucers. The movie had the same basic plot, with a few changes: Daisuke appears as the Professor’s biological son, the enemy was Princess Teronna from Planet Yarban, and the robot’s original name was Gattaiger (gattai is Japanese for “combine”). The series, which started later the same year, is considered another sequel to the Mazinger series, partly because of the inclusion of Mazinger Z’s pilot Koji Kabuto, and having giant robots, which made it a “Super Robot” mecha anime.

The Grendizer robot and Daisuke have been included in two short Go Nagai cross-over features: UFO Robot Grendizer vs. Great Mazinger, and Great Mazinger, Grendizer, Getter Robot G: Decisive Showdown! Great Sea Beast., in which the various super-robots combine forces to take on the seemingly indestructible Dragonsaurus which emerges from the sea and proceeds to destroy Tokyo; even Boss Borot makes an appearance.

Grendizer is best remembered as one of the first anime shows to have a huge success in Europe and Canada, particularly in France and Quebec (titled Goldorak), Italy and Malta (titled Goldrake), where it holds a strong following even today. Grendizer was also one of the most popular anime series ever shown in Arabic countries. Grandizer is also popular in Russia.

The French version of the show has the characters named after stars, planets and galaxies: Duke Fleed becomes Actarus (from the star Arcturus), as both his alien and Earth name; Kouji Kabuto is Alcor, Doctor Umon is Professeur Procyon etc. The Italian version, which uses the French adaptation, uses almost all the same names.

Although set in Japan, which can be seen from the air on several occasion, the series was given an American Western feel by including a ranch where Duke Fleed and Kouji Kabuto would work in their spare time. The ranch owner, Danbei Makiba, and his children would dress in cowboy/girl outfits (though they also appeared in traditional Japanese clothes on occasion) and even had a neighbour who wore a Mexican sombrero. In spite of this the series was not a success in the US. Only twenty-six episodes of Grendizer were shown on American TV as part of the multi-mecha show Force Five, out of the total of 74 in the original series. Many character’s names were changed: Grendizer spelling was changed to Grandizer; Duke Fleed was Orion Quest, and his alias was Johnny Bryant; Planet Fleed’s name was changed to Antares, and so on. This corresponds to the first season and story arc (ending with the death of one of the main villains, who is replaced afterwards). Although Mazinger Z was later imported to the United States, Kouji’s character appearing in both Tranzor Z and Grandizer was not acknowledged.

The Mazinger Z sequel, also produced by Go Nagai.  A slightly stronger version of Mazinger Z with many mechanical functions that are superior to Mazinger Z’s fighting abilities (see weapons statistics below).

Said to be not as successful as the original series.  For its obvious reason since we never seen much return of the original characters.  Personally, it does ruin the entire process of enjoying the Mazinger Z franchise, when fans of the orginal series were really pinning hope of getting Kabuto Koji and his gang to ready to take on world of baddies.  Not much a good move.  But hey! It’s still remembered as one of Nagai’s great works.

Here’s the excerpt descrption of the series (sourced from Wikipedia.org)

Great Mazinger (グレートマジンガー Gurēto Majingā?) is a manga comic book and anime television series by manga artist Go Nagai, made as a direct continuation of the successful Mazinger Z series. It was aired on Japan in 1974, immediately following the end of the first Mazinger series. It lasted for 56 episodes.

Synopsis

The story centers on Tetsuya Tsurugi (剣 鉄也 Tsurugi Tetsuya?), an orphan raised by none other than Kenzo Kabuto (兜 剣造 Kabuto Kenzō?), the once thought dead father of Mazinger Z pilot Kouji Kabuto. Kenzo Kabuto is the creator of the new, improved version of Mazinger, made by refining his father’s Chogokin Z (Super Alloy Z) into a new, stronger form, designed to fight against humanity’s new enemy, the Mikenese Empire, led by the Great General of Darkness and his army of Warrior Beasts. Kenzo gives the Great Mazinger to Tetsuya to pilot, who is accompanied by a new token girl, Jun Hono (an orphaned half Japanese, half black girl), in her female robot Venus A.

Both Great Mazinger’s and Tetsuya’s training are completed just in time to come to Kouji’s aid as the Mycene Battle Beasts overwhelm Mazinger Z. With the original Mazinger destroyed, Kouji went to America to study space travel and left Japan’s defense in the hands of Tetsuya and the Fortress of Science. Tetsuya battles the Mycene Battle Beasts and even their mighty generals, cumulating in a bitter final battle with the Mycene’s military leader, Ankoku Daishogun (Great General of Darkness). After the Great General of Darkness’ defeat, the Mycene forces are led by Doctor Hell, the villain from Mazinger Z, back under the guise of the Great Marshall of Hell.

The series also includes some cast members the original Mazinger Z show, like Shiro Kabuto (Kouji’s little brother), and comic-relief robot Boss Borot. The series was not as successful in Japan as the original, and it was never shown in the United States. It was however shown unedited and in its entirety, like Mazinger Z, in Italy, Mexico and some other Latin American countries with great success, and occasionally footage from Great Mazinger’s sole appearance in the final episode of Mazinger Z would be shown in Tranzor Z.

Great Mazinger was also the star of the short theatrical “team-up movies” features released in Japan like Great Mazinger versus Grendizer, Great Mazinger versus Getter Robo G, etc., based on anime crossovers of the manga creations of Go Nagai.

Tetsuya and the Great Mazinger are featured, along with Jun in the Mazinkaiser OVA and movie Mazinkaiser: Death match! Ankoku Daishogun. The characters have been also a mainstay in Banpresto’s Super Robot Wars, a popular battle-simulation/RPG series of video games based on many anime mecha shows, including the original Mazinger Z and many others like Getter Robo, the Gundam series, and Neon Genesis Evangelion among others. Tetsuya also appears in Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z Hen.

Tetsuya also pilots an earlier version of Mazinger Z called Energer Z

Great Mazinger Z TV Opening

Statistics
Power Source: Photonic Energy
Armor Materials: Chogokin New Z (New Super-Alloy Z)
Dimensions
*Height: 25 meters
*Weight: 32 tons
*Neck Circumference: 6.2 meters
*Chest Circumference: 18.5 meters
*Arm Circumference: 6.5 meters
*Leg Circumference: 7 meters
*Arm Length: 9.8 meters
*Leg Length: 13 meters
*Foot Length: 4 meters (approximate)
Performance
*Walking Speed: 70 km/h
*Running Speed: 450 km/h
*Swimming Speed: 25 knots
*Flight Speed: Mach 4
*Flight Speed (docked with Great Booster): Mach 5
*Ceiling: 50 km
*Maximum Jump Height: 30 meters
*Maximum Dive Depth: 8 km
*Output: 90,000 horsepower

Weapons and Attacks
Navel Missile
Just like Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger mounts a missile launcher in its stomach.

Atomic Punch
Great Mazinger also possesses a Rocket Punch-like attack, though its fists spin while in flight, giving them extra force.

Drill Pressure Punch
It is like the Atomic Punch, except that the forearms sprout drill-like blades that add to the damage as well as the speed of rotation.

Great Boomerang
Great Mazinger can take the heat sink fin off of its chest and throw it as a giant boomerang.

Scramble Cutter
Just like Mazinger Z’s Scrander Cutter, Great Mazinger slashes the enemy with the Scrander’s wings while flying at high speeds.

Great Typhoon
Just like Mazinger Z, Great Mazinger uses turbines to generate powerful wind attacks. However, Great Mazinger’s attack is simply a wind-based attack, lacking the corrosive properties of Mazinger’s attack.

Knee Impulse Kick
Great Mazinger can sprout a spike from its knee, making its kick attacks more lethal.

Backspin Kick
Great Mazinger can also sprout a curved blade on the front of its leg for stronger kicks.

Mazinger Blade
The flanged compartments on Great Mazinger’s legs hold a pair of swords. Tetsuya typically uses the Blades for melee combat, but on several occasions he threw them at the enemy.

Breast Burn
Like Mazinger Z, the fin on Great Mazinger’s chest doubles as a heat sink and a weapon, unleashing incredible thermal energy.

Thunder Break
Great Mazinger can release energy into the atmosphere, stimulating the process that creates natural lightning. Great Mazinger then calls the lightning down onto the antennae on its head and redirects the energy towards an enemy. In the Super Robot Wars series, Tetsuya can perform this alongside the Grendizer’s Space Thunder or another Great Mazinger unit’s Thunder Break to perform the Double Lightning Buster.

Thunder Blade
A one-time attack where Tetsuya channeled the lightning from the Thunder Break through one of his Mazinger Blades.

Double Thunder Break
Similar to Thunder Break but Great Mazinger uses both hands to redirect the lightning.

Breast Burn Special
Basically a powered-up Breast Burn, almost akin to the Kaiser Nova of Mazinkaiser but with detrimental effects to Great Mazinger. Used in the manga to destroy Gilgilgan from within.

And here’s another confirmed facts that people in other part of the world are dead keen for Mazinkaizer SKL OVA series as well.

Here’s the translated text (in English)

A new Mazinkaiser is coming! Reinterpretations of the classics by Go Nagai.  It’s greatly anticipated to be a great show. The latest incarnation of the most powerful of the robots Mazinkaiser SKL. A contraction came as the word ‘SKL’ probably means “skull”. Note the skull instead of death Pilder emblem on the chest of the giant steel. In short, a disreputable kind without the huge shark teeth sword to put on the back.

The new OVA series was announced with a scoop of Hobby Japan Magazine # 6, on sale this month. No details on the project has yet revealed, but an official site is configured to receive future press releases and extras. The author Go Nagai’s Dynamic Planning and also reveal the next serializing a novel based on the new series, to be published in the magazine Dengeki Hobby ASCII Media Works, and a new manga will be offered on the official website of the magazine Comic Gekkin Shu 2 subsidiary of Bandai Visual Emotion.

Well the SKL part makes somewhat sense.  Just wandering if somebody else in the Mazinkaizer community could disprove that?

Source: ComicsBlog

Just rang into this website the other day, mentioning about this new Mazinkaizer SKL show.

And here’s its translation (in English)

“Comic Vs Mazinkaiser SKL” series begins! Cartoon: Wataru Kazu stars
April 23, 2010
New Genie descent!
Maginn next is “bad, strong, cool!”

The most evil genie, again!
And a new legend begins!
Continued to refuse to manipulate their own people, chose the most evil of the Devil Mazinkaiser, Two little beast hidden madness, and the sword was moving above sea Liao.
They are only to satisfy his own desires, but fight with them, and continue down.
Agenda of the organization, and even abandoned hope of the people.
Shall be at the end of it, either victory or destruction or that.
All reverse image of the past, in the midst of a storm of bullets and sharp sword overwhelming, and revived with a new legend of the strongest robot Mazinkaiser!

Cartoon: Wataru Kazu stars
Nagai © 2010 / Dyn · MS

Mazinkaiser OVA SKL Official Sites

So it’s definitely confirmed that we got outselves a hot new robot show this year!  What a great way to start with these exciting shows!!!

Now I need to ask from any Mazinkaizer fans out there!  What are you guys keen to look for this new OVA series?  Do you want to see Kabuto Koji returning to this show for the 2nd time in the Mazinkaizer franchise?  Or preferably somebody new this time like how Go Nagai did with Tetsuya on his Great Mazinger 35 plus years ago??  Or maybe perhaps you’re looking forward to see that Kabuto Koji should ready to settle down with Sayaka Yumi this time?

What are your thoughts?

Source: Comic Gekkin.com

One of great works of art by Go Nagai, our godfather of Mazinger Z.  Since it’s long absence (going way back to 70’s here), Go Nagai’s given us the series reincarnation with super-buffed up version of Mazinger Z, dated back in early 2001.

He’s bigger, stronger, faster, fiercer and by far (arguably) the most powerful robot in the super robot category at this point.   Or so appears after what I read from Wikipedia.org and MyAnimelist.net.

Here’s the rest of series’ description (sourced from Wikipedia.org).

Mazinkaiser (マジンカイザー Majinkaizā?) is an anime OVA series, inspired by Go Nagai’s Mazinger series. The OVA follows Kouji Kabuto, Tetsuya Tsurugi and the rest of the “Mazinger Team” as they fight against Dr. Hell’s Mechanical Beasts.

An army of machines, led by Baron Ashura, defeats Kouji’s Mazinger Z and Tetsuya’s Great Mazinger. In the aftermath, Kouji stumbles upon a forgotten laboratory. Inside, he finds Mazinkaiser, the most powerful robot ever built. The series chronicles Kouji’s experience with the machine as he copes with Kaiser’s power while defeating Dr. Hell’s forces.

The OVA’s design is inspired by the original Mazinger Z manga from 1972, rather than Toei Animation’s TV series. Mazinkaiser emulates Go Nagai’s character designs and its operatic plot is supported by a “tongue-in-cheek” cynicism in regards to the gratuitous sex and violence.

An English language version was released by ADV Films in 2003.

Episode 1: A Fierce Fight! Double Mazingers:

Baron Ashura attacks Japan with an army of Mechanical Beasts, but is met head on by Kouji Kabuto and Mazinger Z. Ashura’s forces manage to get the upper hand, and despite the arrival of Great Mazinger, Boss Borot and Aphrodite A, Mazinger Z is disabled and Kouji hurled to parts unknown. Dr. Hell quickly modifies Mazinger Z into the Ashura Mazinger and launches an attack on the Photon Power Lab. Despite Great being damaged, Tetsuya Tsurugi attempts a valiant defense but is overwhelmed. Before he can be killed by a gloating Ashura, a mystery robot wipes out the entire attacking Mechanical Beast army with one shot. Overpowering Ashura Mazinger easily, the mystery robot begins attacking the Lab and Great!

Episode 2: A Descending, Malevolent Deity:

Great Mazinger attempts to battle the mystery robot, but is easily swept aside. Just as the machine begins to power up its heat sinks, Sayaka arrives and begs the pilot to stop. Kouji later awakens in bed, having little recollection of piloting Mazinkaiser to the rescue and attacking the lab himself. He describes how he was brought to a cave he found Mazinkaiser, the final creation of his grandfather. Unfortunately, Mazinkaiser taps into the pilot’s mind and is so powerful Kouji is overwhelmed and unable to use its power effectively, or even safely. Because of this, when Ashura uses the aerial fortress Gool and to attack a nearby city Great Mazinger, Aphrodite A and Boss Borot are dispatched while Kouji helplessly fumes back in the lab. Predictably, the three heroes are no match for the Mechanical Beast onslaught. When Kouji arrives, Ashura captures Sayaka and threatens to kill her if he does not surrender Mazinkaiser. Kouji separates the Kaiser Pilder from Kaiser itself, but as it is being loaded onto the ship the Great Booster arrives and cuts the chains, sending Ashura’s forces into disarray as it barrels through them. Taking advantage, Kouji quickly yells “Pilder ON!” and brings Mazinkaiser to life. After a short but sharp battle, Ashura is sent packing. Tetsuya decides to leave with Jun to give his wounds time to heal and entrust the safety of Japan to Kouji.

Episode 3: Kouji Assassination Order!: Enraged with the appearance of Mazinkaiser:

Dr. Hell is furious with Baron Ashura. However, the wily henchman informs his master that he has already dispatched his three cute daughters to deal with Kouji, since without Kouji to pilot it Mazinkaiser is useless. Ashura’s daughters attack Boss by mistake, prompting Dr. Yumi and Sayaka to forbid Kouji from leaving the Lab until the situation changes. Hot-headed as ever, Kouji sneaks out anyway and battles the three daughters of Ashura, who turn out to be killer androids. He defeats them just in time to rescue Sayaka and Boss from a Mechanical Beast. The episode finishes with the introduction of Lori and Loru, two busty American sisters who are Dr. Yumi’s assistants. This episode introduces the Mazinkaiser version of Venus A, piloted by Sayaka instead of Jun.

Episode 4: Sayaka Rescue Operation: On a day at the beach:

Ashura kidnaps Sayaka and threatens to publicly humiliate her by cutting off her swimsuit if Kouji and Mazinkaiser do not surrender. Kouji is brought aboard the submarine Salude, but manages to escape and rescue Sayaka with Boss’ help. Venus and Mazinkaiser make short work of the submarine. This episode is somewhat infamous for its crude sexual humour and fan service nudity.

Episode 5: A Narrow Escape! The Photon Power Lab:

Dr. Hell is fast losing patience with Ashura’s failures, prompting the half-male, half-female villain to carry out a desperate plot. He attacks Dr. Yumi as he and Lori are travelling back to the Photon Power Lab and then disguises himself as the doctor. Unfortunately, he had no way of knowing it was the doctor’s birthday and so was caught off-guard. Eventually losing patience, he attacks the Lab and is repelled. Dr. Hell angrily has him imprisoned and resolves to deal with Mazinkaiser himself. In the course of the episode Dr. Hell chances upon a group of more powerful, partly-organic giants (Mykene Warrior Beasts) which he utilizes in place of the previous mechanical monsters. This episode is notable for having a disturbing shower scene with Ashura.

Episode 6: Kouji Kabuto Dies in Magma!:

Dr. Hell launches a full scale assault on the Photon Power Lab, using a Mechanical Beast to infect Venus A and turn it against them. His attack is followed up by a ground assault that successfully captures Kouji and the others. Boss and Boss Borot distract the enemy long enough for Kouji to reach and activate Mazinkaiser, but shortly thereafter Kouji is taken by surprise by the Combined Mechanical Beast (Gattai Kikaijuu). Unable to effectively combat the flight-capable Mechanical Beast, Kouji and Mazinkaiser are dumped into an active Mount Fuji.

Episode 7: A Decisive Battle!! Flaming Hell Castle!:

After Mazinkaiser is dumped into Mount Fuji by the Combined Mechanical Beast, it pursues Boss, Sayaka and the other members of the Photon Power Lab. Before it can kill them it is struck by a massive lightning: the Great Hero, Great Mazinger has returned! While Great battles the Mechanical Beasts, Jun arrives and takes the group to the hidden fortress where Kouji discovered Mazinkaiser. She explains that she and Tetsuya discovered and explored the base, uncovering another Great Mazinger. This Great is far more powerful than the one Tetsuya piloted in the previous episodes and is described as Shin Great Mazinger (New Great Mazinger). The original Great Mazinger was the prototype version made by Dr. Kenzo Kabuto. At that time, Dr. Juzo Kabuto, thought to be dead, was secretly making the final version of Great Mazinger in his underground laboratory. He was also able to finish Mazinkaiser as his ultimate masterpiece. They also uncovered Kaiser Scrander, the wings of Mazinkaiser. Unknown to the unconscious Koji at Mt. Fuji, his Pilder has activated an automatic homing signal, which will activate the Kaiser Scrander. Diving into Mount Fuji, the Scrander docks with Mazinkaiser and the now complete Mazinkaiser emerges from the volcano. After briefly assisting Great, Kouji decides to attack Dr. Hell’s base, which was uncovered when he launched his entire Mechanical Beast army. Great Mazinger faces the Mechanical Beast horde as Kouji arrives on Dr. Hell’s island and is confronted by Baron Ashura, now rebuilt into a Mechanical Beast. After a long and difficult battle, Kouji emerges triumphant thanks to Mazinkaiser’s Final Blade and thoughts of his friends and family. Dr. Hell attempts to win Kouji over to his side and when the hero refuses activates the island’s self destruct sequence. Unluckily for the villain, his escape craft is caught in the explosions as well, while Mazinkaiser emerges unharmed from the inferno.

Okay…. There’s been a crazy amount of rumours spreading around online for the past few days that a new Mazinkaizer, super almighty demi-god (Oops! Sorry I mean GOD) persona of Mazinger Z is returning to the TV. As new set of OVA series. I was checking to be sure my hard-wired eyes and ears weren’t playing tricks on me….

Till I arrived at a couple of links. Here and there.

It’s title debut comes as Mazinkaizer SKL, judging by the glossy poster above.  Goodness, it’s been almost 10 years since Mazinkaizer made its spectacular debut.

I also happened to stumble upon this fan’s video on Youtube, foretelling about Mazinkaizer SKL going to be released this year.

At the time of writing, I found out from a reliable source of information on FB, that rumour has it that we have two new different hero characters in this show (as depicted in this video).  It turns out Kouji Kabuto is no longer our main protagonist of the new series??!

THIS CANNOT BE!!

It’d better only a rumor, not a FACT!!  I could not imagine myself if we ever lose Kouji Kabuto to some new kids on the block, whom we know very little of.  Some even said that Kouji is no longer piloting Mazinkaizer anymore?!? No!!!!!!!!!

I don’t want to believe it!  IT MUST BE ABSURD!!! >o<

And I hope that’s what will eventually happen…

Source: Mazingo, Mazinkaizer SKL, ANN.com

And no, he will certainly not be giving many of today’s manga artists any praises if they have any thing related with child pornography.  Especially, it’s expressed too much in a very graphic way.

There’s been a recent uproar on the public system legalising the practice of placing child pornography content onto manga medium content, which is not right at a hindsight

Many respectable manga artists like Go Nagai etc are placing their support in banning the online child porn bill, which really sickens me to death.  Good on him for making him stance clear.  This is coming from a fact that Cutie Honey was one of this best works during the 70’s, which I understand it’s a manga whose focuses around the women characters, who barely shed anything off other than their ripped tees across their chests!!

Here’s another news publication (written in Spanish) on Go Nagai’s (and other authors’) thoughts on the crackdown on the crackdown of child pornography used in comic books.

Here’s the translations of the source.

The Assembly has hit Tokyo’s manga artists in its attempt to reduce the sexual content of comic books. Authors such as Go Nagai (Mazinger Z) and Fujiko Fujio (Doraemon) have signed a statement criticizing a law prohibiting the eroticism of child-like characters, which punishes the artists with fines of up to 300,000 yen (2,400 euros).

This protest has led the authors that the legislation, which should have been voted on Friday, stay for the time being in dry dock. According to Nagai said this week, this law is against freedom of expression for artists, but also undermines the manga industry, considered a strong source of revenue for Japan. For Nagai, regulation is also very vague, especially under the definition of fiction.

The legal language prohibiting any manga or anime character that could be perceived as minor in age, clothing, accessories, grade level, the scenario where you are, the age of other characters or his voice.
Project worrying

After learning this content of the law, Carlos Santamaria, director at the Comic and Manga de Barcelona, gives reason to Japanese artists: “It is a project of considerable concern, as well as being very vague, contains the sensor element and can anyone give power to ban a cartoon. ” For others such as Josep Maria Berenguer, editor of The Dome, the law is a contradiction, as “childlike features are typical of Japanese comics. They are part of their culture.”

It is not the first time that parliaments seek to regulate the eroticism in comics from veto to pornography with minors. In March 2009, a clause in a bill against child pornography UK Government drew the ire of artists.

This clause prohibiting “the possession of any images of sexual activity with children.” For the group Comic Shop Voice, this text could lead to censorship of graphic novels such as Lost Girls, Alan Moore. Finally, this law was passed last November, although to date there is no evidence of any comic book censorship.
Censorship in Philippines

In April 2009, the House of Representatives of the Philippines also banned the sale of those manga that show erotic scenes with characters from children’s appearance.

“This type of controversy is part of the general rightward shift caused by the crisis which we live. We have entered a political correctness that is limiting the cultural world”, adds Berenguer. Santamaria says, for its part, the dire consequences of putting everything in the bag of child pornography: “It should be clear that child pornography is a crime. But another thing is that it shows the romance of some high school kids. If that happens in real life, why they will not be able to read? “.

• Source: Kotaku.com, Publico.es

Go Nagai with his Mazinger Z

Was reading interesting article from an Egyptian online paper on Go Nagai, talking about his anime works made such impact on several (and uncommon) communities in the anime world, including the likes of Middle East and African countries and explains how he got famous.

Here’s the following excerpt of the article.

For my generation, the generation of Mickey Mouse and Tin Tin, MazingerZ and the Japanese cartoon genre of manga, the printed comic cartoons, were something beyond our conception. I had neither understood the cartoons nor sympathised with the characters. For the current generation, however, their creator is a big hero.

Thirty minutes before the talk Go Nagay was to deliver at the Cairo Opera House was due to begin, dozens of young people, most of them are students at the Faculty of Fine Arts, were trying to enter the gate but were held back by security. It was amazing to see how popular this artist is in a culture so far from his own in every way. I made my way into the hall after myself getting into a short clash with the security men, who let me through when they saw my press card.

The lecture was part of the programme in a four-day visit organised by the Higher Institute for Cinema (HIC) in cooperation with the Japanese Foundation in Cairo to host the internationally renowned cartoonist in Cairo.

The visit included a lecture at the Artistic Creativity Centre at the Opera House and an interactive workshop with HIC students on how he designed and created his cartoons. Both the lecture and the workshop included the screening of one of Nagay’s latest episodes of MazingerZ.

“Egypt has been one of the places that I have dreamt of visiting since I was a child. And I am happy to be here tonight, and even happier to discover that my cartoons are famous here too,” Nagay says.

…………………………………………………………………..

The length of the lecture was too short to satisfy the audience. They wanted more interaction with their very own hero. At the press conference held at the Japan Foundation in Downtown Cairo, a more relaxed Nagay received questions from journalists, most of them of the younger generation who appeared to be up to date with the episodes of MazingerZ and Grendizer and were familiar with the most key characters.

Asked about the kind of influences that had shaped his imagination since his youth, Nagay said World War II was the most important and had led him to make a deliberate attempt to show children how awful and destructive wars are through his popular cartoons.

“The mangas are easier to read than long novels, at least for teenagers, and this is one reason why my mangas have become very popular in Japan since World War II.”

Source: Al-Ahram

Click on the above link to read more on the article.

I’ve heard a lot about the Super Robot Wars games lately. And after spending some time in Youtube, judging by the looks of countless Youtube videos being posted by so many mecha fans in relation to this title, there’s a clear suggestion that they were great games to play and I wished we had something like that in New Zealand shores.

Even if they are completely done in Japanese language, they should be still be sold in one of those selected niche parallel import markets where people like me living downunder can come over and get a taste of them. But sadly, no. Our market’s too small to be catered for this at the time.

My understanding that these games were made by a company Banpresto, a Japanese video game development company who has made the Super Robot Wars series franchise for the last 18 years in the business. The company, part of Namco Bandai’s division, has spawned numerious SRW titles on several video game platforms from Nintendo to Playstation during its tenure. The concept of the game is that they are RPG genre, which involves plenty of turn-based rounds with your favourite super robot characters. They get to level up, get experience points, learn new skills or attacks and they get to challenge tougher mechanical monsters just like your favourite characters from Final Fantasy games, Kingdom Hearts, etc. Players beat monsters when it’s their turn, monsters beat the crap out of players once it’s their turn next etc.

In those early times, not many super/real robots were brought into the games. There was only Mazinger Z, Getter Robo and a Gundam character, probably. The other robot series in the 80s and 90s were later added on other SRW titles.

Having check on this Japanese SRW blog page, I gazed upon its huge gallery of SRW titles and I wanted to find out what was the first SRW game title created. And I looked at this.

Super Robot Taisen F 1997 PS1

And I looked up this video link on Youtube that relates to the poster above.

Okay. I should have mentioned earlier this is not a Playstation game as you can see from the video.(apparently, they don’t have any Playstation video equivalent online -_-) Nevertheless, fundamentally it’s still the same title.

A number of familiar characters’ faces from the Mazinger Series and Getter Robo as you began the game and several dialogues emerged as you keep playing. This is very refreshing indeed.

I would like to get one of these. However, they don’t see anymore PS machines in our shores. :(

Source: Suparobo.jp, Wikipedia.org

After coming back from my holidays, I’d bet there’s plenty of things happening in the mecha world during my long absence. I was edging to find out how ‘new’ Mazinger Z series is going lately, now they’ve been on air since April this year. Apparently, the studio company, Dynamic Planning, has been pretty busy with selling the hit TV series in CDs, DVDs and Blue ray discs packages, seeing as so many online otaku ecommerce sites like Play-Asia.com and YesAsia.com got their hands on these copies. Several toy lines for series are on sale for quite some time now from the Soul of Chokogin series, just as my last post here.

After bumping into Shin Mazinger’s website (www.shin-mazinger.com), there’s wide white banner at the bottom of the page, saying there’s a great Go Nagai sale going in Shibuya, the fashion shopping capital of Tokyo, Japan. Having it aroused my mecha curiosity, I decided to have a peek for myself…

And sure enough… they got great arrays of Mazinger Z Tees in store.

If you click on this link, you will find there’s a few T-shirt galleries that belong to Go-Nagai’s, and they’re currently selling them at retail price of 6090 yen. Not sure how much is that in US (or NZ dollars), but I bet it’s still a lot, considering how expensive Tokyo is. (I came back from London and boy!! The shopping center over took me a major surprise!! :-/).

Source: Shin-Mazinger.com, Revelations