Mazinger Z

Mazinger Z vs. Devilman • Mazinger Z vs. The Grand General of Darkness

mazinger z 1972–74. TV series. (92 X 30 min.) Giant robot/science fiction. org Go Nagai (manga). dir Tomoharu Katsumata, Yugo Serikawa, others.

mazinger z vs. devilman 1973. Movie. 43 min. Giant robot/science fiction/fantasy. dir Tomoharu Katsumata.

mazinger z vs. the grand general of darkness jpn Mazinger Z tai Ankoku Daishogun. 1974. Movie. 44 min. dir Nobutaka Nishizawa. -bc

Mazinger Z is a giant robot that defends Japan from repeated attacks by mechanical monsters and was the first such robot in anime to feature a human pilot on board. Its success spawned a whole wave of similarly themed giant robot shows in the 1970s.

An archaeological expedition working on an island in the Aegean Sea uncovers a long-buried stronghold of the Mycenaean civilization, including the remains of giant mechanical warriors. Dr. Hell, the German member of the team, directs efforts to restore the robotic warriors and then uses them to kill the entire team, although one Japanese member, Professor Kabuto, survives the slaughter and escapes back to Japan. He establishes the Photon Research Institute to develop photon energy and perfect a super alloy made from Japanium, a metal found in Mount Fuji, which he uses to secretly build a giant combat robot with a special flying cockpit called the “Pilder,” intending it for use against Dr. Hell’s robots. Once it’s finished, he retires from the Institute.

Dr. Hell hears about Kabuto’s efforts to control photon energy and harness the powers of Japanium, so he sends his chief lieutenant, Baron Ashura, who is half-man and half-woman, to kill Kabuto and steal the fruits of his research. The attack leaves Kabuto mortally wounded, but he is able to pass instructions to his grandson, Koji, to pilot the robot, named Mazinger Z, and protect Japan from the attacks by Dr. Hell and his mechanical monsters.

The high-school-aged Koji goes through painstaking efforts to learn how to control Mazinger Z and is aided by the pretty Sayaka, daughter of Professor Kabuto’s chief assistant, Dr. Yumi. Sayaka pilots a robot of her own, named Aphrodite Ace. Before long, the two of them are working together to battle wave after wave of attacks by various robot monsters, many patterned after warriors from the ancient world, who rampage through Tokyo and try to destroy the Photon Research Institute, which sits in the shadow of Mount Fuji. The two are also assisted at times by Koji’s little brother, Shiro, and by a trio of soft-hearted motorcycle-riding juvenile delinquents led by Boss Borot, who considers himself Koji’s rival for Sayaka’s affections. Eventually Boss Borot gets his own robot.

In Mazinger Z vs. Devilman, Dr. Hell uses his superior technology to take over the ancient Demon Clan (from the series Devilman) and attack Mazinger Z and the Research Institute. Koji finds unexpected help from a cocky motorbike-riding teenager named Akira who transforms into Devilman and helps Mazinger Z fight off the demons, including the flying bird-woman, Silene, one of Devilman’s very first nemeses.

In Mazinger Z vs. the Grand General of Darkness, a new enemy emerges and sends a fleet of “Battle Beasts,” monsters based on specific animal forms to destroy major cities around the world—New York, Paris, London, and Moscow—before converging on Tokyo. Koji pilots Mazinger Z to fight them, with help from Sayaka in her new robot, Diana Ace, and Boss Borot in his robot. The Battle Beasts prove too much for them, but unexpected help comes from a new combat robot, Great Mazinger.

A series for children made in 1972, Mazinger is done in a much simpler cartoonish style than that of two very similar, equally seminal series from the same year, Devilman, from the same creator, Go Nagai, and Gatchaman, which took mecha/superhero/giant monster animation in a whole new direction. The character designs in Mazinger are particularly exaggerated among many of the main characters, with exaggerated voices as well, although the adult authority figures tend to be drawn in a more straightforward manner. (Interestingly, a gathering of reporters in the very first episode features a room full of distinctly Japanese-looking men.) Koji himself is, in the manner of youthful anime heroes of the time, handsome and intense, sporting a typically full head of dark hair with tufts pointed in all directions, and strong facial features with very thick eyebrows.

Mazinger Z, the giant robot, is drawn and animated with a palpable sense of weight and a certain clunkiness to the movements; there’s gravity at work. Koji is awkward at piloting the robot when he first starts and loses control several times, adding some moments of welcome humor. This looks forward to similar scenes in Mobile Suit Gundam, some seven years later, as Amuro Ray tries to negotiate the cockpit of the Gundam, all handled, of course, with much more urgency and the aim of greater realism. Curiously, Mazinger Z walks to all its battles. It doesn’t run, it doesn’t leap, it doesn’t fly. It walks, sometimes alongside its female robot partner, Aphrodite Ace, who, in one cute moment, even takes Mazinger’s arm. Later on, in a scene re-created in Mazinger Z vs. Devilman, the Institute develops a winged attachment (“Jet Scrander”) for Mazinger that allows the robot to leap up, strap on the wings, and fly (like Devilman). While the character animation is pretty stiff for the most part, the frame count is greatly boosted for the action-packed robot fight scenes.

Much of the action in the series takes place in sight of Mount Fuji, which we get to see from a variety of angles, recalling the celebrated series of 19th-century color woodblock prints, “Views of Mount Fuji,” by Hokusai, although MZ does Hokusai one better by giving us a variety of aerial shots. There is some great action on a much more detailed rendition of Mount Fuji in Mazinger Z vs. Devilman. In the series, the Photon Research Institute, a short distance from the base of Mount Fuji, boasts an elegant and distinctive futuristic design. Dr. Hell’s island base is filled with ancient Greek ruins and statues.

The robots and giant monsters are consistently imaginative and are often drawn from ancient legendary figures, dressed in armor and carrying archaic weapons such as swords, spears, tridents, and whips. Mazinger Z vs. The Grand General of Darkness features a host of “Battle Beasts,” who are all drawn from different animal types (bird, reptile, insect, mammal, fish). One looks like a stingray covered in eyes. It also features Duke Gorgon, a Greek-style warrior who has somehow merged, centaur-like, with a complete giant tiger.

Baron Ashura, who functions as Dr. Hell’s director of field operations, is half-man and half-woman, the right side female and the left side male. When the Baron is seen speaking from one side, we hear only the voice of that side; when photographed from the front, both male and female voices are heard. In one episode, the Baron reveals a hitherto unknown power by appearing in public in a form that’s all woman, haranguing a crowd of Tokyo pedestrians to convince them that the Photon Research Institute and Mazinger Z are the source of all their troubles.

Designed specifically as a series for children, Mazinger Z is quite tame when compared to Go Nagai’s other groundbreaking series of 1972, Devilman, which really pushed the anime envelope in its depiction of violence, depravity, and wanton death and destruction, as well as Akira/Devilman’s own battle with his evil side. Mazinger Z also seems crude in comparison to Gatchaman, another superhero/mecha series from that year, but one with much more sophisticated character designs, a more realistic look, and more intricate detail in the planes, fighter craft, and gadgets used by the superhero team of the title.

There are also some extraordinary gaps in logic in Mazinger Z, some of which are quite amusing. No one character appears particularly smart. Dr. Hell tests the powers of his giant warriors in his own island palace and they nearly tear the place down. Koji first operates Mazinger Z without any training or any idea what the buttons are for, nearly wrecking the whole thing before he even gets started. Koji and his little brother Shiro live alone and unguarded—not even a police car out front—even though, as grandsons of Professor Kabuto, they’ve been specifically targeted by Dr. Hell. At one point, Koji blithely leaves Shiro home alone to be abducted by Baron Ashura’s minions. None of them have enough sense to put on coats in the winter; Shiro, for one, plays in the snow in his trademark T-shirt and shorts. For her part, Sayaka may have broken through some unwritten mecha ceiling by getting to pilot her own robot, but she proves pretty useless in just about every battle, nearly always getting an arm or leg hacked off or the torso split asunder by the enemy’s swords or heat rays, necessitating massive repairs. Her “breast missiles” will get some laughs, but they almost never damage their target.

Still, there’s a rough charm to it all, especially if one has seen numerous other giant robot series of the era. This series is focused entirely on its monster-of-the-week formula, with Mazinger Z responding, as the theme song plays, using its various weapons, including “Breast Fire,” which can melt an opponent, and “Rust Hurricane,” which vaporizes the metal in opposing robots. There is inevitable satisfaction to be had week after week by the sight of Mazinger Z making short work of a truly formidable and malevolent giant robot in a harrowing battle. Other notable action scenes in the series include assorted motorcycle stunt scenes, where Koji and his friends, including Sayaka, use their bikes as weapons against the Greek soldier henchmen. Koji also uses martial arts in several well-staged fights with the henchmen, kicking, chopping, and elbowing his opponents with great skill.

Koji offers an interesting contrast with Devilman’s Akira, who may be more charismatic and have more depth, but is incredibly tormented. Akira’s battles with his Demon Clan heritage are dramatically compelling, but sometimes the viewer just wants what Koji provides—an idealistic, unconflicted young man with a gung ho attitude. Actually, Koji and Akira make a good team in Mazinger Z vs. Devilman, where they fight the Demon Clan together and have a touching moment or two of heroic bonding. (Lucky Akira gets to meet Sayaka, but poor Koji never gets to see Miki, Akira’s cute girlfriend from Devilman.)

The success of Mazinger Z led to a host of giant robot shows on Japanese television throughout the 1970s, many of which had equal success in various regions around the world, although not the U.S., unless you count Robotech. Great Mazinger was an immediate sequel followed by Nagai’s Getter Robo (1974), which was the first to feature different piloted crafts combining to form a single giant robot (but with three pilots). Nagai also created UFO Robo Grendizer (1975), which followed the continuity of Mazinger Z and featured Koji Kabuto as a supporting character, and involved alien invasion and a hero, Daisuke/Duke Freed, who came from another planet and pilots a giant Mazinger-like robot called Grendizer. Great Mazinger, Getter Robo G, and Grendizer even teamed up in a short movie, Grendizer/Getter Robot G/Great Mazinger: Decisive Battle! The Great Monster (1976). Eventually, of course, along came Mobile Suit Gundam, which took the whole giant robot genre in an entirely new direction.

Mazinger Z vs. Dr. Hell (1974, movie)

Great Mazinger (1974–75, TV, 56 eps.)

God Mazinger (1984, TV, 23 eps.)

MazinKaiser (2001, OAV remake, 7 eps.)

There are several creative scenes of urban destruction, usually in and around Tokyo, in the series and some of the movies, particularly Mazinger Z vs. The Grand General of Darkness, where the monsters destroy other cities around the rest of the world before coming back to Tokyo. Tokyo gets hit a lot, but is miraculously completely rebuilt by the next episode.

Mazinger Z vs. Devilman offered fans a chance to see two completely different worlds of Go Nagai overlapping with each other. (Just think what they could have done with his Cutey Honey, which debuted the same year.) One of the cleverest parts features Mazinger Z’s feisty little Dr. Hell standing alone against Devilman’s Demon Clan, all towering over him and threatening to kill him in their subterranean Himalayan lair. He resolves the matter by simply pointing his staff and sending a “telepathic control beam” directly to their hearts, thereby ensuring his command over them.

Go Nagai was inspired to create a giant robot ani­me by his childhood affection for Tetsuwan Atom (Astro Boy) and Tetsujin 28 (Gigantor). While Mazinger Z was on the air, so were Devilman and Cutey Honey, two Nagai-created series aimed at a somewhat older audience. Director Tomoharu Katsumata also directed episodes of Devilman and Cutey Honey, as well as two other Nagai series, Great Mazinger and Gaiking.

Mazinger Z was dubbed into English and syndicated to television in the U.S. in 1985 (the same year as Robotech) under the title, TranZor Z, for a run of sixty-five episodes. It was heavily edited for violent content and didn’t play many markets. The series has never been distributed in the U.S. in any other version, nor have the movies been licensed at all.

The series uses the unmistakable roar associated with Godzilla as a sound effect for many of its monsters.

Episode 11 of the TV series involves Baron Ashura’s use of an old World War II anti-aircraft cannon placement in a high cave near Mount Fuji, in scenes bearing distinct echoes of the 1961 WWII movie, The Guns of Navarone. The cannon is used to attack the Research Institute’s headquarters and is seen in a wartime flashback shooting down American bombers.

violence Occasional blood when Koji is wounded; lots of destruction of Tokyo and its outlying areas.