| Mazinger Z | |
 Cover of the first manga volume | |
| マジンガーZ (Majingā Zetto) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Super robot[1] |
| Created by | Go Nagai |
| Manga | |
| Mazinger Z | |
| Written by | Go Nagai |
| Published by | |
| Magazine |
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| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Original run | October 1972 –September 1974 |
| Volumes | |
| Anime television series | |
| Mazinger Z | |
| Produced by | Dynamic Planning |
| Written by |
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| Music by |
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| Studio | Toei Animation |
| Licensed by | |
| Original network | FNS (Fuji TV) |
| Original run | December 3, 1972 – September 1, 1974[3] |
| Episodes | 92(List of episodes) |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Go Nagai |
| Illustrated by | Gosaku Ota |
| Published by | Akita Shoten |
| Magazine | Boken Oh |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Original run | December 1972 –September 1974 |
| Volumes | 5 |
| Sequels | |
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| Other series | |
| Video game | |
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Mazinger Z (Japanese:マジンガーZ,Hepburn:Majingā Zetto, known asTranzor Z in the United States) is a Japanesesuper robotmanga written and illustrated byGo Nagai. It was originally serialized inShueisha'sWeekly Shōnen Jump from October 1972 to August 1973 andKodansha'sTV Magazine [ja] from October 1973 to September 1974.
Mazinger Z has since spawned amedia franchise. It was adapted into ananime television series byToei Animation, which aired onFuji TV[citation needed] from December 1972 to September 1974. A second manga series was released alongside the TV show, this one drawn byGosaku Ota, which started and ended almost at the same time as the TV show.[citation needed] The series was followed by severalsequels andspin-off, among them beingGreat Mazinger,UFO Robot Grendizer andMazinkaiser.Mazinger Z: Infinity, a theatrical film sequel, taking place ten years after theGreat Mazinger series, was animated byToei Animation and released in theaters on January 13, 2018.[4]
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 calledSuper-Alloy Z (超合金Z,Chōgokin Zetto), which is forged from a new element (Japanium) mined from a reservoir found only in the sediment ofMt. 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, 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 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 grandsonKoji 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.
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 lovedAstro Boy andTetsujin-28 as a child and wanted to make his own robot anime.[5][full citation needed] 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 atraffic 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 the inside, like a car.[6] 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.[6] However, the recent popularity ofKamen Rider, in which the main characters frequently drive motorcycles, led to Nagai replacing the motorcycle with a hovercraft to make Mazinger Z stand out.[6] Nagai later redesigned Energer Z, renaming it Mazinger Z as a play on the Japanese wordsma (魔, demon) andjin (神, god).[6]
The motif of the Hover Pilder docking itself into Mazinger's head also borrows from Nagai's 1971 mangaDemon Lord Dante (the prototype for his more popularDevilman), in which the titular giant demon has a human head (of Ryo Utsugi, the young man who merged with him) in his forehead.[citation needed] Koji Kabuto takes his surname (the Japanese word for a helmet) because he controls Mazinger Z from its head.[citation needed]
Mazinger Z is written and illustrated byGo Nagai. It beganserialization inWeekly Shōnen Jump in October 1972.[7][8] While the manga was being published inWeekly Shōnen Jump, Go Nagai made an agreement withKodansha to haveMazinger Z also be published inTV Magazine [ja], in an effort to reach a younger audience.[8] AfterTadasu Nagano [ja], theeditor-in-chief ofWeekly Shōnen Jump, heard of this agreement, it was announced that the serialization ofMazinger Z inWeekly Shōnen Jump would be discontinued, asShueisha thought it unacceptable to serialize the same manga as a rival company.[8] The serialization of the manga inWeekly Shōnen Jump ended in August 1973, and it was serialized inTV Magazine from October 1973 to September 1974.[7][8] The manga was collected into fourtankōbon volumes by Shueisha in 1973 and fivetankōbon volumes by Kodansha in 1975 and 1976.[9][10] The manga was also collected into fivetankōbon volumes byAsahi Sonorama in 1974, four volumes byChuokoron-Shinsha in 1994 and 1995, and three volumes byDaitosha [ja] in 1996.[11][12][13]
An anime adaption ofMazinger Z was produced byDynamic Planning andToei Animation, with Toei handling the animation.[14][15] The series ran for a total of 92 episodes from December 3, 1972 to September 1, 1974.[14]
In the 1980s, on behalf ofDynamic Planning,Masami Ōbari and other independent animators (Toshiki Hirano) not part ofToei Animation began work on a miniseries ofMazinger Z. The OVA (Original Video Animation) would have been calledDai-Mazinger (orDaimajinga, 大魔神我) and would have presented 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.[16]
The news, initially protected by tight secrecy, managed to leak and was spread by the specialized press.[citation needed] Toei protested, saying to Dynamic that the rights of the animation ofMazinger was only theirs and that they did not tolerate aMazinger animated by others.[citation needed] As a consequence, theDaimajinga project was blocked.[citation needed] 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 ofGaiking in 1976.[citation needed] However, since then, the relationship between Nagai and Toei has steadily improved.[citation needed]
In 1976,Honolulu-based entertainment concern,Consolidated Amusement Co., licensed the first 52 episodes of the series from Toei, as reported by theHonolulu Star-Bulletin, and commissionedM&M Communications, a local sound studio, to produce an English language dub.[citation needed] Consolidated, which ran four of the biggest theater chains inHawaii, packaged the episodes ofMazinger 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 a "personal appearance" (a 10' electronic model) at thePearlridge Shopping Center, as promoted in theHonolulu Advertiser.[citation needed] The first package of episodes debuted at the Pearlridge 4-Plex Theaters on Saturday, December 4, 1976 (according to theHonolulu Star-Bulletin).[citation needed] 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 thePhilippines; it proved so popular there that additional episodes were locally dubbed.[17]
The series partially aired inSpain onTVE 1 at the same time. Rumors emerged that the series was pulled from broadcast because it reportedly induced violence to an underage viewer, but according toClaudio Biern Boyd in a 2021 interview, nothing happened at all.[18]
Discotek Media acquired the American home video rights to the show.[19] 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 andMazinger Z TV Series Vol 2, Ep. 47–92. Discotek Media later released a double feature DVD on April 29, 2014.[20][21][22][23][24]
In the United States, Three B. Productions Ltd., a production company headed by Bunker Jenkins, developedMazinger Z for American television by producing an English-dubbed version, which Jenkins retitledTranzor Z. This adaptation aired in 1985 and was, like many English-dubbed anime shows that were on American TV at the time, re-edited for American audiences.[25] Many of the Japanese names used inMazinger Z were changed for its adaptation intoTranzor 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 the Ghastly.[citation needed] Only 65 out of the 92 episodes were dubbed into English, as 65 was the minimum number of episodes required for syndication.[citation needed] 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 ofGo Nagai's other creations, as inMazinger Z vs. Devilman in 1973 as well asMazinger Z Vs. Dr. Hell andMazinger Z Vs. The Great General of Darkness both released in 1974.[citation needed]
On the franchise's 45th anniversary, a sequel film titledMazinger Z: Infinity was announced, taking place ten years after the events of the original series.[citation needed] It was released theatrically in Japan on January 13, 2018.[citation needed]
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 seriesSuper Robot Wars, released byBanpresto, featuring characters and units from almost allMazinger-related shows, alongside other anime franchises.[citation needed] In 1994, Banpresto released an arcade game calledMazinger Z which was a verticalshoot 'em up with three selectable characters: Mazinger Z,Great Mazinger andGrendizer.[26] Announced on December 3, 2022 byHamster Corporation,Mazinger Z was eventually included in theArcade Archives series on May 11, 2023 for theNintendo Switch andPlayStation 4. On Sega Genesis, there was one known as, Mazin Saga: Mutant Fighter. It had two ways of being played: One like a side-scroller, and the other like a one-on-one fighting game.[27]
Mazinger remains one ofGo Nagai's most enduring success stories, spawning manyproducts in the realm of merchandising, model kits, plastic and die-cast metal toys (the now famousSoul of Chogokin line), action figures and other collectibles.[citation needed]
A 40-foot tall statue of Mazinger Z was built in a suburb called "Mas del Plata" inTarragona (Catalonia,Spain) in the early 1980s, to serve as the suburb's entrance, yet the suburb was never completed and the statue remains there.[28]
The Mazinger Z anime consistently achieved highaudience ratings while it was airing.[29] 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.[29] Episode 68, broadcast March 17, 1974, achieved the series' highest rating of 30.4%, makingMazinger Z one of the highest-rated anime series of all time.[29]
Mazinger Z helped to create the 1970s boom in mecha anime.[30] The series 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.[31]
In 2001, the Japanese magazineAnimage electedMazinger Z TV series the eleventh best anime production of all time.[32]TV Asahi ran a series of four polls in 2005 and 2006 to determine Japan's 100 favorite anime, in whichMazinger Z placed 91st twice and 98th once.[33][34][35]
Guillermo del Toro has cited the show—which was a huge success in his native Mexico during the 1980s—as an important influence onPacific Rim.[36]
As of July 2023, Mazinger Z has reached a total of 20 million copies in circulation worldwide.[37]
