"Great Mazinger" is a direct sequel to "Mazinger Z", since Mazinger Z's last episode is also Great Mazinger's first. To battle a new, more powerful menace, an improved version of Mazinger, with a new pilot, is introduced. The new hero, Tetsuya, proves to be a bit of a hothead and in the end he'll need the help of Koji (the hero of Mazinger Z) so he can defeat the forces of evil. I have great childhood memories of this show : the art was inventive and the villains rather scary, at least more than in "Mazinger Z". The Mikene empire, set at the center of the earth, was populated with grotesque half-beast creatures who kept sending one grotesque threat after another. Definitely a great show, with a darker, grittier tone than "Mazinger Z".
2 Reviews
The Electrofying sequel to MAZINGER Z
mrizaj23 December 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Many people of a certain age here in the United States became acquainted with the robot Great Mazinger via being part of Mattel's Shogun Warriors toy line (in which he was known as Great Mazinga). But for much of the rest of the world (including surprisingly, the state of Hawaii), GREAT MAZINGER became familiar via the Toei produced cartoon series which was based on Go Nagai's comic strip of the same name which was also a sequel to his MAZINGER Z series. In fact, GREAT MAZINGER started off with the final episode of MAZINGER Z.
In that episode, the original Mazinger Z and its pilot Koji Kabuto was overwhelmed by the mechanical war beasts of the Mycenae Empire in which Mazinger Z was badly damaged. He was rescued and aided by the more powerful Great Mazinger and its pilot Tetsuya Tsurugi. That series ended with Koji and his female partner Sayaka Yumi (the pilot of Aphrodite A and later Diana A) going to America to study and leaving Tetsuya and Great Mazinger to defend Japan against the threat of the Mycenae Empire.
In the new series, Tetsuya is aided by Jun Hono who pilots the super robot Venus A and by the director of the Science Institute Dr. Kenzo Kabuto (Koji's father) who designed Great Mazinger. Four other characters from MAZINGER Z pop up in the new series. First, Boss and his two colleagues Mucha and Nuke who pilot the robot Boss Borot were back as comic relief and often acting as slightly more of a hinderance than a help to Tetsuya and Jun. And Shiro Kabuto (Koji's brother) returned as well and occasionally assisted Tetsuya and Jun with his own super robot, Robot Junior.
The new threat faced by Great Mazinger and company is the Mycenae Empire controlled by the Emperor of Darkness and top henchmen the Great General of Darkness and Minister Argos. They were aided by the Seven Generals along with Duke Gorgon and Lady Janus, not to mention various mechanical war beasts under their command. The one thing that gave Great Mazinger and company enough breathing room to be able to defeat them with each encounter is the fact that each of the generals along with the General of Darkness and Argos were practically at each others throats due to internal struggles for power. Even the General of Darkness wasn't immune to those struggles as he was killed in battle with Great Mazinger midway through the series and replaced by a resurrected Dr. Hell (from the original MAZINGER Z) now called the Great Marshall of Hell In the final episodes, it took the combined efforts of Great Mazinger, Mazinger Z, Venus A, and Diana A to finally defeat the Mycenae Empire. All in 56 episodes.
Although GREAT MAZINGER never achieved the very high level of popularity of MAZINGER Z, it proved to be popular enough to run for a successful 56 week run. It even had a few theatrical released movie featurettes teaming the character with other creations of Go Nagai's such as GETTA ROBO G and UFO ROBO GRENDIZER (a series it paved the way for) not to mention a line of best selling toys and merchandise. Recently, Discotek Media released the entire GREAT MAZINGER TV series on DVD.
In that episode, the original Mazinger Z and its pilot Koji Kabuto was overwhelmed by the mechanical war beasts of the Mycenae Empire in which Mazinger Z was badly damaged. He was rescued and aided by the more powerful Great Mazinger and its pilot Tetsuya Tsurugi. That series ended with Koji and his female partner Sayaka Yumi (the pilot of Aphrodite A and later Diana A) going to America to study and leaving Tetsuya and Great Mazinger to defend Japan against the threat of the Mycenae Empire.
In the new series, Tetsuya is aided by Jun Hono who pilots the super robot Venus A and by the director of the Science Institute Dr. Kenzo Kabuto (Koji's father) who designed Great Mazinger. Four other characters from MAZINGER Z pop up in the new series. First, Boss and his two colleagues Mucha and Nuke who pilot the robot Boss Borot were back as comic relief and often acting as slightly more of a hinderance than a help to Tetsuya and Jun. And Shiro Kabuto (Koji's brother) returned as well and occasionally assisted Tetsuya and Jun with his own super robot, Robot Junior.
The new threat faced by Great Mazinger and company is the Mycenae Empire controlled by the Emperor of Darkness and top henchmen the Great General of Darkness and Minister Argos. They were aided by the Seven Generals along with Duke Gorgon and Lady Janus, not to mention various mechanical war beasts under their command. The one thing that gave Great Mazinger and company enough breathing room to be able to defeat them with each encounter is the fact that each of the generals along with the General of Darkness and Argos were practically at each others throats due to internal struggles for power. Even the General of Darkness wasn't immune to those struggles as he was killed in battle with Great Mazinger midway through the series and replaced by a resurrected Dr. Hell (from the original MAZINGER Z) now called the Great Marshall of Hell In the final episodes, it took the combined efforts of Great Mazinger, Mazinger Z, Venus A, and Diana A to finally defeat the Mycenae Empire. All in 56 episodes.
Although GREAT MAZINGER never achieved the very high level of popularity of MAZINGER Z, it proved to be popular enough to run for a successful 56 week run. It even had a few theatrical released movie featurettes teaming the character with other creations of Go Nagai's such as GETTA ROBO G and UFO ROBO GRENDIZER (a series it paved the way for) not to mention a line of best selling toys and merchandise. Recently, Discotek Media released the entire GREAT MAZINGER TV series on DVD.
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