Written By: Ken HulseySources: Anime News Network / August Ragone
In April "Mazinger Z" will return in a big way! The famed giant robot franchise is returning both as a brand new animated series, and as a new manga series also.
In the June issue of Champion RED magazine, which hits newsstands April 18th, Go Nagai, will launch a brand-new manga series entitled, "Shin Mazinger Zero". Writer Yoshiaki Tabata and artist Yūki Yogo are combining forces on the new series, which reportedly is an "entirely new Mazinger legend." In other words, hopes to re-launch the series, which came to popularity in the early 1970s'.
Likewise, on April 4th, "Shin Mazinger Shōgeki! Z-Hen" will begin airing on Japanese television. Yasuhiro Imagawa is both directing and writing this new Mazinger series, which, despite rumors to the contrary, is not a remake of the original series. In fact the shows creators are very adamant about making sure everyone understands that "Shin Mazinger Shōgeki! Z-Hen" is not a remake, but a brand-new, unique, series.
Recently, several publications got quite a ear full from the shows production team, when they published the term, "remake" in articles about the series.
Go Nagai and his Dynamic Planning studio, along with Shinji Takeuchi, are designing the main characters, while Bandai's Tsuyoshi Nonaka is designing the Mazinger Z robot and the franchise's trademark enemies, the Kikaijū (mechanical monsters). Akira Miyagawa is reportedly composing the music, and BEEMEDIA and CODE are producing the animation.
It has been over a decade since Banpresto approached Go Nagai about creating an advanced version of his famous mecha, the Great Mazinger, for the later stages of their Super Robot Wars video game. The design Nagai came up with, Mazinkaiser, is arguably the most powerful mecha ever created. The robot proved to be so popular that it was eventually added to the Mazinger canon (storyline). In 1999 a seven episode OVA (Original Video Animation) anime series was produced to tell the origin of the mecha.
"Mazinger Z" aired here in America under the name "Tranzor Z" shortly after "Robotech" became popular. Many American children also got to play with a 3 foot tall Mazinger, which was released as part of Mattel’s Shogun Warrior line of toys in the late 1970s’.
Ken,
ReplyDeleteHere are a couple of minor corrections; the prefix title of this mini-series is "Shin" (True), because the new production will follow the storyline of Go Nagai's original manga (produced in 1972 to support the television series). Several of the characters appearing in this version are derived from the original manga.
TRANZOR Z aired in the US before ROBOTECH hit US airwaves, and was Americanized to cash in on the success of TRANSFORMERS—obvious due to the similar titles. 3-B Productions that handled the Americanization, also flooded the US market with a number of other English adaptations (mostly in the form of movies), such as VOLTES V and DAIMOS.
Also, the Mazinger imported by Mattel in the "Shogun Warriors" toyline was Great Mazinger, not Mazinger Z, and dubbed "Mazinga."
Cheers,
August
Thanx for mentioning those facts August!
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to anything Japanese sci fi....you da man!
In fact if I were wise, I would consult you before posting anything about the genre.
I do want to ask you if some stations across the country aired Transor Z later than otheres? I remember that the show didn't air in Albuquerque, where I lived, until way after Robotech made it's debut. I'm pretty certain about this, although it was a long time ago.
Please feel free to keep me on my toes anytime.