Thread:Zeromaro/@comment-189.220.94.4-20140916005241/@comment-1809047-20140916045509

Some lesser known series include God Mazinger which has an anime version that follows the episodic formula of other series and the more epic manga series that put the main characters as the focal point that actually put the fate of the entire planet in their hands. It tells the adventures of Yamato Hino, a hot-blooded sports enthusiast with psychic powers who is transported to the lost continent of Mu many years in the past to control the God Mazinger, a giant statue that possesses immense power (in the manga it could even tear the planet apart) to fight against the Empire of Dinosaurs.

Yamato's support mainly comes from his love interest Aila Mu, the queen of the land who is very charismatic in spite of her young age. She even got more appearances in other media due to her character and powers. Other characters include Aila's father Muraji who Yamato in whatever way he can as well as Yamato's line back home Kaoru (his sister in the anime, childhood friend in the manga).

Opposing Mu and Yamato is the Empire of Dinosaurs lead by the golden masked Dorado and his more nefarious son Eldo. Dorado is greedy and wants Mu in order to better develop his empire, while Eldo is more willing to take drastic measures to ensure he gets what he wants even if his father would not want it.

Other series include MazinSaga which in summary combines Mazinger with Dynamic Pro's other flagship series Devilman (it even includes Psycho Jenny and series protagonist Akira Fudo) that really brings out the image of a "God or a Devil" theme, placing this world's Koji on Mars after Earth was destroyed by Mazinger itself. Dr. Hell's Bio-Beasts are actually cybernetic demons after unleashing the gate to Hell on Mars (this was a year before the video game Doom came out). There was even a MazinSaga video game for a while.

Another series Z Mazinger combines Mazinger with Greek Mythology with Mazinger being a rebuilt body of Zeus who rebelled against his former colleagues. Unfortunately, this series and Saga ended in cliffhangers and were left unfinished. One comic that was finished simply called Mazinger was published in the US where the Mazinger is a giant and powerful robotic suit that ended up in another world for a while before getting blasted back to its old world later.

The Mazinkaiser series details the most powerful Mazinger robot which Koji uses to fight familiar but more powerful enemies (these are not as episodic OVA or manga versions). Another version called Mazinkaizer SKL details a redesigned heavy metal version Kaiser controlled by two pilots (Ken Kaido (Koji) and Ryo Magami (Duke)) in their job as mercenaries against forces that threaten Earth.

Mazinger Angels (and its sequel) rewrites the story with the heroines of the series taking the guys place in a manner more similar to Charlie's Angels. More lighthearted and comedic series include the Borot Dai manga where Boss Borot is the main character in several misadventures around his hometown. Mazinger Otome is a comedy manga where robots (and Jeeg) are reinterpretated as female teenaged androids living semi-normal lives while tackling some bizarre challenges like Mechanical Beasts. Robot Girls Z is another series that show the robots as teenaged girls in battle suits based on their counterparts while causing more mayhem and destruction than their enemies.

The series that people are most familiar with today are the Shin Mazinger anime where the classic manga story is given a new twist combined with elements from other series. Shin Mazinger ZERO is a manga series that adapts the original story in a completely different direction by turning it on its head. Not to mention there's the new Grendizer Giga manga that is just coming out.