Thread:Zeromaro/@comment-189.220.94.4-20140916005241/@comment-1809047-20140916040309

Here are the must knows, some are explained on this page: Mazinger (Franchise)

(On a side note, I don't think Lorelai's song had an official name besides the label Lorelai's Song)

Mazinger Z (often just called Z for short) is the hallmark starting the trends for Super Robot such as the superhero body, Rocket Punches, and Chest Blasters (Breast Fire), and Laser Eyes (Koshiryoku (Photon) Beam which has varying power levels) the command center is the Hover Pilder (sometimes there's the Jet Pilder), there's also the support system called the Jet Scrander (makes the robot fly). More modern series also put more emphasis on the whole "God or Devil" theme, especially in MazinSaga and Mazinger ZERO.

Z's pilot Koji is well known for being a hot-blooded fighter (one of anime's first) who often gets himself into trouble (way more obvious in the original anime where he's a real jerk for the first part of the series, but one with a heart of gold); He got Z (often) from his grandpa after his untimely end.

Sayaka Yumi is Koji's partner (and an on and off love interest) who pilots support mechs (most notably Aphrodite A with the signature Breast Missiles), she pilots other robots in different series too (Diana A in the original anime and Venus A in the original manga, Kaiser, and Shin). Her anime version is foul tempered and was even an early Tsundere before it became a thing. Other versions tend to be more mild mannered.

Boss and his gang are bullis that act as supporters (and somewhat competition), though mostly comic relief. Boss more often than not is seen with his own (junky) robot called Boss Borot.

Some other notable supporting characters in Z include Sayaka's dad Prof. Yumi who acts as an advisor, Koji's little brother Shiro who's supportive in both versions but is a little more snooty in the anime, their grandpa Juzo Kabuto (better known for his mad scientist look with the scarred eye) who made Z, the Three Scientists, and some other people that show up

The Big Bad is Dr. Hell (Great Mazinger calls him Great Marshall of Hell) who used to work with Dr. Kabuto and is trying to conquer the world with the Mechanical Beasts (ancient robot monsters from an old civilization, the most notable of which are Garada K7 and Doublas M2) in his Underground Empire. Dr. Hell's lieutenants include the Two Face-like villain Baron Ashura who is literally half-man and half-woman who is usually Dr. Hell's most loyal lap dog and Ashura's usual competition Count Brocken an old WWII Nazi captain who relied on Hell to survive. Some lesser known villains (that pop up in more recent media) include Viscount Pygman some Voodoo guy who is attached to a powerful body who prefers to work alone and the backstabbing cen(tiger?) Archduke Gorgon who is working for another party he is absolutely loyal to and plans on leaving Hell to his fate.

The anime version of Mazinger Z is a bit episodic (as in repetitive, which in the 70s was the norm in anime) so it wouldn't be very enjoyable to modern audiences (hardcore fans might be a different story). The manga version that was in Shonen Jump in my opinion was much better, but it got switched to a different story in TV Magazine (which unfortunately followed the cyclic nature of the TV Show). The ending for the original is available but the original manga still has some plot holes due to some issues (not the best series in print because of that).

Sequel Great Mazinger is bascially the same as Z except with a different cast: Z replaced by Great featuring its signature Thunder Break and Mazinger Blade and the pilot Tetsuya Tsurugi is a little more mature than Koji and is loyal to his adoptive father, but way more straightforward (still a jerk with a heart of gold).

His partner is Jun Hono a biracial (AfroAmerican/Japanese in the anime and most other series, Cacausian American/Japanese in the manga version) girl his age with a tough past who is tough on her own and independent but is more mild than Sayaka and seems to have more obvious feelings for Tetsuya. She pilots Venus A whenever Sayaka is not in the cockpit in some series (this one features the Breast Missiles more often).

Their commander is Kenzo Kabuto, Koji and Shiro's dad who was made into a cyborg after an accident. While supportive of family, he is rather secretive, and went into hiding until the big threat showed. He is also more than willing to sacrifice himself to protect his loved ones.

The Big Bad in this series is the Mycenae Empire giant cyborgs with face portruding out of somewhere on their bodies, lead by the Emperor of Darkness (in some series also known as Hades) and enforced by the Great General of Darkness ((Ankoku Daishogun) the biggest and easily one of the deadliest enemies of the Mazinger metaseries), other notable members include the 7 Generals (or the singular General Juuma), the Warrior Beasts (most notably Dante), the above mentioned Archduke Gorgon, his (literally) two faced replacement Marquis Janus who uses some kind of witchcraft and is a bigger pain than Gorgon, Minister Argos, Gorgon and Janus' superior and the only one with the balls to stand up to the Great General and get in his face, and Dr. Hell reborn as the Great Marshall of Hell.

Grendizer is another sequel with a similar format but with a bit more depth than Great such as the struggle to stay on a world that isn't your own as well as looking out for family members, highly popular in Italy and France. Koji's just a sidekick here to Grendizer's pilot and the prince of his own planet Duke Fleed (known on Earth as Daisuke Umon who works on a ranch) who is out for revenge against the Vegan Empire for destroying his home planet but is much more down to Earth than his earlier counterparts. Grendizer is capable of hooking up to vehicles called Spazers that allow to travel through space, air, underground, and water (as well as arm it with weapons) and is made of a metal similar to Mazinger's Super Alloy Z (even powered by the same source). Grendizer is even armed with similar attacks but its Chest Blaster is an antigravity ray instead of a heat ray.

The Spazers are piloted by Koji, Duke's friend on the ranch he works at Hikaru Makiba (who holds feelings for Duke), and his long lost (but spoiled and short fused) sister Maria Fleed. Duke is helped by his adoptive father Genzo Umon who is a space scientist with robotic skills to assist Duke.

The big bads here are the Vegan Empire, an intergalactic military nation that want to conquer Earth with their own world ruined by the fallout of the radioactive Vegatron that powers and composes their Saucer Beasts (nothing of any notability) and the Vega Beasts (King Gori is a notable example). Lead by the tyranical King Vega who is cruel yet loves his only daughter Rubina more than anything, Blaki the lacky under Gandal who splits his own face open to view a lady inside, and Zuril the more competent schemer amongst their ranks.

I'll get back to you on some other notable series.