Tranzor Z is the American adaptation of Mazinger Z that aired in 1985. Like many dubbed adaptations of anime during the twentieth century, especially for younger audiences, there were several changes to original content (e.g. the main characters receiving western names such as Koji being renamed as Tommy Davis).
Major Changes[]
While the overall plot remains the same, some episodes were removed, leaving the US television standard of 65 episodes. Japanese names were also changed to Western names, and names from religious sources such as Dr. Hell were changed to Dr. Demon and Mazinger Z to Tranzor Z. References to Japanese culture were also removed to appeal to a western audience.
Although it is notable that some major aspects of the original show were not changed during the import, such as Devleen's dual-sexed nature (even going as far to refer to them as a "She Male") and the deaths of the major villains.
In addition, the series ends on adapting Episode 91, with Dr. Demon defeated and all of his minions dead (as the dub mentions) and removing the cliffhanger leading into the original finale and Great Mazinger. Despite this, when certain scenes were edited for content, footage of Great Mazinger and Tetsuya from the 92nd episode of Mazinger was used, effectively making Tetsuya and Great Mazinger the same character as Tommy and Tranzor Z in the adaptation
Reception[]
The opening title with the titular Tranzor Z.
Tranzor Z enjoyed very little success, partly due to the popularity of Voltron, the American adaptation of GoLion and Dairugger XV, and the lack of a toy sponsor in an era where a cartoon's success depended on merchandise sales. As a result, Tranzor was mostly relegated to low cost UHF stations and early cable channels needing cheap children's content. During the early days of the internet, before the episodes became widely available online, those who were familiar with the original Japanese version or were looking back at the series with an adult lens dismissed the show for its extreme censorship and bizarre dubbing choices.
In recent years, more people have warmed up to Tranzor, in part to the episodes becoming more easily accessible online and because more adults have admitted to enjoying the adaptation growing up. However, there are those who still disregard it as a cheap, watered down adaptation and inferior to the Hawaiian English dub which was less edited than Tranzor and retained the original names (albeit at the cost of having a lackluster voice acting quality compared to Tranzor Z). As such, discussing Tranzor Z is still a rather iffy subject in the Mazinger fandom.
Gallery[]
See Also[]
- Force Five- A similar adaptation of UFO Robot Grendizer was among the 5 mecha anime featured on the anthology series