In the absence of an anime/manga forum...Go Nagai

[Buried Alien]

Presently, there's no anime/manga forum at the New CBR. I don't know if one will be reintroduced at some point, but for now, this forum will suffice.

For the past few months, I've been exploring the manga and anime work of Go Nagai, who started the 1970s super robot boom with his series MAZINGER Z. I recently watched the original MAZINGER Z (known in the U.S. briefly as TRANZOR Z during the 1980s), am watching its sequel GREAT MAZINGER, and will get to UFO ROBO GRENDIZER, GETTER ROBO, and GETTER ROBO G in the months ahead.

I grew up with the toys (many of which made it into Mattel's SHOGUN WARRIORS line during the 1970s) as a kid, but until now, I've never been able to watch the associated anime series.

Any other fans out there of this stuff?



Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[lostphrack]

Sadly, I think I'm most familiar with his work solely for it's contribution and spin off series, remakes, etc. and haven't had a chance to really check out much of his original work or the original anime series. Kinda hoping to give Discotek's Mazinger Z release a look though, so.. knock on wood! Doubt we'll ever see any of his manga make it over there though. Sounds like his experience with Danzig and Verotika soured him to the US. At least we have the spin off's though! <3 Mazinkaiser SKL!

And man! His classic robot designs still rule! Look at those things! Sweet!

[Buried Alien]

The original material has been notoriously difficult to find outside of Japan. It's somewhat easier now.

The series are quite good, if necessarily formulaic.

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[Hazard]

The guy is great.

His stuff is overly melodramatic and silly but damn he is great.

The Mazinger Z manga is a pretty interesting read. It's the start of the Giant Robot genre, yet it has some pretty unique twists.

Devilman is bizarre and awesome.

[Melchior]

I always felt the recent "Kill la Kill" was a homage to him, honestly.

I tend to enjoy his works, the little I have seen. The crassness can occassionally get to me, but it's such a product of the times that I can usually get over it.

And, man, the things he started in the industry, and that he helped push. There are a ton of tropes that were spawned from his works. My old joke is that "Osama Tezuka is the God of Manga, but Go Nagai was the Devil." Just an immense influence on the medium.

[t hedge coke]

I always felt the recent "Kill la Kill" was a homage to him, honestly.

There are some outright references to early Cutey Honey episodes early on (but Kill la Kill is loaded with references to stuff).

Go Nagai is a madman and its been great, in recent years, to see him be more of an influence on American talent as well. Like Miller or Spain, he's a shoot-from-the-hip kind of creator who backs up that creating-by-id material by having massive talent and a wonderful sense for pacing and layout, but he could be so much more lushly indulgent back in a time when most comics talents, in any market, in any country simply were not. And he's continued to grow and change up his game consistently all along. Now, if Lady Devilman just didn't go straight for rape soooo often...

[Buried Alien]

I'm just beginning to discover how the entire MAZINGER Trilogy unfolds, from Koji Kabuto and the Mazinger Z to Tetsuya Tsuruigi and the Great Mazinger to Duke Fleed and the Grendizer. The backstory of Dr. Hell and the Mycenae Empire from the first two stories fascinates me.

Then, we get to the GETTER ROBO saga.

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[Froggy]

Uh I've read the Mazinger stuff and LOVED IT, along with Devilman

He's got a wild sense of humor

Getting to Getter Robo soon

[Buried Alien]

Uh I've read the Mazinger stuff and LOVED IT, along with Devilman

He's got a wild sense of humor

Getting to Getter Robo soon

To me, they were all toys when I was a kid during the 1970s.

Now, at last, I get to see the stories behind these gargantuan battle mechs.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Froggy]

To me, they were all toys when I was a kid during the 1970s.

Now, at last, I get to see the stories behind these gargantuan battle mechs.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

One of my uncles had the toys and then I got to read some collections of Mazinger after that as well, along with Guyver

Devilman I read later on and I'm thinking of reading violence jack since that connects to Devilman

[t hedge coke]

One of my uncles had the toys and then I got to read some collections of Mazinger after that as well, along with Guyver

Devilman I read later on and I'm thinking of reading violence jack since that connects to Devilman

Violence Jack is a trip. There are some moments where he can really pull back and show things from a greater perspective that really rocks.

Cannongod Exaxxion was a great tribute to the energy, scale, and robustness of Go Nagai's work (giant robots, plucky students from dysfunctional families), and also a helluva satire of his typical indulgences/blind spots, particularly the comedy-perv and rape-makes-stronger tropes.

Go Nagai's queering of gender expectations and sexual characteristics wasn't 100% original, but it was certainly groundbreaking for comics, in Japan and on a world stage, and just full of agitation. But, after awhile, his blind spots or his own biases can become so loud I need an intermediary, someone adapting his work or copping his style to mix it up a little again. Glenn Danzig, Kenichi Sonoda, Chris Burnham, Hideaki Anno. The Cutey Honey movie is fantastic and, of course, not what he would do purely himself. (I do wish I'd finished his 90s Cutey Honey revisiting, though, that was getting published in the US for a bit.)

[Buried Alien]

Back in 1977, I had the Great Mazinga Jumbo Machinder:



Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

[Froggy]

Violence Jack is a trip. There are some moments where he can really pull back and show things from a greater perspective that really rocks.

Cannongod Exaxxion was a great tribute to the energy, scale, and robustness of Go Nagai's work (giant robots, plucky students from dysfunctional families), and also a helluva satire of his typical indulgences/blind spots, particularly the comedy-perv and rape-makes-stronger tropes.

Go Nagai's queering of gender expectations and sexual characteristics wasn't 100% original, but it was certainly groundbreaking for comics, in Japan and on a world stage, and just full of agitation. But, after awhile, his blind spots or his own biases can become so loud I need an intermediary, someone adapting his work or copping his style to mix it up a little again. Glenn Danzig, Kenichi Sonoda, Chris Burnham, Hideaki Anno. The Cutey Honey movie is fantastic and, of course, not what he would do purely himself. (I do wish I'd finished his 90s Cutey Honey revisiting, though, that was getting published in the US for a bit.)

Yea I heard Violence Jack was on some next level craziness and scope, plus that it was connected to Devilman somehow

Exaxxion is on my list too and I'm still into Suicide Island by the author of Holyland, Mori Kouji IIRC

[Hazard]

I'm just beginning to discover how the entire MAZINGER Trilogy unfolds, from Koji Kabuto and the Mazinger Z to Tetsuya Tsuruigi and the Great Mazinger to Duke Fleed and the Grendizer. The backstory of Dr. Hell and the Mycenae Empire from the first two stories fascinates me.

Then, we get to the GETTER ROBO saga.

Buried Alien (The Fastest Post Alive!)

Getter Robo was, curiously enough, not made by Go Nagai, though lot of people tribute it to him. Getter Robo is the baby of the now dead Ken Ishikawa. He and Go Nagai were great friends and it was Go Nagai who had the idea of a combining robot which was later used in Getter Robo.

That said Go Nagai did participate in the Getter Robo Anthology which is just amazing.

[Buried Alien]

Getter Robo was, curiously enough, not made by Go Nagai, though lot of people tribute it to him. Getter Robo is the baby of the now dead Ken Ishikawa. He and Go Nagai were great friends and it was Go Nagai who had the idea of a combining robot which was later used in Getter Robo.

That said Go Nagai did participate in the Getter Robo Anthology which is just amazing.

I also read that Nagai had peripheral involvement (perhaps the original idea for) the GAIKING series, though he did not directly participate in its development.

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