Mazinger Z

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Become lord
Alternatives: Synonyms: Majinga Z
Japanese: マジンガーZ
Author: Nagai, Go
Type: Manga
Volumes: 5
Chapters: 33
Status: Finished
Publish: 1972-10-02 to 1973-08-13
Serialization: Shounen Jump (Weekly)

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3.0
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Alternatives: Synonyms: Majinga Z
Japanese: マジンガーZ
Author: Nagai, Go
Type: Manga
Volumes: 5
Chapters: 33
Status: Finished
Publish: 1972-10-02 to 1973-08-13
Serialization: Shounen Jump (Weekly)
Score
3.0
1 Votes
0.00%
0.00%
100.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0 Reading
0 Want to read
0 Read
Summary
One of the first Super Robot manga and the one that introduced most of the traits of the Mecha genre. Constructed with the Super-Alloy Z, Mazinger was built by Professor Juzo Kabuto as a weapon against the Mechanical Beasts of the evil Dr. Hell. Koji Kabuto, the grandson of Professor Kabuto, becomes the pilot of Mazinger Z when his grandfather is killed, and battles from there on against Dr. Hell and his allies. This is the first series that introduced the concept of a pilot inside a Mecha, which all series from then on have followed.

(Source: MU)
Reviews (1)
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Mazinger Z review
by
Valdrigr6
Apr 07, 2021
You know the story, Kouji Kabuto's grandpa has built a giant robot for him, called Mazinger Z, and gave him the choice of either doing good or evil, to become a god or the devil.

But if you don't, you shouldn't make this your first contact with the series. While it's a fun read for veterans on the series, if you're getting into it for the first time, you can get really confused, as many things are simply dropped on your face without any explanation.

The series stays in a steady pace for most of its run, but in the last two volumes you can tell the author was either tired or wanted to focus on his other works, rushing for it to end, only to stop it abruptly after an event that while may be the climax, it's also nothing close to a conclusion. After it, you have a string of episodic short chapters to wrap up the final volume. You could read it as him just giving up of making this a series and instead just him trying to promote the anime, which had recently started, and its original concepts.

One could call it dated, but Go Nagai's '70s art style is so charming and dynamic that you can't help but love it, the fight scenes are well executed and with the poses he draws, it really gives you a sense of movement.

None of the characters are actually fleshed out, but they're mostly unique and memorable. Kabuto may be a pretty generic mecha protagonist from the early days, but characters like Baron Ashura and the other villains keep the series fresh and enjoyable. Also, the manga has a few bad jokes here and there, so you may either chuckle a little with some of them or hate them.

TL;DR it's a fun manga with a not-ending. You either like it or hate it.