Mazinkaiser
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mazinkaiser | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| マジンカイザー (Mazinkaiser) |
|
| Genre | mecha, science fiction, shounen, adventure |
| OVA | |
| Directed by | Masahiko Murata |
| Studio | Bandai Visual, Dynamic Planning |
| No. of episodes | 7 |
| Released | |
| Runtime | 30 minutes |
Mazinkaiser (マジンカイザー) is a Japanese anime OVA, consisting of seven episodes, released on Japan in 1999, and based on Mazinger Z, originally from manga artist Go Nagai.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The basic plot is a re-telling of the adventures of Kouji Kabuto, pilot of the mighty Mazinger Z, the first Super Robot of anime, defender of Japan and of the Photon Energy research laboratory. He is joined by another hero, Tetsuya Tsurugi, in his Great Mazinger, along with Sayaka Yumi, piloting female robots Aphrodite A and Venus A, and comic-relief Boss and his Boss Borot. Jun Hono, who piloted Venus A in the Great Mazinger series, serves here as an assistant to the laboratory. They all fight against the evil machines of Dr. Hell and his assistant, the half-man, half-woman servant Baron Ashura. This time around, however, Ashura forms an army of machines powerful enough to defeat both Kouji and Tetsuya, and is able to capture Mazinger and do severe damage to Great Mazinger.
While Ashura and Dr. Hell plot the final attack to the Photon Laboratory, Kouji, who is missing after the battle, finds a hidden laboratory of his dead grandfather, Juuzou Kabuto. There he finds a hologram of his grandfather that tells him that the time has come to unleash the most powerful robot ever created: Mazinkaiser, so terribly powerful it can as easily be used as a lethal weapon of evil as it can be for good ("Mazinger Z gives you the power to be God or the Devil, but Mazinkaiser allows you to surpass both!"). Kouji, now piloting Mazinkaiser, arrives just as Ashura is almost on the verge of destroying the Photon lab, and defeats him. Ashura leaves, stunned and hardly believing that a new Mazinger has arrived. In the seven episodes serie, Kouji, Tetsuya and their allies fight and finally defeat the forces of Dr. Hell.
[edit] Episodes
- A fierce fight! Double Mazingers
- A Descending, Malevolent Deity
- Kouji Assassination Order!
- Sayaka Rescue Operation
- A Narrow Escape! The Photon Power Lab
- Kouji Kabuto Dies in Magma!
- A Decisive Battle!! Flaming Hell Castle!
[edit] Episode synopsis
-
A fierce fight! Double Mazingers: Baron Ashura attacks Japan with an army of Mechanical Beasts, but is met head on by Kouji Kabuto and Mazinger Z. Ashura's forces manage to get the upper hand, and despite the arrival of Boss Borot, Aphrodite A and Great Mazinger Mazinger Z is disabled and Kouji hurled to parts unknown. Dr. Hell quickly modifies Mazinger Z into the Ashura Mazinger and launches an attack on the Photon Power Lab. Despite Great being damaged, Tetsuya Tsurugi attempts a valiant defense but is overwhelmed. Before he can be killed by a gloating Ashura, a mystery robot wipes out the entire attacking Mechanical Beast army with one shot. Overpowering Ashura Mazinger easily, the mystery robot begins attacking the Lab and Great!
Episode 1
-
A Descending, Malevolent Deity: Great attempts to battle the mystery robot, but is easily swept aside. Just as the machine begins to power up its heat sinks, Sayaka arrives and begs the pilot to stop. Kouji later awakens in bed, having little recollection of piloting Mazinkaiser to the rescue and attacking the lab himself. He describes how he found Mazinkaiser, the final creation of his grandfather. Unfortunately, Mazinkaiser taps into the pilot's mind and is so powerful Kouji is unable to use its power effectively, or even safely. Because of this, when Ashura uses the aerial fortress Gool and to attack a nearby city Great Mazinger, Aphrodite A and Boss Borot are dispatched while Kouji helplessly fumes back in the lab. Predictably, the three heroes are no match for the Mechanical Beast onslaught. When Kouji arrives, Ashura threatens to kill Sayaka if he does not surrender Mazinkaiser. Kouji separates the Kaiser Pilder from Kaiser itself, but as it is being loaded onto the ship the Great Booster arrives and cuts the chains, sending Ashura's forces into disarray as it barrels through them. Taking advantage, Kouji quickly yells "Pilder ON!" and brings Mazinkaiser to life. After a short but sharp battle, Ashura is sent packing. Tetsuya and Jun decide to leave to give Tetsuya's wounds time to heal and entrust the safety of Japan to Kouji.
Episode 2
-
Kouji Assassination Order!: Enraged with the appearance of Mazinkaiser, Dr. Hell is furious with Baron Ashura. However, the wily henchman informs his master that he has already dispatched his three cute daughters to deal with Kouji, since without Kouji to pilot it Mazinkaiser is useless. Ashura's daughters attack Boss by mistake, prompting Dr. Yumi and Sayaka to forbid Kouji from leaving the Lab until the situation changes. Hot-headed as ever, Kouji sneaks out anyway and battles the three daughters of Ashura, who turn out to be killer androids. He defeats them just in time to rescue Sayaka and Boss from a Mechanical Beast.
Episode 3 -
Sayaka Rescue Operation: On a day at the beach, Ashura kidnaps Sayaka and threatens to publicly humilate her by cutting off her swimsuit if Kouji and Mazinkaiser do not surrender. Kouji is brought aboard the submarine Salude, but manages to escape and rescue Sayaka with Boss' help. Aphrodite and Mazinkaiser make short work of the submarine. This episode is somewhat infamous for its crude sexual humour.
Episode 4 -
A Narrow Escape! The Photon Power Lab: Dr. Hell is fast losing patience with Ashura's failures, prompting the half-male, half-female villain to carry out a desperate plot. He attacks Dr. Yumi as he and an assistant are travelling and then disguises himself as the doctor. Unfortunately, he had no way of knowing it was the doctor's birthday and so was caught off-guard. Eventually losing patience, he attacks the Lab and is repelled. Dr. Hell angrily has him imprisoned and resolves to deal with Mazinkaiser himself. In the course of the episode Dr. Hell chances upon a group of more powerful, partly-organic giants (Mycene Warrior Beasts) which he utilizes in place of the previous mechanical monsters. This episode is notable for having a disturbing shower scene with Ashura.
Episode 5 -
Kouji Kabuto Dies in Magma!: Dr. Hell launches a full scale assault on the Photon Power Lab, using a Mechanical Beast to infect Venus A (which Sayaka had begun piloting earlier) and turn it against them. His attack is followed up by a ground assault that successfully captures Kouji and the others. Boss and Boss Borot distract the enemy long enough for Kouji to reach and activate Mazinkaiser, but shortly thereafter Kouji is taken by surprise by the Combined Mechanical Beast (Gattai Kikaijuu). Unable to effectively combat the flight-capable Mechanical Beast, Kouji and Mazinkaiser are dumped into an active Mount Fuji.
Episode 6 -
A Decisive Battle!! Flaming Hell Castle!: After Mazinkaiser is dumped into Mount Fuji by the Combined Mechanical Beast, it pursues Boss, Sayaka and the others. Before it can kill them it is struck by lightning: the Great Hero, Great Mazinger has returned! While Great battles the Mechanical Beasts, Jun arrives and takes the group to the hidden fortress where Kouji discovered Mazinkaiser. She explains that she and Tetsuya discovered and explored the base, uncovering another Great Mazinger. This Great is far more powerful than the one Tetsuya piloted in the previous episodes and is described as Shin Great Mazinger (the true Great Mazinger). The original Great Mazinger was the prototype version made by Dr. Kenzo Kabuto. At that time, Dr. Juzo Kabuto, thought to be dead, was secretly making the final version of Great Mazinger in his underground laboratory. He was also able to finish Mazinkaiser as his utimate masterpiece. They also uncovered the wings of Mazinkaiser. Unknown to the unconscious Koji at Mt. Fuji, his Pilder has activated an automatic homing signal, which will activate the Kaiser Scrander. Diving into Mount Fuji, the Scrander docks with Mazinkaiser and the now complete Mazinkaiser emerges from the volcano. After briefly assisting Great, Kouji decides to attack Dr. Hell's base, which was uncovered when he launched his entire Mechanical Beast army. Great Mazinger faces the Mechanical Beast horde as Kouji arrives on Dr. Hell's island and is confronted by Baron Ashura, now rebuilt into a Mechanical Beast. After a long and difficult battle, Kouji emerges triumphant thanks to Mazinkaiser's Final Blade and thoughts of his friends and family. Dr. Hell attempts to win Kouji over to his side and when the hero refuses activates the island's self destruct sequence. Unluckily for the villain, his escape craft is caught in the explosions as well, while Mazinkaiser emerges unharmed from the inferno.
Episode 7
[edit] Additional notes on the OVA
The Mazinkaiser robot made its first actual appearance in Banpresto's Super Robot Wars F video game, released for the Sega Saturn console in 1997. The OVA producers used the robot design from the video game, but based the overall design of the series (characters, plot, and tone) on the original Mazinger Z manga that Go Nagai published on Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in 1972, instead of the anime TV version produced by Nagai and Toei Animation that same year (although for the final two episodes the ending credit sequence is modeled after that of Mazinger Z). This explains much of the difference between the original concept of Mazinger manga and the Mazinger anime: the manga version (and therefore as is presented in the OVA), is far more crude in terms of character design and plot; the tone of the story is divided between the serious and the "tongue-in-cheek" with a cynical sense of humor, and is more graphical in nature in terms of sexual and violence situations.
[edit] Mazinkaiser vs the Great General of Darkness
The OVA was a huge success and was released on the U.S. in 2003. In 2002, a one-hour feature was released, called Mazinkaiser vs the Great General of Darkness(Mazinkaiser: Deathmatch! Ankoku Daishogun), which basically retold the story of Great Mazinger and Mazinger Z Vs. The Great General of Darkness. The new Mazinger army is overwhelmed by the surprise assault of the subterranean Mykene empire, but Mazinkaiser ultimately defeats the forces of evil, ending with a bitter duel against the leader of Mykene, the Great General of Darkness.
