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Post by Mechanical Flesh on Dec 11, 2014 16:45:03 GMT -5
Mhm the holiday season is coming and, with some extra free time, I decided to start reading through the Mazinger Z manga (the one drawn by Go Nagai's pupil, Gosaku Ota. Also known as the "official" Mazinger manga). I've almost finished it, read 4 volumes out of 5 as of this moment, and I gotta say: it's good. I've read spoilerless reviews of the versions drawn by Ota before purchasing the Mazinger Trilogy mangas, and the general consensus was that the stories we're better, more fleshed out, but the drawing quality was not top-notch, not even for the era, specially when compared to Nagai's drawings. But from what I've seen, Ota was not too shabby. The drawings are nice to look at, and compared to the ones I saw in Devilman (that one, drawn by the Master) are just slightly inferior. Ota also manages to change between different drawing styles, depending on the situation depicted. Is Sayaka annoying Koji (again) because he didn't clean his room or because he was loafing instad of studying? Then you'll see deformed, caricatural body proportions and exagerated face expressions. But when Mazinger Z exits the underground hangar and starts the counter-attack, the drawing quality spikes up and everything becomes more "realistic", movement looks dynamic and the robot destruction effects are really nice-looking. So overall, I'm not disappointed with the drawing quality. Now, for some differences I noticed, between TV show and manga. Well, the most obvious of all is that the manga feels like a condensed version of the anime, but many important fights are present in the paper version of Mazinger Z. The only upgrades Mazinger Z ever receives are the Jet Scrander and the Jet Pilder. All of the other weapon systems, that in the TV show are introduced slooowly, almost until the end of the series (I remember the Drill Missiles being introduced in the episode 70-something), well in the manga Mazinger Z already starts out with everything. From the very beginning it has the Iron Cutter Rocket Punches, the feet-mounted rocket propulsors (to use underwater), and even the drill missiles, yes you heard me right. Although there was a change at a certain point. Before, Mazinger Z had to literally separate the forearm section from the rest of his arm, and then a barrage of standard-looking missiles would come out and rain onto the enemy. Then, in the latter half of the story, it looked more like the TV version: forearm moves upward, out of the way, and the needle-looking missiles come out. Oh well. Professor Morimori dies in the manga as well (Rest In Piece), even though he dies in a more heroic way than in the show (I won't spoil it here). Boss Borot is less clumsy, more powerful and agile than its TV counterpart. In fact, it's so much better that I like it almost as much as Mazinger Z Aphrodai A is another one that's been improved. It still gets her ass kicked, don't get me wrong. But while in the anime Sayaka just gets relentlessly beaten, while Koji laughs at her, and only after she's been humiliated Mazinger Z decides to start fighting the monster of the week, in the manga they "collaborate". By which I mean that Sayaka gets her ass kicked, serving as a distraction, and at the same time Mazinger Z sneaks up behind the kikaiju and attacks it. ... TEAMWORK Also, in the manga there was an interesting story: about fish-people who, from a parallel dimension, planned to invade Earth and eat all the humans. Koji and baron Ashura find out about their plans, but are discovered and apprehended. So our 2 protagonists have to join forces in order to escape their prisony and defeat the fish-people before the invasion starts. I really liked how the character of baron Ashura has more depth in the manga. In the show he was basically Dr. Hell's puppet. Well that's my impression of the Mazinger Z manga in a nutshell (not really, this comment is a bit long-ish). I still got to finish reading it, but so far I really like it. Has any of you read it?
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Post by S_Gokin on Dec 12, 2014 5:09:09 GMT -5
Mhm the holiday season is coming and, with some extra free time, I decided to start reading through the Mazinger Z manga (the one drawn by Go Nagai's pupil, Gosaku Ota. Also known as the "official" Mazinger manga). I've almost finished it, read 4 volumes out of 5 as of this moment, and I gotta say: it's good. I've read spoilerless reviews of the versions drawn by Ota before purchasing the Mazinger Trilogy mangas, and the general consensus was that the stories we're better, more fleshed out, but the drawing quality was not top-notch, not even for the era, specially when compared to Nagai's drawings. But from what I've seen, Ota was not too shabby. The drawings are nice to look at, and compared to the ones I saw in Devilman (that one, drawn by the Master) are just slightly inferior. Ota also manages to change between different drawing styles, depending on the situation depicted. Is Sayaka annoying Koji (again) because he didn't clean his room or because he was loafing instad of studying? Then you'll see deformed, caricatural body proportions and exagerated face expressions. But when Mazinger Z exits the underground hangar and starts the counter-attack, the drawing quality spikes up and everything becomes more "realistic", movement looks dynamic and the robot destruction effects are really nice-looking. So overall, I'm not disappointed with the drawing quality. Now, for some differences I noticed, between TV show and manga. Well, the most obvious of all is that the manga feels like a condensed version of the anime, but many important fights are present in the paper version of Mazinger Z. The only upgrades Mazinger Z ever receives are the Jet Scrander and the Jet Pilder. All of the other weapon systems, that in the TV show are introduced slooowly, almost until the end of the series (I remember the Drill Missiles being introduced in the episode 70-something), well in the manga Mazinger Z already starts out with everything. From the very beginning it has the Iron Cutter Rocket Punches, the feet-mounted rocket propulsors (to use underwater), and even the drill missiles, yes you heard me right. Although there was a change at a certain point. Before, Mazinger Z had to literally separate the forearm section from the rest of his arm, and then a barrage of standard-looking missiles would come out and rain onto the enemy. Then, in the latter half of the story, it looked more like the TV version: forearm moves upward, out of the way, and the needle-looking missiles come out. Oh well. Professor Morimori dies in the manga as well (Rest In Piece), even though he dies in a more heroic way than in the show (I won't spoil it here). Boss Borot is less clumsy, more powerful and agile than its TV counterpart. In fact, it's so much better that I like it almost as much as Mazinger Z Aphrodai A is another one that's been improved. It still gets her ass kicked, don't get me wrong. But while in the anime Sayaka just gets relentlessly beaten, while Koji laughs at her, and only after she's been humiliated Mazinger Z decides to start fighting the monster of the week, in the manga they "collaborate". By which I mean that Sayaka gets her ass kicked, serving as a distraction, and at the same time Mazinger Z sneaks up behind the kikaiju and attacks it. ... TEAMWORK Also, in the manga there was an interesting story: about fish-people who, from a parallel dimension, planned to invade Earth and eat all the humans. Koji and baron Ashura find out about their plans, but are discovered and apprehended. So our 2 protagonists have to join forces in order to escape their prisony and defeat the fish-people before the invasion starts. I really liked how the character of baron Ashura has more depth in the manga. In the show he was basically Dr. Hell's puppet. Well that's my impression of the Mazinger Z manga in a nutshell (not really, this comment is a bit long-ish). I still got to finish reading it, but so far I really like it. Has any of you read it? honestly i didnt read it im not a hardcore manga reader by any chance but i was thinking and according to the anime that Mazinger z was improved over time with weapons thats what i liked about it him he started simple but now according to the manga he started with all that most of the show they helped each other out and their team work got even better when boss borot got involved and i got the same feeling about him he is a bad a$$ robot lol for me he is like Danbei Makiba from Grendizer you know Toei have their own ideas along with Nagai for the anime show, after you finish reading it kindly tell us which one you think its better
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Post by Mechanical Flesh on Dec 12, 2014 7:58:15 GMT -5
honestly i didnt read it im not a hardcore manga reader by any chance but i was thinking and according to the anime that Mazinger z was improved over time with weapons thats what i liked about it him he started simple but now according to the manga he started with all that most of the show they helped each other out and their team work got even better when boss borot got involved and i got the same feeling about him he is a bad a$$ robot lol for me he is like Danbei Makiba from Grendizer you know Toei have their own ideas along with Nagai for the anime show, after you finish reading it kindly tell us which one you think its better Ok just finished reading it, a few minutes ago. Man. It was intense, let me tell you that. I'll try not to spoil anything here, maybe one day you'll read it too but it was epic. So, which I prefer, you ask? Anime or manga? Though question. Let's try and make some points here. The manga starts off like the show, Dr. Hell plans his attack for world domination, Ashura kills Koji's grandpa, then Koji finds the Mazinger Z and tries to manouver it, then Sayaka appears on board the Aphrodai A and teaches Koji the basics, the a pair of mechanical beats appear (Garuda and Doublas), Koji beats them, and everyone laughs at the end. Nothing new here. The next chapters follow a similar format, just like the anime. Even though a lot of fights are skipped, only the most important/memorable ones from the show are kept. And so, you get pretty much halfway through the whole story, thinking to yourself "not bad, it'sjust like the TV rendition, I like it". And that's where things change. The character of baron Ashura gets some depth, with a long chapter about him/her and HIS/HER plan of world domination (yeah, he/she rebelled against dr. Hell, it's a long story) and Ashura in the manga is so charismatic that he/she almost manages to make Koji fight on his/her side. Almost, fortunately. After a while, grand duke Gorgon appears, and starts lending his mechanical beasts to dr. Hell. In the final volume of the manga, Ankoku Daishogun is revealed, but way before the defeat of dr. Hell. That's one of the major differences with the anime, that dr. Hell's kikaijus and the ones sent by the Great General of Darkness fight in the same time period against Mazinger Z. Also, Great Mazinger appears before the last battle, saving Koji but then leaving as soon as he defeated the enemies, only saying his name and bidding farewell. Also, during these chapters, the love relationship between Koji and Sayaka, which is just barely implied in the show, gets some development, and becomes explicit. Before the final bout, we get something unexpected: a chapter entirely dedicated to dr. Hell's life, from his childhood to the present day, from school to university, to his romantic setbacks, to his relation with Juzo Kabuto. Really, a lot gets explained and I'd recommend reading the manga just for that, even count Blocken gets some background, his origins and collaboration with dr. hell explained. Now here's something I didn't know: Blocken has been working with Hell for way longer that Ashura, even if he appears after him/her in the story. So we come to the decisive fight, after Mazinger Z discovers the location of dr. Hell's base. This last portion of the story is probably the one with the biggest number of differences from the anime. Blocken loses his life heroically, showing such a level of loyalty that you almost don't recognize the character anymore, and dr. Hell gets *REDACTED* by *REDACTED*, all his ambitions ending with his miserable life. It is during this fight, inside Hell's fortress, that the 2 kikaijus that you see at the end of the Mazinger Z show appear. Yes, not after Hell's defeat, but during Hell's defeat. And Mazinger Z gets beaten badly, just like in the show. Tetsuya comes to the rescue, with his Guretto Majinga, defeats the mechanical beasts like they're nothing, and escapes the base with Koji just in time. I think they left the Mazinger Z inside the base, and so it got destroyed, because the radar that Prof. Yumi and Sayaka were watching showed only "one dot" and they said that it was not Mazinger Z (it was just Great Mazinger, carrying both Tetsuya and Koji). The members of the Photon Lab are called to the new lab, Yumi meets Kenzo Kabuto while Shiro and Sayaka meet Koji, although this last part has a small, but at the same time HUGE difference from the TV version (which I won't spoil here). Koji and Sayaka leave for America, and Great Mazinger is now ready to face the evil army of the Mikene Empire. The end. ... So, which do I think is better? Anime or manga? I'll tell you this: without the anime, Mazinger Z wouldn't be what it is today. The show gave him is fame and popularity across the world, we still remember the catchy music and the endless "ROCKETTO PUNCH" that Koji shouted in every fight. The anime is, historically and objectively, way more important and relevant than the manga. But the manga is more mature, a bit more tragic, with some comedic scenes thrown in for good measure. The manga is not only about the robot fights, but also about the characters, and some of them are really interesting, both heroes and villains, way more interesting than their animated versions. The show is more memorable and nostalgic, but the manga has a better story (and slightly better drawings). Depending on what you're looking for, you may prefer one or the other. But the manga is good nonetheless, I say read it if you want to know something more about the world of Mazinger Z and his characters. It's not long, but everything's well fleshed out, nothing was rushed, which is nice. It made me like Mazinger Z even more than before. I'd say it's almost a must read for Mazinger fans.
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Post by S_Gokin on Dec 12, 2014 9:04:46 GMT -5
Ok just finished reading it, a few minutes ago. Man. It was intense, let me tell you that. I'll try not to spoil anything here, maybe one day you'll read it too but it was epic. So, which I prefer, you ask? Anime or manga? Though question. Let's try and make some points here. The manga starts off like the show, Dr. Hell plans his attack for world domination, Ashura kills Koji's grandpa, then Koji finds the Mazinger Z and tries to manouver it, then Sayaka appears on board the Aphrodai A and teaches Koji the basics, the a pair of mechanical beats appear (Garuda and Doublas), Koji beats them, and everyone laughs at the end. Nothing new here. The next chapters follow a similar format, just like the anime. Even though a lot of fights are skipped, only the most important/memorable ones from the show are kept. And so, you get pretty much halfway through the whole story, thinking to yourself "not bad, it'sjust like the TV rendition, I like it". And that's where things change. The character of baron Ashura gets some depth, with a long chapter about him/her and HIS/HER plan of world domination (yeah, he/she rebelled against dr. Hell, it's a long story) and Ashura in the manga is so charismatic that he/she almost manages to make Koji fight on his/her side. Almost, fortunately. After a while, grand duke Gorgon appears, and starts lending his mechanical beasts to dr. Hell. In the final volume of the manga, Ankoku Daishogun is revealed, but way before the defeat of dr. Hell. That's one of the major differences with the anime, that dr. Hell's kikaijus and the ones sent by the Great General of Darkness fight in the same time period against Mazinger Z. Also, Great Mazinger appears before the last battle, saving Koji but then leaving as soon as he defeated the enemies, only saying his name and bidding farewell. Also, during these chapters, the love relationship between Koji and Sayaka, which is just barely implied in the show, gets some development, and becomes explicit. Before the final bout, we get something unexpected: a chapter entirely dedicated to dr. Hell's life, from his childhood to the present day, from school to university, to his romantic setbacks, to his relation with Juzo Kabuto. Really, a lot gets explained and I'd recommend reading the manga just for that, even count Blocken gets some background, his origins and collaboration with dr. hell explained. Now here's something I didn't know: Blocken has been working with Hell for way longer that Ashura, even if he appears after him/her in the story. So we come to the decisive fight, after Mazinger Z discovers the location of dr. Hell's base. This last portion of the story is probably the one with the biggest number of differences from the anime. Blocken loses his life heroically, showing such a level of loyalty that you almost don't recognize the character anymore, and dr. Hell gets *REDACTED* by *REDACTED*, all his ambitions ending with his miserable life. It is during this fight, inside Hell's fortress, that the 2 kikaijus that you see at the end of the Mazinger Z show appear. Yes, not after Hell's defeat, but during Hell's defeat. And Mazinger Z gets beaten badly, just like in the show. Tetsuya comes to the rescue, with his Guretto Majinga, defeats the mechanical beasts like they're nothing, and escapes the base with Koji just in time. I think they left the Mazinger Z inside the base, and so it got destroyed, because the radar that Prof. Yumi and Sayaka were watching showed only "one dot" and they said that it was not Mazinger Z (it was just Great Mazinger, carrying both Tetsuya and Koji). The members of the Photon Lab are called to the new lab, Yumi meets Kenzo Kabuto while Shiro and Sayaka meet Koji, although this last part has a small, but at the same time HUGE difference from the TV version (which I won't spoil here). Koji and Sayaka leave for America, and Great Mazinger is now ready to face the evil army of the Mikene Empire. The end. ... So, which do I think is better? Anime or manga? I'll tell you this: without the anime, Mazinger Z wouldn't be what it is today. The show gave him is fame and popularity across the world, we still remember the catchy music and the endless "ROCKETTO PUNCH" that Koji shouted in every fight. The anime is, historically and objectively, way more important and relevant than the manga. But the manga is more mature, a bit more tragic, with some comedic scenes thrown in for good measure. The manga is not only about the robot fights, but also about the characters, and some of them are really interesting, both heroes and villains, way more interesting than their animated versions. The show is more memorable and nostalgic, but the manga has a better story (and slightly better drawings). Depending on what you're looking for, you may prefer one or the other. But the manga is good nonetheless, I say read it if you want to know something more about the world of Mazinger Z and his characters. It's not long, but everything's well fleshed out, nothing was rushed, which is nice. It made me like Mazinger Z even more than before. I'd say it's almost a must read for Mazinger fans. many thanks to you MF it looks very interesting manga to read i will try to find it online and read it if you noticed that and every Go Nagai work that have a successor he always kill the first robot like in Getter robo but how could Koji Leave Mazinger Z alone to his death ? i dont get that because all the show Koji was super protective over Mazinger z all the show no one pilot it except Sayaka when koji was hurting and count Brocken thank god they didn't put the same ending for him in anime, after i saw the last episode of Mazinger Z i was so sad & mad in the same time but when they bring him back in Great Mazinger and they increase his power too i was ok i forgive you now lol
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Post by magengar on Dec 12, 2014 9:21:40 GMT -5
I'd love to read it sometime. But right now I can't because I'm trying to ignore all these huge spoilers. By the way, are you guys reading actual mangas (paper format), or are those .pdf files and ebooks? If they're ebooks, I'll have to download some kind of ebook reader program so's I can catch up with this. zozo-mag
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Post by Mechanical Flesh on Dec 12, 2014 10:53:40 GMT -5
many thanks to you MF it looks very interesting manga to read i will try to find it online and read it if you noticed that and every Go Nagai work that have a successor he always kill the first robot like in Getter robo but how could Koji Leave Mazinger Z alone to his death ? i dont get that because all the show Koji was super protective over Mazinger z all the show no one pilot it except Sayaka when koji was hurting and count Brocken thank god they didn't put the same ending for him in anime, after i saw the last episode of Mazinger Z i was so sad & mad in the same time but when they bring him back in Great Mazinger and they increase his power too i was ok i forgive you now lol Ah don't worry, it's not Koji's fault. Imagine the situation: Great Mazinger smashed inside the base, destroyed the mechanical beasts and found Koji still inside Mazinger Z, but Koji was unconscious. Koji suffered much more than in the last episode of the show, and had already passed out when Great Mazinger came to help him. Time was running out, and Testuya had to be quick, so (and now I'm just making assumptions, since you don' see what happens next) he grabbed the Pilder, with Koji inside, and left dr. Hell's base before the inevitable happened. Then Koji was brought to the new lab, and the rest is history... Yeah if you ever read it, make sure it's Ota's version. Go nagai, of course, made a Mazinger Z manga himself, but I think he left it... unfinished, if I recall correctly. Nagai also left unfinished his version of the Grendizer manga (which was also super-short, just 1 volume). The best, complete, and also recognized by Go Nagai as the official manga trilogy is the one Ota made. And is the one I possess.
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Post by Mechanical Flesh on Dec 12, 2014 11:01:44 GMT -5
I'd love to read it sometime. But right now I can't because I'm trying to ignore all these huge spoilers. By the way, are you guys reading actual mangas (paper format), or are those .pdf files and ebooks? If they're ebooks, I'll have to download some kind of ebook reader program so's I can catch up with this. zozo-mag I actually have the manga in paper format. Yup, Mazinger Z Great Mazinger and Grendizer mangas all in paper. I took advantage of the fact that, back in 2013, they started reprinting them here in Italy, along with a lot of other Go Nagai mangas (even mangas in which he wasn't really involved). Around the same time, I "discovered" super robots, fell in love with them, and found out that they were reprinting Mazinger & Co. And I managed to grab everything I needed, got the last volumes only some weeks ago, since they've been out of stock for a while. Then I had exams, but now I finally have some free time. I'd like to start Great Mazinger's manga now, but maybe I should watch the show first (?) just like I did with Mazinger Z...
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Post by magengar on Dec 12, 2014 11:41:38 GMT -5
Back in '84 my younger stepbrother had some Spanish manga versions of Mazinger-Z. I didn't think much of it back then because he was already showing me the rest of the series which was re-broadcast on TV in Puerto Rico at the time, plus he had some episodes on VHS. And that was the first time I finally got to see Maz nearly destroyed by the battle beasts before Great Maz came to the rescue. Then in the summer of '85 my stepbrother went on vacation to NYC and he got to watch "Tranzor Z" there. He told me about it when he returned from his trip, and by the looks on his face he certainly wasn't happy with "Tranzor-Z". Long before that, I watched the first 20 or so episodes of the series on TV during my first summer visit to Puerto Rico in '81 which I believe was the first time it was broadcast there. Then I missed the rest of the series cos i had to return to NYC. Nowadays fans are scanning the mangas and translating them to whatever fan's native language; I see this often in the Spanish fan sites. Once in a while I might sit down and read some of the mangas, but I'd have to patient reading them since it's been years since I've read any comic books. So, I just like to look at the artwork instead. lol zozo-mag
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Post by TheMazingerZ on Dec 12, 2014 14:25:54 GMT -5
TBH, I prefer the "alternate universe" versions of the mangas. They are better drawn, and the stories are much cooler! I've read a lot of the Nagai and Ota versions, even the one in which Koji is turned into a Cyborg, and another where Great Mazinger self-destructs to take out the Flying Fortress (killing Tetsuya in the process of course). Yeah, IMO the alternate ones are better. }D
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Post by Mechanical Flesh on Dec 12, 2014 14:39:19 GMT -5
TBH, I prefer the "alternate universe" versions of the mangas. They are better drawn, and the stories are much cooler! I've read a lot of the Nagai and Ota versions, even the one in which Koji is turned into a Cyborg, and another where Great Mazinger self-destructs to take out the Flying Fortress (killing Tetsuya in the process of course). Yeah, IMO the alternate ones are better. }D *cough* You might want to avoid spoilering other important things, for those who haven't read the mangas yet but are willing to (like me ).
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Post by TheMazingerZ on Dec 12, 2014 14:56:26 GMT -5
LOL... I have them in electronic form only, in a hard drive somewhere. Maybe I should post some key pages instead? }D
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Post by TheMazingerZ on Dec 12, 2014 14:59:07 GMT -5
Speaking of electronic mangas... has anyone seen the one with Dr. Kabuto's (Koji's Grandpa) brother(?) and his Zero Mazinger? I can't remember the title of it... * Found It!!!* }D
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Post by S_Gokin on Dec 12, 2014 15:22:39 GMT -5
I'd love to read it sometime. But right now I can't because I'm trying to ignore all these huge spoilers. By the way, are you guys reading actual mangas (paper format), or are those .pdf files and ebooks? If they're ebooks, I'll have to download some kind of ebook reader program so's I can catch up with this. zozo-mag I actually have the manga in paper format. Yup, Mazinger Z Great Mazinger and Grendizer mangas all in paper. I took advantage of the fact that, back in 2013, they started reprinting them here in Italy, along with a lot of other Go Nagai mangas (even mangas in which he wasn't really involved). Around the same time, I "discovered" super robots, fell in love with them, and found out that they were reprinting Mazinger & Co. And I managed to grab everything I needed, got the last volumes only some weeks ago, since they've been out of stock for a while. Then I had exams, but now I finally have some free time. I'd like to start Great Mazinger's manga now, but maybe I should watch the show first (?) just like I did with Mazinger Z... well for some one saw the anime 2 times its up to you if you like been bored watch the anime last if you dont like that watch it first but since Mazinger z manga were great from you eexplaining im sure Great Mazinger manga will be great too
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Post by Mechanical Flesh on Dec 12, 2014 18:21:25 GMT -5
Speaking of Mazinger mangas, has anyone here read the God Mazinger manga?
Because the publisher here announced it as well. It's never been printed before, here in Italy.
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Post by magengar on Dec 13, 2014 2:07:43 GMT -5
Speaking of electronic mangas... has anyone seen the one with Dr. Kabuto's (Koji's Grandpa) brother(?) and his Zero Mazinger? I can't remember the title of it... * Found It!!!* }D What...On...Earth...Is... THAT!? zozo-mag
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Post by Mechanical Flesh on Dec 18, 2014 11:34:04 GMT -5
Started reading the Great Mazinger manga. I'm halfway through, and I like it so far. Bear in mind, I haven't watched the show yet, so mine is a "virgin" impression So, Great Mazinger. It's concentrated. In the Mazinger Z manga, before baron Ashura's death and the events that follow, the majority of the stories/chapters follow the "monster of the week" TV format. Koji and his friends are relaxing, a kikaiju appears, Koji runs to get the Pilder, turns on Mazinger Z, starts fighting the monster, but the monster is to powerful, so Koji has to improvise and at the end it's always the same happy ending. But in the Great Mazinger manga that doesn't happen: the author, probably, after giving us plenty of repetitive fights in his previous work, decided to change pace. So every chapter we get is important to the story. Every chapter. New important characters or enemies introduced, or killed, or even chapters dedicated to a certain protagonist, to give him more background. There aren't chapters just about fighting enemy robots anymore. We always get either something important happening, or something important explained. And that's a plus. Also, I have a feeling that the story presented here in the manga will be more interesting than the one in the anime. As I said, I'm halfway through it, and there's no Koji or Junior Robot to be seen yet. But *cough* the Great General of Darkness has already been killed. Isn't it the major opponent/antagonist in the show? I guess it gets defeated at the very end, in the anime. But here, nope, fight to the death with Great Mazinger, which almost ends in a defeat for the latter. But then Tetsuya quickly recovers and manages to inflict the final blow to the old Micenean... now we'll see who comes up to take his place. Oh and the Great Mazinger army. I said it all. Great. Mazinger. Army. Which probably is nowhere to be seen in the anime, but makes for an amazing story in the manga! I'll finish reading the lil' thing in the next few days.
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Post by Mechanical Flesh on Dec 18, 2014 14:31:03 GMT -5
And tomorrow, if all goes well, I'll have my first ever Mazinger Z figure a GX-01 Yep the very first SoC. I shall pick it up tomorrow morning, the seller said it was new, sent me some pictures but they were horribly pixelated It's not MIB, he opened it to show me that everything was in place. Also, it probably has been opened before (after all, we're talking about a 17-year-old figure). But it should be in very good conditions, both box and figure. We'll see.
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Post by Mechanical Flesh on Dec 19, 2014 9:05:55 GMT -5
And today I finished reading Great Mazinger. Man oh man... The story develops pretty well after the half-point. We see the rise of another villain, the escape and hiding of Tetsuya and friends, the destruction of whole cities... yeah, some parts are gruesome, I don't know why Ota felt the need to sometimes zoom on some poor civilians' melting body, but there you go. Some of Mikene's plans to defeat Great Mazinger are really ingenious, and explained in great detail in the manga. It almost looks like a physics book at times Koji comes back near the end, and he and Tetsuya become rivals (of course, even if it was just Tetsuya's fault) and after that, the story comes to its end. The ending was sudden though. Like, really sudden, it all happens in 2-3 pages. A bit too short if you ask me. Another thing: the characters in the manga constatly break the 4th wall oh boy when it happens, it just cheers you up. Overall? I liked it. Maybe not as much as Mazinger Z's manga, but I certainly liked it. It's inferior to its predecessor for 2 main reasons: most of the villains are less charismatic in Great Mazinger, and the story pace. Because the story, while it progresses normally most of the time, in the last volume, and I'd even say in the last chapter, accelerates to a point where you almost don't understand what's happening. Like, Tetsuya goes to where the Mikene Empire is, finds the main antagonist and all of the other demonic generals, and kills them all thanks to Great Mazinger's auto-destruction mechanism. Alright. But it never gets explained how Tetsuya found the darn place! I mean, did they knew it already? If so, why didn't they attack Mikene before? Did Tetsuya find it on its own (I'm assuming, since he went there alone)? Then please tell me how he found the entrance to the underworld, because in the manga it's not explained. Everything is concentrated into 1-2 pages. Not enough, kind of anti-climactic. But if don't count the ending, the rest ofthe manga is very solid, a good reading. I recommend it. Still, I think Mazinger Z's was a bit better in general. Next up will be Grendizer's manga! I'll take a few days' pause before though
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Post by Mechanical Flesh on Dec 19, 2014 9:14:14 GMT -5
Oh, also, got my GX-01 today the box was in good conditions, a bit scratched but nothing really noticeable. The figure itself had a bit of "Japanese dust" on it, but nothing serious, you just blow and it comes off. Nothing was missing, so no complants there. I did't open the "hands tray" but I did touch the top of Mazinger's head, and yes, it's a bit sticky. Not too much, I was way more concerned with how FLEXIBLE the thing was. But I guess it's normal...? After all, it's rubber and it's also very thin in places. Just to be sure, can anyone that has this figure tell me if their Mazinger Z's head can be easily bent? In the pilder-docking zone. Guess I'll have to get me some acrilic transparent paint, or that thing Baron mentioned, to prevent stickyness.
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Post by S_Gokin on Dec 19, 2014 9:36:34 GMT -5
Oh, also, got my GX-01 today the box was in good conditions, a bit scratched but nothing really noticeable. The figure itself had a bit of "Japanese dust" on it, but nothing serious, you just blow and it comes off. Nothing was missing, so no complants there. I did't open the "hands tray" but I did touch the top of Mazinger's head, and yes, it's a bit sticky. Not too much, I was way more concerned with how FLEXIBLE the thing was. But I guess it's normal...? After all, it's rubber and it's also very thin in places. Just to be sure, can anyone that has this figure tell me if they're Mazinger Z's head can be easily bent? In the pilder-docking zone. Guess I'll have to get me some acrilic transparent paint, or that thing Baron mentioned, to prevent stickyness. congratulations on your GX-01 bro glad you are happy with it i honestly dont have it because when i started this hobby back in late 2010 the GX-01R was out also ithe GX-01R+ but i went GX-01R, to answer you question the head on my GX-01R is kinda flexible but not flexible happy i guess time play huge rule in this matters about Great Mazinger Manga also the anime end was so sudden short and unsatisfying just like Grendizer because Nagai left ton of unanswered questions im not going to spoil any thing since you didnt watch it yet Mazinger Z always was and still Go Nagai best work from a to Z even the ending was so catchy he wasnt able to do that again with most of his work now im reading Shin Mazinger Zero, this is the last chapter and its going to be the biggest battle EVER, all the 3 brothers are in it Mazinger Z(Zero) Great Mazinger(Great Mazinkaiser) and Grendizer(good old one) if you find it read it its a must
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